Jim Montgomery Had This Advice Prior To Anthony Richard’s Bruins Debut

BOSTON — Anthony Richard is set to make his Bruins debut when Boston hosts the Washington Capitals on Saturday afternoon at TD Garden.

The 27-year-old forward got some playing time in the NHL last season with the Montreal Canadiens, notching three goals and two assists in 13 games.

Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery said that Richard’s speed, tenacity, and forechecking are elements to his game he hopes to translate from the AHL to the NHL.

Montgomery offered Richard some advice to balance out the excitement and nervousness of playing with the Bruins for the first time this season.

“Drive the net, finish at the net, use your speed to create anxiety on the other team’s defensemen on the rush and on the forecheck.”

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The Bruins’ forecheck has been a big part of the team’s success this season because they have been able to disrupt the opposing teams’ offensive game plan.

“We want to be a good forechecking team,” Montgomery said. “I think we’ve become better and better throughout the year. We have quite a few goals off our forecheck this year actually. It’s a big part of what we want to be and who we are.”

Boston will look to shut down one of the most explosive players in the league — Alexander Ovechkin.

“He just finds little holes,” Montgomery said of Ovechkin’s success. “It seems like he always shoots from the same one area, but he moves just about three feet or sometimes he comes into the middle by five feet. He just does it enough. His hockey sense is unreal and that’s why he gets open all the time. We saw it earlier, Brett Hull was very similar that way.”

At 22-20-7, the Capitals are currently out of a Wild Card spot heading down the stretch, but Montgomery said the Bruins are not taking them lightly heading into the matchup.

“They’re a big heavy team,” Montgomery said. “You look at their forwards, they’re big. They hang on to pucks well. They can create mismatches down low with their puck protection.

“Their defensemen are very active, especially (John) Carlson and (Rasmus) Sandin. Those are the primary things that we’re going to be aware of.”