DeBrusk Responds as B's Roll Past Rangers

BOSTON - Jake DeBrusk knew he needed a change - from head to toe.
After sitting out as a healthy scratch during the Bruins' shootout loss to the New York Islanders on Tuesday night, the winger was prepared to do anything to change his fortunes.
As such, DeBrusk used his time wisely during Wednesday's team off day and ventured to South Boston for a trim. The flow that had peaked out from under his helmet for months had to go. And so, too, did the custom Bauer stick - that one with the hole through the middle of the blade - that had been a staple of his for just over a calendar year.

"I had long hair for a while there," said DeBrusk, who entered Thursday night's game against the New York Rangers with one goal in 17 games this season. "I don't know, I just needed to look a little younger. It feels like everyone thinks I'm kind of done here…full reset. I'm not that picky with that stuff…I'm not blaming the stick, it's the player…I was keeping things pretty consistent…obviously it wasn't working."
The changes, however, seemed to do him just fine. With a shorter haircut, a fresh shave, and a new stick in hand, DeBrusk returned to the Bruins' lineup and played, perhaps, his best overall game of the season, cashing in for his second goal of the year while helping the Black & Gold to a 4-0 victory over the Blue Shirts at TD Garden.
"I know what I need to do," said DeBrusk, clearly irritated with how his season has transpired. "It's my job to be the best I can be every day. There's obviously distractions. I'm a pretty easy target at the moment. I understand the territory. It's pretty much warranted. I get that, but I took it personally, for sure. Who wouldn't?
"Any time you get scratched, it stinks. I was pretty beyond frustrated already. It was a nice little reset for me because I knew I was gonna come with some heat today."

DeBrusk, playing in his familiar second-line left wing spot, had plenty of jump and jam, using his speed on the outside and grit in the corners to create a number of opportunities alongside linemates David Krejci and Nick Ritchie. On his goal, DeBrusk took a cross-slot feed from Krejci and ripped home a one-timer from the bottom of the circle to give Boston a 4-0 lead at 4:52 of the second.
The 24-year-old also landed two shots on goal and two hits in 15:48 of ice time, while delivering a beautiful diving poke check feed to Jack Studnicka, who just missed tapping it home into an empty cage in the first period.
"When he scores, he catches fire," said Brad Marchand, who had three assists. "Jake did a great job responding and having a big game tonight. Even more than his goal, I liked his details. He was stopping on pucks, competing hard, finishing checks, blocking shots. That's how he has to play. He's gonna score when he gets in position but it's the other areas of his game when he plays like that, he's a phenomenal player."
Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy, who earlier this week told the media he did not believe that DeBrusk's effort was at its highest level of late, concurred with Marchand, saying that he was just as impressed with DeBrusk's work away from the puck than he was with the offensive output.
"He was better on the walls, trying to effect the play up the ice on the forecheck, a little second effort below the goal line to stay to keep pucks alive in O-zone play," said Cassidy. "I liked what I saw tonight."
But DeBrusk, who scored a career-high 27 goals two years ago, is hardly satisfied. While he was pleased to knock home his second goal of the season - and first at even strength - he knows that he must continue to play with the edge that made him a success on Thursday night. One strong game will not be enough.
"It's still there," DeBrusk said of the frustration that he's felt all season long. "It's still there, the sense that I need to bring that consistently. I think the reason that I played that way tonight is because I was pissed off. I think I need to keep that. The game is done, it's all happy; it's a different narrative now because I scored, but I'm keeping that. That's not going away."

Senyshyn Debuts

Zach Senyshyn made his season debut and brought plenty of jump to Boston's fourth line. Skating alongside Sean Kuraly and Jack Studnicka, the winger's speed and skating ability were noticeable as he helped drive the trio to a strong showing that included several odd-man rush opportunities. Senyshyn landed three shots on goal in 11:46 of ice time.
"Defensive zone coverage led to some opportunities for him to transition the other way," said Cassidy. "Their line was good, created some turnovers. They had good sticks in lanes that forced some errant plays by the Rangers. He got through the neutral zone in a hurry, made two really nice plays to Kuraly…made good decisions with the puck, on the attack, though he battled well on the walls, got pucks out when he was supposed to.
"I certainly thought he impacted the game with his foot speed offensively and didn't hurt us at all defensively. I liked what I saw. A little bit more of a confident player."

Krejci Breaks Through

DeBrusk was not the only one to break through on Thursday night. Krejci, his longtime linemate, also got on the board with his first goal of the season, a one-time blast from above the right circle on the power play to give Boston a 3-0 lead at 3:31 of the second.
"Good for him, good shot," said Cassidy. "We know he can one-time the puck. He's had some tough luck this year, hit some posts, a great save the other night [by Islanders goalie Semyon Varlamov]. Good to see one go in for him - and for the power play now, to strike two nights in a row and give us some momentum."

Marchand Turns Heads

When Marchand's career is over, the highlight reel that recaps his career will be lengthy. But there will certainly be room for his incredible individual effort on Boston's second goal. The winger surged through the neutral zone shorthanded and dangled with a dazzling move around the Rangers' Pavel Buchnevich before dishing a nifty backhand feed to Patrice Bergeron, who tapped it home from the top of the crease for a 2-0 Bruins lead with 2:26 remaining in the first period.
"That's a fun one," said Marchand. "They don't happen very often. Just kind of got lucky catching a forward back there. They're always fun to be a part of when it goes your way."
The assist - one of his three on the night - was Marchand's 47th career shorthanded point, tying him with Bobby Orr and Ed Westfall for the top spot in team history (since 1933-34 when goals by type were officially tracked), per NHL Stats.
Marchand also surpassed Ken Hodge (674 points) to move into sole possession of ninth place on the Bruins' all-time scoring list with his first assist of the night on David Pastrnak's opening tally. His three-point night gave him 677 for his career.

Halak Shuts the Door

Jaroslav Halak - filling in for the injured Tuukka Rask - made his second consecutive start and was tremendous between the pipes, stopping all 27 shots he faced for his 52nd career shutout. The blanking moved him past Dave Kerr, Tomas Vokoun, Rogie Vachon, and Curtis Joseph (all with 51 shutouts) for sole possession of 26th in league history, per NHL Stats.
"He's been good for us all year," said Cassidy. "Right now, he recognizes it could be his net for a bit. Tuukka's day-to-day so he gets an extra start, will probably get another one Saturday with a quick turnaround. He's trying to take advantage of the situation in front of him and pick up the team.
"He knows that we've been a pretty good defensive team most of the year, in front of either goaltender…we gave him some run support which we haven't done a lot of lately for our goalies."
The Bruins, meanwhile, held their opponent to one goal or fewer (excluding shootout goals) for the sixth straight game, the fourth time in team history and first time in the NHL's expansion era that the club has accomplished that feat. The team record is seven games from Jan. 15-31, 1929.
"We had a couple of tough ones in New York where we gave up too many goals," said Cassidy, referring to being outscored, 13-4, in back-to-back games against the Rangers and Islanders last month. "We said, 'Hey, we've got to get back to being a good checking team, defending team.' And we've got that now, five or six games in a row."