BOSTON — Anders Bjork made his 2019-20 debut with the Bruins on Tuesday night after Boston was plagued by the injury bug.
It also helped the 23-year-old wing was lighting up in Providence, amassing six goals in as many games. But with David Krejci on injured reserve, Karson Kuhlman missing at least a month and Joakim Nordstrom still not quite ready to play, Bjork was called up sooner than many expected.
He logged 13:17 of ice time in Boston’s 4-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs at TD Garden. Bjork had four shots on net and looked comfortable heading into puck battles and used his speed to his advantage.
Of course, with just 50 games of NHL experience prior to Tuesday comes some mistakes. But head coach Bruce Cassidy liked what he saw overall.
So, with the injuries piling up even more Tuesday with news of Kuhlman suffering a hairline nondisplaced fracture of his right tibia, does that mean Bjork will stay with the Black and Gold?
“I suspect we’ll, we don’t play until Saturday, right? So we have some time to look at it,” Cassidy said after the game. Nordstrom’s very close … we put Bjork in his spot (Tuesday), but that’s kind of Nordy’s spot, he helps that line a lot. So we’ll see where Bjork fits best. I don’t think he hurt himself at all tonight. With Kuhlman out, you lose a bit of that motor, a younger guy, gets on pucks, and that’s where Bjorkie was good tonight. That’s what we’re looking for. Can he sustain it, can he be strong on it? And he was. He didn’t hurt us defensively, so that’s a good thing and that bodes well for him, and we’ll see if we find a spot for him on Saturday. But it’s looking that way.”
As for Bjork, he’s ready to prove himself while he’s with Boston.
“I gotta show consistency,” he said after the game. “Both game-to-game and throughout the course of the game.”
Bjork will get his second chance to show what he’s got Saturday when the B’s welcome the St. Louis Blues to TD Garden for a Stanley Cup Final rematch.
