The Bruins were playing some of their best hockey to begin 2022 but have hit a bit of a slump of late.
Boston has looked undisciplined at times over its last few games, the latest showing coming Tuesday in the B's 4-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues at TD Garden.
One instance in particular was when Trent Frederic was called for roughing after losing his cool following a check from Vladimir Tarasenko. St. Louis took advantage of the power play and tied the game at 2-2 before going on to ultimately win.
Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy wasn't pleased about the outcome or the reckless hockey Frederic played. Given how shorthanded the Bruins are due to injuries, players can't be taking penalties that easily could be avoided.
"You just have to have a certain amount of discipline to play, not take yourself out of the game individually or as a team," Cassidy told reporters Wednesday, per team-provided audio. "That's where Freddy's going to have to learn. He hasn't been through it a lot. This is probably a good learning curve for him to keep your emotions in check and channel them properly. He didn't. It cost us. Hopefully he's a better player for us moving forward. That's it. That's the best you can hope for."
Frederic didn't take his normal rushes during Wednesday's practice, but Cassidy didn't place all of the blame on the forward, who's been fairly productive as part of the third line with Charlie Coyle and Craig Smith.
"He has been a good player for us on that line," Cassidy said. "That line has not been as good recently. I put that on all three of them. They're getting farther and farther and farther away from the net, as opposed to toward the net where they're big, heavy bodies and they can do some damage. We're trying to correct that."
Cassidy confirmed to reporters that Frederic would be a healthy scratch for Thursday's game against the Ottawa Senators. Tomas Nosek will skate on the third line while Jesper Froden will play on the second line with Taylor Hall and Erik Haula.
It's clear Cassidy is sending a message to Frederic and hopefully it is heard and well-received.
The Bruins can clinch a playoff spot against Ottawa, a team that doesn't have much to play for with the regular season winding down.
