Bruins’ weekly 3 stars: Stafford loan paying off
COMMENTARY
With a little more than three weeks remaining in the regular season, the Boston Bruins are still fighting for their playoff lives. Entering their three-game trip to Western Canada, the Bruins stand just two points ahead of the Maple Leafs — who hold the final wild card spot in the East — for third place in the Atlantic Division.
The good news for the Bruins? They haven’t lost two in a row under interim coach Bruce Cassidy since he took over for Claude Julien.
Fourteen games remain in the regular season for the Black and Gold with pivotal contests against the Leafs, Islanders and two more versus the Senators on the horizon. It’s safe to say that these three stars from this week are going to be key cogs in the Bruins’ quest to return to the postseason after a two-year absence.
Here’s a look at the top three Bruins performers from this past week:
Drew Stafford
Don Sweeney may have been on to something here.
Seen as a minor trade at the deadline, the Bruins sent a conditional sixth-round pick to the Jets to acquire Drew Stafford. In the final year of his contract, it’s unknown whether Stafford fits into the long-term plans. In his brief tenure in Boston, he’s already making an impact.
The former Sabres power forward has four points in as many games with his new club, which included his first two goals as a Bruin — including Saturday’s game-winner against the Flyers.
With Ryan Spooner out indefinitely under the NHL’s concussion protocol, Stafford jumped from his third line spot at right wing to the opposite wing on the second line with David Krejci and David Pastrnak. His versatility gives Cassidy and company plenty of options in any situation, especially given the injuries to Spooner and Tim Schaller (lower body).
“We’ve wanted to try him on both sides at some point it just probably happened sooner than we thought. But at the end of the day it’s something we wanted to see and it’s something that we will probably continue to tinker with to be completely honest with you,” Cassidy said after Wednesday’s 6-1 victory over Detroit. “Obviously they were a good line tonight, I don’t want to get ahead of myself for Saturday but I’m sure we’ll keep them together all things being equal. But it’s nice to know he can move around.”
Brad Marchand
His nose for the dirty areas and edgy style of play has been well-documented. Over the last two years, however, his skillset has been a benefit and his liability factor has dropped off significantly.
A year removed from tallying a career-high 37 goals, Marchand is on pace to achieve that mark. Producing at a point per game pace, Marchand’s 70 points is already nine points better than his career mark that he set last season.
His production over the last two years has put Marchand into the discussion as one of the NHL’s elite players.
“It would be a huge accomplishment. It doesn’t happen very often but still a long ways away from that,” Marchand said about potentially being a point per game player by the end of the regular season.
“I mean, I’ve gone 15 games without a goal so that could be the rest of the year, hopefully that doesn’t happen. Hopefully with the way that our team’s playing right now and guys stepping up every night, we’re not going to need to rely on that. The big thing for our team with why we’ve been winning lately is that we’ve had a ton of secondary scoring, the D [defense] are pitching in a ton right now and it’s great that everyone’s having success and hopefully we can continue that.
David Krejci
From the young players to the active blue-liners, many Bruins have benefited from the mid-season coaching change. David Krejci is another Bruin included in that bunch.
In 13 games under Cassidy, Krejci is averaging nearly a point per game. His most recent three-point effort Wednesday night against Detroit (two goals, one assist) snapped a three-game scoring drought, which is quite surprising given his production of late.
Krejci’s history of injuries are well documented, but this year has been an exception for the 30-year-old, who had surgery on his hip during the offseason. Krejci is one of five Bruins — along with Marchand, Torey Krug, Dominic Moore and Brandon Carlo — to play in all 68 games this year. A healthy and productive Krejci can only help the Bruins in the long run.
