Kalman: Eriksson Chemistry With Krejci Helping Bruins Forget Lucic
By Matt Kalman, CBS Boston
WILMINGTON – It turns out the Bruins had their replacement for Milan Lucic as center David Krejci's left wing on the roster. It just took a couple weeks into the season to find him.
Matt Beleskey's injury prior to the game against the Philadelphia Flyers on Oct. 21 forced coach Claude Julien to shuffle his lines and replace Beleskey with Loui Eriksson. The Krejci-Eriksson combo, with a little help from right wing David Pastrnak, has been scintillating since forging their relationship in the overtime loss to the Flyers.
Krejci, who has 14 points in eight games, has three goals and two assists in three games with Eriksson on his left side. Eriksson has six assists in that same span, and he has two goals and seven assists on the season. The Bruins are 4-0-1 in their past five games and they owe a lot of their success to their newest dynamic duo.
"It's been good. I think we're playing with some confidence too," Eriksson said after an optional practice at Ristuccia Arena on Wednesday. "Krech has been on fire ever since the start of the season. So it's always easy to play when you play with confidence. It's been working pretty good here the games we've been playing together."
One of the biggest Bruins concerns entering this season was how to repalce Lucic. They tried Beleskey there but he had just one goal and one assist in five games and never looked comfortable trying to adjust to Krejci's style of play. Eriksson, who failed in brief stints on right wing with Lucic and Krejci last season, has found his comfort zone with the Czech native.
"He's a tremendous, smart player out there. He's really skilled," Eriksson said. "And every time he has the puck on his blade, he can make passes or make moves. He's just a great all-around player. So it makes it easier for me to play with him and I think it's been a little bit easier on the left side playing with him. It feels like he can find me a little more often and it's been feeling a lot better. So it's been good."
Eriksson could easily have been describing himself because of his own high skill level. Those talents are one of the reasons it always seemed like Eriksson and Krejci would go well together. But sometimes you just can't force two players to create chemistry. Last season Krejci's injuries and Eriksson's chemistry with Carl Soderberg kept the two star players apart.
That Eriksson and Krejci have created a successful union this season is a credit to both players' ability to adapt. Sure Eriksson isn't going to bowl anyone over the way Lucic did, but Krejci knows Eriksson can get open and get to the net. Maybe no Bruins player is better from the hash marks down in the opposing end.
Eriksson, meanwhile, has thrived on his natural left side and learned how Krejci needs him to play and where Krejci needs him to go to get the puck. The Bruins' increased speed on their breakout and through the neutral zone, Julien pointed out, has helped both players (as well as the rest of the team) to create scoring chances off the rush.
Right now Krejci and Eriksson are red hot. If their offensive prowess cools off, they're both responsible enough players that they'll continue to be a tough duo to play against. And their ability to play together will give Julien stability with his lines because every coach likes to have two or three pairs of forwards that can stick together. If Pastrnak doesn't gain a hot hand soon, Julien can flip to another line and see if another right wing can get a jolt from Krejci and Eriksson.
"Those guys, they seem to enjoy playing together," Julien said. "That makes a big difference in how they do. But they're both off to great starts, so I think they're just riding that wave right now."
Matt Kalman covers the Bruins for CBSBoston.com and also contributes to NHL.com and several other media outlets. Follow him on Twitter @TheBruinsBlog.