DeBrusk making fast impact for Bruins entering Game 4 against Maple Leafs

TORONTO -- Jake DeBrusk picked up the puck in the right circle, on a little pass from Boston Bruins teammate David Krejci. He looked up ice. The forward made it around Toronto Maple Leafs forwards Patrick Marleau and Tomas Plekanec as he crossed to the left side of the ice and steamed along the boards.

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Then past defenseman Nikita Zaitsev, who got a hit on him, and Toronto forward Mitch Marner, muscling between them as he angled himself toward Maple Leafs goalie Frederik Andersen, evading diving Toronto defenseman Jake Gardiner in the process.
He finally passed the puck, to Krejci, as he neared the goal line, but the center couldn't quite handle it with just less than two minutes remaining in the second period of Game 3 of the Eastern Conference First Round on Monday.
Even though Krejci couldn't finish on the play, it was stunning, both in the way DeBrusk went almost end-to-end with the puck, and that the 21-year-old rookie had the confidence to try it exactly one regular season and three Stanley Cup Playoff games into his career.
"It was a good sequence," DeBrusk said. "I could have gotten killed about three times there, and it was nice to get out of that one alive."
Even if they didn't score.
"That was unbelievable, that shift," coach Bruce Cassidy said. "I don't know if he'd tell you he was trying to do that. Did he tell you that? I don't want to rain on his parade."
For his part, DeBrusk said that, in looking up the ice, he saw he had space after he got by Marleau. He was trying to gain the red line, then saw there was more space ahead than he had thought. So he went for it.
His ability to make the move, and his belief in himself that he should try, is why DeBrusk has spent most of the season on the Bruins' second line. He has played there, with Krejci and now Rick Nash, on a team that finished second in the Atlantic Division and leads the Maple Leafs 2-1 in the best-of-7 series, with Game 4 at Air Canada Centre on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, TVAS, NESN)

"Speed complements David," Cassidy said. "We knew that, watching the Bruins over the years, [there are] guys that are willing to get to the net and draw some people away from [Krejci], so it opens up the middle of the ice with gap control, or draw people to [Krejci], so he can pitch it out there, however they decide to play him.
"If they try to play him up and tight, that speed helps. If they play loose, then it gives him room to kind of find those open seams and take the extra second and make the play."
As Cassidy said, it's not just the foot speed; it's the shot, too, one that DeBrusk can get by goalies from distance "with a good release when they've seen it." That gives DeBrusk versatility in ways he can score, and in ways he can support his linemates in the offensive zone.
"I think I complement them specifically on the forecheck," said DeBrusk, who had 43 points (16 goals, 27 assists) this season. "I think that's where I can get to areas, get to loose pucks, and try to retrieve it for them. Get them as much space as they need. They're really good players, they're both really special in their own ways.
"I'm very honored and humbled to be on that line, so I'll do whatever it takes to get there. I've been trying to figure that out myself, just what I can do to help the line."
Though, watching him, it seems that he already has.

"He hounds the puck," Nash said. "He's always on the forecheck. It's been a lot of fun. He brings a lot of energy to the line. It seems like he has all the tools in the bag to be great player and a power forward. It's fun to watch."
DeBrusk has broken through with an assist in Game 1 on a power-play goal by Krejci, and his own power-play goal in Game 2. But neither was quite as scintillating as the play in Game 3, even without the desired end result.
"I think you've always got to have confidence as a player," DeBrusk said. "Those are just examples of when I'm at my best and what I can do. But in saying that, it didn't go in so it doesn't really matter. But when I have speed with the puck, I'm confident with it."
He knows, though, that the Maple Leafs might focus more on him in Game 4, and, as he put it, "I'm sure next time I come through the neutral zone it won't be as easy."
Not that it seemed all that easy the first time.
"That was nice," Nash said. "At a young age to have the confidence to make those plays, especially at the time of season that we're at right now, it's impressive."