BOSTON -- Taylor Hall had to step up Tuesday night with the Bruins shorthanded against the Detroit Red Wings.
The forward assumed Brad Marchand's role on the first line with the veteran suspended three game for slew-footing Oliver Ekman-Larsson in Sunday’s win over the Vancouver Canucks.
And playing alongside Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak, Hall skated well and at times looked rejuvenated while playing alongside such elite teammates in the 2-1 loss. Bruins assistant coach Joe Sacco, filling in for Bruce Cassidy who recently was diagnosed with COVID-19, seemed to like what he saw.
"I liked it," Sacco said. "I thought Taylor was skating well tonight, he looked like he had some jumps in his game tonight and he was certainly driving the the opposition back with his speed through the neutral zone at times, trying to hang on to pucks. That line obviously had some good looks. They spent a lot of time in the offensive zone. I know we only got the one goal on the power play but I think overall they had some good quality chances. And I think Taylor from watching it from where I was, I thought he played well tonight."
The performance comes after a slower start to the season for Hall, who recently re-signed with Boston.
But if Tuesday night was any indicator, after assisting David Pastrnak for Boston's only goal of the night, Hall will continue to settle in with the first line over the next few games without Marchand.
"It was fun," Hall said after the game. "Those are great players and there's a lot of things that, when you come into a line like that, I just tried to play without thinking and just tried to use my skill set to to help them. Five-on-five, we didn't get anything, you know? It looks good and everything, and a lot of shots, a lot of chances, but you'd almost rather have a small amount of chances and a goal. For us to come away with a point, we have to we have to accomplish that as a line."
Hall and Co. can try again on Thursday as they travel to Nashville to face the Predators at 8 p.m. ET.
