Cherry: Bergeron, Marchand Would Fit In Any Era

BOSTON - Don Cherry knows the National Hockey League. The former head coach of the Bruins is the longtime face of Hockey Night in Canada and has the pulse of the league and its players.
And he certainly knows his history. As the bench boss of the 1977-78 Boston Bruins, Cherry oversaw an NHL record 11 20-goal scorers, a group that was honored on Tuesday night at TD Garden to mark its 40th anniversary.
Cherry believes Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand would have made fine members of the Lunch Pail A.C.

"[Bergeron] and Marchand would fit in and they would be just great," Cherry said prior to Tuesday night's pregame ceremony. "Bergeron would fit in with any club…when you talk about MVP, it's not the best player, it's the guy who is most valuable to your team and I can't see anybody in the league more valuable than him."

Boston's coach from 1974-79 also compared this year's version of the Black & Gold to the teams of his era.
"It's a funny thing. This team here is almost as tough, but they don't have anybody in the top 30 scoring, yet they've won 8 out of 10 and they're flying along," said Cherry. "First of all, I honestly believe this - I don't have to say it - [Bruce] Cassidy is doing a great job. He's behind the bench, he's lively behind the bench…he's in the game.
"Everyone in Canada says, 'How the heck are they doing it? There's nobody in the top 30 scoring'…this team is almost the same as our team, we never won one award. We were the second-best team other than Montreal.
"We never won one award or never made the All-Star and this team is sort of the same way, except for Marchand."

Hitting the Road

It has not been since mid-November - the West Coast swing which spawned Boston's current run of 29 wins in 38 games - that the Bruins have had a lengthy road trip. But they will set out on a five-game, 10-day voyage on Friday with stops in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, and Buffalo.
"We haven't really had many long road trips. This one is pretty long, we'll have some fun with the guys, but also take care of some business."
Boston carries a 13-game road points streak into the trip. Their last regulation loss away from TD Garden came on Dec. 4 in Nashville.
"We're just going out there and feel like we're a good team," said Krejci. "We're not really waiting for the other team…we're going out there and throwing at them everything we've got and try to set the tempo and the speed of the game for a full 60 minutes."

Injury Updates

Kevan Miller skated with the group again on Thursday wearing a red non-contact jersey. He is likely to travel with the team on the trip, but is "doubtful" to play on Saturday in Vancouver, according to Cassidy.
Frank Vatrano (lower-body) and Anders Bjork (upper-body) have not resumed skating. Cassidy said he did not have any further update on either forward.
With both of them still sidelined, the Bruins are without an extra forward. Cassidy expects to have a discussion with general manager Don Sweeney to decide if the team needs a body for the lengthy trip.

Nash Sets Career High

With two goals against the Flames on Tuesday night, Riley Nash tied a career high for goals in a season with 10 and set his career high in points with 26. It was his second two-goal game of the season (Dec. 27 vs. Ottawa).
"Another solid game. He is finishing in tight. Earlier in the year, some of those weren't going in around the top of the crease," said Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy. "He's doing a real good job, quietly doing a nice job for us, killing penalties…we like what Riley has given us down the middle this year.
"He's quietly gone about his business, become a real good third-line center. We used him as a fourth liner last year, so we've asked a little more of him, and he's delivered."

Penalty Kill Perfect

After a 7-for-7 effort on the penalty kill in a 5-3 win over the Devils on Sunday night, which included two shorties, the Bruins continued their torrid shorthanded stretch against the Calgary. Boston, ranked second in the league on the PK (84.2%), went 5-for-5 in its 5-2 victory and has now killed its last 11 penalties.
"Solid again. The first period, I think we made a little adjustment where they were getting that shot D-to-D from the right point a little too much room, so we tried to put a little more pressure," Cassidy said after the win over Calgary. "All year, it's been good, and tonight was no exception. We were buzzing up the ice too on those shorties, trying to put a little stress on them, as well."

Neely Talks Deadline

While speaking with the media ahead of Tuesday night's ceremony honoring the 1977-78 Bruins, team president Cam Neely was asked about what the front office was considering ahead of the Feb. 26 trade deadline.
"For me, it's going to boil down to what are the costs?" said Neely. "We've got a good thing going, the players are playing extremely well, the coaching staff has done a great job. We've got some good prospects coming. But we recognize where we are right now, and if we can do something that makes sense and think it's gonna help our club, that doesn't cost us a fortune, we'll look at it."

Thursday's Practice Lineup

Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk - David Krejci - Ryan Spooner
Danton Heinen - Riley Nash - David Backes
Tim Schaller - Sean Kuraly - Noel Acciari
Zdeno Chara - Charlie McAvoy
Torey Krug - Brandon Carlo
Matt Grzelcyk - Adam McQuaid
Paul Postma - Kevan Miller (red non-contact)
Tuukka Rask
Anton Khudobin