Bruins notebook: Anthony Richard expected to make debut with Bruins on Saturday

Anthony Richard, shown playing in a preseason game on Sept. 29, is expected to make his debut for the Bruins on Saturday against Washington. Michael Dwyer/Associated Press

Anthony Richard is expected to make his debut with the Bruins on Saturday and, if he brings the same energy to the game against the Washington Capitals at TD Garden that he brought to his media scrum after practice on Friday, the Bruins might have something in the speedy winger.

Coach Jim Montgomery said there’s “a real good chance” the 27-year-old AHL veteran will be in the lineup against the Caps. He took all the shifts on the fourth line with center Jesper Boqvist and Danton Heinen in practice on Friday.

After the session, the loquacious Richard all but confirmed he was indeed penciled in. Eager doesn’t begin to describe how he feels about his chance.

“I was waiting for the chance for a while. We’ve been playing well down there. We have a good team. We’re first or second in the league and I really like Providence. I’ve really enjoyed my time there,” said Richard. “But once you start playing good and you’re feeling good about your game and you see guys get hurt or sick or out of the lineup, you start thinking about having those looks in the NHL, so I’ve been thinking about it the last month or so when my game was really good. Like I told management and Monty (on Thursday), I’m really happy to be here and I’ll try to do my best to help the team keep winning. I watch pretty much all their games. They’re a fun team to watch, so I’m excited to play with these guys.”

A fourth-round draft pick of the Nashville Predators in 2015, he played one game for the Predators in 2018-19 and another one in 2019-20. After bouncing from Chicago, Milwaukee and Syracuse of the AHL, he caught on with the Canadiens’ organization last year and had his best pro season with Laval (AHL), with 30 goals and 37 assists in 60 games. He got a look with Montreal, producing three goals and two assists in 13 games, but he signed with the Bruins in the offseason.

The speed is what intrigues Montgomery.

“We’d like to create more anxiety in other teams. There’s different ways to do that. Speed is one of them. It really makes people back off or make plays quicker than they want to,” said Montgomery. “He’s had a real good year in Providence, just shy of 40 points (19 goals, 19 assists in 41 games), almost a point a game.”

Richard has 14 goals and nine assists in his last 17 games.

BRAD MARCHAND scored shorthanded for the 35th time in his career in Thursday’s 4-0 win over Vancouver, adding to his franchise record and moving into the top 10 in NHL history.

If Marchand is eventually inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, he’ll go in as one of the elite penalty-killers in the sport’s history. On Thursday, the goal’s impact on the present meant much more than the history. After an awful performance in Tuesday’s loss to Calgary, the Bruins suddenly had to kill a penalty just 17 seconds into the game against the team with the NHL’s best record.

But instead of opening the game on their heels, the Bruins attacked. Marchand gambled smartly and was waiting in front of the net to shoot the rebound of Charlie Coyle’s shot past All-Star goalie Thatcher Demko, 32 seconds in the game.

“His instincts are one of the best I’ve seen. Just his ability to … we have structure in our PK, but there are certain players within the structure, they can read plays and create offense or kill plays and send the puck down the ice,” Montgomery said. “He has the innate ability, because of his hockey sense and his intelligence, to read other players and what they’re thinking about doing. That allows him to intercept passes.”

Marchand is now tied for ninth with Theo Fleury and Dirk Graham for ninth on the career shorthanded goals list. Six of the players above him are Hall of Famers, including Wayne Gretzky, whose 73 shorthanded goals might never be caught.

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