WILMINGTON, Mass. — With the Bruins three days — and two games — into an arduous 11 games in 19 days stretch, coach Claude Julien decided to give the team a break on Friday.
The Bruins still went through their off-ice workouts at Ristuccia Arena, but they didn't hold a practice on the ice.
"We've just played two [games] in two [nights] and we've got 11 games in 19 days," said Julien. "It's a heavy schedule and I just felt that last night in the third period [against Montreal on Thursday] we really kind of looked tired. Somehow you have to put the odds on your side and give those guys a chance to recover. I didn't think there was much we would have done today that would have benefited us in tomorrow's game."
The Bruins appreciated the gesture, knowing full well how much work they have ahead of them in the next couple weeks.
"We've played a lot of hockey this past week and we have a lot of hockey coming up," said forward Milan Lucic. "We've got to do whatever we can to get our rest."
It's a big adjustment from last month, when they played just eight games in October thanks largely to beginning the year in Prague. They've played the fewest games in the NHL to this point, but they'll be making up ground quickly with 14 games in November and another 14 in December.
"That’s the biggest change," said Lucic. "You go from playing two times a week and all of the sudden you get four games a week thrown at you. It's a bit of a change, but this is what we've got to get used to. All summer long we work as hard as we can to get in shape, so it should be paying off right now."
And with an extra day to rest on Friday, Julien won't be excepting any excuses for the Bruins coming out without the requisite energy and intensity for Saturday's showdown with Ottawa.
"We've kind of eliminated the fatigue excuse by giving them the day off today," said Julien. "So hopefully our energy is there. But energy is one thing; we've still got to make some smart decisions … We've got to get back to being a little more conscientious of the details and wanting to keep our identity intact."
