Kalman: Connolly Contributing Where He Can While Playing On All Bruins' Lines
BOSTON (CBS) - Whether he's been promoted up the Bruins' depth chart because of outstanding play or dropped because his play has tailed off and others have performed better, forward Brett Connolly has proven he can play with any line coach Claude Julien asks.
In recent weeks, Connolly has played mostly in the Bruins' bottom six. Nonetheless, he's been a mainstay on Boston's top-ranked power play and Friday he scored the game-tying goal during the Bruins' third-period man-advantage against the New York Rangers.
"It was good to get that power-play goal last game," Connolly said after a recent practice before the Bruins headed to Western Canada for a three-game road trip that starts Wednesday in Edmonton. "You want to build on that, you want to keep going. Our power play's been so good this year, so it's all about winning games. You've got to play well and they've got to find a right balance for each game."
That balance recently has meant Matt Beleskey playing on a line with David Krejci and Loui Eriksson, and rookie Frank Vatrano playing with Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron. Connolly, who has five goals and six assists in 21 games, spent some time with Bergeron and Marchand earlier this season, but others have usurped him in recent games. He says he's found some chemistry with center Joonas Kemppainen, and it figures that that duo would hit it off based on their hard style of play. On any given night, though, Connolly has to be ready to jump over the boards with any of the Bruins' lines because Julien likes the player's versatility.
One thing holding Connolly back right now is his defensive play. He's a minus-3 on the season. Even in the Rangers game, before he turned into one of the heroes, he struggled getting the puck out of Boston's end. He seemed to have mastered the ability to bank the puck off the half-wall to New York's defenseman.
Just because Connolly looks 33, it's important to remember he's just 23. The sixth pick in the 2010 NHL Draft has 160 NHL games to his credit and a hairline/facial-hair shadow combination that makes it difficult to remember his youth and inexperience. Like the Bruins' young defensemen, Connolly's going to make mistakes while learning on the job. It's important for him to learn from those mistakes and improve during this transitional season for the Bruins' organization.
It's also important to have patience with a player who once scored 73 points in junior hockey and 63 points in the American Hockey League as he learns to simplify his game and figures out the balance between being a playmaker and providing energy. Playing simple sounds simple but it's not always.
"Obviously you want to create energy, finish your checks. I usually do that with whoever I'm with anyway," Connolly said. "I've just got to play hard, play well defensively, and for me try to create offense with whoever I am with. You've just got to adapt to other situations."
If there's anything Connolly doesn't have to be taught, it's how to shoot. He flashed that perfected skill against the Rangers, when he found a soft spot in the penalty kill and fired a shot through Henrik Lundqvist's legs to end an 11-game goal drought.
Connolly brings his shot, work ethic and physicality to the rink every day. The other parts of his game are still works in progress, but one of the strengths of the Bruins' current roster is its versatility. Although the Bruins aren't the most talented team, they've been able to put together enough depth that there's seemingly someone contributing when others aren't. That might be just enough production to keep the Bruins in the playoff hunt, and along the way let young players like Connolly gain valuable experience playing in all situations.
The more versatile Connolly becomes, while he learns all the intricacies of the game, the better he'll be. And the Bruins could benefit from that growth.
Matt Kalman covers the Bruins for CBSBoston.com and also contributes to NHL.com and several other media outlets. Follow him on Twitter @TheBruinsBlog.
