Bruins need more from everyone

The good news is that the injury suffered by the Bruins’ top defenseman Charlie McAvoy on Thursday night at the Garden does not appear to be serious and is not a head injury, said coach Jim Montgomery. Montgomery, in fact, did not rule out McAvoy for Saturday’s matinee against the upstart Arizona Coyotes. He’s “hopeful,” in fact, that McAvoy can play.

That is a very promising development after McAvoy left the game after appearing dazed from J.J. Peterka’s reverse hit.

But what remained unsettling is that the B’s were well on their way to delivering the stinker before McAvoy got hut, and it appeared to be a direct carryover from the previous day’s lethargic practice.

It is no coincidence that that practice was one that was missing captain Brad Marchand, who was back home in Nova Scotia to attend the funeral of his grandmother. Marchand has long been a catalyst to ignite the B’s, whether it was in a game or in a lifeless practice. That was true long before the “C” was put on his chest.

But he’s never had to do it by himself, and some nights it feels as though the B’s are lacking in the esprit de corps department. Not on every night, mind you. They’ve still won 17 out of 25 games. But the losses in which it feels like they wouldn’t/couldn’t beat anybody/anywhere – the L to Buffalo, the one in Columbus, the Black Friday defeat to Detroit – are starting to accumulate.

Simply put, they need more guys to drag the team into the fight, as the hockey saying goes.

“That’s why he’s our captain. And we do (need that). That’s something that we’ve talked. We need more energy, and it’s a collective energy,” said Montgomery after Friday’s practice. “I don’t personally love the penalty that Marchand takes (in the third period), but he’ trying to drag the team into the fight. A little more of that earlier in the game from a lot of people makes a difference. I had guests at the game (Thursday) and they were surprised at the lack of energy in the building. I said ‘We didn’t give them any reason to have energy.’”

The key losses from last season’s roster are obvious and what most people rightfully focus on – the three centermen, including two foundational players in Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci. Underrated are the losses of players like Nick Foligno, who could keep teammates focused in both game days and off days, and Connor Clifton, who was capable of energizing the team and Garden crowd with a well-timed hit.

The B’s were too tight against the cap to afford to keep those players, so the charge of energy is going to have to come from different sources. It will be a challenge. They currently have three rookies in the lineup (Matt Poitras, John Beecher, Mason Lohrei) who are trying to just establish themselves as NHLers. There are couple of seasoned veterans who are on one-year deals in their first years with the B’s (James van Riemsdyk, Kevin Shattenkirk). And they have an important player in a contract year who is struggling to find his scoring (Jake DeBrusk).

But while it may be a transitional year with the way the roster is constructed, this team has proven already that it beat good teams (Los Angeles, Dallas, Florida). They just need more players tending the culture that’s been re-built over the last 15-plus years on a more regular basis.

“I think we’re all starting to learn as leaders. I wasn’t here last year, but when you have a veteran team, if you have a bad practice like that (they had on Wednesday), guys know how to correct themselves and get ready in a game. Maybe we have some younger guys here where maybe we need to say ‘Listen, that wasn’t good enough. Let’s make sure we’re sharp tomorrow,’” said Shattenkirk. “Again, it’s a learning experience for everyone. I think us as leaders…(know) that it can’t all come from Brad. It’s got to be from us setting the example and then not being afraid to voice our opinions as well.”

There was a team meeting on Friday before the players took to the ice for what Shattenkirk termed an “awesome” practice at Warrior Ice Arena.

What was the message to the team?

“It’s more about the standard that we expect here,” said Montgomery. “We know we’re going to lose games, but you don’t want to lose because of a listless effort. That’s the standard that we’re not going to accept. We just talk about it openly and honestly and we move forward.”….

Jeremy Swayman, who was sick on Thursday and has to stay away from the team, practiced on Friday and Montgomery said he could be an option for Saturday’s game….

Without McAvoy practicing on Friday, the defensive pairings were Hampus Lindholm-Ian Mitchell, Matt Grzelcyk-Brandon Carlo and Lohrei-Shattenkirk.

Montgomery also loaded up on a top line with Marchand, Pavel Zacha and David Pastrnak again.

“I’ve always liked that line. We’re going back to it just because we’re looking for a spark, right? Didn’t like the last little while with the offense that we generated. Part of the reason we split that line up was the matchups of who we were playing against,” said Montgomery.

 

 

 

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/KS5bDCl