BOSTON — Bruins coach Jim Montgomery has never been afraid to tinker with his combination. His lineup and in the second period often looks different than the third.
Some of his recent moves have helped spark the Bruins’ success this week with wins over Carolina and Floirda.
Here’s the moves and what they’ve produced:
For Thursday’s game, Montgomery moved Morgan Geekie to the first line to play with Brad Marchand and Charlie Coyle — At 6-foot-3, 202 pounds, Geekie gives that line more size and more physicality that it had with Jake DeBrusk.
“He’s been really physical since he’s been up there. Moves the puck well. Makes really good wall plays,” Montgomery said. “They seem to have good chemistry. It’s been good so far.”
Fanatics Sportsbook
10X$100 BONUS BET
BET MATCH BONUS
Must be 21+. GAMBLING PROBLEM? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (CO, KY ,MD, OH, PA, TN, VA, VT, WV); (888) 789-7777 or ccpg.org (CT); 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA); (800) 327-5050 or gamblinghelpline.org (MA), mdgamblinghelp.org (MD), 1800gambler.net (WV)
DeBrusk moved down and Jesper Boqvist jumped up to the third line with Trent Frederic — Montgomery hoped combining DeBrusk and Boqvist would allow both to benefit from each other’s speed. DeBrusk didn’t get an assist, but was on the ice with Boqvist for his overtime game-winner on Saturday.
“We moved (Boqvist) up from fourth-line center to third-line center because we moved Geekie up,” Montgomery said. “We like the speed of JD and Boqvist together, we think that can be a weapon on the third line.”
Boqvist said he feels good in the new role.
“I feel like every chance I get, I keep getting a little bit better. I pick up on stuff from guys,” he said after scoring the game-winner against Floriday. “Last game we started slowly, This was a step in the right direction. Hopefully, keep building on it.”
Charlie McAvoy has been impressed.
“He works incredibly hard. He’s had a great story this year. Coming up and making the most of his opportunities and carving out a place on this team. He’s an easy guy to root for,” McAvoy said. “He’s a great teammate. I couldn’t be happier for him.”
James van Riemsdyk dropped to the fourth line with Johnny Beecher and Jakub Lauko — Van Riemsdyk has just one assist since March 1 and hasn’t scored a goal since Feb. 17. He was once the face of Don Sweeney’s offseason bargain-shopping success, but his lineup spot is in question if/when Pat Maroon and/or Justin Brazeau come back.
He’ll need to show something on the power play or risk being a healthy scratch.
Parker Wotherspoon and Andrew Peeke are now paired on the third defense — Montgomery started that duo together for the first time on Saturday as the third pair and liked how they played together.
“We purposely matched them up against (Sam) Bennett and (Matt) Tkachuk. They were physical and in their faces all night long,” he said. “I think that’s something we’re trying to build within our team — to be more in people’s faces.”
