Head coach Bruce Cassidy loves when Brad Marchand provides the team with a spark, exactly like he did in Tuesday’s 5-4 shootout win over the New Jersey Devils.
He likes when Marchand does it with his stick—which he did with his second period power play goal. He just doesn’t love when he does it with his physicality—which he also did on Tuesday.
And that’s not because Marchand can’t handle the physicalness of a hockey game, his anger comes in the fact that it's not Marchand’s role.
“When you’re a young player in the National Hockey League, you’re given an opportunity to play here, when things go a little bit awry, we cannot rely on Brad Marchand to bring us energy in terms of physicality, or we should not have to, I guess,” Cassidy said. “Brad’s a leader and good for him, he tried to get a spark.”
The Bruins trailed the Devils 3-1 in the second period when Marchand took down Devils’ forward Jesper Bratt with a move you’ll often see on UFC’s Fight Night. The two exchanged some punches in the process.
“But that’s where the [Jeremy] Lauzons can make up for…a [Connor] Clifton, a [Jakub] Zboril, a [Karson] Kuhlman, a [Zach] Senyshyn, a [Trent] Frederic, a [Anton] Blidh. We need those guys to sort of turn the tide of the game with some physicality, some energy, something to get the bench excited, the crowd excited, and I’ll put that with the D, as well,” said Cassidy.
The Bruins would go on to score three of the next four goals—which included Marchand’s power play goal—before earning the extra point in the shootout.
Even on a night where the Bruins weren’t at their best, and needed to do whatever it took to claw their way back into the game and earn points against a Devils team they’ve struggled with this season, Cassidy made sure he let his team know who wasn’t doing their job.
“That was a bit of the lesson and the messaging tonight in the second-period intermission, kind of spelling out a role for certain players,” said Cassidy. “We got through it, but I’m not sure it’s going to work against Pittsburgh (on Thursday) so hopefully it’s a one-and-done.”
It wasn’t the cleanest of nights for the Bruins, as mistakes were aplenty, especially by their younger players.
Lauzon’s first period pass that led to Miles Wood’s first period goal is one Cassidy does not want to see.
“Our first touch tonight was probably as poor as it’s been all year and it led to some goals against. If you’re going to go up in the middle of the ice in the National Hockey League, you’ve gotta be clean. You need to be on the tape, need to be assertive, you need to be sure,” said Cassidy.
“Because if you’re not clean, you can get somebody hurt—for example Lauzon up to Bergy, it’s in his feet. It’s a slow roller—that’s a dangerous hockey play.
It’s been a struggle for them for much of the year, but led by David Krejci, the Bruins may have finally found themselves a second line.
In the 115:04 of five-on-five ice time Nick Ritchie, David Krejci and Craig Smith have skated together, the Bruins have the advantage in:
Shot attempts: 129-96
Shots on goal: 76-45
Goals: 7-2
Scoring chances: 52-40
High-danger scoring chances: 22-11
The trio combined for a goal and six assists Tuesday night.
"They're huge," Marchand said of the second line. "[Krejci] has dominated this league for a long time. He's probably the most poised player in the league. It's incredible how he slows it down and they're starting to find chemistry.”
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