In Sunday morning’s practice, Brett Connolly saw himself skating on the second line of the Boston Bruins with Patrice Bergeron and Loui Eriksson. Due to Brad Marchand being out indefinitely with a concussion, the Bruins will be looking to mix up the lines and look for something that works.
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“If I do get that opportunity, it’ll be a big challenge for sure.” said Connolly of playing on the line that, for most scenarios, is considered the shut down line. Connolly has two excellent defensive forwards in Bergeron and Eriksson to work with, but will need to be on the top of his game if the Bruins are to match up against the strong forward group of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
“It’s going to be a big challenge, obviously looking to get a win here and start feeling a little better about ourselves.” Brett Connolly should be especially motivated next game since he will be playing against his former Lightning team. Connolly is in a year where he needs to show everyone what he is capable of, but this is his chance to specifically show the Tampa Bay Lightning what they missed out on. Tampa Bay aside, for Brett Connolly, this game is more about the team and getting their first win. “Get back on the right track, obviously not the two first games that we wanted, for the team and personally.”
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With the return of Brad Marchand a complete unknown, Brett Connolly could be spending a decent amount of time on the second line which means that the vacancy on the third line will need to be filled as well. As of right now, Chris Kelly has been skating with Jimmy Hayes and Ryan Spooner. Unless the Bruins management decides to bring a player up from Providence, it looks like Tyler Randell will get to fill Kelly’s spot on the fourth line with Zac Rinaldo and Max Talbot.
“We need everybody right now, “said coach Claude Julien on filling in for injured players, “there’s a lot of people we need to get more out of if we’re going to battle our way out of this.” The Bruins are still without defensemen Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg and, with Matt Irwin being put on waivers, the defenseman that Julien has chosen to keep on the roster will need to quickly prove that they deserve to be where they are. “This is where you really need players to step up.”
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