Who would have thought on Feb. 25, after the NHL trade deadline passed and the Bruins had added Charlie Coyle and Marcus Johansson in the days and hours leading up to it, that we would be worried about the Bruins being heavy enough to win in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs rather than being concerned about their skill level?
Of course, back then we thought we were going to see a Boston-Tampa Bay second round and wondering if Johansson and Coyle would adequately fill the holes in the Bruins lineup to make up the skill deficit between them and the Lightning.
Columbus rendered that debate moot, and now Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy is left trying to find the right lineup to handle the hard-hitting, physical Blue Jackets head into Game 4 of the Eastern Conference second round on Thursday. The Blue Jackets lead the series 2-1 after their 2-1 win in Game 3.
It appeared at practice Wednesday in Columbus that Cassidy's search has brought him back to a familiar face: David Backes. The veteran forward, who turned 35 on Wednesday, practiced on right wing with center David Krejci and left wing Jake DeBrusk. Cassidy wouldn't commit Wednesday to making the lineup change that would put rookie Karson Kuhlman on the sidelines.
-- Bruce Cassidy on the possibility of David Backes being in the Game 4 lineup: "If he goes in for anybody, he's a net presence, something that's needed against Bobrovsky." pic.twitter.com/91bPg2Dix7
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) May 1, 2019Backes, famously, inspired the Bruins to play a more physical game in Game 2 of the first round against Toronto and helped them even up that series, which Boston won in seven games. However, by the end of that series Backes' ice time dwindled and he didn't even play in Game 6 or 7. Now he should have fresh legs and should be able to provide both a physical presence on the forecheck and a player that might get in goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky's grill and so the Bruins can do some damage to his .948 save percentage.
The rest of the lineup, as suggested by me and then used in practice was as follows:
Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-David Pastrnak
Marcus Johansson-Charlie Coyle-Danton Heinen
Joakim Nordstrom-Sean Kuraly-Noel Acciari/Chris Wagner
Marchand-Bergeron-PastrnakDeBrusk-Krejci-BackesJohansson-Coyle-HeinenNordstrom-Kuraly-AcciariGame 4 win, give me the Jack Adams!
— Matt Kalman (@MattKalman) May 1, 2019*If these lines don't work, Cassidy could always shorten his bench and maybe even roll just three lines with Coyle moving to right wing with Krejci and DeBrusk. This tactic worked at times against Toronto.
*It's no surprise that Pastrnak moved back with Bergeron and Marchand because they finally seemed to be themselves again in the third period of Game 3. Maybe things were getting stale between them and they can at least simplify the way they did late in that game and create some chances off the forecheck. They've also had three games to learn the Blue Jackets' tendencies and know what spaces are open.
*The Bruins also altered their power-play units, returning DeBrusk to the first group and moving Johansson back to the second group. All the complaints about Johansson not being a net-front presence were technically right, except that the position he (and DeBrusk) plays on the power play isn't meant to be a net-front presence. Johansson was on the first group because he's proficient at zone entries and can distribute the puck. Most of the work for players at that position involve passing from the goal line. That's what DeBrusk does too, so now we'll see if he can just do it a little better than Johansson – that is if the Bruins get any power plays. They got one full one and one that ended after a few seconds in Game 3, and with Marchand misbehaving the Bruins might not get a call the rest of this series.
*One other way the Bruins might solve their power-play problems is to lean on the second unit a little more. Coyle is a net-front presence in that group and his hot hand has been underused by Cassidy during 5-on-5 play. Charlie McAvoy and Matt Grzelcyk has also been a couple of Boston's more active defensemen the past couple games and could perhaps get even more shots through to test Bobrovsky. There's no reason why that group can't start a power play, even if to just throw off Columbus a little bit.
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