Bruins Notebook: Bruins’ fourth line makes presence felt with fists, Miller suffers setback

Brad Marchand had lit the lamp just 22 seconds earlier on Thursday night, but Chris Wagner was still pretty steamed as he hopped over the boards for the next shift in the first period. 

Marchand’s tally had tied the contest against Buffalo, 1-1, but the marks on the scoreboard stood in stark contrast to the actual product on the ice, as the Sabres landed the first 14 shots on goal on the evening — with a point shot from Brandon Carlo signaling the B’s first shot on net with 7:49 left in the opening stanza. 

For Wagner and his linemates, the frustrations stemming from the poor performance on the ice started to snowball, given that Bruce Cassidy took that fourth line to task earlier this week when it comes to logging impactful shifts. 

By the time Sabres forward Curtis Lazar started to knock around B’s rookie Urho Vaakanainen following a scrum in the B’s crease, Wagner had finally had enough. 

Boston’s fourth line hasn’t cashed in offensively nearly as much as the numbers might reflect, but Wagner did know one way in which the B’s bottom-six corps could provide a spark.



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The scrap didn’t last long, but Wagner reprimanded Lazar for tagging Vaakanainen in short order — landing a few punches before both skaters fell to the ice after the Walpole native connected on a heavy uppercut. 

“It’s Urho, so I don’t like guys taking liberties on him," Wagner said. "Some personal frustration too, team frustration. But yeah, it’s a lot of things. Just kind of dead in the first period. Something like that usually helps.”

The usual suspects did plenty of the heavy lifting during Thursday’s 3-2 victory — Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak tallied all three goals, the top power-play unit cashed in twice, and Tuukka Rask stood on his head in net. 

But as Cassidy was quick to note, Wagner's tussle was needed during the sluggish frame — and was a positive development for a forward trio looking to leave their imprint on the game beyond the box score.

"I think Wags — listen, that line has to play a certain way and tonight, we were trying to pull it out of them," Cassidy said. "Like, get in there and bang. Listen, we’re not on. And that’s where they have to recognize, as a line, ‘Okay, we’re going to get some extra shifts here because we’re going to be the energy line, we’re going to get the crowd into it, we’re going to slowly turn the momentum, and eventually they did. And Wags had a lot to do with that."

Ideally, the goals start rolling in soon for Wagner and his linemates. But for the time being, he's more than happy to spark the bench with a couple of heavy hooks.

“That’s what I always watched when I was little," Wagner said of the Bruins' habit of dropping the gloves to get a rise from the crowd. "You kinda want to build on that. I know the crowd appreciates it too. It’s a combination of things."

OTHER NOTES:

Krug set to return:

After missing the previous five games, Torey Krug is expected to return for Saturday’s game against the Wild, with the blueliner taking part in Friday’s practice at Warrior Ice Arena while donning a normal practice jersey.

While he hasn’t been given the full green light quite yet, Cassidy was encouraged by Krug’s showing in practice, as the defenseman was not limited in any drills.

"Trending that way," Cassidy told the media at Warrior Ice Arena of Krug's availability. "We'll make a decision tomorrow. He's got to check in with the medical staff. He was in a normal jersey today, participated in every part of practice, so that's a good sign. Lately here, maybe I’ve jumped the gun a little bit or we’ve assumed guys would go in. ... I'll put him at probable, a strong probable."

If Krug is back in the fold, he will obviously slot back up in the top power-play unit. Despite some initial hiccups, the man advantage hasn’t really slowed since Krug’s absence, highlighted by a 2-for-2 showing on Thursday against Buffalo.

Miller suffers setback:

Boston had another familiar face return to the Warrior Ice Arena in a regular practice sweater on Friday, as John Moore shed the non-contact sweater he’s been forced to wear for the last few weeks as part of his recovery from major shoulder surgery.

It’s a big step forward for the speedy defenseman, but Cassidy was quick to note that Moore is still quite a few weeks away from being completely cleared.

"He's not available at all," Cassidy said. "He's a little bit away. But he is in a full jersey now, but we'll talk about him more in a couple weeks. He's not playing next week. He’s still got a ways to go.”

The news is generally good for Moore, but the same can’t be said for Boston’s other injured veteran defenseman in Kevan Miller. While Cassidy mentioned earlier this month that Miller had a chance to return this week or next, that doesn’t seem to be the case now, as the bruising blueliner is going to be sidelined for a bit longer while on the mend from a pair of fractures to the same kneecap.

"A little setback, I guess," Cassidy said. "They wanted to hold him off. Don't think it's major, but again, I think from Day 1 we're being really cautious at every turn. We don't want him to go through what he went through last year.

“The medical staff would rather him be truly 100 percent ready, everything, checked all the boxes. If that takes an extra week or two from this end then that's the way we're hoping it will play out, that he's then basically as good as new when he gets out there, and off he goes."

More injuries up front:

Cassidy unveiled the ailment that forced Par Lindholm to miss a major chunk of time in Thursday’s matchup against Buffalo — a cut that required 18 stitches to close up.

The Swedish forward eventually returned in the second period, logging 6:18 of ice time in the win, but was held off the ice on Friday morning.

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"Today, residual effect of that,” Cassidy said of Lindholm’s cut. “He would have been out there, but I just don't think he was 100% mobile to do that. I would hope it settles down tomorrow, but I don't know to be honest with you."

Meanwhile, Brett Ritchie (elbow infection) has a good chance to return on Saturday — although given the nature of his injury, it appears as though his status and availability can vary day to day, until the infection is completely under control.

"Ritchie came back much better today," Cassidy said. "Kind of an ongoing issue, hopefully we can get a solution too. Really through no fault of his own. It fits and starts for him, so we like to get him in there. hopefully we get him squared away and this takes care of itself. Having him out there today, we'll see if he comes in tomorrow with no residual effect and he should be good to go tomorrow.”