What Bruins Sparkplug Added To Impact Boston This Season
Making it to the NHL is hard enough. Keeping your job once you crack the lineup is even harder for a bottom-six forward.
Johnny Beecher has made it really hard for Jim Montgomery to take him out of the Bruins lineup in the forward’s second season with Boston.
As part of the fourth line with Mark Kastelic and Cole Koepke, Beecher and company have been the Bruins’ best line combination through the first four games of the season. The trio combined for four goals and 13 points, and each skater is a plus-five or better. Having a season under his belt certainly helped Beecher, who saw his ice time increase by an average of three minutes this season.
“It’s huge,” Beecher told NESN’s Judd Sirott on Wednesday in Colorado. “Just from confidence-wise, you come in this year, you know everybody, you know how everything is going to work. … You’re just here to compete and keep your job. Just go out there and do the best you can every night.”
Beecher said having confidence in his abilities has definitely impacted the way he approaches each shift.
“(I’m) holding onto pucks a little bit longer, trusting myself to make the plays,” he said. “Last year, I think a big fault of mine was just kind of as soon as I got the puck, (I was) just trying to make the simplest play possible, not really trying to make mistakes. Whereas this year, definitely a bit more comfortable out there. Just trying to play more of my game. I think it’s starting to translate pretty well this season. Just got to keep trying to build it.”
The 23-year-old forward brought unexpected production to the Bruins last season and worked in the offseason to ensure his game only got better heading into training camp this year. Conditioning was a focus for Beecher over the summer.
“It was a huge focus for me going into the offseason,” Beecher said. “I was back here in Boston right around the Fourth of July working with the trainers and the staff. They got me in unbelievable shape to start the year.”
Beecher noted how difficult the NHL schedule is for young players to navigate as they break into the league from college or the AHL.
“It’s a lot of travel, a lot of weird nights without much sleep,” he said. “Just being able to navigate that and figure all that out whether it’s Game 5 or Game 65 you feel as good as you can, go out there and compete.”
The Bruins are off to a 2-2-0 start this season and look to string together some wins on their first extended road trip of the season. Beecher is not only confident in his own game but in the team as well.
“We got a lot of new bodies. We’re only four games in. Guys are still trying to find some chemistry, getting used to the new systems and just the way we do things,” he said. “I think we’ve had a little bit of a bumpy four games, but nothing we can’t learn from. Just keep improving and getting better every day. … I’ve got nothing but confidence that we’ll find our game here really soon and we’ll start going.”