The Boston Bruins are keeping things the same ahead of their back-to-back this weekend in Southern California.
The Bruins hit the practice ice at the Anaheim Ducks’ training facility in Irvine, California, on Thursday afternoon. They have won each of their last three games and sit at the top of the Atlantic Division with a 5-2-0 record through seven games.
They had an extra day off ahead of their back-to-back, which head coach Marco Sturm said “felt like a week.” Sturm also did not shake up the lines from Tuesday’s win in San Jose.
Hampus Lindholm and Charlie McAvoy skated together again, keeping the Bruins’ top defensemen lined up together as McAvoy gets set for his second game of the season. In 16:13 with each other on Tuesday, the pair outscored the Sharks 2-1, allowed three high-danger chances, and finished with a 0.64-0.61 edge in expected goals for.
“I think we both know what we do when we’re successful,” Hampus Lindholm said to reporters in Anaheim. “It starts with each other. If he plays his best game and I play my best game, I think we’re going to do some good stuff together out there. So I think that’s kind of our mindset going out.”
“We don’t really have to think when we play together out there. We kind of just roll, play each other’s games, and it just kind of works out.”
McAvoy spoke Monday on how playing with Lindholm gives him more freedom to join the rush and play offense, and he scored in his return on Tuesday. He led Bruins defensemen with 61 points last season, a career-high, which included another career-high of 50 assists.
McAvoy is not the first blue liner to get in on the goal scoring this season. The Bruins have had help from the blue line in each of the last three games, and through seven games this season are 4-0-0 when a defenseman scores.
“We’ve talked about it. If you look at our D corps, I think we have guys that like to get up there and are good skaters,” Hampus Lindholm said. “Any time we can help the forwards get up there, and do it smart, I think we found that right mixture of when to jump up and not always lead a rush, but maybe be the fourth guy up the rush. We have the players for it. We just have to keep doing it.”
Sturm has used practice drills to try and “activate the D automatically,” and that continued on Thursday in Irvine.
“I think it’s just a piece that was a little bit missing in the past, and we try to stay on our D,” Sturm said. “We have eight D, so you know, they should be all rested all the time. So we just want them to make sure it’s automatic, especially the first few steps.”
Mason Lohrei leads Bruins defensemen with two goals, while Lindholm and McAvoy have each added one. Throughout the early stages of the season, Lohrei has been open about finding confidence within his game. He used Charlie McAvoy’s suspension to his advantage and, so far, has carved out a spot inside the top six.
“Yes and no,” Sturm said when asked if he’s noticed a change in Lohrei’s confidence level. “There’s still times I think he gets a little frustrated on certain plays he doesn’t make or whatever it is. But overall, definitely yes. He’s one of those guys, too. He had to figure out where he’s at on our team, the lineup, with the coach, you name it. So he should definitely feel more comfortable, and he had some really good moments, and we just try to keep helping him to be even more consistent.”
Lohrei remained on a pairing with Frederic Brunet Thursday. Connor Clifton and Jonathan Aspirot remained the odd men out.
Sturm did not commit to which goalie will get the nod in Anaheim, but said there is a plan “in mind” for the next two games. As part of that plan, he did confirm that Michael DiPietro will play in one of the two games.
Jeremy Swayman has started in the last four.
Bruins Practice Lines
Source: Belle Fraser, BostonBruins.com
Hampus Lindholm – Charlie McAvoy
Nikita Zadorov – Will Borgen
Frederic Brunet – Mason Lohrei
Jonathan Aspirot – Connor Clifton
Jeremy Swayman
Michael DiPietro