Kalman: Bruins Forward Rinaldo Earning Benefit Of The Doubt In 'Pest Role'
BOSTON (CBS) – It's always dangerous to write one of those "guy starting out with a fresh slate, turning his life around and staying on the right side of the rules" stories.
But through two preseason games – which we all know accurately predict the future – Bruins forward Zac Rinaldo looks like a man who's ready to rewrite his career story.
Despite his assist on Tyler Randell's goal and his between-the-legs shot that nearly eluded New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist on Thursday, Rinaldo's not targeting 20 goals and Lady Byng contention. But he's clearly trying to make sure he causes agita in the opposition instead of heartburn for Claude Julien.
Rinaldo got under the Rangers' skin with hits on Brian Gibbons and Tommy Hughes that made Tanner Glass loose his mind and take a roughing penalty with 6:07 left in regulation. The Bruins didn't score, but they picked up some momentum from the power play before tying the game and winning in a shootout 4-3 at TD Garden.
In Rinaldo's first full NHL season he had 232 penalty minutes. He had 255 combined the past two seasons. He's going to hit triple digits this season for the Bruins if he's a regular in the lineup, and if he keeps playing the way he has in his first two preseason games Julien won't be able to take him out.
"I'm taking more of a pest role now, more than my first two years. My first two years I would just fight, straight up fight, boom," Rinaldo said after the win against the Rangers. "Now I'm drawing a penalty, four minutes left in the game, we got some life from it and then we scored. So I want to play. I don't want to be sitting in the box all the time. It's a pain in the ass sitting in the box, getting cold and then the coach not playing you after maybe or something like that. I don't want to be in the box. So anything I can do to help my team and also myself individually and play, I'm going to do it."
Rinaldo's hit on Hughes was clean, but it was a borderline hit. A hair later or closer to the opponents' back, it could've been the Rangers on the power play. That's the life of a 5-foot-11 mess maker. Off the ice, Rinaldo is mild-mannered and his explanation for how he manages to stay on the right side of the rules is downright Zen. Just imagine him picturing the play before it happens.
"I've just got to think about it, you know? I've just got to really process it in my mind, visualize a play that's going to happen before I even do. And that's what I've been doing the last two games I've been playing and I thought I've been doing a really good job at it," he said.
No one on the Bruins is better suited to judge a pest than their resident rat, Brad Marchand.
"He's one of those guys, you always have to know where he is because he's coming full-steam. When he hits, he hits to hurt," Marchand said. "He's a great player to have on our team and you saw tonight, he does his job and his role better than anyone."
Let's face it. Rinaldo's going to slip up. Someone's going to provoke him to cross the line. After all, the Bruins are going to play his old team from Philadelphia a few times this season. Wait until he gets his first taste of Boston-Montreal. It'll be easier to take if Rinaldo can supplement his truculence with production. He's never scored more than three goals in the NHL. But in games and practices with the Bruins, he's shown some soft hands and flashy moves. He has a nose for the net. Let's pencil him in for eight to 10 goals this season.
We can't guarantee though that he's not going to do something stupid that'll cost the Bruins a game and maybe even embarrass the organization. The Department of Player Safety has Rinaldo on speed dial. That phones going to ring, but if he gets dialed up less with Boston than he did with Philly and adds some snazzy hockey plays, he'll make the Bruins' fourth line a force again.
And he'll undoubtedly be the new unheralded guy who blue-collar Boston fans will feature on their sweaters and t-shirts.
Matt Kalman covers the Bruins for CBSBoston.com and also contributes to NHL.com and several other media outlets. Follow him on Twitter @TheBruinsBlog.
