Joakim Nordstrom leads Bruins’ gritty fourth line against Devils

Joakim Nordstrom matches the unglamorous requirements of a fourth-line left wing in the Bruins system.

Nordstrom added a rare measure of glory to his nightly grind by scoring the Bruins’ second goal of the game in Saturday night’s 3-0 victory over the New Jersey Devils in the home opener at the Garden.

Nordstrom added two hits and a blocked shot to his tally and was awarded the game’s third star for his overall performance.

“It is always nice first one early on and get that out of the way,” Nordstrom said. “I thought we played well as a line and as a team because it was a tough game.

“The Devils played well to so we are happy with the two points.”

Nordstrom missed most of training camp recovering from offseason foot surgery that kept him off the fourth line in Bruins’ three road wins at the Stars, Coyotes and Golden Knights.

He played 11:05 minutes and finished with three shots and two hits in the Bruins’ 4-2 loss Thursday night at Colorado. Nordstrom felt better about himself and the way he complemented his line mates, center Sean Kuraly and right wing Chris Wagner, against the Devils.

“We know we have each other and we are still finding each other too,” Nordstrom said. “Offensively today was better than (Colorado) and we build on that.”

The Bruins were commanding the puck in the Devils’ end when Nordstrom finished a designed sequence set in motion by his mates. Kuraly did his part by winning a faceoff, controlling a rebound and directed the puck to Wagner below the left circle. Wagner attracted the attention of New Jersey goalie Cory Schneider, who played collegiately at Boston College.

Wagner feinted toward the net before slipping the puck through the low slot to Nordstrom, who found the exposed half of the Devils’ goal with a routine flick of the wrist.

“What went right is we went to good spots and we won the puck battle twice if I’m not mistaken,” Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. “The shot gets by their first layer and that’s the first thing and in today’s game its tough to get it all the way to the goal off a set play.

“We still had a high forward and a net presence and a guy off the net and their spacing was good, they weren’t tripping over on another. Wags ends up getting the last touch to Nordy and they lose coverage and we take advantage of it.”

Nordstrom logged 13:15 of ice time that included 2:07 on the Bruins’ dominant penalty kill that successfully dismantled four Devils’ power plays.

“They did what they typically do which is to play against good players, manage the puck, check well to get it back and block shots and kill penalties,” Cassidy said.

“They were able to chip in offensively and I think that picks up everybody on the team when they get rewarded. They do a lot of the grunt work and rarely see the power play. So, when they get opportunities to finish it picks up our team.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2Mb6ICD