Bruins notebook: Erik Haula is holding down the middle

When Erik Haula was dropped between Taylor Hall and David Pastrnak, many Bruins observers had the same feeling.

OK, he’ll do. For now.

Haula, in his first year with the Bruins after signing a two-year deal, had not come close to finding his niche with his new team at that time. He’d bounced around the lineup and was even healthy scratched for a game in November. Instead of the solution at second-line center, he seemed more like a placeholder until the B’s got some outside help at the trade deadline.

But a funny thing happened. Haula found his game. And in so doing, he helped to save the B’s season.

Ever since the second line was formed on Jan. 1, the B’s have been one of he best teams in the league, going 26-8-3 and clawing their up the Atlantic Division standings, jumping over the Tampa Bay Lightning with their win over the Bolts on Thursday.

And increasingly, Haula has been right in the mix. Of his 8-22-30 totals this season, 7-19-26 have come in the new year. He’s picked up five helpers in the last two games.

Haula has been around long enough to know that when coach Bruce Cassidy told him of his plans for the line, this was his opportunity. He has seized it.

“I’ve been in the same exact situation before in my career with Vegas,” said Haula on Friday. “And it was at the point for me to take that spot, take the role, be at my best. Most importantly, it’s nice to know that Taylor and David like to play with me and that builds confidence as well.”

Cassidy will readily admit that he wasn’t sure how Haula would work out there. Just how long the Finn’s rope would have been if he’d struggled there is anyone’s guess at this point, but it was something of an audition.

But with the exception of the time he flipped Haula with Tomas Nosek, Cassidy has had little reason to make a move. Cassidy feels that when he was playing further down the lineup, Haula tried too much to be physical but is now more focused on his skating, which has worked for him..

“We’re new to each other and when he sat out in November, he was up front. He didn’t think he was playing his best hockey. Did he want to sit out? No. But he said ‘When I go back in, I get it. I’ll be better.’ And I think he’s really put an emphasis on moving his feet and playing to his strength, playing a 200-foot game and all the little things required to play center ice in our system. Close quicker in the D-zone, activate at the right time, support from underneath instead of leaving the zone early. All those little things that center icemen have to do for us,” said Cassidy. “And I think he’s taken it to heart. He’s always been a guy who’s up front when we’ve talked to him. He’ll be honest. Just like when he thinks he’s playing well, he’ll tell me. And I’m OK with that. We don’t see everything 100 percent perfect, so it’s good to have those conversations. But he recognized he needed to be better, and he has been. Credit to him. We needed it. It’s made our team a lot better, let’s face it.”

The road for the line has not been bump-free, and that’s where the chemistry and off-ice communication have come in. The trio had not scored much 5-on-5 in recent games prior to Thursday’s win (Haula’s two assists in Montreal came with Brad Marchand after Marchand came out of the penalty box and then in OT) and they wanted to rectify that with some video work before the game. They did. Haula’s first assist was a beautiful bank pass to Pastrnak and the helper on the game-winner was a result of a him winning puck battle with Anthony Cirelli, not exactly a soft or irresponsible player.

“The area of focus for us was forechecking, just being more connected and having that triangle offense in the offensive zone,” said Haula. “Those were the key points we were looking at. I thought we were better (Thursday). And it showed.”

Bergeron probable for Saturday

Patrice Bergeron, who missed his fourth straight game on Thursday with an elbow infection, practiced on Friday and Cassidy is hopeful he’ll be cleared for Saturday’s matinee against the Islanders. He’ll certainly help the power-play, which went 0-for-5 against the Lightning. As well as Charlie Coyle has played of late, Cassidy pointed out much of Coyle’s power-play work has been at net front while Bergeron has just about perfected the bumper position.

“And at the end of the day, we’ve got to manage the pucks better,” said Cassidy. “Be a little more consistent on our entries with our structure. If we don’t get in on the first time, it’s like we’re all going to go our own way. I’d like to see us settle down and do it as a group the second time, so it doesn’t snowball. And that’s what happened.”

Brown arrives

Josh Brown, obtained from Ottawa on Monday, made his Bruins’ practice debut on Friday. A big, imposing presence who is not afraid to mix it up, Brown is expected to get in the lineup later next week. He’s crossed paths with Haula in Florida, Mike Reilly in Ottawa and Jack Studnicka in their junior days in Ottawa.

“Yeah, there are a couple of connections but mostly it’s all new faces – or maybe guys who don’t like me from my battles in Providence and Springfield back in the day,” joked Brown, who once threw down with Nick Foligno when Brown was a Panther and Foligno was in Columbus.

Brown also blew up Trent Frederic with a hellacious hit earlier this season.

“I think we smoothed it out. I think we’re OK. I owe him a dinner or something,” said Brown. …

Linus Ullmark will get the start against the Islanders, who have beaten the B’s in their previous two games.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/dpzDbLG