Welcome to the latest edition of the Boston Bruins’ 3 Up, 3 Down for the 2022-23 season. This will be a weekly column released on Mondays chronicling the highs and lows of the previous seven days.
There certainly were a lot more ups than downs for the Boston Bruins in the last seven days. The season debut of the leader on defense happened two weeks early, a veteran goaltender helped the Bruins steal two points, a veteran center continues to struggle, and much more in this edition of Bruins’ 3 Up, 3 Down.
Plus One: Charlie McAvoy Makes Season Debut
The Charlie McAvoy watch was on as the calendar turned to November after Brad Marchand and Matt Grzelcyk were already back in the lineup after recovering from their offseason surgeries. On Nov. 10, McAvoy returned two weeks ahead of his original schedule of around American Thanksgiving from shoulder surgery and he made an immediate impact.
In the Bruins’ 3-1 win over the Calgary Flames, McAvoy scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal late in the second period, breaking a 1-1 tie. In three games early in the season, he has a goal and an assist. Mike Reilly was placed on waivers for the purpose of being sent to the Providence Bruins in the American Hockey League (AHL) to make room to fit McAvoy’s salary to be cap compliant. Moving Reilly in a trade despite not being claimed on waivers is the obvious move the Bruins will make sooner or later.
Minus One: Derek Forbort Placed on LTIR
When McAvoy was activated off of Long Term Injury Reserve (LTIR), fellow defenseman Derek Forbort took his place. One week after having surgery on a finger that he injured in a game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Nov. 1, Forbort’s loss of four-to-six weeks is a tough one for the defensive unit.
Related: 3 Bruins Benefitting From Jim Montgomery’s System
After struggling at points in his first season in Boston in 2021-22, Forbort, Hampus Lindholm, and Connor Clifton have been the Black and Gold’s best blue-liners in the first three weeks of the season. In 10 games, the 6-foot-4, 219-pound left-shot has 18 blocked shots and 27 hits. His time on the penalty kill is where he will be missed the most.
Plus Two: Keith Kinkaid Helps Bruins Steal a Win in Buffalo
When Jeremy Swayman went down with an injury against the Penguins, that meant more of a workload was going to be placed on Linus Ullmark. That is not a bad thing after the start he has had to the season, but sooner or later he needed a night off. That happened on the front end of a back-to-back against the Buffalo Sabres on Nov. 12.
Recalled when it was revealed that Swayman was going to be week-to-week, veteran Keith Kinkaid was recalled from Providence in the AHL after signing as a free agent over the summer. In the Bruins’ 3-1 win, Kinkaid was better than the Bruins hoped he would have been in his first start for the Black and Gold with 30 saves, including 20 in the first two periods to keep his team in the game and allow two third periods goals to be the difference in the victory. You can never have too much depth in goal and Kinkaid is proof of that.
Minus Two: David Krejci Has Struggled Since Return From Injury
On Oct. 27, David Krejci left the Bruins 5-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings with an upper-body injury and missed the next three games before returning against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Nov 5. Since returning to the lineup, Boston’s No. 2 center has played in five games and has not looked anything like the player he was before the injury.
In five games, he has just one assist, and won less than 50 percent (%) of his face-offs with a plus/minus of minus-1. Against the Sabres, he was part of the five-forward power play unit in the first period that gave up a shorthanded goal to Tage Thompson in the first period when Thompson stole the puck from David Pastrnak and went around Krejci as the last line of defense before scoring. It seems like Krejci is a step behind in almost everything since returning.
Plus Three: Bruins Getting Depth Scoring From Entire Lineup
In 16 games this season, the depth scoring up and down the roster from the forwards and defensemen are pretty incredible. They have had 20 different goal scorers and in the last week, they had four players score their first goal of the season and each was a timely one.
“You look at what we are doing on the ice and it’s incredible depth.”
Jim Montgomery following the Bruins win over the Sabres
Clifton tied the game against the Flames in the first period on the rebound of his own shot. Later in the game, McAvoy scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal with his first of 2022-23. Against the Sabres, defenseman Jakub Zboril scored his first of not only the season, but his career to break a 1-1 third-period tie. Sunday night (Nov. 13), Tomas Nosek scored his first goal of the season into an empty-net to seal a 5-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks. Depth scoring has been a thorn in the Bruins’ side in previous seasons, but this season, it’s been deep than anyone could have imagined through the first 16 games.
Minus Three: Craig Smith Getting Less & Less Playing Time
It has been a frustrating start to the season for Craig Smith. He has just one goal, he’s been a scratch multiple times and he has found himself on the third line. Frustration is starting to settle in on some nights with his body language and slamming of his stick on the ice after being stopped by the opposing goalie. What happens moving forward is the question.
He is in the final year of a three-year, $9.3 million contract, and time is running out for both Smith and the Black and Gold. When Forbort is eligible to return from LTIR, Smith is the apparent roster move in clearing his salary to be cap compliant. Smith was a healthy scratch against the Canucks after playing just 7:42 on a team-low 10 shifts. When he signed as a free agent in October of 2020, Boston was hoping to get more production than they have from the former Nashville Predator.
The Bruins get a much-needed three-day break before their next game against the Philadelphia Flyers on Nov. 17 at the TD Garden. After the Chicago Blackhawks visit on Nov. 19, the schedule will get much tougher for Boston and be a good test against some of the top teams in the NHL.