Bruins Enjoying Last Break of Regular Season

TORONTO - The Bruins stayed off the ice for the second straight day on Thursday, but coach Bruce Cassidy met with the media at the team hotel to touch on a number of topics ahead of Saturday night's tilt with the Maple Leafs.

Rest stop: The Bruins are in the midst of three days without a game, their last real break of the regular season. Boston has one two-day break remaining, before closing out the year with 19 games in 39 days - a stretch that includes four weeks of playing every other night.
"I think its good for them, they got together last night as a group," said Cassidy. "It is kind of nice. We've got a real busy March, obviously. You almost wish we had one of those games tonight to space it out differently, but you don't - so you might as well enjoy that time off.
"The guys will be a little more refreshed tomorrow at practice, get back to work. Toronto is a nice city, it's not freezing cold like Calgary and Edmonton, so you can get out and walk around.
"They have a little workout today, so they'll get that done and enjoy a little break."
Holden has arrived: Newly acquired defenseman Nick Holden has joined the team in Toronto and skated on his own on Thursday afternoon.
Cassidy expects the 30-year-old blue liner will need a few practices with the group before getting into game action.
"Let's see in a regular practice first and go from there," said Cassidy. "I don't have a definitive answer when he'd go in. Like I said, we'll get through team practice tomorrow and make decisions from there."
With Kevan Miller healthy and ready to return after missing the last nine games, Boston now has nine healthy defensemen on the roster.
"Obviously with the deadline coming up we'll make those decisions," said Cassidy. "It is difficult to practice with nine guys. Again, that's something that Donny [Sweeney] and I will sit down. We're going to have it for at least the short term and figure out where we're at come Monday."

Power play scuffling: Boston's power play has struggled mightily on the road trip, going 0 for 10 through three games. After hovering in the top 10 throughout much of the season, the B's now sit 14th in the league in power-play efficiency (20.4%).
"I don't like our execution lately," said Cassidy. "It hasn't hurt us much, but at some point it will…something we've addressed. We changed our entries the other night. I thought in Edmonton at least we were generating opportunities, just didn't go in.
"It's not where it needs to be, let's put it that way. It's an area of our game that needs to improve."
Flipping the switch: Cassidy flip-flopped David Krejci and Riley Nash on Tuesday in Edmonton, a move that ultimately led to the tying and winning goals in the third period. But the bench boss said he would go back to his regular lines for Friday's practice - returning Krejci to the middle of Jake DeBrusk and Ryan Spooner and Nash in between Danton Heinen and David Backes.
"We'll stick with our regular lines and see how it plays out," said Cassidy. "It's one of those in-game decisions we made. We didn't like what we saw throughout the lineup. We left a couple lines alone, the other ones we messed around with and got a goal out of it, which is good. Good for Krech, he had a number of good looks on the trip. Hopefully everyone's lines are going again."
Cassidy does like the idea of having Backes - and his heavier, grittier style - alongside Krejci, a pairing that worked at times last season.
"When Backes goes up there, he's a little heavier than the Spooner-DeBrusk look…they played together last year with inconsistent results. I don't mind moving him up there," said Cassidy. "When Spooner and DeBrusk are going it's a lot of skill and speed, just a different look."
Playoff preview?: The Bruins visit the Maple Leafs on Saturday night for the teams' fourth and final meeting of the season. Toronto has won two of the three matchups so far, with Boston winning the last meeting, 4-1, at TD Garden on Feb. 3.
The Bruins currently hold a 3-point advantage - with four games in hand - over Toronto for second place in the Atlantic Division.
"I'm sure that both teams are going to be geared up," said Cassidy. "Last time in Boston I don't think we saw Toronto's best game, I'm assuming we will Saturday in front of their home crowd. There should be some electricity in that building, should be good."