Bruce Cassidy's patience with revamped - and crucial - third line might be paying off

Since the trade deadline came and went last Monday, Bruce Cassidy hasn't spent much time tinkering with his forward lines.

And, frankly, can you blame him?

In the six games following the deadline, Boston's top line of Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak have combined for 10 goals and 24 total points. Ho hum.

But the additions of both Taylor Hall and Curtis Lazar up front — and a playmaking conduit in Mike Reilly on the blue line — have also revitalized the rest of Boston's lines, with Boston holding a commanding 45-24 edge in shots on goal and a 5-1 advantage in goals scored during the 59:43 of 5v5 ice time that Hall, David Krejci and Craig Smith have logged together.

Even on the fourth line, Boston holds a 12-5 edge in high-danger scoring chances when the trio of Sean Kuraly, Lazar and Chris Wagner are on the ice together — despite being saddled with plenty of D-zone starts.

So, for Cassidy — 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it, right?'

Well, to a certain extent.

The expected excellence from Bergeron and Co., much-needed production at even strength from Hall-Krejci-Smith and hard-nosed play from the new checking unit have all made the decision much easier for Cassidy when it comes to sticking with these new forward trios. But with just a few weeks separating Boston between sleepy matchups against Buffalo and high-stakes playoff hockey, the B's bench boss also isn't budging on any lineup switcheroos because, frankly, this club doesn't have a whole lot of runway left to see what it has with these combinations.

And in particular, the potpourri is an intriguing, skilled and sometimes confounding new third line of Charlie Coyle, Jake DeBrusk and Nick Ritchie.

"We got to get our house in order," Cassidy said. "We've kept the lines fairly consistent here, the deadline. So that's another point  — 'Hey, everyone understands their role, how we're going to play. And just keep on rolling.'"

Sticking Coyle alongside a power forward in Ritchie and a speedster playing on his off wing in DeBrusk has all the makings of a puck-possession line that can (and should) land punches against weaker competition, but patience was going to have to be prescribed in order to get these three all on the same page. And that patience very well could have started to wear thin over the past couple of weeks, with all three failing to register a single point together through five games post-deadline.

But for Cassidy, the growing pains and frustrations experienced now would be all be worth it if the end result was a forward grouping similar to the one that Coyle drove alongside Marcus Johansson and Danton Heinen in 2019 — a bottom-six unit with scoring punch and two-way acumen that played a key role in Boston's run all the way to Game 7 of a Stanley Cup Final.

"Are they where they want to be? No," Cassidy said of his new third line ahead of Thursday's matchup against Buffalo. "They're all guys that have been in this league and have produced at some level. So they have higher expectations of themselves to get on the board. I think what we're working on with them the most is getting them comfortable with one another. It's a line that hasn't played a ton together in any capacity.

"Coyle was with Richie at training camp — hasn't seen much of him since. DeBrusk, a little bit with Coyle, in and out a couple of games. So find some chemistry, build your game together and play to your strengths — especially in the offensive zone. I think they're stretched out from one another, need to be closer together, support, have some automatic outs if they're in trouble, where they're going to chip it so we can get a head start and win the race to the next puck, make the next play. And that's where we've sort of got together with them."

But, after struggling to gain traction through the first week-plus, perhaps Cassidy's patience might be finally paying off with one of the final missing pieces on an otherwise suddenly stout Bruins forward corps.



In some respects, Ritchie's third-period tally against the Sabres on Thursday night stood as just another hook landed against an opponent already on the ropes — with the winger's first goal since March 30 pouring it on in what was ultimately a 5-1 victory for Boston at KeyBank Center. 

But in the grand scheme of things, getting all three forwards on that line finally penciled into the stat sheet can go a long way toward building up their confidence and giving Cassidy the four lethal lines that he's so coveted on this roster.

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"We're kind of thrown together ... for a week and a half now and had some ups and downs, I would say, with the line," Ritchie said. "And obviously, it's adjusting to playing with new guys and JD playing a different wing. And tonight was, I think, one of our better games where we were getting on the forecheck and got some pucks back and played a pretty good game."

Thursday's breakthrough was a major step in the right direction for this third line, but it was far from the first sign of life for this combo, despite what previous box scores might otherwise signal. Last Thursday against the Islanders, Boston held a 14-5 edge in shot attempts when the Coyle line was deployed, while DeBrusk landed a team-high seven shots on goal during Tuesday's victory against the Sabres.

However, fair or not, the only true metric by which players are judged on is their contributions on the stat sheet, with Ritchie's tally off of a strong drive into Buffalo ice by Coyle standing as the first sign that this trio might be awakening from its dormancy.

Now, granted, it's not like this line needs to go scorched earth and obliterate the competition down the stretch to prove to Cassidy that they can contribute come the postseason. For as dominant as the Johansson-Coyle-Heinen line was during the 2019 playoffs, they were far from a sure bet going into the postseason — having logged just a little over NINE MINUTES of 5v5 ice time together before jumping headfirst into that first series against Toronto.

Still, given how crucial a potent third line can be in terms of dominating bottom-six matchups and supplementing scoring, Cassidy's concerns will likely be significantly assuaged if Ritchie-Coyle-DeBrusk can, at the very least, show that they can mesh together as a unit.

If Thursday is any indication, they certainly can. And that could make things awfully difficult for any defense looking to slow down a suddenly deep Bruins' forward corps.

"They can be a valuable line for us if they find their chemistry, because each one in their own right is a good individual player," Cassidy said. "We're just gonna allow them the time to find their game and then we'll go from there eventually. If it doesn't happen, then we'll have to go to plan B, but we have some other depth players that have gone in. But we'd like them to find it. Because like I said, I think if they each find their collective games and it works for the trio, then we're going to be even more dangerous."