Coyle’s Growing into the Second Line

(Photo: M. Anthony Nesmith/Icon Sportswire)

When David Krejci announced that he was returning to the Czech Republic at the end of the 2020-21 NHL season, the question became who would take his place on the second line? Boston had acquired Taylor Hall at the trade deadline, and he, Krejci and Craig Smith had proven to be a strong second line.

As the preseason got underway a couple of different players got a shot at that position, with Jack Studnicka showing some promise. Of course, since Coyle was still recuperating from offseason surgery during most of those games, it was expected that he would be getting some time with Hall and Smith when the season began. While Studnicka continues to improve, he doesn’t quite look ready for prime time.

Saturday’s home game against the Florida Panthers finished out a four-game week. The Boston Bruins took the win over the San Jose Sharks on Sunday then went on the road for back-to-back games. First they played against the Panthers on Wednesday in Sunrise and then against the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday. The Bruins lost both of the road games, and there were questions about if Saturday’s game would be a repeat loss given that the Panthers were undefeated in their first eight games.

As Coyle himself said later, the win wasn’t pretty. However he factored in heavily with just how Boston did get the win. Coyle started and finished the scoring for the home team. He put the Bruins on the scoreboard first at 19:18 of the opening period—an even strength goal assisted by Hall and Curtis Lazar. He also notched the shootout game-winning goal.

In between those important contributions though, he and most of the team seemed to be working hard but accomplishing little. Furthermore there were a couple of times while watching the second line that it seemed to be one too many passes.

“Charlie [Coyle], the plan is to play with Hall and Smitty preferably on the right wing. So we’d like see some chemistry develop there. I think it’s; I think it’s been good. Charlie and Taylor have a tendency to pass, you know, like just… When it’s your turn to shoot, shoot. Even the one Taylor gave to Charlie looked like, from the bench, he had a chance to let it rip but then you see that it’s kind of on the end of his stick. They had a two on one late, you know, if it connects it looks great, if it doesn’t, you know, then you’re like ahh jeez.  Charlie had beat him [Spencer Knight] earlier, you saw him on the shootout it was just his night So, I hope that they develop that kind of shoot versus pass. That’s where that top line has been really good over the years because they found their niche—when to move it, when to shoot it. So, we’ll see. But I… We need it to work, you know, that was our plan so let’s give it some time,” head coach Bruce Cassidy said.

Yes, both Hall and Coyle have been known to go with the pass first though this doesn’t diminish their abilities. However, when you are looking for a strong second line that can produce, someone needs to think about shooting before passing.

I asked Coyle about how he and Hall could work together to shoot more.

“Yeah, I mean, that’s gotta be our mindset, you know, it’s kind of tell each other to shoot first. We talk a lot during the game and sometimes you go to your natural habits. When you should have shot it, you pass it and I think, when the play’s there, if the pass is there you’re gonna see it. So just to have more of a shot mentality and it just comes from playing together too. And just kind of having that focus to do that and then you know where the puck’s going, and then he can read off that and I can read off of him. But he’s, he’s a great player in this league. He has been. He’s great to play with and great to learn from. I still think it’s a work in progress. It always is. But we’ve had some chances last couple of games. We can feel it start to build. And that’s a good sign. We’re getting rewarded here and there. There can be a lot more on the way. We just got to stick with it. But it’s a good point that you made, a shoot first mentality, and that’s something I’ve been telling myself for years now. So, it’ll come,” Coyle said.

It can be difficult to change the muscle memory. Hockey is such an incredibly fast game, that there will be times when, as Coyle said, players go to their natural habits. Coyle and Hall haven’t really had that much time together in real game scenarios. The more they talk and the more they review the video of where things broke down, there is a strong possibility that, like the Bergeron line, they could find themselves a force with which to be reckoned.