Bruce Cassidy hinted at some potential lineup changes for the Bruins after their ugly 6-4 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday night.
Nothing went Boston’s way, from not being able to control pucks, win battles and help out Jeremy Swayman when the rookie goalie needed his team the most.
During Wednesday’s practice at Warrior Ice Arena, the Bruins head coach didn’t make any major changes, but that doesn’t mean that’s what he’ll go with when the B’s welcome in the New Jersey Devils on Thursday night.
“We’ll make some changes (Thursday). Let’s get here in the morning, see if there’s any surprises. I think these three games we were running with the lineup that I thought was playing really well,” Cassidy told reporters, per team-provided audio. “I looked at Tampa, the Islanders and Toronto, three pretty good, I don’t want to call the measuring stick games, but sort of see where you’re at, what’s going well.
“Obviously, the first two (games) went better than (Toronto), and now it’s 16 games I believe in 30 days. We have 25 healthy bodies, so how do we best prepare to still accumulate points but get to keep the other guys sharp and ready because we’ve got to get in the playoffs. Once you’re in, there’s a bit of a war of attrition at times if you expect to achieve what you want to keep advancing.”
There’s a month left in the regular season, and it would take some drastic downfall in order for the Bruins to miss the postseason. Cassidy doesn’t want to tinker too much with the lineup but he’s cognizant of needing to get everyone reps should someone get injured en route to a Stanley Cup.
“There’s a little bit of that we have to factor in now with our lineup,” Cassidy said. “And so, we are talking about that. I think the way it is, we have to be wise on how we manage a few people along the way.
“Some guys may get in if they haven’t played in two months, you know what I mean? I don’t think that’s conducive to success for those individuals. So, let’s try at least work them in along the way without disrupting our flow. Big picture is kind of what we want, we’ve seen over the last few years here with COVID how guys go in and out of your lineup very quickly.
“So, you’ve got to be able to adapt to that. Not that that’s going to be an issue going forward, but if there’s a sudden injury. So, I don’t think it’s a bad thing to work other guys in and keep them motivated.”
We’ll see if Cassidy indeed makes any changes Thursday night when the Devils come to Boston for a 7 p.m. ET puck drop.
