It might be foolhardy to put too much stock into a stretch of three games scheduled during the first month of the 2019-20 regular season.
But for a 5-1-0 Bruins club looking to size itself up within its own division, it can’t ask for a better test than what lies ahead — starting with a matchup against a loaded Tampa Bay Lightning club on Thursday night.
This daunting slate —also featuring a home-and-home ticket against the Maple Leafs on Saturday and Tuesday — might only stand as Games 7-9 of an 82-game regular season, but given what should be another cutthroat race to the top of the Atlantic, every point matters against Tampa Bay and Toronto.
“Well, definitely a measuring stick game for us,” Bruce Cassidy said of battling the Lightning on Thursday. “Every time we play them, we want to be at our best, because they've been at the top of the division now for a few years. We look at it as a certainly bigger challenge than a lot of other nights. Rivalry? I'd say it's trending that way.”
And while the Bruins' strong start to the 2019-20 campaign should give the team plenty of momentum going into this span of three key bouts, one absence in the top six does loom large for Cassidy's crew.
While David Krejci was spotted out at practice donning a regular, white sweater on Wednesday, the veteran center left about midway through the morning session — not a good sign for a pivot that logged less than five minutes of ice time during Monday's 4-2 victory over the Ducks.
Already dealing with a nagging lower-body injury that he suffered during preseason action back in September, it appears as though Krejci is now saddled with another ailment, one that could keep him out of action on Thursday night.
“He’s nursing an upper-body injury," Cassidy said of Krejci. "So he skated half the practice, tomorrow he’ll see how he is. I put him as day-to-day, I’m not going to rule him out, I’m not going to say he’s definitely in."
With Krejci unable to finish practice, Boston carried out the expected Plan B when it comes to its lineup — with Charlie Coyle slotting up into the second-line center spot and Par Lindholm taking over as the third-line pivot.
Here's how the lines shaped up on Wednesday:
Marchand - Bergeron - Pastrnak
DeBrusk - Coyle - Ritchie
Heinen - Backes/Lindholm - Kuhlman
Nordstrom - Kuraly - Wagner
Chara - McAvoy
Krug - Carlo
Grzelcyk - Clifton/Kampfer
Rask
Halak
Having a more-than-capable center in Coyle is a luxury that the Bruins can turn to when it comes to replicating production in a top-six role, and could help spark a second line (at least the usual combination of DeBrusk-Krejci-Kuhlman) that has failed to light the lamp through five games and 39:03 of 5v5 TOI together.
But Krejci's absence has put both the second and third lines into a bit of a blender, at least based on Wednesday's lineup. In total, Boston's new-look second line of Coyle, DeBrusk and Brett Ritchie have only skated together for 9:28 of 5v5 TOI this year.
The results of a Coyle-Ritchie line have been less than stellar so far, with Boston outshot, 13-9, when those two have been paired up. But slotting a hard-nosed, speedy winger like DeBrusk with that group has been rather promising — even with the small sample size. So far, the Bruins have the edge in both shot attempts 10-5, and goals, 1-0, when the DeBrusk-Coyle-Ritchie line has been deployed.
A Heinen-Lindholm-Kuhlman line is also a bit of a wild card in terms of its small sample size of just 12:16 of 5v5 TOI together, with Boston on the wrong side of shot attempts (12-8) and shots on goal (7-2) over that span. Against a team with plenty of high-end skill in the Lightning, Cassidy could also opt to add another bruiser into the mix in Backes, who has only logged six seconds of action on a line with Heinen and Lindholm.
Boston's revamped lineup on Wednesday does feature plenty of intrigue, especially when it comes to that overhauled, heavier second line. But in an ideal scenario, Cassidy will save that tinkering for games against lighter competition and roll out his usual second-line center in Krejci tomorrow night. All parties should have a much clearer picture on Thursday morning.
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