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Danton Heinen earning himself a top-six role

November 3, 2019, 11:57 AM ET [3 Comments]
Anthony Travalgia
Boston Bruins Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
As one of the Bruins best defensive forwards, getting Heinen going from an offensive standpoint would be beneficial to a Bruins offense that struggles with finding consistent secondary scoring.

Heinen’s offensive game took a step forward Saturday night.

Starting the night on a line with David Krejci and Jake DeBrusk, Heinen contributed offensively with a goal and an assist.

“Heinen’s [goal] was a good — he won a battle on the wall. Things we’ve asked Danton to do better this year is be heavier on pucks and battles. I thought he was tonight. He can do a lot of those things. We know he can defend well, we know he can make plays in space, he can contribute here and there on special teams,” said head coach Bruce Cassidy.

Heinen’s goal was one he really earned. It started with a strong play on the puck in the neutral zone to win a puck battle, and it ended with his third goal of the season.





“Nice to see him win a puck battle on the wall because, you saw it, once he gets on open ice he tends to be able to find the right areas to go to, and good for him,” added Cassidy.”

Later in the game, Heinen came in as the second layer on the forecheck, finishing the job DeBrusk started. Breaking up the play allowed DeBrusk to find open space, and Heinen fed him for his second goal of the season.



“I don’t think I started as well as I would have liked, took a little bit to get my legs into it. But after I started to kind of get engaged, win my battles, it started to go a little bit better,” said Heinen. “I kind of missed the first puck and would have liked to have been a little cleaner. But then I’m just working to fix my mistake and get to the net. Jake made a great play on that and I don’t score unless he does that, so it was great.”

With Karson Kuhlman out of the lineup with a leg injury, the door has opened for Heinen to see a top-six role.

He’s making the most of it so far.

A scary moment for Scott Sabourin

At real time, it looked like the type of hit you see 100 times during any NHL game. David Backes sending the puck up ice, Scott Sabourin coming in to finish his hit and the play continues.

But this one was no ordinary hit. The heads of Sabourin and Backes came together on the hit, immediately causing Sabourin to lose consciousness. To make matters worse, Sabourin was unable to brace himself as his open face hit the TD Garden ice. Backes quickly called for help as the fear on Backes' face said it all.



It took over 10 minutes to safely secure and carry Sabourin out on a stretcher. A thumbs up from Sabourin as he left the ice was a welcoming sight to a very quiet TD Garden crowd.

With Sabourin in the process of being transferred to a local hospital, the Bruins and Senators had to shake off their emotions and get back to the game in front of them.

“We’re trying to say all the buzzwords but listen, both teams I think are a little bit off, a little bit shaken,” Cassidy said. “Then once you get into the heat of the battle, you sort of get back into it.”

Both teams got back into with the Bruins eventually winning 5-2.

Once Sabourin left the ice, Backes took himself back into the Bruins locker room and did not return. Cassidy did not have much of an update on Backes who the Bruins say left the game with an upper-body injury.

“I haven’t talked to him, obviously left, upper-body injury, can probably do the math on that one,” said Cassidy. “So we’ll see tomorrow, probably have a better idea on the mental part of it.”

Sabourin took to Instagram Sunday morning to update his status.

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