Kalman: Bruins Counting On Connolly Contributing In Winter Classic
FOXBORO (CBS) -- Bruins forward Brett Connolly is encouraged.
Connolly had a front-row seat to Jimmy Hayes' hat trick on Tuesday against Ottawa. Hayes had scored one goal in his prior nine games.
In that same 7-3 win against the Senators, Matt Beleskey scored twice. Beleskey had scored once in his previous six games.
Connolly, who hasn't scored in 14 games, also saw reasons to believe things will get better in the way he played. He landed two shots on goal and hit the crossbar with a third shot against Ottawa following a three-shot game two nights ago. Before that, he had gone two games without a shot on net.
Entering the 2016 Winter Classic against the Montreal Canadiens on Friday, Connolly might be ready to break out of his funk.
"I think me, [Hayes] and [Beleskey], we knew if we could get going and start scoring it could be very good for our team," Connolly said after the Bruins practice at Gillette Stadium on Thursday. "They started to obviously score and I felt my game's been better and getting some chances and it's just a matter of seeing those ones go in. So I'm looking forward to [Friday] night."
An offensive contribution from Connolly would go a long way toward helping the Bruins best the rival Canadiens. They head into the NHL marquee regular-season event without David Krejci, who's tied for second on the Bruins with 33 points, and Brad Marchand, who leads the team with 15 goals. Krejci is week-to-week with an upper-body injury and Marchand is serving a three-game suspension.
At Thursday's practice, Connolly -- who has been used on every line this season -- moved back into Boston's top six. He skated on the right wing next to center Ryan Spooner and opposite Beleskey. Spooner and Connolly played together briefly earlier this season and as teenagers in international play for Canada. There was always hope that Connolly and Spooner might find some chemistry and now they'll get another chance to see if they can click.
"It's good. We played together at the start of the year and haven't played together since. It'll be fun," Connolly said. "I think that we're comfortable with each other. It'll be good to play with those guys. Maybe find a spark. I think he's a guy I talked about the start of the year, he's a good passer and he's playing really good right now. So is [Beleskey], he's shooting the puck well. So hopefully we can have a good night and get at least one past their goalie [Friday]."
Like a handful of Bruins forwards, Connolly has had an inconsistent season. He was a healthy scratch Oct. 17 and then he went on a three-game goal-scoring streak. He scored a clutch goal against the New York Rangers on Nov. 27, but he hasn't scored since. That Rangers game was nationally televised on Black Friday. Maybe the spotlight of the Winter Classic and the national-TV cameras will again inspire a Connolly contribution. He feels like he's close.
"It's one of those things where I think for me when I'm getting lots of shots and chances, then I'm fine with my game playing good defensively," he said. "It's when you play a game and you don't really do anything, you're kind of invisible out there, that's when you need to worry. I don't feel that my game has been that way the last four or five games. You know I've just got to stick with it. One of them is going to go in sooner than later, hopefully. But I'm comfortable with where my game's going right now."
The Bruins hope Connolly's game is going to make an impact in the Winter Classic.
Matt Kalman covers the Bruins for CBSBoston.com and also contributes to NHL.com and several other media outlets. Follow him on Twitter @TheBruinsBlog.
