Boston Bruins: Strong Start To The Bruce Cassidy Era
The Bruce Cassidy era had a strong start on Thursday night. The Bruins beat the San Jose Sharks 6-3.
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The Boston Bruins took to the ice with a new head coach on Thursday. Bruce Cassidy took over for Claude Julien, who was released from his duties on Tuesday by Don Sweeney. Cassidy told the media on Tuesday that he would be changing the pace of Bruins hockey. From what we saw on Thursday night, he wasn’t lying.
The Bruins were taking on the San Jose Sharks, who had gone 7-1-2 in their last 10 games. The Bruins came out quickly, scoring their first goal in the first 60 seconds of the game. The Bruins played aggressive, offensive-minded hockey, and were able to beat San Jose 6-3.
“I liked our start in terms of scoring first,” shared the new Bruins head coach with the media after the game (according to the Boston Bruins website.) “I liked that we got pucks to the dirty area offensively, and we were willing to go there…I liked our resiliency when we got scored on. We didn’t get down, we came back and just kept playing. And I liked that we reestablished some urgency in this building.
“There’s a whole list of things we can go down, but those I guess are the things that come to mind.”
Was it a perfect game? No. The Bruins are still having problems in the defensive zone. Those problems were aggravated by the absence of Bruins captain Zdeno Chara, who has been battling illness.
It was an important win for the Black and Gold. The Bruins victory put them back in the playoff mix. They’re now holding onto the final wild card spot in the East. The Bruins can use this win to finally build some momentum going into the final quarter of the season.
For his part, Cassidy was pleased with the team. He was also happy to get his first win as the head coach of the Boston Bruins.
“I feel great,” said Cassidy. “It’s been a busy two or three days…I’ll tell you this, I’m going to sleep well tonight, but tomorrow’s a new day. We’ll get back to work, and see if we can build on this one. But I mean, yeah, who doesn’t enjoy a win?”
Bruce Cassidy aims for win number two when the Vancouver Canucks show up for some matinee action on Saturday.