Even with strong start, Cassidy believes Bruins are ‘not anywhere near our ceiling', but uneven schedule is helping their cause

The Bruins rarely get too ahead of themselves when it comes to their schedule.

Whether it be a divisional bout against the Lightning or a non-conference snoozer against the Wild, Bruce Cassidy doesn’t expect his club to start taking a peek as to what’s next on the docket — no matter the implications. 

Even ahead of Boston’s Stanley Cup rematch against the Blues last week, Torey Krug said that he didn’t even know St. Louis was coming to town until after the Bruins took care of the Maple Leafs three days earlier. 

Given that mindset, many in the B’s locker room don’t get too thrown out of whack when games start to get stacked up with back-to-back slates and three-in-four stretches.

For some, playing a heavy amount of hockey in a short timeframe actually has benefits.

"I think the biggest thing is to try to stick to the same routine daily, regardless of the situation,” Brad Marchand said on Sunday ahead of Boston’s matchup with the Rangers. “That's kind of how we work. We prepare and when we go through our routine every day it allows us to mentally get into a mindset that we're gonna be good.

“I just try to be consistent with that.At this point, I think we're all pretty good pros and we know we need to take care of ourselves to get ready for these games. I actually like these better because I don't like to skate in the morning, so it kind of works out in my favor."

Boston has traditionally fared very well when it comes to back-to-back matchups, going 9-3-2 last year on the second leg of those games — and Sunday’s 7-4 drubbing of the Rangers continued the trend.

In fact, the Bruins have to be thrilled with how they handled their first of 11 three-in-four sets of the 2019-20 campaign. After all, Boston outscored the Blues, Rangers and Sharks by a 15-5 margin while outshooting the opposition, 108-72.

But packed in that slate came a stretch of inactivity, with three days off sandwiched in between a win over the Maple Leafs on Oct. 22 and that three-in-four block. This week is more of the same with another three days off. By the time the Bruins wrap up a matchup against the Senators on Saturday, the team will have only played five games in the last 14 days.

Such an uneven stretch without consistent games might not be the best prescription for a red-hot B's team that's off to its best start since the 1929-30 season. But for Cassidy and his staff, a pair of three straight off days over the last two weeks offer an extended window to make this already rolling team even better as the calendar turns to November.



For Cassidy, these extended off days aren't just a blank slate for the B's to put in the regular practice regimen. To keep his club fresh, Cassidy has incorporated a few lighter sessions as of late — including a skills-focused 30-minute run-through with skating and skills coach Kim Brandvold last week.

"Typically, we'd have a day off after a game but then you've got Thursday-Friday, then we've got three in four," Cassidy said last week. "Talking to the medical staff, talking to our strength and conditioning guys, even the players, we thought we'd be better (skating). I like to go on the day after a game typically, loosen up, as long as it's not a heavy workday. I think guys kind of get what they have out of their system and their legs, recover quicker. Kind of a quick skate.

"That's what they're doing today and they'll be off tomorrow. The day off is built in, it's just in between. ... I think (the time off) is good for teams that are maybe struggling out of the gate. Or coaches that need the extra time for systems. We have a lot of returning players, for us, it's a different animal this week, we're using it more as probably rest than anything."

Lightening practice reps is a necessary move over the long course of an 82-game regular season and (hopefully) beyond. But the Bruins haven't used to these last two weeks worth of practices to rest up and just keep their legs warm. Most of the drills during this stretch have been catered towards ironing out some of the kinks that are still present with this team. Ahead of their three-in-four slate last week, Cassidy and his staff primarily focused on work in the neutral zone — especially after the first two weeks of the season saw Boston on the wrong side of far too many odd-man rushes headed towards its side of the ice.

Puck possession and recovery was also stressed — given Boston's struggles in the early going when it came to generating Grade-A chances in the offensive zone. Based on Boston's production over these last three games in terms of creating hi-danger looks and limiting them down the other end of the ice (29-13 edge in 5v5 hi-danger chances generated), these specialized practices appear to have paid off.

That's good news for the Bruins and bad news for Boston's next three opponents in Ottawa, Pittsburgh and Montreal. Whatever flaws are present with this Bruins team, it would seem likely that Cassidy and Co. have spent the last couple of days addressing it.

"You've got to be smart about what you pick at," Cassidy said. "I think our players recognize there's a lot of work that goes into it, that we're not anywhere near our ceiling. They're good that way. Today we did a little 3-on-3, simulating overtime. You work different things in. Last week, we did a lot of neutral-zone work, because I thought we were sloppy there and I thought we really tightened that up.

"I think our group is very responsive if you give them something and back it up. You can't fool them but if there's areas - earlier in the year it was our offense. We didn't create many second chances or recover enough pucks to stay in the offensive zone, using the D. We've kind of built some of that in again. There will always be stuff that kind of pops up. In general, the state of our game recently has been good. Now it's about staying sharp and developing chemistry now that Krejci is back in. There's always some little things we can work on."