Elias Lindholm was not the only new Bruin who hopes Thursday’s 1-0 victory provides a foothold for him as he tries to establish himself in Boston.
Nikita Zadorov, whose play had been up and down through the first 20 games and who said on Friday he’s still trying to find his voice with his new team, delivered what was most likely his best performance as a Bruin on Thursday. He delivered a game-high five checks in 19:51 of ice time, including a game-high 5:03 in shorthanded time in the Bruins’ 4-for-4 penalty-killing performance.
“I thought his reads were really good on the kill. I thought he had a good stick,” said coach Joe Sacco after Friday’s workout at Warrior Ice Arena. “And I just thought he brought a physical presence to the game. That’s what we were looking for. We were looking for someone to step up physically.”
With Hampus Lindholm out, Zadorov is relishing his opportunity to be first over the boards in the man-down situations with Brandon Carlo. Thursday’s perfect performance on the PK bumped the Bruins up from 25th to 22nd in the league.
“I love it. I love killing,” said Zadorov on Friday. “I think it’s real important and it gets me going. It’s a pleasure when you see the trust from the coaches on that particular thing. We did a pretty good job (Thursday) against two skilled units. Obviously there was a lot of bounces going against us in the past, in the PK especially, so I think it’s just really important to be good at that during the game because that gives you a chance too win some hockey games.”
The 29-year-old Zadorov has been in the NHL since he was a teenager and he had Sacco as an assistant with the Sabres during his rookie season, Sacco’s only year in Buffalo in 2013-14. While he’s seen a few things, what happened on Tuesday when Jim Montgomery was fired has brought him into uncharted territory. He said the reset had to happen.
“I haven’t had a coach be fired middle of the year, so it’s a new experience for me,” said Zadorov. “But I saw Joe Mazzulla’s quote — ‘Coaches get hired to be fired.’ At the end of the day, it was a business. We weren’t playing well. We weren’t where we were supposed to be and something had to change. That’s where we’re at right now. Joey’s a good coach. I had him in Buffalo as an assistant coach. I spoke to a lot of guys in Colorado who he was coaching there and I got some tips about that. We’re just going out there and playing for him right now.”
What those tips were, Zadorov was keeping it to himself.
It’s been at times a rough immersion for Zadorov as a Bruin. He still holds the league lead in minor penalties with 13 (Charlie McAvoy is holding down the No. 2 spot with 12), though he hasn’t taken any in his last three games. He chalks some of those calls up to early season overexuberance, plus being in message-sending mode with two early games against Florida. Zadorov said he’s starting to like his game better lately.
“I thought maybe like seven or eight games I’ve been playing good. I like my hockey. Obviously I can clean up some stuff to be perfect. Nobody’s perfect, but you’re looking for it all the time,” said Zadorov. “You’re trying to be the best of yourself every night and at the end of the day, you have to get uncomfortable sometimes to help your team win some hockey games.
“You have quiet guys in the room who are not used to firing the guys up, or talk or be active or bring some energy. Those guys have to pull it in and buy in and help us, because we’re in the same boat right now. Same as me. There are some things maybe uncomfortable I wasn’t doing in the past, but in this situation, you have to pull it out of yourself to be better and do anything to help your team win some hockey games.”
Asked what those “uncomfortable” things may be, Zadorov talked about needing to refine his comportment in the room so he can help others and himself, as well as immerse himself in the Bruins’ culture.
“I’m an active guy, I’m an emotional guy. I try to keep it loose in the room all the time, try to keep the young guys loose. We have a young team.,” said Zadorov. “But also I see that when I do that too much before the game, it affects my performance because I get too overexcited and I lose my focus for my personal game. So I just have to find that balance, to be a voice in the room and help the team. Especially, I’m a new guy in here and I’m getting settled and I’m getting to know guys, they’re getting to know me, so they can take it sometimes not the right way, the way I said it.
“I’m a pretty direct person. Sometimes for people, it takes time to understand me. So I think just to find the middle (ground) and just bring the joy. Bring the joy to the room, bring the excitement to go play games and compete and try to win hockey games.
“I thought we were playing soft the first 20 games. I don’t think that’s the Boston Bruins hockey. I don’t think that’s what fans expected from us. We’ve got blue-collar fans. They expect hard work up there, they expect toughness, to be hard. So I think that’s the message I got and I got it to the guys to bring it to the game on a nightly basis. If we do that, we’re going to be a hard to play against and good things will happen.”
Goaltending situation
Sacco said he’s taking the goaltending situation day-by-day. Though he acknowledged Joonas Korpisalo’s strong play, he said he was leaning toward going with the Jeremy Swayman for Saturday’s game in Detroit. ...
The B’s made a roster move, sending Georgii Merkulov back to Providence and bringing up Marc McLaughlin, who has scored goals in five straight games.
“Marc has been playing very well in Providence, so he deserves an opportunity here at some point. From what I understand, his game has been the best it’s been since he’s been in Providence,” said Sacco.
Judging from Friday’s lines, though, it looks like McLaughlin will have to wait for his chance. Tyler Johnson took over Merkulov’s spot on the Charlie Coyle-Trent Frederic line and Johnson also was on the right elbow on the second power-play unit.