The Bruins knew they needed to upgrade their third line this offseason. They hoped that the signings of veterans Nick Foligno and Erik Haula combined with a rebooted Jake DeBrusk would do the trick.
So far, the early returns have been promising. In their first full game together Thursday night, the DeBrusk-Haula-Foligno line looked strong in a 4-2 win over the Flyers (who, it should be noted in the sake of fairness, did not play some of their top players).
After DeBrusk and Haula showed some good chemistry in Sunday's preseason opener, a game in which each scored a goal, they continued to build off that. Foligno, who has practiced with them quite a bit but didn't play Sunday, made a seamless entry onto the line at right wing.
In 8:22 of ice time at five-on-five, the trio out-attempted Philadelphia 10-4 and held an 8-2 advantage in scoring chances.
DeBrusk scored his second goal in as many games this preseason, taking the puck hard to the net from the right side of the cage and banging in his own rebound. Haula picked up an assist on that one.
Haula and Foligno also combined to set up a Craig Smith power-play goal, with Haula gaining the zone and flipping a nice pass to Foligno, who then zipped a pass across the slot for Smith to bury.
All three played on the Bruins' second power-play unit along with Smith and Matt Grzelcyk, and that group was able to create some good chances all game despite just practicing together as a five-man unit for the first time earlier in the day.
All three featured as regular penalty-killers, too, showing the kind of value in all three phases of the game that would make Bill Belichick proud.
DeBrusk, Haula and Foligno are all playing well individually this preseason, and just as importantly, their skillsets really seem to complement each other well.
Foligno is the physical leader, setting the tone early Thursday night with a couple hard forechecks. That seemed to rub off on his linemates, who both had some good, hard forechecks as well.
Haula and DeBrusk have the speed, and they seem to be developing a nice connection while playing at that high pace.
"We try to communicate a lot, on the bench. I think we're just both having fun," Haula said of his chemistry with DeBrusk. "We're looking at this as a good opportunity, me, JD and Nick. We're just having fun, working hard. Nice to have a couple bounces early. Just keep on building."
It's possible that this more aggressive DeBrusk -- the one who attacks the net directly, as he has done on both of his goals this preseason -- would've re-emerged regardless. He said he did hit the reset button this offseason, essentially erasing all memories of past seasons. But getting linemates who play with the same kind of aggressiveness he needs to bring to be at his best certainly doesn't hurt.
Everything at this point needs to be prefaced with the fact that it's early, and it's only been a couple preseason games.
But it's an encouraging start. The Bruins obviously liked the idea of a DeBrusk-Haula-Foligno line on paper from the start. Sometimes, though, lines that look good on paper end up not clicking on the ice for whatever reason.
The Bruins know exactly what they have in their first line. The much-discussed second-line center spot is still a work in progress. Jack Studnicka and the line as a whole were pretty quiet Thursday night -- at least at five-on-five -- and Charlie Coyle is not yet game-ready. Parts of the fourth line have looked really good this preseason (Tomas Nosek), while other parts have been struggling (Trent Frederic).
Finding some chemistry and perhaps a level of certainty on the third line is a welcome sight. The fact that DeBrusk, Haula and Foligno seem to be clicking and playing exactly the way the Bruins hoped they would is something that just might be worth getting excited about.
