Grzelcyk's Game is Growing

BOSTON - Goals and points are the easy way to determine how well a player is performing.
But there may be one other stat column that best provides a read on the way someone is playing, particularly a defenseman like Matt Grzelcyk. The uptick in the rookie blue liner's minutes over the last two games makes that clear.

After bottoming out at a season-low 8 minutes on Nov. 29 against Tampa Bay, Grzelcyk has surged to an average of 15 minutes of ice time per game over his last three contests, while becoming increasingly more comfortable on the left side of Boston's third pairing with Kevan Miller.
"He's earning the trust of the coaching staff, so good for him," said Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy. "He put a year in in Providence [last season], he was asked to do certain things and had a really good game to start here, finished camp well, we just had healthy numbers. He's had an opportunity and he's starting to kick the door open.
"That's what you have to do if you want to stick, you really do. You've got to beat somebody out of a job and take advantage of the opportunity and right now he's done a good job with it."

Grzelcyk believes being awarded more ice time is the greatest compliment a player can receive.
"It feels nice that they trust you a little bit more in certain situations, especially in the third period," said Grzelcyk. "You're getting a little bit more time, so I think that's huge and it gives me a lot of confidence going forward."
Not that his confidence hasn't already been growing. The Charlestown native is in the midst of his third stint with the Bruins, having played two games a season ago and in the season opener in October. Grzelcyk returned to Providence following Opening Night and played in 14 games before being recalled to the big club again in late November.
Since the call-up, the 23-year-old has played in seven games, notching a goal and two assists to go along with a plus-4 rating. It is a stretch during which the 5-foot-9, 174-pound Grzelcyk has adjusted well to the speed and strength of the NHL game.
"I think being up for two or three weeks or so has helped me adjust a lot. I think my game has grown since then," said Grzelcyk. "It's obviously the biggest challenge when you come back up, just the speed of the game and how fast everybody moves the puck."
Grzelcyk appeared plenty poised during Boston's 6-1 win over Arizona on Thursday night. On what proved to be the deciding goal, the rookie pinched down the left half wall, won a puck battle, and backhanded a pass to Riley Nash, who had rotated into Grzelcyk's spot at the point. Nash wristed a shot towards the net with David Backes tipping it by Scott Wedgewood for a 2-1 Bruins lead late in the second period.
"The first period we weren't sustaining much time in the offensive zone," said Grzelcyk. "I just tried to keep the puck alive as best we could - I think good things happen when that happens. I started skating back up to the point so their forward kind of dives down and Nasher was wide open. Just tried to get him the puck, he snapped a quick one and Backs made a great tip."

It was a play he's not sure he would have made two weeks ago.
"When you initially get called up your first thought is probably not to make a mistake, but I don't think anyone really benefits if you're playing like that," said Grzelcyk. "I think maybe having a few games in a row under my belt kind of helps that confidence and allows me to hang onto pucks more. Just kind of have a little more freedom to be more creative."
That aggressiveness in the offensive zone is exactly what Cassidy and the rest of the coaching staff have been looking for from Grzelcyk.
"We've tried to instill that attack mentality in him, be aggressive not reckless," said Cassidy. "He needs to survive in this league by playing to his strengths and he has. He's pushed the pace of the game, breakouts have been clean, neutral zone transitions, added to our offensive blue line play - we saw it on the goal last night."

Opposing View

The Islanders (16-9-3, 35 points) are coming off an overtime loss to Pittsburgh on Thursday night, but have been one of the East's surprise teams to this point. They are 6-3-1 over their last 10 games and sit a point behind New Jersey for first place in the Metropolitan Division.
"I don't think it's unexpected, they finished very well last year, missed the playoffs by, I think, a point," said Cassidy. "They've got good young players, they're a talented team that can score. When they get goaltending they're a dangerous team. We'll see a lot of that tomorrow, we're going to have to be more consistent than we were [against Arizona] and I expect our guys will be."
John Tavares and Josh Bailey pace New York with 31 points apiece. Tavares is third in the league with 17 goals. Rookie Matthew Baral is in the midst of a Calder Trophy-level campaign with 8 goals and 19 assists in 28 games this season. His 27 points lead all rookies.

Maintenance Workers

Noel Acciari, Patrice Bergeron, and Tuukka Rask all missed Friday's practice for maintenance days, according to Cassidy. He expects Acciari and Bergeron to be in the lineup on Saturday night against the Islanders, while a decision on which goalie will start in goal will be made in the morning.
"I would fully expect that both of those guys will play," Cassidy said of Bergeron and Acciari.
In regards to Rask, Cassidy said, "we'll see how he is in the morning and we'll go from there."

Friday's Practice Lineup

Frank Vatrano - Brad Marchand - David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk - David Krejci - Anders Bjork
Danton Heinen - Riley Nash - David Backes
Tim Schaller - Sean Kuraly - Matt Beleskey
Zdeno Chara - Charlie McAvoy
Torey Krug - Brandon Carlo
Matt Grzelcyk - Kevan Miller
Paul Postma
Anton Khudobin