The idea that the Bruins\u2019 most stable, two-way line would be the combination of Casey Mittelstadt, Pavel Zacha and Viktor Arvidsson would have seemed far-fetched at the beginning of the season.<\/p>\n
The 32-year-old Arvidsson was attempting to revive his career after injuries and a subpar season in Edmonton. With many believing the B\u2019s would not be threat to make the playoffs, some assumed Zacha would get traded for a good bounty at the deadline. And Mittelstadt? It was anyone\u2019s guess what the B\u2019s would get out of him.<\/p>\n
Two years ago, he was traded from the Buffalo Sabres to the Colorado Avalanche for the Avs\u2019 stretch run and he played well enough that the Avs gave him a three-year extension. He had 3-6-9 totals in 11 playoff games, thus far the only Stanley Cup playoff experience he\u2019s had. But before the next season was out, Colorado decided to dish him to the Bruins in the Charlie Coyle trade that also brought prospect Will Zellers into the Bruin fold.<\/p>\n
It didn\u2019t start off well for Mittelstadt here. In 18 games for the B\u2019s down the stretch last year, he had 4-2-6 totals and was minus-17. This season, under new coach Marco Sturm, things didn\u2019t go swimmingly at first, either. Starting the season at center, Mittelstadt struggled out of the gate was healthy scratched for an Oct. 19 game.<\/p>\n
But now, after a move to the wing, Mittelstadt is part of one of the most reliable combos in the league. His offensive numbers (13-19-32 in 53 games) may not be overwhelming but the unit usually draws the toughest defensive matchups.<\/p>\n
The grouping is playing so well that Sturm has resisted tinkering with it to help other lines to get going.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously these are important games and we\u2019re at least a little bit older (than some other) guys. I think we see an opportunity and we don\u2019t want to waste it,\u201d said Mittelstadt after the morning skate prior to the B\u2019s-Kings matchup at the Garden. \u201cI\u2019ve played a long time and I haven\u2019t played in the playoffs much. I definitely don\u2019t want to waste the opportunity. All three guys are playing well and are very comfortable with each other. We\u2019ve played together for a long time, so it\u2019s been a lot of fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mittelstadt personally has come a long way \u2014 but not beyond his own standards.<\/p>\n
\u201cI guess it feels good but it\u2019s more so what I expect from myself and how I expect myself to play,\u201d said Mittelstadt. \u201cObviously, it\u2019s never linear with how it goes. You just stick with it and keep working. If you do that, things will always figure themselves out.\u201d<\/p>\n
The move to wing, something he\u2019s done at points in his career and that he suggested to Sturm, has been a boon for him and the line.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been great,\u201d said Mittlestadt. \u201cEven as a centerman, I loved having guys on my wing who had played center. It helps out a lot, so it\u2019s good that I can help Pav in some ways, but also I feel like I fit in with the way I play along the walls. It\u2019s been fun to play with those guys.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mittelstadt, who has been hounded by high expectations throughout his career due to the Sabres selecting him with the eighth overall pick in 2017, is a bit more reserved than the average, central-casting hockey player. But now, a full year into his Bruin tenure, he\u2019s getting settled in.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m getting more comfortable,\u201d said Mittelstadt with a smile. \u201cIt takes me a little time. I\u2019m a little quiet but I think at this point right now I\u2019m feeling good and having a blast with these guys. It\u2019s a privilege to put on that sweater and to play with these guys, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
As last week\u2019s trade deadline approached, it seemed highly unlikely that Mittelstadt, who has one more year left on his deal at $5.75 million, would be dealt, given his importance to the team and the line. But after getting dealt twice in as many years, he was glad to see it go by, just the same.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think with how it\u2019s been the last couple of years, it was as little bit of a nervous time,\u201d said Mittelstadt. \u201cBut I was definitely more comfortable this year than the past couple. I think that\u2019s a product of how you\u2019re playing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Defense to offense<\/p>\n
Asked what he could do to get for 5-on-5 production from other lines, Sturm said it was not the O-zone that concerns him so much.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not worried about offense. I think the defense part for me is always first. That\u2019s where some other lines need to get better. And that, automatically for me, creates offense,\u201d said Sturm. \u201cIt\u2019s not just other lines scoring goals. If you look at the Pittsburgh game, we need to get (back) to our net and make sure we\u2019re not going to get scored on and play like we do at home.\u201d<\/p>\n
King-sized challenge<\/p>\n
The Kings came into the Garden having helped the B\u2019s out a little bit by beating Columbus in overtime on Monday. They also came with a new coach after they fired Jim Hiller on March 2 and hired associate coach DJ Smith as interim coach. Sturm had spent seven years in the Kings\u2019 organization, the first four as an assistant in Los Angeles and the last three as head coach of AHL affiliate Ontario Reign.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, it\u2019s always hard for me see them struggle but also a coaching change. That means something went wrong,\u201d said Sturm. \u201cIt\u2019s a good group. It\u2019s a very good organization. I had a good time there. Everyone has their struggles. So have we. That\u2019s part of the business. But I definitely feel for the group because they\u2019re lots of good people.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Kings were the opposite of the B\u2019s \u2013 good on the road, not so much at home. They were 10-15-7 at home and 16-8-7 away from LA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The idea that the Bruins\u2019 most stable, two-way line would be the combination of Casey Mittelstadt, Pavel Zacha…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":410483,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5099],"tags":[154,95,5132,530,5379,5,6164,4],"class_list":{"0":"post-497350","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boston-bruins","8":"tag-boston","9":"tag-boston-bruins","10":"tag-bostonbruins","11":"tag-bruins","12":"tag-casey-mittelstadt","13":"tag-hockey","14":"tag-marco-sturm","15":"tag-nhl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116207867899433110","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=497350"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497350\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/410483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=497350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=497350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=497350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}