Bruins’ weekly 3 stars: The Bruce Cassidy era begins
COMMENTARY
This past week was an interesting one for the Boston Bruins. It started with an ugly 6-5 loss Saturday at TD Garden to the Toronto Maple Leafs, followed by the ill-timed firing of Claude Julien and was capped off by an impressive 6-3 victory over the San Jose Sharks to kick off the Bruce Cassidy era.
Saturday’s loss to the Maple Leafs was the last straw for Bruins management as on Tuesday, they announced that Julien has been relived of his duties as head coach. The ensuing press conference that ran during the Patriots’ Super Bowl parade caused a PR nightmare.
With Cassidy installed as interim head coach, the Bruins came out with one of their most inspired efforts Thursday night, defeating the Sharks 6-3 behind a half empty TD Garden thanks to the day’s blizzard.
Let’s take a look at this week’s three stars:
Bruce Cassidy
Making his Bruins coaching debut on Thursday night, Cassidy could not have asked for a better performance from his team. The Bruins were solid for 60 minutes in their 6-3 triumph. The B’s were quicker getting the puck out of their own zone, their defensemen were more involved offensively and the team was much more patient with its shot selection.
Cassidy tinkered with the lines a bit as well and the initial moves paid dividends. Moving David Backes to the top line alongside Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron paid off immediately as he tallied the game’s first goal just 52 seconds in.
With the man advantage, the top unit of Bergeron, Marchand, Ryan Spooner, David Pastrnak and Torey Krug dominated play. They created space with puck movement and used it for key scoring chances. Thanks to Pastrnak’s two power-play strikes, the Bruins are now nine for their last 21 with the man advantage.
David Backes
The play of Backes has been talked about all season long, and even more so in the days following the firing of Julien. For his part, Backes has held himself accountable, admitting he hasn’t played as well as he liked. On Thursday night, Backes was a whole new player, notching three points on a goal and two assists.
“I was able to put that in and the rest of the game started to slow down for me. I stopped squeezing my stick into a bunch of shrapnel out there and able to capitalize,” Backes told the media Thursday in regards to his first-period tally.
“Then, later in the period, I get a shot from the point, able to get a good tip on it and Bergy slams it home. All of the sudden, you start to say, we’re going to make a difference here tonight, and the bad thoughts turn into good thoughts and you start doing good things out there without being a liability.”
David Pastrnak
Pastrnak’s season has been a bit of a roller coaster. After a hot start in the season’s first 30 games, he hit a bit of a wall and scoring goals seemed a difficult process for him. But things seem to be turning the corner once again for the talented Czech winger.
Pastrnak has 10 points in his last five games including back-to-back games with two goals. The 20-year-old is now tied with Brad Marchand for the team lead in goals with 24.
If Backes can find a way to click with Marchand and Bergeron, and Pastrnak can get himself and the second line going again, the Bruins can become a dangerous team once again.
