“I think he’s at that stage where he’s got to find his game, and work through the glitches he seems to have,” Julien said to the media after practice that day. “We’re in the second month of the season, and he’s been on the ice for two months now. Somewhere along the way, whether it’s extra work in the gym, or extra work on the ice, you’ve just got to work through it.”
Krejci agreed, telling the media he can be better and that he needs to “execute.” In the 12 games since, that is just what he has done, lighting the lamp twice and helping to set up seven goals for nine points. On Thursday night, in a 5-2 Bruins win, he scored the game-winner on a second-period breakaway. More importantly, he utilized his speed and quickness that made him such a dangerous player last season when he finished second in scoring with 73 points.
“If he got his skating going and his work ethic, those plays become really successful because he has everybody on their heels,” Julien said. “He’s so good with the puck and has such good vision and good hands that when he does that with a little more speed, he is hard to stop. When he doesn’t do it with speed, he is pretty easy to figure out, and guys know he is trying to look for a play. He’s not going to shoot and he’s not going to be a threat. When he is skating he can be both.”
Krejci agreed with his coach’s assessment of why he has been playing better and looking more like the Krejci of last season.
“Yeah, just when I get the puck to keep my feet moving, that’s when things happen,” he said. “If I don’t move my feet you know I’m not the player I should be. I feel good about my hips and about everything so I know when I get the puck I try to get going and make something happen.”
But while both Krejci and Julien seemed confident about the direction his game is headed, they both agreed that there is still room to improve so that Krejci can reach the point where he is maximizing his strengths game in and game out. Yes, he did need time to shake off the rust, but his hip is better and Krejci can still be better as well.
“I still think he can keep getting better and that is not to say he is not playing well, but the goal he scored [Thursday] was a lot of what we saw Krejci do last year,” Julien said. “The hip is feeling better than last year. I think it is more about timing and getting his game back, and not so much about the surgery. Right now he should be feeling a lot better than he did last year, and I am sure he does.”
Julien said that the physical aspect was only part of the recovery.
“It is more about now he has to get his timing back,” he said. “When you start the year behind the eight ball, which means he didn’t play any exhibition games, and he didn’t do much, it takes a while to catch up and sometimes you think you’re working hard enough. It is up to us to push him a little harder … Just working harder in all areas and like I said, his intensity level is up, which means he is a lot more unpredictable.”Krejci was happy with where his game was Thursday night but he was far from satisfied.
“Yeah, I got a couple points today but the second period I felt pretty bad,” he said. “I was out there a little too long a couple times and I felt it in my legs. You know I had to take a pretty good rest before the third period. So I don’t think it was my best game today.”
