Daniel Paille has been one of the fastest members of the Boston Bruins these last few seasons. He’s been outstanding when it comes to corralling other players, and is well known for getting solid breakaways. The down side of Paille’s game was his inability to finish a play by getting a puck in the net. Paille had just a 2.4% shot percentage through the first two-thirds of the season. With just one goal in his first fifty-seven games, it seemed like Daniel Paille’s time in Boston was over.
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There weren’t many options for the Bruins. The Bruins needed their fourth line to find that third dimension to their game. The problem for the Bruins was that the fourth line wasn’t having any solid structure to it. Players were being moved up and down, and the collective amount of injuries among the Black and Gold meant that the line was going to be in flux for the foreseeable future.
So Claude Julien and Peter Chiarelli made some choices that helped the fourth line find itself again. Claude Julien decided to sit Daniel Paille. Julien believed (and appears rightly so) that a little time on the ninth level would give Paille a different perspective on the game. Peter Chiarelli went out and traded Jordan Caron to the Colorado Avalanche. In return he acquired Max Talbot , a veteran who can bring experience and serious grit to the fourth line. (Talbot also brings that honesty and humor that was missing ever since Shawn Thornton left Boston.)
“It feels great – when you get a new team,” said Talbot. “You just hope the team is going to continue playing well and feed off your energy, but I’m glad it went well this weekend for the team, and I think for myself I’ve been playing with two good linemates, and it’s been clicking as well, so that’s been great, and tonight getting two big goals has been huge.”
The addition of Talbot, and the return of Paille has given the Bruins a much-needed boost to the fourth line. Daniel Paille has four goals in his last six games, and his shot percentage has jumped to a more respectable 8.3%. Talbot has already earned two assists in his last two game for Boston, one of them today with Paille’s second goal. The new Merlot Line has found itself finding the old fire and grit that has been missing this season.
“Just coming back, you kind of play like you’ve got nothing to lose and just keep working and if you keep working, good things will come out of it, and so far, that’s the way it’s been going right now so it’s been a huge boost.” Bruins forward Daniel Paille on his improved game
Puck Prose
While Paille has been the star of late, he’s happy to spread the praise around the fourth line. Talbot has gelled well with Paille and Campbell. Having three veterans back on the line has certainly produced dividends for the team already.
“He fits perfectly ,” Paille said of Talbot. “These last couple games that we got to play together it just feels natural, and he plays pretty much a similar style with all three of us. We like to grind it out and try to out work teams, and he gives us that extra boost that we’ve been missing, and I think that (Campbell) and I realize that we need to pick up the slack a little and whether it’s scoring or just out working other teams … there’s no more excuses.”