Coyle Sidelined As B's Prepare For Physical Rematch with Caps

Washington D.C - Bruins' third-line center Charlie Coyle, who recorded 4 shots on net during Saturday's 4-3 overtime loss to the Capitals, did not lace up the skates for Sunday's practice facility in Washington.
"Bit of an upper body. He came out of the game all right, but something that lingered this morning," head coach Bruce Cassidy explained during Sunday's availability with media. "So, we gave him the day off and hopefully that will help for tomorrow, but we will see in the morning."
In Coyle's absence, Karson Kuhlman skated at practice on the third line with Sean Kuraly in the middle and Anders Bjork on wing.

The Caps made their presence felt on Saturday, recording a total of 38 hits, while the Bruins shelled out only 15.
Defenseman Kevan Miller, who stands at six-foot-two-inches and carries 210-lbs under the pads, embraced the physicality of the Caps' game style and already has his eyes set on Monday's rematch.
"Washington has always been a tough team for us to play and they've got some heavy guys over there," said Miller. "I really enjoy those games. Very easy games to get up for. Overall, as a team, I think we did a pretty good job against them."

Stepping Up

Cassidy commended his young core for not backing down against Washington's heavier core: "I thought we handled ourselves well in that building. At the end of the day, they are a big team. They haven't changed a lot in the last few years. I think putting people like [Nick Ritchie] and [Trent Frederic] to neutralize [them] a little bit, they certainly stood up to [them]."
"I think our younger guys are playing with lots of courage. Lauzon, he will battle anybody. Charlie has always done that, Brandon is a little more mature, so he's a bigger body. Kevan Miller back in the lineup is a big add for us in that regard."
"When you look at the make up of your team, when you add some of those pieces," Cassidy continued. "It will balance the scales with the physical part of it. Then you just got to get out and make sure you get your share of hits or take your hits to make your play."

Although he gave plenty of credit to Washington's physical gameplay, Cassidy viewed the unbalanced checking numbers to be a result of the B's length of possession; a strength, rather than a weakness.
"That's what happened in the first period. We had the puck a lot so we got hit a lot, but we made good plays with it."
Miller echoed Cassidy's thoughts on the team's time of possession: "Especially in our division right now, it's probably as physical of a team as we're going to face. Thought we matched up pretty well with them. We had the puck a lot of the time and broke the puck out of our zone pretty quickly, so I think a lot of this is predicated on us spending time in our zone or hanging on to the puck."

On The Mend

When asked about the recovery status for players such as Jake Debrusk, Matt Grzelcyk, Jack Studnicka, Ondrej Kase, Cassidy stated that the listed players did not travel with the team.
"My understanding is that [DeBrusk] will probably get on the ice tomorrow, so that's a positive. The other guys I'm not sure yet if they're ready to get on the ice," explained Cassidy. "I don't believe anybody will meet us here right now, but there could be some improvement over the next few days that changes that."
As the Bruins prep for their second of two games against the Capitals on Monday night, coach Cassidy voiced no concerns about his team's current play.
"Certainly we've slowly started to turn the corner against them…[Saturday night's] game - I would take 7 more of those to be honest with you. I thought we did a lot of things well. Of course, we got to clean up a few things, we made a few mistakes and they're opportunistic…I thought we matched up really well," said Cassidy.

Sunday's Practice Lineup

FORWARDS
Marchand - Bergeron - Pastrnak
Ritchie - Krejci - Smith
Bjork - Kuraly - Kuhlman
Frederic - Lindholm - Wagner
McKegg - Blidh
DEFENSEMEN
Lauzon - McAvoy
Clifton - Carlo
Zboril - Miller
Moore - Kampfer
Vaakanainen
GOALIES
Rask
Halak
Vladar
Absent: Coyle