Left wing Pat Maroon, who the Bruins acquired in a trade deadline deal from the Minnesota Wild, has started practicing with Boston and could make his debut before the playoffs. Matt Krohn/Associated Press
BOSTON — Pat Maroon practiced with the Bruins on Monday, and in a best-case scenario he’s just under two weeks away from playing in a game.
Maroon, the forward acquired by Boston at the trade deadline, has yet to play for his new team after undergoing back surgery when he was still with the Minnesota Wild.
“He is making the steps to get closer. When he first got here it was week-to-week, but it was a couple of weeks,” Bruins Coach Jim Montgomery said. “Now it’s week-to-week. As he makes those steps and hits those milestones, it’ll be day-to-day.”
David Pastrnak missed practice on Monday for maintenance but isn’t expected to miss game time. The Bruins have seven regular-season games remaining before the playoffs, which are scheduled to start on April 22.
Montgomery wasn’t sure if Maroon would travel this week for the Bruins’ games at Nashville on Tuesday and Carolina on Thursday (he won’t play in either game). Montgomery thought the April 13 game at Pittsburgh would be the soonest Maroon might play. He was asked if he thought Maroon would play regular season-games before the playoffs, and if that was necessary.
“I can’t say definitively yes, but it’s looking that way,” Montgomery said. “Guys that are veteran players, who have played in a lot of playoff games and know how to win, you’d like them to have those games, but it’s not necessary. They know what it takes. They know their role. They relish their role and how to manage games. That’s a big part of the reason we picked him up.”
THE BRUINS’ DRESSING room is known as a welcoming place for incoming players and, in that sense, Andrew Peeke has felt like a Bruin since he was acquired from the Columbus Blue Jackets at the trade deadline.
But there’s nothing like being in a dogfight with your new teammates to make a player really feel like he’s a part of the team.
It was a dogfight Saturday night in Washington, D.C. The Bruins were in overtime against the Capitals and really needed that second point to feel good about themselves after outplaying their opponent.
Things looked bleak when Hampus Lindholm was tagged with a double-minor penalty for a high-sticking just 57 seconds into overtime. But the Bruins managed to kill it and earn that second point in the shootout. On that pivotal kill, Peeke took two big shifts, the first lasted 1:09 and the second 1:37.
For a guy who has scored 10 goals in 226 NHL games, those are the moments for which Peeke lives.
“There’s nothing like competing with the guys and grinding out those tight wins,” said Peeke on Monday. “Playing in tight games like that when it seems like the odds are against you and the next thing you know, you win in the shootout. … little things like that, and just being out there and being able to celebrate with the guys, that builds the camaraderie that you hear about. Obviously, it’s nice walking around and talking to guys, but competing on the ice is second to none.”
After getting a couple of practices under his belt upon arrival, Peeke has played eight games and is plus-3 with 20 hits and 16 blocks while averaging 17:39 of ice time.
He’s been a fixture on the right side of the third pairing since getting in the lineup (his partner in Monday’s practice was again Kevin Shattenkirk), which is a far cry from his time this season in Columbus. This year he was, for some reason, most often designated as the odd-man out on the struggling Blue Jackets’ back end. He dressed for just 23 games after playing 162 games over the previous two years.
While Peeke is finding his comfort level, the confidence from the coaching staff to put him in key defensive situations is also growing.
“I think for everybody it is, because of just how consistently hard he is to play against,” said Montgomery.
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