Need to Know: Bruins at Rangers

TARRYTOWN, N.Y. - The Bruins got right back to work on Saturday afternoon with a brief but valuable practice in preparation of their Sunday matinee against the New York Rangers. After back-to-back lopsided losses to the Islanders and Rangers on consecutive nights, there was plenty for Boston coach Bruce Cassidy to unpack through video review and on-ice instruction.
"It sucks when you lose two in a row, to be honest with you," Cassidy said candidly after the B's practice at Madison Square Garden Training Center. "But you go back to work. You point out some mistakes. You make adjustments, especially when you play the same team again.
"I think that can be an advantage, you've got a chance to sort of lick your wounds. But also, it's a team that just beat you so hopefully you should be energized and ready to go again when you get another chance at them which will be [on Sunday].
"It was a good workday. Once it's done you realize you've addressed some things, worked on things. I guess we'll see [on Sunday] how it translates."

Boston has been outscored, 13-4, in the two losses, as the team's typically stout defensive structure has begun to crumble with Matt Grzelcyk, Jeremy Lauzon, and Kevan Miller all sidelined by injuries.
"It's getting back to basics. For us, that's taking pride in our defensive game," said Charlie McAvoy. "Regardless of who's in the lineup we also feel confident that we can get the job done so the onus is really on us to step up as a committee and keep the puck out of our net, which is obviously something that we haven't been doing as of late.
"But we had a great practice today. We watched some film, made some adjustments, and we're excited for the opportunity to get back at it [on Sunday]."

Bruins alternate captain Brad Marchand said that despite the uncharacteristic outings in New York, the Black & Gold are remaining confident in each other and their abilities.
"We're all going through it together," said Marchand. "It's easy to get caught up in it. We've had a couple bad games, without question. We can be much better than what we were the last two nights. But we just want to stick together as a group.
"We've always had a really high compete level and I think we've just gotten a little bit away from that. We just have to get back to competing hard…we're known to be hard to play against and we can't let a bad bounce or a bad break affect our game. We just have to stick with it."

Help Wanted

With the injuries - and goals against - piling up, the Bruins took action on Saturday afternoon with general manager Don Sweeney claiming veteran defenseman Jarred Tinordi off waivers from the Nashville Predators. The 29-year-old left shot played in seven games for the Preds this season and has 88 NHL games on his resume across six NHL seasons with Montreal, Arizona, and Nashville.
At 6-foot-6 and 230 pounds, Tinordi - the 22nd overall pick in the 2010 NHL Draft - brings plenty of size and strength to the back end, elements that have been lacking in the absence of Lauzon and Miller.
"I think our depth has been challenged in terms of size," said Cassidy. "This gives us a different look back there. A little more stout and stiffness. It's just a different element of a make-up of a back end…obviously if we were more efficient back there, rock solid, then I don't know if you do that.
"At the end of the day, it is a different element. To ask some guys to go out and play like the Lauzons and the Millers that are naturally that way is a little more difficult."
Due to travel and COVID protocols, Tinordi will not join the team for Sunday's contest against the Rangers. When the Minnesota native does arrive, Cassidy will have a decision to make in determining which of his existing blue liners to pair up with the newcomer.
"There's a big body that could complement McAvoy if that's the way we go against top lines," said Cassidy. "Lauzon did that job, [Zdeno Chara] did that job. Obviously those three are not exactly the same but they're bigger bodies that can be shutdown guys.
"I'm not saying he's gonna go in the first pair because we haven't seen him yet, but he is that type of defender who could find a lot of usage on our back end right now because we lack that...as long as guys remain out of the lineup, there's opportunity."

Grzelcyk Doubtful

Grzelcyk practiced in full on Saturday, pairing up with McAvoy for much of the skate, though Cassidy labeled him as "doubtful" to return on Sunday afternoon. The blue liner, out since Feb. 10, has played just six games this season due to various injuries.
"I don't think he's gonna play [on Sunday]," said Cassidy. "We're gonna give him another night."

Status Quo for Miller

Miller, meanwhile, will miss his fourth straight game on Sunday as he deals with a setback with his surgically repaired knee. The blue liner was faring well through the season's first month, playing in Boston's first 15 games, before a flare up forced him off the ice ahead of the B's trip to Lake Tahoe last weekend.
"He was disappointed that he had a setback," said Cassidy. "He's put in a lot of hard work. Made it through a good month at least and had very minor issues…then it kind of flared up on him. We're all keeping our fingers crossed. Medically, there's been nothing that says this guy's gonna be out for an extended period of time.
"I think there's just a little bit of what happens after a couple of surgeries. It does need time to calm down…to have a setback, it affects you mentally. But we're trying to keep it as positive as possible with him."

Saturday's Practice Lineup

FORWARDS
Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - David Pastrnak
Nick Ritchie - Charlie Coyle - Craig Smith
Trent Frederic - Jack Studnicka - Jake DeBrusk
Sean Kuraly - Greg McKegg - Karson Kuhlman
Anders Bjork/Chris Wagner
DEFENSEMEN
Matt Grzelcyk - Charlie McAvoy
Jakub Zboril - Brandon Carlo
Urho Vaakanainen - Connor Clifton
John Moore - Steven Kampfer
GOALIES
Tuukka Rask
Jaroslav Halak
Callum Booth