With Bruins’ play ‘not at a standard we want’, Bruce Cassidy shuffles his lines to ‘get certain players’ attention’

Something had to give after Boston’s 3-2 shootout loss to the Islanders on Thursday, the Bruins’ seventh defeat in their past eight games. 

Following a night in which Bruce Cassidy took to his team to task by way of his postgame comments, it was inevitable that the B’s bench boss was going to tinker with his lineup ahead of Boston’s next matchup — a Saturday-night bout against the Predators.

Sure enough, Cassidy opted to swap out a pair of bottom-six forwards for Saturday’s game, with Par Lindholm and Brett Ritchie set to return to the fourth line, while both David Backes and Joakim Nordstrom expected to sit out. 

It might not be the re-shuffling that some expected in an effort to snap Boston out of this extended lull, such as some major tinkering in the top-six unit. But with these moves, Cassidy hopes to get across a number of messages — both to the players taking the ice Saturday and those forced to watch from the ninth floor of TD Garden. 

“I think those guys have been working hard, Lindholm and Ritchie,” Cassidy said. “They’ve been in there and at times they've done well, at times we’ve replaced them. Backes and Nordstorm are coming out tonight and one day we’ll worry about them. Sometimes it’s a way to get certain players’ attention. This is a bit of that. 

“We’re not at a standard we want to be. We’re certainly not putting it all on David Backes and Nordy. But we gotta rotate players through. (Connor) Clifton is going to stay in for (John) Moore and we see where it leads us.”

Elsewhere Jaroslav Halak will get the nod in net for Boston on Saturday, with the backup goalie 4-2-2 with a .937 save percentage and a shutout over his past eight starts. Halak was due for an outing after last playing on Dec. 14, but there’s a chance he could earn another look over Tuukka Rask on Monday against the Capitals if he holds his own against Nashville. 

Back on Tuesday, Cassidy noted that Rask would likely get the start in three of Boston’s four games during this current homestand, but such might not be the case given Rask’s recent slump in December (.897 save percentage in six games). 

“We talked about playing Tuukka three of four this week," Cassidy said. "We’re not necessarily running away from that. But it’s also that time of the year with the players, with the D, with the forwards and now with the goalies, we got to allow them to have an extended run if they deserve it. 

“We’ve talked about that. Until that happens, when one dominates, then we’re going to stick with our rotation. But we’re certainly not afraid to do that. We’d just like to see one take off here. Obviously they’re a product of how we play in front of them as well, so that’s part of it too that you have to factor in when you make those decisions.”

BSJ Analysis



It remains to be seen just how much some shuffling on the fourth line will be able to turn around Boston’s poor play as of late, but for Cassidy, one concerning trend during this slide has been the Bruins’ struggles at adhering to their trademark style of play. 

This patchwork fourth line of Kuraly-Lindholm-Ritchie won’t be tasked to drive Boston’s 5v5 offense, but the B’s coach will be looking for them to keep things simple but assertive — such as throwing their weight around on the forecheck and generating chances down low. Even if Ritchie’s production has underwhelmed, his ability to generate high-quality shots by operating in Grade-A areas does have some potential value — with the winger second on the team (min. 50 minutes logged) in 5v5 high-danger scoring chances generated per 60 minutes at 4.2. 

As for Halak, it certainly makes sense for the netminder to get the hot hand for the time being, especially if he puts together a strong effort again on Saturday. At this point, with Boston’s 5v5 offense sputtering and power play lagging (5-for-38 since Nov. 27), they can’t afford to be surrendering two-plus goals on a regular basis and expect to snag two points. 

If this slide continues for the Bruins, look for Cassidy to get a bit more creative when it comes to his roster juggling, especially if players like Kuraly, Danton Heinen and others fail to gain much traction. Saturday’s moves might not seem like much, but it’s a sign that more shuffling will be in the future if the Bruins’ fortunes don’t change shortly. 

“The message here is last year is over. You learn from it," Cassidy said. "You’re proud of certain accomplishments, but you don’t change the way you play. You still gotta eat pucks when it’s your turn to eat the puck, you gotta put out fires when it’s your turn to put out a fire. We’re not gonna be perfect, we’re not going to execute 100%. We’re going to break down. Our system is designed for help. It’s not a man to man all over the ice. 

“And then the opposite at the offensive end, I don't think we’re generating consistently by getting our nose dirty or getting inside. Some of that we did in the third period against the Islanders … Hopefully it carries over into tonight and we start getting back to that style of play.”