Boston Bruins David Pastrnak Should Play With Ryan Spooner
Unless the suspected finger injury is more serious than anticipated, David Pastrnak should be returning to the Boston Bruins roster this week. That begs the question of who Pastrnak will play with and, at least for me, the answer is more than obvious.
Puck Prose
Ryan Spooner has been chosen by Claude Julien to replace the, week to week, injured David Krejci on the Bruins top scoring line. Considering the chemistry that Pastrnak and Spooner showed in the second half of last season, it would be foolish of Claude Julien not to give these two a try once again.
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When considering who would play alongside the two young Bruins, my first thought would be Loui Eriksson. The versatile winger would take the left side which would move Matt Beleskey to the Patrice Bergeron line, with Brad Marchand still being suspended, or to the third line, when Marchand returns. Having the veteran presence and defensive awareness that Eriksson possesses would give Spooner and Pastrnak the support they would need to play their game.
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Keeping Matt Beleskey on the left wing of that line with Pastrnak and Spooner is also an option. This would put Eriksson with Bergeron which is always a strong shutdown combination. Beleskey plays a somewhat similar game to that of former Bruin Milan Lucic and it was Lucic who mostly played with Pastrnak and Spooner last season when they performed so well. Beleskey would be the physical puck retriever and would also put himself in front of the net while the two young forwards worked their chemistry.
Whatever Claude Julien decides to do with the other wingers and the rest of the team will be his discretion, but putting David Pastrnak with Ryan Spooner is a must at this time. Pastrnak has had a pretty disappointing season thus far and giving him the ice time, the familiarity, and the offensive opportunities could be exactly what he needs to get back to his old ways.
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