Ryan: With questions on blue line, Bruce Cassidy set for high-stakes chess match in Game 5

Bruce Cassidy has been in this position numerous times before, weighing the pros and cons of slotting in Player B over Player C — a bitter reality when Player A is knocked out of commission.

The Bruins sit just two wins away from a Stanley Cup title, but the road to a potential championship has been arduous for Cassidy and the B’s, especially on the injury front, with regulars like Kevan Miller (43 missed games), Charlie McAvoy (28 missed games), Zdeno Chara (20 missed games), Torey Krug (18 games missed), Patrice Bergeron (17 games missed) and David Pastrnak (16 games missed) all sidelined for extended stretches during the 2018-19 campaign.

It hasn’t been easy, but Cassidy has managed to offset his club’s onslaught of ailments with some roster tweaks and shuffling. Whether it's incorporating youngsters like Connor Clifton and Jeremy Lauzon into the lineup or bumping up David Krejci and Danton Heinen on first-line duties, more often than not the Bruins have emerged for the better when forced to flip around their lineup.

“You guys call it in-game adjustments. We call it throwing it in a blender and seeing what comes out,” David Backes said last week of Cassidy’s lineup decisions. "I’m guessing those thoughts go through his head on off days, in the time before, his preparation of, 'If this isn't going well, I’m going to flip these guys and see if this match works better,' or flip these guys or plant this guy on the bench and go three lines and see what happens.

“I’m, without giving him too big of a head, surprised at how much he makes that one subtle change and a shift or two later, the puck is in the back of the net or we get a momentum-changing shift. Seemingly, he pulls the trigger and pushes the buttons at the right time with the right group and guys respond really well to it. He's learned through his tenure here about what works, what gets guys motivated, how they’re most productive in what situations. He’s done an excellent job. Give him the tip of the cap, but don’t tell that to his face.”

Cassidy is once again in a similar quandary now — with two potential vacancies on his club’s blue line. Although this time, the stage — and stakes — are much higher



Just a day away from a pivotal Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final, Wednesday's practice session didn't offer much clarity on a murky situation when it comes to the Bruins' lineup. While Matt Grzelcyk participated on the ice at TD Garden — donning a red, n0n-contact sweater — he's still not a lock to return on Thursday after entering into the concussion protocol following Game 2. Zdeno Chara, who took a puck to the mouth in Game 4 and reportedly suffered a fractured jaw, was nowhere to be found.

"He's still in protocol," Cassidy said of Grzelcyk. "When he gets cleared, he'll be ready to go, whether that's by tomorrow or not I couldn't tell you today. Zee — facial injury; no update on him. Give you a prognosis on him tomorrow. That's probably the best I can give you right now. Obviously, Zee's not here, didn't skate, so it makes it a little more difficult for him. I've always said that: the guys that are skating are obviously a little closer."

If by some miracle both Grzlecyk and Chara are both cleared in time for puck drop Thursday night, then it becomes a non-issue. If one of the two is given the green light, things will fall into place, with John Moore slotting into the other vacant role on the D corps. If both are sidelined? Then comes the real challenge. 

If Steven Kampfer or Urho Vaakanainen are called upon, Cassidy will have multiple factors to weigh: experience, size, rust, left shot vs. right shot, and more.

For now, it looks as though Kampfer would have the inside track to start if both Chara and Grzelcyk are sidelined, with Vaakanainen's lack of reps (just two NHL games played) holding him out of contention.

"That was an option if both guys were out, we’ve kind of went through them all," Cassidy said of Vaakanainen. "We’re getting into a little bit of hearsay or speculation. That would be a big ask. A real big ask. But if that’s the way we’ve got to go then that’s the ask we’re going to make. But right now, like I said, that’s a long shot, that we would go that way. Especially seeing Grizz out there today, so that gives us all a little bit of confidence that he’s closer.

"It’s always a step in the protocol to be out on the ice. If that’s what we’ve got to do, that’s what we do. ...We’re in Game 5, this type of series. Earlier in the playoffs maybe it would be a little bit different for a guy to get acclimated, but we’re so far along now it would be difficult. You’re almost to the point where maybe you just ask guys to play more.”

Even if one or both of Grzelcyk and Chara are cleared to play in Game 5, Cassidy could very well opt to add a player like Moore as a seventh defenseman — scratching a forward up front like Backes in order to add another body to a blue line that has been knocked around all series by St. Louis. It'd be another in a long line of lineup gambles for Cassidy — one made with a momentum-swinging Game 5 at hand — but buoyed with sound rationale, given the Blues propensity to punish Boston on the forecheck.

"They want to knock our D around no matter what name's on the back of the sweater. I think that's been their M.O. and they've been effective at it at times," Cassidy said. "When we've been the better team, I think we've been able to avoid that and use our breakouts, our foot speed to our advantage."

Adding a speedy skater like Moore or Kampfer to the mix, especially as a seventh D, could be the extra bit of gas that Boston needs to eclipse what has been a suffocating performance by St. Louis' forwards in the offensive zone. For as many fires as Cassidy is looking to put out in his lineup going into Game 5, Craig Berube doesn't plan to blink from the other bench, even if Chara — mouth wired shut and donning a fishbowl bucket — somehow manages to return to game action.

"I don’t think the preparation changes if he plays or he doesn’t play," Berube said. "We’ve just got to be ready to go no matter if he’s in or out. That team over there is very good, they’re going to be hungry, they’re going to be desperate. We’ve got to come with that desperation and hunger too and not worry about whether Chara’s playing or not. We all know how tough Chara is, he’s a warrior, I wouldn’t doubt it if he plays, if  he doesn’t play, we’ve just got to keep our focus and have the same game plan."

Through four games, this Stanley Cup Final has served as a bit of a microcosm of the Bruins season: plenty of good, some bad and, man, a ton of headaches for Cassidy and his staff. Given the uncertain timeline for both Grzelcyk and Chara — and the gamesmanship that bubbles to the surface during the Stanley Cup Playoffs — we very well might not know what Boston's blue line is going to look like until warmups get underway at around 7:30 Thursday.

Given the way this series has gone and the other things he'll have to juggle, Cassidy might only have the luxury of knowing what he for a D corps just a couple minutes before us. But whatever combination he rolls out, there's going to be no turning back. The results could either put Boston on the brink of a title or teetering on the edge of a crushing postseason exit.

"That's our job as a staff. We've got to put them in positions to succeed," Cassidy said. "It goes back to Vaakanainen. That's a tough ask because now we throw him in there at the end, is that fair? Can he succeed? ... That's where it's tough as us as a staff to use our own eyes in that case. But the pressure comes from, 'OK, how do we make up what he does?' We don't with one player, but as a group of five on the ice, that's where the pressure comes for us.

"We've got to do a better job, make sure we're aware of how are we going to defend their bigger bodies when Zee's out there and we've got to have a conversation about how our forwards can help in that regard. So that's where the pressure comes from. That's what we got. Our guys internally — I'm sure Charlie (McAvoy) will tell you, he's going to put some on himself to be better now. He knows he doesn't have his big brother back there, so he's got to kind of step up and right on down the line for each guy — that Johnny Moore knows now he's going to have to be better, more involved in the penalty kill and more involved in the shutdown. I think they take it upon themselves as well. High-character guys. That's why we're here."