Subject: Bs will seek third straight win when they face the young, fast Devils
Author: Angel92
Posted on: 11/23/2017 12:57:23 AM
They have an exceedingly young lineup. Theyve been challenged by injuries. They want to play a fast, offense-oriented game. Theyre http://www.babewest.com/tim-horton-jersey-c-1_13.html not the Bruins. Theyre the Bruins opponent on Wednesday night.
BOSTON They have an exceedingly young lineup.
Theyve been challenged by injuries.
They want to play a fast, offense-oriented game.
Theyre not the Bruins. Theyre the Bruins opponent on Wednesday night.
Repeatedly referred to as the surprising New Jersey Devils, they own a share of first place in the Metropolitan Division, and theyre standing in the way of the Bruins first three-game winning streak of the season.
Theyre playing well, playing fast, playing confident, and theyre scoring a lot of goals, Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said on Tuesday. You watch them on video, and theyre flying around.
For roughly a generation (1987-2015) under former general manager Lou Lamoriello, the Devils concentrated more on grounding teams that tried to fly around, and it paid off with three Stanley Cups and two other trips to the Finals.
Now in their third season under GM Ray Shero (a Cup winner with the Penguins in 2009) and coach John Hynes, theyre trying to break a five-year absence from the playoffs by not just keeping up the speed at which most of the NHL is playing, but going even faster.
They want skill, they want speed, they want attack, Cassidy said. Before, you thought of the Devils more as clog it up, defend, defend some more, and win that way.
With eight players 23 or younger, headed by 18-year-old No. 1 overall draftee Nico Hischier (3 goals, 12 assists) and defenseman Will Butcher (2 goals, 14 assists), who won last years Hobey Baker Award while helping the University of Denver win the NCAA championship, the Devils are armed with plenty of young talent.
At the same time, New Jersey has imported a group of veterans many of them very familiar to local hockey fans to help guide the kids.
That list is headed by Hingham, Mass., native Brian Boyle, the 32-year-old forward who may have experienced more change in 2017 than any NHL player. After getting traded from the Lightning to the Maple Leafs on Feb. 27, he signed a two-year contract with the Devils on July 1, then discovered during training camp that he had a form of leukemia.
Boyle had to miss 10 games to begin treatment, but has been in the lineup since Nov. 1.
The first question that pops into your mind is, Is he going to be OK? said Bs defenseman Rob OGara, who has trained with Boyle for the last two off-seasons at the Foxboro Sports Center. But if anyone can handle it, if anyone can fight it, its Brian. Hes just an impressive guy.
The Devils have also received a significant http://www.blackhawksnhlproshop.com/nathan-noel-jersey-c-1_5.html boost from Braintrees Brian Gibbons, another free agent who spent the last two seasons in the AHL with two different organizations. Gibbons, who turned pro under Shero and Hynes in the Penguins system, leads the Devils with nine goals, and hes plus-13.
I think theyve probably surprised some teams, Cassidy said of the Devils, who also include ex-Bruins Jimmy Hayes and Drew Stafford.
You think of New Jersey the last couple years, and maybe players go in there [unsuspecting], and all of a sudden theyre ramming it down your throat. ... Hopefully we dont fall into that trap.
Yeah, its a big game for us, said Bruins center David Krejci, whose return from a 10-game absence with an upper body injury (the Bruins were 3-4-4 without him) has helped spark the seasons first winning streak. Were building toward something; were on the right track.
Around the boards
Winger Brad Marchand and defenseman Torey Krug both participated in Tuesdays practice in non-contact jerseys, but Cassidy said neither will play against the Devils. I cant really discuss whats going on, said Marchand, who has missed five of the last seven games, but Im feeling a little better, and trying to keep progressing .... Well just keep going day by day. ...
Center Ryan Spooner, sidelined since sustaining a groin injury on Oct. 15, went through Tuesdays full practice and may play on Wednesday. ...
Cassidy said rookie winger Anders Bjork, who has missed three games with a suspected upper body injury, wont return until next week ...
Cassidy said he hadnt decided if Anton Khudobin will make his third straight start in goal, or if Tuukka Rask will get the assignment.
References:
