The Boston Bruins beat the Buffalo Sabres 3-2 in a shootout on Tuesday night, but there were far more fascinating storylines than just the final score.
All three of the B’s trade deadline acquisitions — Taylor Hall, Curtis Lazar and Mike Reilly — made their debuts in the win.
So, here are some observations.
— In time, the Bruins might have something with that Hall-David Krejci-Craig Smith line. The combination of skillsets just makes too much sense.
Krejci has thrived with wingers who like to shoot and allow him to do the playmaking. Smith, well prior to his arrival in Boston, had a good reputation as a shooter, and Hall’s slick wrister is renowned around the league.
If that group gets time to bake, the end product could be a real good thing.
— Plenty was made about Hall’s confidence: The winger himself talked about it, as did Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy. But it’s clear Hall wants to be in Boston, and he’s finally getting put in a good situation.
The skills you like to see are still there. He’s a swift skater who is great on the rush, and in the attacking end does a good job of creating time and space to get his shot off.
It’s been a down season for him, but this clean slate could be exactly what he needs.
— Hall did look a little slow off the jump, but he found his legs relatively quickly. That’s not entirely surprising, as it was his first game action in over a week since the Sabres spent the games leading up to the deadline healthy scratching him for injury protection.
— Lazar has Bruins cult hero written all over him.
He looked fantastic on that fourth line Tuesday night. He plays hard and is a solid defensive player, and he showed off some of the offensive ability that had him getting taken in the first round of the 2013 draft (it was impressive how much offensive zone time the Sean Kuraly-Lazar-Chris Wagner unit got).
— It will be interesting to see how the fourth line is constructed once Trent Frederic is healthy again. The Bruins could have Frederic or Kuraly center the line, then the other plays left wing, and Lazar goes on the right. Not only would that be a sound defensive line, but there actually would be some decent offensive skill there for what is supposed to just be a checking line.
The fourth line is a big X-factor for the Bruins, no matter who is on it. They made it to Game 7 of the 2019 Stanley Cup Final because they could comfortably roll all four lines, and the Joakim Nordstrom-Kuraly-Wagner unit was a major asset for them.
Boston’s fourth line has been a little stagnant at times this season though, in part because they take so many defensive zone draws. Early returns, though, show Lazar could be a major shot in the arm for that group.
— When Torey Krug signed with the Blues last offseason, he created a big puck-moving blueliner void in Boston.
Reilly should help mitigate some of that pain.
He’s a smart, calculated decision-maker with the puck, and a smooth passer who also did a good job of firing pucks from the point into high-traffic, net-front areas. He was with Kevan Miller on Tuesday, but we could see him being a great fit with Brandon Carlo on the second pairing once Carlo returns.
— At the time of the trade, Reilly was having a career year offensively (19 assists) for an Ottawa Senators team that ranked in the bottom third of the league in goals per game. Putting him on a team with more high-end offensive skill should help Reilly and the forwards alike.
He’s not a seventh defenseman, either. It’s clear that Reilly will be an every-night player, and keeping that in mind inspires confidence about the possibilities of a healthy Bruins back end.
Assuming Matt Grzelcyk would go with Charlie McAvoy and Reilly pairs up with Carlo, the Bruins would be looking at probably a Jeremy Lauzon-Kevan Miller bottom pairing, with Jakub Zboril, Connor Clifton, Jarred Tinordi and Steven Kampfer as the depth options.
That is not a bad group, and one that would allow for some creativity. Cassidy could approach things from a matchup-based standpoint, playing Zboril against teams where more skill is necessary versus Lauzon when brawn is needed, and so on.
Of course, that’s all predicated on everyone getting healthy, which has been no guarantee this season. Still, though, the Bruins finally look like they’re swimming in defensive depth again.
