Boston Bruins Lineup Additions Bring Welcome Speed
One of the key ingredients that was largely missing in recent debacles like the Winter Classic that is helping get the Boston Bruins back on track is speed.
Additions to the lineup with speedy wheels like Colin Miller and David Pastrnak, who were both absent against the Montreal Canadiens in the Bruins disastrous 5-1 defeat to the Habs on the big stage in Foxborough, complement swift players like Torey Krug and Ryan Spooner by helping to push the pace. Having several fast players throughout the lineup serves to keep teams honest, push them back on their heels and open things up for Boston.
Against the speedy Canadiens, Boston seemed to be hemmed in its own zone all day as Montreal was quicker to pucks and controlled the pace with crisp passing. The Bruins were able to turn things around against the New Jersey Devils in a 4-1 win Friday night and looked much faster than in the previous losses to Montreal New Year’s Day and the Washington Capitals Jan. 5 with quicker breakouts, passes and forechecks. They also used their quickness to get many more shots on net than the Devils, 31-20.
Along with Krug, Miller is able to push the pace with swift breakouts out of his own end and is also poised at keeping the puck in the offensive zone from the point. His 100 MPH-plus cannon shot was also on display last night as he fired a one-timer home to seal the game in the third period. Spooner continues to use his speed and vision to make plays, adding two more points against the Devils to reach six in the four games since he moved up a line in David Krejci’s absence. And Pastrnak has brought an element of added speed and creativity that was needed to balance out the lineup, and got on the board in just his second game back with a goal Saturday night against Ottawa.
“ a great player,” Patrice Bergeron told CSNNE. “He’s got the speed, and the smarts and the vision, so we’re happy to have him back with us.”
The Bruins’ speed also creates space in the offensive zone. As the young, fast players go to work with the puck, workhorses like Matt Beleskey and Jimmy Hayes charge the net. Their net-front presence in creating screens and tips was instrumental in two of the goals last night.
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The B’s will need to stay in the fast lane to try to run with the elite teams of the league, which have adapted to the NHL’s emphasis on offense and recent rules and trends favoring speed and skill like obstruction penalties and the elimination of two-line offsides. They have other roadrunners in their system on the way that will help.
Built in the mold of Tampa Bay’s undersized but ultra-skilled and competitive sniper Tyler Johnson, the B’s have blazing center Austin Czarnik lighting up Providence at nearly a point a game in his first pro year after a high-scoring NCAA career at Miami University of Ohio. The speedy and shifty playmaker netted a hat trick Dec. 18 after a pair of two-point games and leads the team in plus/minus. A natural passer, he has been trying to get the puck to the net to score more goals of late. Off the rush, Czarnik’s speed “creates a lot of anxiety for the defense. People are aware of him on the ice all the time,’’ Providence Coach Bruce Cassidy told the Patriot Ledger.
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Czarnik also has a high compete level and if the B’s want to put more offense and speed in the lineup, he would be a good 4th line option to spell Joonas Kemppainen at times.
And if the Bruins really want to push the pace in matchups against the quickest teams, as they outlined at the outset of the season with a new strategy to have defenders carry the puck further up ice to quickly reach the forwards and then trail the play, they could roll out Joe Morrow on defense with Krug and Colin Miller in the same game and pair each of them with veteran defensive-minded blueliners. It would definitely give the B’s an overall quicker blueline.
A little further off in the future, the B’s have 2015 first rounder Zachary Senyshyn to add to their burgeoning blaze of speed. The 6’1”, 18-year old burner has taken off in his sophomore season with Sault Ste. Marie and ranks third in the entire Ontario Hockey League in goals with 26 (in just 38 games), already equaling his total from his rookie season and piling up three hat tricks along the way.