After the majority of the regulars had the night off Tuesday and the whole team had the day off Wednesday, the Bruins were back on the ice Thursday for a full team practice as they get ready for Game 1 of their first-round series against the Capitals Saturday night in Washington.
Charlie Coyle was back with the team in a regular practice jersey after missing the last four regular-season games with an upper-body injury. Coach Bruce Cassidy has said all along that they anticipated Coyle would be ready for Game 1, and he reiterated that Thursday, saying Coyle “should be ready to go.”
The only two players missing were forward Ondrej Kase and defenseman Jakub Zboril. Kase returned from a concussion on Monday, but was unable to make it through the whole game. Cassidy said he won’t be available for Game 1. Zboril, who didn’t project as one of the Bruins’ starting six defensemen anyway, got banged up in Tuesday night’s game.
With just about a whole team available Thursday, how the Bruins lined up in practice could very well be what they choose to go with for Saturday. Here’s how it looked:
Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - David Pastrnak
Taylor Hall - David Krejci - Craig Smith
Nick Ritchie - Sean Kuraly - Charlie Coyle
Jake DeBrusk - Curtis Lazar - Chris Wagner
Trent Frederic/Karson Kuhlman
Matt Grzelcyk - Charlie McAvoy
Mike Reilly - Brandon Carlo
Jeremy Lauzon - Kevan Miller
Jarred Tinordi/Connor Clifton
Tuukka Rask
Jeremy Swayman
Unsurprisingly, Coyle goes back to third-line right wing next to Kuraly and Ritchie. Those three were building some nice chemistry before Coyle got hurt, as the Bruins had outscored opponents 4-1 in their 45 minutes together at five-on-five.
The fourth line was the only real question mark in terms of what Cassidy would decide to go with. Lazar has been locked in as the center, but DeBrusk, Wagner, Frederic and Kuhlman have all seen time on his wings, and have all shown flashes there.
DeBrusk and Kuhlman offer more speed, while Frederic and Wagner bring more size and physicality. So if Cassidy does indeed go with DeBrusk and Wagner, that could be a happy medium of both. It’s also possible Cassidy continues to tinker with that line before Saturday.
On defense, Cassidy has said Grzelcyk and Lauzon could be interchangeable next to McAvoy depending on game situation and what they feel the team needs at certain times.
Cassidy had already announced that Swayman would be backing up Rask to start the playoffs, so no surprise in net.
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