ST LOUIS – The Bruins have made a roster decision, and it’s a curious one given the time and place.
Rookie Bruins winger Karson Kuhlman will be in the lineup for Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final after not playing since the last day of April in the second round playoff series against the Columbus Blue Jackets, and will line up with David Krejci and Jake DeBrusk on the B’s second line. Steve Kampfer will draw out of the B’s lineup after being the seventh defensemen for the loss in Game 5, and David Backes will be passed over after playing in the first four games of the Cup Final series.
Clearly it’s an effort by Bruce Cassidy to go with speed and aggressive two-way play over the size, strength and experience that Backes brings to the table, and he’s hoping that it’s going to pay dividends for the Black and Gold.
“Kuhlman is going in, Kampfer is out, so we’ll have a more traditional [lineup of] 12 forwards and 6 ‘D’,” said Cassidy of using Kuhlman, who has two assists and nine shots on net in five playoff games for the Bruins in this postseason. “[Kuhlman] has got a good motor. That’s what we’ve liked about him. He’s played with Krejci on that line. He’s good on the walls, he’s quick and he’s got a good fore-checking motor.
“The challenge with him like a lot of these guys will be getting inside this big, heavy ‘D’ [for St. Louis]. But he is fast and responsible, and what I’ve found with him is that if we sat him for stretches of time [within a game] he’d come back and give us the same energy. That’s pretty impressive for a young guy. He was a winner in college, so he’s got a lot of those good attributes. He’s used to playing a support role, so that’s why we’re using him [in Game 6].”
It sure sounds like the Bruins don’t plan on playing Kuhlman all that much, and they may be double-shifting other wingers on the B’s second line if things start to get desperate and they fall behind during the do-or-die game.
All that being said, Kuhlman was removed from the Columbus series in favor of Backes because he was getting knocked around by the physical, aggressive Blue Jackets. It’s hard to believe the same trend isn’t going to repeat itself against a St. Louis Blues outfit that has been playing bruising, physical, smash mouth hockey for their entire Stanley Cup playoff run. The most logical thing to do would have been to go back to Backes after he'd sat for a couple of days, and hoped he'd have some luck winning battles in front of the St. Louis net.
Boston Bruins
Going smaller and faster may work for the Black and Gold and push them to a Game 7, but it also might just make them an easier mark for a Blues team that’s already become the first hockey team in Stanley Cup Final history to have two players suspended in the Cup Final series.
Along with Kuhlman drawing into the lineup, the Bruins announced that Matt Grzelcyk is still not cleared medically to play and it would appear that he had some kind of setback in his concussion recovery while trying to be ready to play in Game 5.
Here are the line combos and D-pairings based on morning skate, Saturday’s practice and Cassidy’s comments to the media:
Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak
DeBrusk-Krejci-Kuhlman
Johansson-Coyle-Heinen
Nordstrom-Kuraly-Acciari
Chara-McAvoy
Krug-Carlo
Moore-Clifton
Rask
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