In midst of their best stretch of season, Bruins’ 4th line takes a hit as Tomas Nosek enters COVID-19 protocols

The Bruins have now won three games in a row — and the play of their checking unit has played a big part in the club’s resurgence so far in the new year. 

Boston’s strong play has been headlined by more secondary scoring sprouting up across the depth chart — with just two of the 14 goals that the B’s have tallied over the last three games coming from the usual suspects in Patrice Bergeron, David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand.

And even though the job description of Boston’s fourth line isn’t headlined by regularly lighting the lamp, the B’s have had multiple north-south skaters capitalize on their chances over the last few days, putting a slumping offense back on track. 

So, as far as timing goes, it’s a brutal development for the B’s in that they’ll be without their man in the middle of that grouping for the time being — just a day after the trio put together arguably their best performance of the 2021-22 campaign so far.

For the second straight day, the Bruins announced that another player was placed in COVID-19 protocols — with Tomas Nosek getting put on the shelf just ahead of Wednesday’s practice at Warrior Ice Arena.

The Bruins have had 14 total players land in COVID-19 protocols since mid-December, with Nosek joining Jake DeBrusk and Karson Kuhlman as forwards that are still stuck in isolation.

Much as we noted with DeBrusk entering protocols on Tuesday, Nosek might only miss a few games this week — with the NHL cutting down the isolation period from 10 days to five.

Still, it’s an unfortunate setback for a guy in Nosek that seemed — like plenty of other B’s forwards — to be settling into a groove coming out of the holiday break and league shutdown. 

Over his last three games, Nosek has lit the lamp and posted three total points (1 G, 2 A) while winning 58.3% of his faceoffs. 

Even though the B’s have a contingency plan in place with Trent Frederic shifting over to center and a straight-line bruiser in Anton Blidh slotting back into the lineup for the time being, Bruce Cassidy noted that Nosek’s ability to win draws (53.6% this season) makes him a valuable asset — especially considering plenty of those faceoffs are set in Boston’s own zone. 

“He's real good there,” Cassidy said of Nosek’s faceoff skill. “It's an area where we'd like to see Freddy continue to work on after practice. He was playing center for a stretch there, Freddy. So it shouldn't be foreign to him, but it's an area that if he's going to build his game and help teams win, that's an area when you have a lefty that can help win a draw. He can go out there with Nose, especially if they're playing on the same line ... if one gets thrown out, you're comfortable with the other.

“So those are some areas that Nose has done a real good job for us in that D-zone. Like (Sean) Kuraly did for years. We will miss him in those situations. And his game's come alive a little bit offensively lately. So it's too bad because when those guys get on a roll and start feeling it — it's good for the team.” 

Even with Nosek out of commission for at least a few days, there still should be some renewed optimism about the state of Boston’s fourth line — at least as it pertains to a few regulars adhering to the principles that make for an effective checking crew.

Yes, both Curtis Lazar and Frederic’s goals during Tuesday’s 5-3 win over the Devils on Tuesday was a byproduct of some fortuitous puck luck and some shoddy netminding by MacKenzie Blackwood.

But beyond the tangible production that the B’s have been able to secure from that group, the fourth line has also been checking off the other boxes in terms of their regular assignments — namely, limiting the chances that the opposition is generating down the other end of the ice. 

Yes, the Bruins outscored the Devils, 2-0, in the 9:39 of ice time that Frederic-Nosek-Lazar logged on Tuesday, but they also completely clamped down on New Jersey in their own zone — with the Devils only landing one shot on goal over that extended amount of ice time. 

A lot of that was the result of Boston controlling play and maintaining possession of the puck — with guys like Frederic extending O-zone time by separating Devils skaters from the biscuit with a hit or winning footraces on the forecheck.

It ain’t rocket science, but continuing to string together hard-working shifts like that will be key to keeping that fourth line engaged — regardless of the personnel making up that unit. 

“Sometimes a blue-collar game with the fourth line, those are the ones that some nights go in for you," Cassidy said. "So good for them to recognize that — getting it to the net. Got a little confidence I think in Detroit too, that line — Freddy gets his first, Nose plays well and scores a goal, hadn't in a while. And both good goals — getting to the inside ice and again (Tuesday) they built off that and as a coach, you try to reward them. 

“I thought they were our best line (Tuesday) — so tried to get them out there a lot as much as possible without losing the other guys and I think they recognize that, ‘Hey this is the night for us to contribute in an offensive fashion, not just killing penalties and being physical and doing some of the dirty work’. 

“So they got a little bit of that part of the game that they all had somewhere along the line in their career — but on most nights have to contribute in other ways. So good to see it. I think good teams need it. Not every night, but secondary scoring (Tuesday) was a big thing for us and they were a big reason why we won the hockey game.”