The last time Steven Kampfer faced off against the Carolina Hurricanes, the 30-year-old defenseman cashed in against Petr Mrazek, ripping a puck past the Canes netminder for his second goal of the season.
That was back on Dec. 23, 2018. Kampfer did not play again until March 12.
Such has been the case for Kampfer in his second go-around with the Bruins, as the shifty blueliner has primarily served as a depth piece on Boston’s roster.
The Michigan product still appeared in 35 games during the regular season — a byproduct of the slew of injuries that decimated Boston’s D corps in early November. But since the new year, Kampfer has only seen action in 10 games — to go along just one playoff matchup (April 15 vs. Toronto).
It’s an all-too-familiar situation for Kampfer when it comes to the B’s, as he stood as an extra body during Boston’s run to a Stanley Cup title in 2010-11, with Bruce Cassidy keeping tabs on him as a Black Ace.
Boston ultimately didn’t need to dig too deep into its defensive reserves during that championship run eight years ago. Such won’t be the case this year.
With Charlie McAvoy suspended for Game 1 of the Bruins’ Eastern Conference Final matchup with the Hurricanes, the Bruins have a glaring vacancy on the back end. While no lineup decisions will become set in stone until Thursday morning, Wednesday’s practice at Warrior Ice Arena seemed to indicate that Kampfer will be the next man up for the B’s.
For most of practice, Kampfer primarily skated alongside Matt Grzelcyk on Boston’s third D pairing, while Connor Clifton earned a promotion up to the top pairing with Zdeno Chara. The pairing of Torey Krug and Brandon Carlo remained the same.
John Moore, who missed the entire Columbus series due to a nagging injury, could also be back in play. Although, Kampfer’s standing as a right-shot defenseman could add some equilibrium to the blue line. (Moore and Grzelcyk are both left-shot D).
With matchups far from being set in stone when it comes to whatever combination Rod Brind'Amour throws at Boston, Cassidy expects Boston’s defense to be tossed into a blender early and often on Thursday night.
“Steven Kampfer goes in — three righties, three lefties,” Cassidy said. “We like Krug with Carlo. Depending on how they set their lines, Zee and Carlo could maybe match up with certain lines. Zee and Grzelcyk have played together. … Maybe Clifton gets some shifts with Zee. I think you’re going to see some different combinations tomorrow depending on circumstance.”
While Kampfer has primarily played with Moore for most of the season (189 5v5 minutes together), he has formed a solid rapport with Grzelcyk during their time as a pair — generating a 56.79 Corsi For Percentage while being out on the ice for three B’s goals, and two goals against.
“Very familiar with me and I'm familiar with him,” Kampfer said. “It’s one of those things, it’s not hard to read off of him. Grizz is a smart enough player, I’ve watched him enough and we talk quite a bit, even when we're not playing together — (just) the stuff that we see."
Even with the limited playing time going into a potential conference-final matchup, Kampfer doesn’t believe it would take that much to shake off any rust. Some of that thinking is due to the physical nature of playoff hockey, where “players finish their checks”, as he was quick to note.
But Kampfer also credited the defensive system that the Bruins have instilled when it comes to hitting the ground running despite some extended time off. It’s a structure shared between Boston's NHL and AHL franchises that allowed the Bruins to overcome numerous injuries during the early stretches of the season, with Providence call-ups such as Clifton and Jeremy Lauzon stepping up when needed.
“They play the same system down in Providence. Wasn’t too hard to see (Clifton) pick it up when he came up here,” Kampfer said of the system in place. “I think a lot of it is (the system). It’s one of those things, we practice enough, we do a lot of video.
“But we’re all smart enough players here. We’re in the National Hockey League. You can play, you can make the reads and you can read off of one another. A lot of it comes down to communication on the ice and it’s the systems that are in place to make sure that all of the guys succeed.”
Whatever Cassidy’s call is going into Thursday’s game, Kampfer has commanded plenty of respect for his understated role on this club.
“I always respect Steve very much,” Chara said. “He was with us in 2011 and did the same thing. Probably playing a little bit more, but you watch him and how he was with other teams and how much he competed and he works so hard.
“It’s something that’s not easy to do, to be out of the lineup for a long period of time but he handles it well. He’s always has a positive kind of attitude and works hard and ... is probably the last guy coming off the ice. It’s something that’s not easy, but he handles it well.”
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Anderson/McAvoy pic.twitter.com/4d5MRBy4mB
— Bucci Mane (@Buccigross) May 7, 2019
