Bruins Notebook: More tough luck for Zach Senyshyn after encouraging debut; Rask out again Saturday

The Bruins' fourth line didn't get on the scoreboard during Thursday's 4-0 win over the Rangers, but the game tape put forth by that checking unit was night and day from other previous performances this season — with the revamped trio of Jack Studnicka, Sean Kuraly and Zach Senyshyn routinely generating Grade-A looks off of rush chances and extended O-zone possessions.

A lot of that had to do with the addition of Senyshyn in the B's lineup, with the 23-year-old winger using his straight-line speed as an effective F1 on the forecheck, retrieving pucks and keeping the Rangers hemmed in their own zone.

Even though Boston is likely on the prowl for more scoring punch in its middle-six grouping, getting that fourth line back in order will also be essential if Boston wants to be operating at full strength come the postseason — with the play of Senyshyn (11:46 TOI, three shots on goal) offering a breath of fresh air on a grouping that has too often spent most of their shifts chasing the puck in their own zone.

But, in a similar stroke of bad luck that stamped out a promising start in the NHL ranks last season, Senyshyn is starting at another uphill climb once again, thanks to the injury bug.



Speaking on Friday, Bruce Cassidy noted that Senyshyn suffered an upper-body injury during Thursday's win and is going to "miss some time", as a result.

Senyshyn has unfortunately been in this spot, as he impressed last November as a temporary fill-in on Charlie Coyle's line, only to suffer a lower-body injury that put him on the shelf for an extended stretch. He did not appear in another game with the Bruins during the 2019-20 campaign, even if the Bruins outscored opponents, 2-0, during Senyshyn and Coyle's 16 minutes of 5v5 ice time together.

There's no set timeline for his return this year, but given both the struggles on the fourth line this season — coupled with the promise that Senyshyn showed on Thursday — this latest setback stands as a brutal break for a young player that, despite the flak he receives as a 2015 first-round pick, absolutely has the potential to be an effective bottom-six fixture in the NHL.

"Senny's a good friend of mine and we've kind of been around each other for a while here in the organization," Kuraly said. "You just see these guys as people first and he worked really hard to get to this point. And he'll keep working hard and hopefully it doesn't set him back too much. But we're all dealt certain cards. And that's what he's dealt. He's a strong player, strong person. He'll get back, but there's no question — you don't want to see that from anyone that that you're close to."

It seemed as though everything was falling into place for Senyshyn this season, with the winger producing at an impressive clip down in Providence (nine points in 11 games) and more than deserving a look up with the big club. Based on the early returns from Thursday, Senyshyn almost certainly warranted an extended stretch of games in Boston.

That fourth line's best looks came off of a pair of rush chances between Kuraly and Senyshyn – with the increased speed evident on that line with Senyshyn added to the mix — but those added wheels were also regularly utilized on simple forechecking shifts, with Studnicka giving the B's more playmaking potential in the middle for when those shifts generated turnovers and Grade-A looks.



(One of the many encouraging forechecking shifts put forth by the Kuraly-Studnicka-Senyshyn line on Thursday. Even with Senyshyn out, Studnicka certainly deserves a couple more games at the 4C spot. Along with that speed, he also managed to set up a few quality looks against Keith Kinkaid.)

"He's got good speed,” Cassidy said of Senyshyn postgame on Thursday. “Defensive zone coverage led to some opportunities for him to transition the other way. Their line was good, they created some turnovers, they had good sticks in lanes that forced some errant plays by the Rangers. He got through the neutral zone in a hurry, made two really nice plays to Kuraly — one for essentially a tap and took a shot on the other one, which I thought was a good shot, so made good decisions with the puck on the attack. I thought he battled well on the walls, got pucks out when he was supposed to.”

“We’ll look at it again for the little details, stick position, etc., routes, all those things. But I certainly thought he impacted the game with his foot speed offensively and didn’t hurt us at all defensively. Again, we’ll go through it, but I liked what I saw, a little more of a confident player. I think scoring goals down in Providence on a regular basis here early on, probably being one of the older guys — I know he’s got a letter on his jersey — has probably made him feel better about his game overall down there and I think it translated here tonight.”

Hopefully for the Bruins, Senyshyn will not be out for an extended stretch of time. Not only is Senyshyn due to finally catch a break, but the Bruins very well could use a player of his talents on that crucial fourth line.

Rask out, Marchand TBD for Saturday

The hits keep coming on the injury front for the Bruins, who saw four different players (Jakub Zboril, Craig Smith, Nick Ritchie and Brad Marchand) all leave Thursday's game at various points due to injury — only to return. Of course, the unfortunate irony is that a player who finished the full game in Senyshyn is the one who suffered the most severe injury, but plenty of other regulars in the B's lineup are also nursing their fair share of bumps and bruises, with Cassidy noting that there's no guarantee that Marchand plays in Saturday's matinee against New York.

Tuukka Rask, who hasn't played since last Sunday against the Devils due to an undisclosed injury, also won't play on Saturday against the Blueshirts. If Rask is not cleared in time for a back-to-back slate with the Penguins on Monday and Tuesday, either Dan Vladar or Jeremy Swayman will likely start one of those two games against Pittsburgh.

“It was a little bit of maintenance because he got banged up last night," Cassidy said of Marchand. "Last time Tuukka left the game late against Jersey, which we didn’t think it was much and he hasn’t been back since, so I don’t want to speculate much. I know Brad hates missing games, so we’ll see how he is in the morning. But he wasn’t able to practice today, so hopefully he can go tomorrow."