WILMINGTON, Mass. — The Bruins end their weeklong post-European layoff with a game at New Jersey on Saturday.
For Bruins coach Claude Julien, that means making some tough roster decisions. The Bruins are carrying a full complement of 23 players, all of whom are healthy and capable of helping the team in various ways when they are in the lineup.
“We’re going to have some tough decisions down the road, but I always say that’s part of the coach’s job to make those decisions,” said Julien. “I’d rather have those tougher ones, because it means our guys are competing for every inch on the ice and for every spot that’s available.
“That’s when you know you have a good team,” added Julien, who will have to scratch three healthy skaters on Saturday. “I’d rather have that part of my job be tough and live with those tough decisions than have to sit back and just say that’s what I’ve got and that’s what I’m going with even though they may not be pulling their load.”
New Jersey counterpart John MacLean isn’t as fortunate. Because of cap issues, the Devils began the season with just the minimum 20 players. And after just two games, New Jersey was left with just 15 skaters to play against Pittsburgh on Monday when Anton Volchenkov and Brian Rolston were injured and Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond was suspended and the Devils had no cap space to call up replacements.
The Devils played with 16 skaters on Wednesday in Buffalo, but are now back to a 20-man roster after Rolston was placed on long-term injured reserve, creating enough cap room to call up reserves.
“It’s too bad, but it’s just the way the game is today,” said Bruins defenseman Mark Stuart. “It’s just something you’ve got to deal with. Hopefully we can work on some of those glitches [with the salary cap] in the next few years. But it’s tough for them when you have that many skaters, but it’s just part of the business.”
Stuart is the Bruins’ union representative, but stated he had not heard anything yet from the NHL Players’ Association, which announced earlier this week that they were investigating the situation to see if the Devils had violated any provisions in the CBA by dressing a reduced roster.
“It’s crazy,” said Bruins forward Brad Marchand. “I know just playing with a full lineup you get very tired out there. I can imagine how tired they must have been with just three lines. You have to give them credit for that.”
None of the Bruins asked about the situation was happy about seeing a team dress less than the regular complement of 18 skaters and two goalies, but the Boston players aren’t too sympathetic toward the Devils either.
“Any time you can play physical on a team that’s a little run down and has new guys in the lineup, maybe you can intimidate them a bit or wear them down,” said Marchand. “The top guys are probably going to play a little more and they’ve been playing a lot the last week, week and a half, so the more you hit them, the more you yell at them and the more you make them work, it’s going to be a lot harder on them.”
The Devils are particularly shorthanded on defense, where four regulars are currently sidelined. Bryce Salvador (concussion) and Anssi Salmela (knee surgery) began the year on LTIR, while Volchenkov will be out through the weekend at least with a broken nose and stiff neck and Mark Fraser is out 4-6 weeks with a broken hand.
“They’ve got 3-4 guys out on D,” said Marchand. “So the more you run them, you can make them cough up the puck and take advantage of it.”
The Bruins aren’t going to be overconfident, however. Even with just 16 skaters the Devils beat Buffalo 1-0 in overtime on Wednesday, with Ilya Kovalchuk scoring the game-winner and Martin Brodeur making 24 saves for his NHL-record 111th career shutout.
“They’ve got a short lineup, but it’s a pretty skilled and powerful group of forwards,” said Bruins defenseman Dennis Seidenberg. “It’ll be a good test.”
