BOSTON – After a two-week break for the 4 Nations Face-Off, the Bruins will be back on the ice to host the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday night at TD Garden. With 25 games remaining in the regular season, the Black & Gold – who sit one point out of a playoff spot – know that they have their work cut out for them down the stretch.
“We’ve talked to the team about expectations moving forward and the way we want to go about achieving those goals,” said interim head coach Joe Sacco. “We also talked about the mini training camp that we tried to implement over the course of the four days that we had before our first game.
“I thought that the pace in camp was good. I thought the intensity was good, those days we extended some of the practice times more than we normally would because of the time off. I thought we got out of the practice what we were looking for.
“It was good to see that the guys were able to execute what we were looking for.”
And while the Bruins already have that challenge to face over the season’s final two months, they will have to start their trek toward the postseason without top blue liners Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm. McAvoy was, of course, injured during the 4 Nations Face-Off, while Lindholm has been sidelined since mid-November with a lower-body injury.
“Everybody needs to step up, that’s just the way it is right now,” said Sacco. “We’ve played without Lindy for a long time now, Charlie’s missed some games leading up to the break there, missed about seven games. We were able to hold our own, we did a decent job.
“It’s just about the group sticking together and really trying to elevate or just take on a little bit more responsibility. When you have [Brandon] Carlo and [Nikita] Zadorov, two veteran guys, you’re going to lean on those guys a little bit more in those situations.
“We need a collective effort from everybody, not just our D…our forwards, too. We all have to be able to raise our level here now. We need to raise it anyway now because of the last 25 games.”
