Bruins Searching for the Right Combinations

BostonBruins.com - As Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy continues to search for the right line combinations, he made another tweak to his forward group for Wednesday's practice at Warrior Ice Arena. After some changes to his top two trios earlier this week, Boston's bench boss focused in on the bottom six by flipping left wingers Trent Frederic and Anders Bjork.
Bjork was bumped down to play alongside Sean Kuraly and Chris Wagner, while Frederic shifted up to the third line with Charlie Coyle and Craig Smith. Both trios have seen significant time - and some success - together already this season, though injuries and inconsistency have led to ongoing alterations.

For now, Cassidy is hoping that both lines can build off of some of the chemistry they built up earlier in the year.
"Everything has been a small sample size, but we are starting to accumulate some data," said Cassidy, referring to the analytics behind the different combinations. "Gonna sort of play around with that. Freddy's a big body. We were hoping to build a line like that. Some injuries kind of forced us to take a different path. Now we're getting back a little closer to full health. We'll move it back and forth.
"I also like Freddy learning the game sometimes down on that fourth line. You're playing against good players, a little more of a defensive role. He's learning from guys that have been doing it. There's a couple of things that go into it. We're trying to get him to be the best player that he can be, trust him in all situations until he finds his offensive game. We'll use him on both lines."
The trio of Frederic, Coyle, and Smith showed plenty of promise during their first tour together, particularly across Boston's first homestand - a 4-0 stretch against the Flyers and Penguins - during which their combined size and strength led to some dominant offensive stretches.
"Sometimes you click right away with guys, sometimes it takes a little bit," said Coyle. "We just read off each other pretty well. We had a couple good games. We found the scoresheet, had some good shifts, and I don't think gave up a whole lot either. It was just supporting each other."

Regardless of which wingers line up alongside Coyle, Cassidy is looking for the Weymouth native - held without a point in seven straight games - to be the catalyst.
"Charlie's the driver of that line. He understands that," said Cassidy. "That's the responsibility that usually goes with the centermen. Hopefully some chemistry with Smitty - and whether it's Bjork or Freddy - I still think Charlie has to be the driver of that line and hopefully that happens."

Day By Day

Kevan Miller is using the extended time between games wisely, opting to stay off the ice on Monday for a maintenance day before returning to practice the last two days. The veteran defenseman has played in all 14 games this season in his return from a near two-year absence, though his surgically repaired knee still requires plenty of care.
"So far so good. Got to try and take advantage of those days sometimes," said Miller. "[The knee] still gets sore after a lot of use so that's one of those things that take advantage while we can. Other than that, feeling pretty good."
After such a lengthy layoff, Miller - who is averaging 18:45 of ice time per game, good for eighth on the Bruins - admitted that getting his game back up to speed remains "a work in progress."
"I've only played 14 games," said Miller. "It's been a long time coming to get back, so I'm trying to continue to get better and grow my game and I think there's still some areas, like any season, that you want to work on and get better at. I think this is just another opportunity to get better."

Ruled Out

Cassidy officially ruled out blue liner Matt Grzelcyk (lower body) and Jakub Zboril (upper body) for Thursday's game against the Devils, while adding that it will be "tough" for either of them to make it back in time for Sunday's game at Lake Tahoe.
"Let's see where they are [on Thursday]," said Cassidy. "[It's tough] to say they'd have a chance to play if they don't get on the ice pretty soon. That's a long way to go for one game. Then you start thinking, we don't play again until the next Thursday on Long Island, so we're better off not taking them with us and just let them get prepared. That will have to be a discussion we have internally about those two."
Ondrej Kase, who resumed skating on his own this week, did not take the ice on Wednesday and is unlikely to return to the lineup before next week's road trip.

Coming Home

With COVID-related postponements wreaking havoc on the schedule, it has been three weeks since the Bruins last played on home ice - a 4-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Jan. 28. As such, the Black & Gold are very much looking forward to returning to Causeway Street on Thursday night.
"It's been a while. We came out of that homestand, we were really playing well. Kind of found our game [after an] uneven road trip," said Cassidy, whose club is 4-0 on home ice this season. "Will be nice to be back. I know it's not the same with no fans, but still, it's familiar to us to play at the Garden. We tend to play well there, so it will be nice to be home."

Wednesday's Practice Lineup

FORWARDS
Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - Jake DeBrusk
Nick Ritchie - David Krejci - David Pastrnak
Trent Frederic - Charlie Coyle - Craig Smith
Anders Bjork - Sean Kuraly - Chris Wagner
Greg McKegg - Karson Kuhlman
DEFENSEMEN
Jeremy Lauzon - Charlie McAvoy
John Moore - Brandon Carlo
Connor Clifton - Kevan Miller
Urho Vaakanainen - Steven Kampfer
GOALIES
Tuukka Rask
Jaroslav Halak
Callum Booth