Boston Bruins: 4 Line-Up Changes For Game 3 That Paid Off

The Boston Bruins had to make a few forced line-up changes for Game 3, as well as a couple of optional ones; most of them seemed to pay off.

David Pastrnak was missing for a second straight game, while Tuukka Rask opted to head home prior to this fixture, meaning the perfect roster was certainly not available for the Boston Bruins.

Aside from these two, Nick Ritchie has significantly underwhelmed so far and was sat for the game too. Jeremy Lauzon also hasn’t seemingly earned the trust of Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy and he too found himself rested.

Stepping up in their places though were players that all played significant roles in ensuring our 2-1 series lead over the Canes:

Jaroslav Halak

This one really goes without saying, but Jaroslav Halak stepped up to the plate and showed his ability to be a starting goaltender.

He only conceded the one goal despite facing 30 shots and will be absolutely key now to the Boston Bruins’ ongoing success. He is now the number one goalie until we’re out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, at the very least.

Par Lindholm

Perhaps an underrated line-up change in Game 3; Par Lindholm stepped in for the Boston Bruins with 15:24 ice-time, 2:34 of which was on the penalty-kill.

He failed to do anything remarkable and took a penalty, but he served the team well with face-off wins. Lindholm played a simple and reliable game which is exactly what we need lower down the line-up.

Jack Studnicka

Finally getting his chance in the Boston Bruins line-up, Jack Studnicka put 4 shots on the Canes net despite playing less than 10 minutes.

He was rewarded with 2 minutes of powerplay time, though was unable to get any shots or chances away. Still, he certainly proved quite a bit more useful in the role than Ritchie.

Connor Clifton

The only difference to the defensive pairings was the arrival of Connor Clifton in place of Jeremy Lauzon. He showed a strong physical game laying a team-leading 5 hits and receiving 3 in return; perfect for this time of year.

All in all these changes, forced or not, proved to work for the Boston Bruins. We’re now three games into this series and have two wins on the board. Our roster depth is likely to continue to play a role in our successes moving forward too.