Bruins notebook: Tough guy Jeffrey Viel promoted from Providence

While the Bruins’ roster may be incomplete, it has become clear that there is more to the B’s squandering points against teams like the St. Louis Blues than just a missing second line right wing.

The B’s esprit de corps, long a strong suit, has clearly been lacking at times. They look fine one period then get it taken to them the next.

Enter Jeffrey Viel.

The 27-year-old veteran – he of the eight 100-plus penalty minute seasons in junior hockey, the AHL and NHL – was called up on Monday morning by the B’s and inserted into the lineup for their game against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

There were other players who could have been promoted. Marc McLaughlin has a five-game goal streak in Providence, for instance, and there is a constant cry from the fandom to bring up 2021 first round pick Fabian Lysell. But the B’s were looking for something beyond goalscoring, even though that’s an area that needs shoring up as well.

It was clear that the B’s were hoping to utilize the whole Jeffrey Viel experience, so much so that it ignites the rest of the skaters.

“We’re hoping that that’s going to happen, that it beings more energy on our bench,” said coach Jim Montgomery. “The energy from someone who comes in and has a smile on their face, and it’s like Christmas morning and the kid’s walking in, that’s infectious. If you come back to the bench and you’re slumped over like that, what do you think it does to you? Your kid comes home and he looks like the dog died. How does it make you feel? You go ‘What’s wrong?’ You’re kid comes home and he’s bouncing off the wall about how he scored eight points in his basketball game at recess. Yeah, tell me about the four hoops! It’s infectious. That’s what we need.”

Captain Brad Marchand agreed that the energy that a player with the skill set of a Viel can have positive ripple effects.

“Guys with energy and emotion are things you can build on and thrive on,” said Marchand. “They have the ability to change the course of the game in a shift. It’s great to have that kind of energy and emotion in the room.”

The 27-year-old Viel was set to make his Bruin debut, but he’s no newbie. He played 49 games for the San Jose Sharks over the course of three seasons and has played 295 AHL games. He’s got two goals and two assists in 14 games with Providence.

While the B’s want him to bring energy and enthusiasm, it would not behoove him to take any bad penalties, especially with the difficulty the B’s have had in killing them off.

“That’s been my job pretty much my whole career. I try to walk that line. Obviously I want to bring a lot of energy so that’s what I’m going to try to do,” said Viel, who had 17-23-40 totals last season with the Manitoba Moose (AHL). “Sometimes it’s tough. Sometimes you go over the line. You try to not do that as much as possible.”

Growing up in the Montreal area, he got a good dose of the now-dormant Bruins-Canadiens rivalry. He was a fan of Les Glorieux, of course, but his skill set drew him to the Black and Gold.

“I was a Canadiens fan but my style of play and the game — I watched a lot of Bruins, too, growing up. Obviously, it was a big rivalry. In a sense, I’ve always been a fan of the Bruins, too, because I kind of model my game off of the culture here,” said Viel.

He was a fan of his new teammate, Marchand, as well as Patrice Bergeron, who played for the same junior team in Acadie-Bathurst, and Zdeno Chara. But current assistant coach Chris Kelly’s game really spoke to him.

“I remember watching him and the way he worked. He was in a sense an inspiration for me growing up and learning the pro game,” said Viel….

Third periods have not been great for the Bruins. They were being outscored 19-9 and, at the Garden, the problem is especially acute. They have just one third period goal at home – and that came all the way back in the first home win against the Canadiens.

“We just have to have a killer instinct. We can’t be sitting back. We’re waiting for teams to come at us in the third instead of having that killer instinct where you go out and try and finish games,” said Marchand. “It’s definitely an area we need to be better at. We need to be able to put games away in the third period. Teams are too good. They’re going to push and they’re going to come out in the third and be good when they’re down. You have to know that and be prepared for it and be able to elevate.”…

Mark Kastelic, who suffered a lower body injury on Saturday, was not available for Monday’s game but Montgomery said that there’s hope for Thursday’s game against Utah.

With Viel up, Cole Koepke was a healthy scratch for the first time this season.

Andrew Peeke, who suffered an upper body injury in Toronto on November 5, was cleared to return against his former team. Parker Wotherspoon was set to be the scratch on the back end…

After toying with going back with Joonas Korpisalo for a second straight, Montgomery announced in the morning that Jeremy Swayman, who allowed a career-high seven goals in Dallas, was getting the net against Columbus.

 

 

 

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/G6sjnEl