Bruins counting on David Backes to provide value both in game, on bench going into Game 5

He only logged 10:12 of ice time in the Bruins’ Game 4 victory over the Blue Jackets, but David Backes made the most of his return to playoff action after watching the previous five postseason matchups from press level.

His minutes limited due in large part to Boston’s preference of leaving him off its second power-play unit and penalty kill, Backes still left his mark on the B’s 4-1 victory over Columbus at Nationwide Arena.

Along with drawing a pair of penalties — one off of a troubling elbow to the face from Dean Kukan — Backes set a physical tone by delivering five hits, while fighting for positioning down low in front of Sergei Bobrovsky.

While the veteran power forward was unable to alter any shots sailing towards Columbus’ net or pot any rebounds at the crease, Backes’ netfront presence did pay dividends in the third period, as he was able to recover a puck along the end boards and extend some O-zone time for Boston, leading to a goal for Sean Kuraly just seconds later.

Just as he did in Game 2 against the Maple Leafs, in which he was tasked with slowing down a speedy Toronto roster by way of brute force, Backes provided the spark the Bruins were looking for in what has been another grind-it-out slog of a series against the Jackets.

However, the question still remains with Backes: Can the 35-year-old skater keep it going?



Given his outing in Columbus, Backes earned another starting spot for Saturday’s Game 5 matchup at TD Garden, with Bruce Cassidy once again slotting him into a top-six role alongside David Krejci and Jake DeBrusk.

But, as evidenced by the Toronto series, Backes has displayed a trend of running out of steam as these games drag along. By the time Game 5 against the Leafs rolled around, Backes was limited to just seven shifts and 4:36 of total ice time in what was a 2-1 Toronto victory — with Cassidy holding Backes on the bench for the entire third period as Boston looked to get on the board.

“Sometimes it depends on, well, time and score,” Cassidy said of limiting Backes minutes in early playoff games this spring. “If we’re behind, generally, you shorten the bench, The guys that are on a little more offensively get the lion’s share of the minutes. I thought the game vs. Toronto, the last game he played, we went with other players and we thought it’d give us a better chance to get back.”

Still, even looking past the situational impact that comes with doling out TOI, the Bruins know that Backes is not the 18-20 minute stalwart he was during his prime years with the Blues. Averaging 13:02 this season, Backes is going to be yet another juggling act for Cassidy to manage in-game, as his physical contributions can often be offset by his special-teams limitations and need to manage his minutes.

“Lost a little on the penalty kill, power play, he’s not on that second group power play. … That’s the difficult part,” Cassidy said of weighing Backes’ contributions with other forward options like Karson Kuhlman.  “One of the things Kuhlman does well, I found, with this group, is he can sit for stretches and he’s got a great motor coming out of not playing, missing shifts, because of special teams. I think for the older guys, that’s more difficult.

“That was a bit of a challenge for David. He’s used to playing a lot for most of his life. This year, you’ve got to sit for a stretch and get out there and still be able to play your game. I think he’s learned to adjust to that because of the circumstances over the last two months. … He gave us good minutes even though his legs might get a little rubbery from him sitting there for awhile. That’s a challenge for guys that are in that position.”

But on the flip side, even if Backes hovers around 10ish minutes a night, Cassidy added that Backes’ presence, both on the bench and in the locker room, does carry some weight in the postseason — especially on a team with eight players aged 25 or under.

And for as much as Backes’ speed (or lack thereof) has been knocked as a liability for the winger, it has rarely led to opposing teams capitalizing against the Bruins — with Backes out for just 12 5v5 goals against in 764 minutes of 5v5 TOI this season. That’s good for a goals against per 60 minutes rate of 0.94 — the tops of any player on Boston’s roster.

“I do believe he brings intangibles,” Cassidy said. “That’s one of the things that David has. Karson Kuhlman is younger, he’s more of a motor guy that can adjust on the fly and give us that energy level after sitting. David is a little more intangibles. Physicality. Some of the leadership skills that are a little bit behind the scenes on the bench and in the room that go unnoticed at times but are still important. That’s the reasoning with the things he brings more than some of the other guys.”

Boston is going to be counting on more of these unnoticed contributions to contribute to be pretty definitive result on the scoreboard Saturday night.