Boston Bruins Coach Claude Julien Makes Line Changes To Make The Team Better
The Boston Bruins are in the midst of a California road trip. This does not mean that Coach Claude Julien isn’t afraid to roll the dice and make some changes. Today in practice Julien made changes hoping to spark the Bruins third line to increase their offensive presence.
Spooner centered Brett Connolly and Matt Beleskey, while Jimmy Hayes joined Landon Ferraro centered by Noel Acciari. Connolly has been skating on the fourth line since the trade deadline when the Bruins acquired Lee Stempniak, who joined the Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron line.
"“I think right now that line hasn’t done much for us,” Julien said of the third line. “There was obviously — you saw a switch today — and we need contributions from everybody.”“For the most part, the Bergeron, the Krejci line, they produce, and that third line should be capable of producing with guys like Beleskey and Spooner and even Hayes, and they haven’t, so sometimes a little change is not a bad thing, so we’ll see what comes out of that.” – Claude Julien"
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Coach Julien has witnessed his third line fail to convert on quality scoring chances all season long. The third line has changed periodically this season, Claude Julien has shown that he is not afraid to change up the lines to send a message to his players. Brett Connolly who has gone from playing on the Bruins first line to the fourth line has 1 point in his last 5 games. Brett Connolly who has gone from playing on the Bruins first line to the fourth line has 1 point in his last 5 games. Another change is in necessary to try and ignite a spark in Connolly in the hopes that he can produce for the Bruins come playoff time.
"“I guess they’re looking for a little bit of a spark out of those two lines, so should be good,” said Connolly. “I think that those are two good players that I can hopefully mesh well with right away. I’ve played with those guys before so I kind of know their strengths and that.”"
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Nothing seems to have worked so far though as he has 25 points in 68 games despite playing the majority of the season on the first line with Bergeron and Marchand. If there is a time the Bruins need Connolly it is now, as they face a tough back to back against the Ducks and the Kings. One thing is for sure with Connolly, he is still only 23 years old and has a lot to learn from the veteran players on this Bruins team. Hopefully he realizes that and uses the resources he has to get better as a player before it is to late.