It hasn’t been the best start to the 2019-20 season for Jake DeBrusk, but there’s still plenty of hockey left to play.
The Boston Bruins winger potted his first goal of the year in Saturday night’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena. DeBrusk didn’t amass his first point until Boston’s fourth game of the season when he picked up an assist in the home opener against the New Jersey Devils.
And while it’s not just DeBrusk who has been struggling to find the back of the net so far this season, the Bruins will need him to be at his best if they want to make another deep Stanley Cup run. And Bruce Cassidy, for one, is hopeful Saturday night is the beginning of a strong stretch for DeBrusk.
“Jake was around the puck a lot and he could have had more than one if he’d had a little luck,” Cassidy said, per NBC Sports Boston’s Joe Haggerty. “It’s what we want to see even if the puck isn’t going in. It’s the maturity thing where you keep pushing and you keep doing the right things to get rewarded, and you saw that tonight. We know how he can get with the streakiness and the puck was finding him tonight. So maybe it’s one of those runs, so it’s good to see with him.
“It’s good for his development if he just keeps playing. It’s a long year. It’s 82 games,” he added. “So you can’t get too upset if you don’t like the look of your stat line. You just keep plugging away. He’s a good player and he’s going to get it done.”
DeBrusk was a huge offensive force for Boston last year, and if he can get on the right track to replicate — or even better his game — this season, then he could provide a boost to the secondary scoring the team needs.
