BOSTON – While the Bruins are certainly pleased with two victories to open the season, coach Jim Montgomery believes there is still plenty of room for improvement, particularly when it comes to creating more offense at even strength.
As such, Boston’s bench boss made some tweaks to his forward lines for Monday’s practice at Warrior Ice Arena.
Among the changes: Matt Poitras was centering Brad Marchand and Morgan Geekie, Jake DeBrusk flipped back to his natural left wing alongside Pavel Zacha and David Pastrnak, and James van Riemsdyk bumped down to skate with Charlie Coyle and Trent Frederic, who slid over to his off wing.
“It's a small sample size, it’s two games...we're going on the road, that factors into it a little bit on why,” said Montgomery. “But I haven't seen a lot of offensive 5-on-5 generation. Again, small sample size, but I trust my eye behind the bench, and when I follow it up and I see it on video, I just want to try something else to get a spark.”
With a lighter schedule to start the year – just two games over the first eight days – Montgomery and his staff have been using the extra time for “teaching” the group the way the Bruins would like to play.
“We need more teaching than we did last year just be able to play fast,” said Montgomery. “I really liked how our 5-on-5 game changed from Game 1 to Game 2…we played a lot faster in all three zones, so that was encouraging, but we still got a long way to go.
“We're a work in progress, and when you’re a work in progress as a team as far as how you close out games, extend leads, all those little things that really matter to results, you’ve got to do a little more teaching.”
When it comes to Poitras – as well as fellow rookie Johnny Beecher – the learning curve is, of course, ongoing, though that did not deter Montgomery from opting to place the 19-year-old alongside Marchand for Monday’s practice.
“He's generated a lot of offense already,” said Montgomery. “And how he’s getting a real elite player like Marchand in his line. I really like Geekie’s game and just want to see if there's chemistry there offensively. On the other line, putting JD on with the other two, I think is just a real good rush line, has a lot of speed and a lot of creativity to it. Again, is it going to work? Who knows?”
Coyle and Frederic, meanwhile, bring a familiarity and reliability as a duo after having spent much of last season together on the B’s third line.
“They’re both really good 5-on-5, below the top [of the circle] players, they're both good defensively as well. If I wanted to, I can match them up against another team's best offensive line, but most importantly, the O-zone time that they play well together.
“And I think a guy like James van Riemsdyk really helps them connect the dots there, because he likes to own the net front, Charlie likes to possess it, and Freddie's [Trent Frederic] does a good job of getting open and shooting it.”
