The Bruins’ sampling of the NHL’s iron continues on Monday night time on the Garden in a showdown that provides a bit of spice to the workforce’s difficult schedule.
Former B’s coach Bruce Cassidy will make his return to Causeway Street along with his nearly-as-hot-as-the-Bruins Vegas Golden Knights, who come into Boston with 18-7-1 total document in addition to a outstanding street mark of 11-2-1. The Knights might be making an attempt to ship the B’s first residence lack of the season (they presently personal the document for many residence wins to begin the season at 14-0).
Will Cassidy’s return present extra motivation for the B’s?
“Maybe for a few guys. We’ll see, “ mentioned a smiling Trent Frederic, who has seemingly discovered his recreation underneath new coach Jim Montgomery after some stops and begins in his first two NHL seasons.
Jake DeBrusk, in fact, famously requested for a commerce two summers in the past, a request that was made public in November 2021 after a wholesome scratch. He then rescinded after the teaching change was made.
There’s little question DeBrusk has further motivation.
“For sure, that’s pretty obvious,” mentioned DeBrusk, who scored his eighth objective of the season in Saturday’s win over the Avalanche. “Honestly for me, it’s one of those things where I came in with a clean, fresh slate after everything last year and I was looking to try to help this team and do whatever I can to help. I think it’s going to be maybe a little bit weird at the beginning for both sides, but we’re playing against Vegas and we’re not playing against (Cassidy) in a sense, so it’s one of those things where we’re happy with where our game’s at, we’re happy with the changes that we made. Our record speaks for itself. We’re just worried about our game in here. The home crowd has been pretty intense lately and we want to keep this thing going.”
While some gamers chafed underneath Cassidy’s demanding type, various good issues occurred underneath his watch. Brad Marchand not solely grew to become a really elite participant underneath Cassidy, he blossomed into a frontrunner. Charlie McAvoy has grown right into a authentic Norris Trophy candidate. Even the DeBrusk we’re seeing now is just not distinctive to this season. It is extra an extension of what he was in a position to do within the second half of final yr than the fitting buttons being pushed by the brand new coach.
The bulk of the credit score goes to the gamers in these situations, in fact, however Cassidy actually had a guiding hand.
But in the event you needed to decide one participant who was benefiting probably the most from the teaching change, it’s Frederic. And it has taken some teaching from Montgomery. Frederic didn’t have a superb coaching camp and located himself as a wholesome scratch within the season opener in Washington. But he’s held on to a spot within the lineup ever since then, lacking two video games to damage.
Frederic is presently on a line with Charlie Coyle and Taylor Hall and is coming off his first two-goal recreation within the NHL – and regarded fairly pure in doing so. First he scored on a put-back of a rebound within the first interval after which whistled residence a one-timer to lastly put Colorado to sleep on Saturday night time.
But it’s the remainder of his recreation that has put him in place to get on the scoreboard – his skating, his puck battles and, largely, his confidence.
“The guys I play with have helped me a lot, Hallsy and CC have been great. They’ve shown a lot of confidence in me and also Monty has been great about it. I give credit to them. It’s been fun,” mentioned Frederic.
For the B’s to get to the place they wish to go, it’s crucial for gamers like Frederic to pop in order that they’re not overly depending on the highest two traces and energy play.
“Freddy, if you watch him in practice, he scores. That’s what he does. Monty’s really kind of pushing him to embrace that,” mentioned Marchand. “CC is at another level this year and obviously Hallsy is a very dynamic offensive guy. They’re finding that chemistry and they’re making a lot of plays. Freddy with his big body is understanding how to take the puck to the net and go to areas where he can score. Teams won’t be able to keep him out of the front of the net and he’s going to get a lot of opportunities. He’s been great for us and another guy who’s come a long way this year. It’s what you need. To be successful, you need the young guys to step up, take control and have a bigger impact. I think we’re really seeing that this year, guys coming in and embracing roles and thriving in them.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com