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The Boston Bruins started to wrap up training camp today at Warrior Ice Arena with an intrasquad scrimmage before the team heads to Toronto on Sunday.
It’s no surprise David Pastrnak and Ondrej Kase were absent again (along with Nick Ritchie), but it was all business as usual for the rest of the guys.
Thanks to NESN’s “Back to Work” special this afternoon, we were all able to get a glimpse at the culmination of a very unique postseason camp.
Highlights included 5-on-4 action with a pretty dangle backhanded goal by Brad Marchand and a bomb of a one-timer from Matt Grzelcyk.
Yeah, 63 looks ready for Toronto. @Bmarch63 | #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/nIghCpUgGX
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) July 24, 2020
On a media call, Patrice Bergeron commented on the power play and how it was really the first time working on those situations during camp.
He felt the chemistry was there, but more work will need to be done over the next week for some fine-tuning when they get to Toronto.
“I think it was a little bit more of getting adjusted to the power play, and try not to force plays,” Bergeron said. “There were a few of those instances where the play was forced. But that’s why we’re working on it right now and try to have a feel for it and getting better.”
Lines for today’s scrimmage and practice looked like this:
Marchand – Bergeron – Anders Bjork
Jake DeBrusk – David Krejci – Jack Studnicka
Sean Kuraly – Charlie Coyle – Karson Kuhlman
Joakim Nordstrom – Par Lindholm – Chris Wagner
Anton Blidh – Trent Frederic – Zach Senyshyn
And defensive pairings:
Zdeno Chara – Charlie McAvoy
Torey Krug – Brandon Carlo
Grzelcyk – Jeremy Lauzon
John Moore – Connor Clifton
Urho Vaakanainen – Jakub Zboril
According to Head Coach Bruce Cassidy, Pastrnak, Kase and Ritchie are all expected to travel with the team to Toronto. He hopes that everyone is “cleared to go at 5:30 [pm] on Sunday.”
Cassidy looks to get a good skate in tomorrow, with less of the scrimmage and special teams stuff worked on today.
Once in Toronto, Cassidy hopes by Tuesday they’ll get back into the full swing of things as the guys adjust to the bubble and get their legs back.
So here we go. Boston’s got one more day, and then Toronto is up.
As some of the guys like Bergeron have mentioned, health - both physical and mental - are going to play a huge role in the team’s success. In this new world with different protocols and testing, a healthy and consistent lineup will make or break the Bruins’ run at the Stanley Cup.
It’s going to be a doozy of a ride!