By: Tom Calautti | @TCalauttis
The Boston Bruins needed a lift. That fact was evident after Monday night’s 7-2 shellacking at the hands of the Ottawa Senators. The effort was ’embarrassing’ according to Nikita Zadorov, and with a game just 24 hours later, the team needed a boost. They got it in the form of Hampus Lindholm.
At 3:42 pm, the Boston Bruins announced via their official Twitter account that Michael Callahan was assigned to Providence and Lindholm was added to the team’s active roster. The move came as a surprise to many after the Swedish defenseman was placed on injured reserve just two days prior.
It’s been a long road back for Lindholm, who played in just 17 games last season before suffering a season-ending right kneecap fracture. After being given a clean bill of health in the offseason, he sustained a lower-body injury in October and had been in-and-out of the lineup before Tuesday’s 5-2 victory over the New York Islanders. After the game, you could tell just how happy he was to be on the ice.
“I’ve loved this game since I was a kid…I love the guys in this room, the organization, the staff, and everyone around,” said Lindholm. “The fans, especially, being out there in front of the Bruins fans, it’s an amazing feeling. I can’t really explain it, but I hope to play a lot more games and stay in the lineup the rest of the year.”
Lindholm wasn’t the only one happy to have him back in the lineup. Head Coach Marco Sturm raved about having his stalwart defenseman back on the blueline and made sure to mention just how important he is to the group.
“He was outstanding, he gave us exactly (what we needed),” said Sturm. “He calmed everything down, made some good plays, good reads. He’s just a presence out there, which we missed, so it’s nice to see him back.”
The game didn’t start well for the Bruins, as Lindholm fired a wrist shot over the net that sprung the Islanders on a three-on-two, leading to the game’s opening goal. Matters got worse when New York deployed their extra attacker during a delayed penalty and potted their second of the night, increasing the lead to 2-0.
Boston survived the first period, and after that, the switch seemed to flip. The Bruins got on the board with an Elias Lindholm power-play goal, and then Hampus took matters into his own hands. The former Anaheim Duck found David Pastrnak with a gorgeous slap pass, which led to an easy goal for the team’s leading scorer.
“It’s good to have (Lindholm) back. Obviously, you can see the difference he makes on both sides of the ice,” said Pastrnak of Lindholm’s return. “My goal is a good example of what he sees in the (offensive) zone, so huge to have him back being healthy and being able to play the game we did.”
Lindholm’s final stat line included 19:03 with an assist, two blocks, and six penalty minutes. The time he spent in the penalty box aside, it was a solid re-entry game for one of boston’s most important players. It also allowed Sturm to shuffle his defensive pairs, a change that produced some interesting, and potentially game-changing, results.
For the first time this season, Sturm started a game with Charlie McAvoy and Nikita Zadorov on his top pairing. That duo ended up skating 13:25 together at even strength. In that time the Bruins out-attempted the Isles 16-4, outshot them 7-1, and out-chanced them 8-1. That move was only possible with Lindholm back in the linuep.This allowed Sturm to deploy the 31-year-old and Andrew Peeke as his ‘shutdown pair’ while sheltering the minutes of Henri Jokiharju and Jonathan Aspirot.
If the Bruins want a chance at competing this season, it’s clear that Hampus Lindholm needs to be a major part of the equation. With him healthy, and the newly formed defensive pairs gaining traction, this team has a chance to vastly improve their defense and make this a season.
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