If the 2021-22 Bruins are going to be playing meaningful hockey into the early summer, it’s safe to assume Taylor Hall will be one of the primary conductors pacing Boston’s playoff push.
With David Krejci lofting saucer feeds and orchestrating scoring chances back home in his native Czech Republic, the onus has fallen on Hall to fuel the furnace on Boston’s revamped second line — with the 29-year-old shoving coal into the B’s engine via his potent mix of straight-line speed and playmaking talent.
At least, such was the expectation entering this season — especially after Boston handed the former Hart Trophy winner a four-year, $24-million contract this summer.
So far, Hall’s tenure in Boston — from a midseason sojourn to a more permanent stay — has exceeded all expectations for both player and team.
Next to Krejci, Hall helped transform Boston’s second line into a 5v5 leviathan for extended stretches in April and May. And even though a reshuffled line with Charlie Coyle in the middle has yet to take off this season, the production has still been there for Hall — who ranks fourth on the B’s with seven points over 10 games.
Add for Hall, four more years in Boston represented a much-needed departure from previous stops over his 12-year NHL career — where he was either saddled with unattainable goals as a perceived franchise savior or mired in losing environments.
But thriving in an environment like Boston requires a whole lot more than individual skill and a selfless mindset out on the ice.
Thick skin is also a necessity — and not just for when thousands of black-and-gold sweaters are raining down a cacophony of groans and boos from the stands.
Rather, the most biting criticism often comes from within the Bruins’ own ranks — especially when the player in question isn’t pulling on the same rope.
Such was the reason why Hall — with his club clinging to a one-goal lead in the closing minutes of Tuesday’s tilt with the Senators — found himself glued to Boston’s bench during those crucial crunch-time sequences.
In total, Hall logged a whopping 38 seconds of ice time over the final 8:18 of regulation in Boston’s eventual 3-2 win over the Sens.
And while Hall isn’t necessarily the first option that Bruce Cassidy turns to when the opposition pulls its goalie in search of a do-or-die equalizer — it was awfully telling when Jake DeBrusk earned a steady amount of reps with both Coyle and Craig Smith in Boston’s top-six unit during the closing minutes of 5v5 action.
It was far from a coincidence.
“Turnovers at the blue line when you have the lead in the third,” Cassidy said of the reasoning for Hall’s benching. “We’re all trying to buy in to play behind their defense unless you have a free pass to get through there. So it’s just winning hockey. You want to play late in games you’ve got to play winning hockey. Doesn’t matter who you are on the team and he got away from that.”
The infraction that likely sealed Hall’s fate in Cassidy’s doghouse for the night came at 11:42 in the final frame — with Hall banished to the sin bin for a hooking penalty in the offensive zone.
But it was far from the only blemish on Hall’s record Tuesday.
Even though 60-minute efforts have been hard to come by with this B’s club in the early going, sluggish starts have usually not been the norm — with the trouble usually starting as Boston starts to take its foot off the gas.
But the script was flipped against the Senators, with Boston gradually waking from its sleepwalking stupor after relinquishing a goal just 1:14 into the contest. Hall, unfortunately, served as the conduit that helped Zach Sandord light the lamp before many B’s fans had found their seats.
In the midst of an attempted breakout, Hall lofted an ill-advised pass into no-man’s land — where it was eventually scooped up by Ottawa captain Brady Tkachuk. Handed a prime scoring chance in Grade-A ice, Tkachuk’s snapped off a shot that ricocheted off of Jeremy Swayman’s pads before eventually settling on Sanford’s stick for an easy putback.
By the end of the evening, Hall — who did record a secondary helper on Derek Forbort’s second-period strike — logged a season-low 11:26 of ice time.
Of course, the sting of Cassidy’s on-ice discipline and postgame comments will likely subside in short order, especially for a refreshingly candid player like Hall.
Hockey is often best characterized as a game of mistakes, and even the top players in this game will close out an 82-game season with a slew of clunkers and other ugly outings.
One game does not define a season, nor does a late-game benching skew the Bruins’ high hopes for what Hall can offer this club down the road.
Just three days prior, Hall donned an "A" on his sweater for the first time with the Bruins, a testament to the veteran's growing presence in a locker room already anchored by both established leaders like Patrice Bergeron and a growing wave of younger regulars like Brandon Carlo and Charlie McAvoy.
Hall made good on his new designation with a strong showing on the ice, including a power-play tally against the Maple Leafs.
That's the Hall the Bruins signed this past summer — and the one they need moving forward.
"Taylor loves to work, he's on the ice a lot. He's working on his game. I think he's hard on himself," Cassidy said of Hall on Saturday. "That's whenever we're trying to say, 'Hey - it's not the end of the world if it's a bad period, or something goes wrong.' And this is how we play here. Just keep pushing, keep pushing, keep the puck out of our net, help the team win however you can."
