Boston Bruins forward Jakub Lauko has brought a much-needed edge to the Bruins' bottom six since re-entering the lineup in Game 3 against the Florida Panthers. While his spot could be in jeopardy for Game 6 on Friday, Lauko spoke 1-on-1 with The Hockey News about what he hopes to bring to the table on Friday.
BRIGHTON, Mass. – In the Stanley Cup Playoffs, nothing is given and everything is earned. For some players, it goes even deeper.
David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand are among several players on the Boston Bruins guaranteed to have a spot in the lineup when healthy. Of course, their spots are earned based on the caliber of their overall game, but one bad performance won’t lead to a relegation to the bench. The same can’t be said for players towards the bottom of the lineup, such as Jakub Lauko.
After playing in the first two games of the postseason against the Toronto Maple Leafs, the 24-year-old forward fell out of the lineup for seven straight games before he was plugged back in for Game 3 against the Florida Panthers on May 10. The Bruins lost 6-2, but he scored a goal as part of an effort to reassert himself into the fold.
He continued to make an impact in Game 4, delivering four hits and sparking plays with strong forechecking, but the Bruins still lost 3-2. Boston is 2-3-1 at home in the playoffs, compared to 4-2-0 on the road. Facing elimination at TD Garden on Friday, Lauko knows the team will have to shake whatever’s plagued them on home ice.
“We just didn’t perform to our standard,” Lauko told The Hockey News on Thursday. “So I think we need to be better in that. Because our fans deserve our best performance at home and we just didn’t give it to them yet, so it’s our plan to play our best hockey [on Friday].”
The Bruins fended off elimination once already, winning 2-1 in Game 5 at Amerant Bank Arena on Tuesday. Lauko played his third straight game on the fourth line alongside Johnny Beecher and Pat Maroon.
With Marchand in play to return to the lineup Friday after missing two games with an upper-body injury, Lauko’s spot in the lineup could be in jeopardy. He and James van Riemsdyk rotated on the fourth-line left wing during Thursday’s practice, but Bruins coach Jim Montgomery has liked what Lauko has provided in this three-game stint.
“He’s been good,” Montgomery said on Wednesday. “He’s added a little bit of aggressiveness and skating coming up with loose pucks, but if we’re going to have continued success in this series – not him, now I’m talking to the team in general – we have to come up with more loose pucks. We have to spend more time in the offensive zone.”
If it’s offensive zone time he wants, the Lauko-Beecher-Maroon line delivered in Game 5. According to Natural Stat Trick, the trio spent just 3:46 of 5-on-5 ice time together, but had a Corsi For Percentage of 87.5 (7-1) and outshot Florida 4-0.
Lauko called the Panthers a physical hockey team that plays quick in transition and doesn’t overcomplicate their game. He believes the Bruins will have to match their intensity, and if he’s kept in the lineup with Beecher and Maroon for Game 6, Lauko has full confidence they can pick up where they left off.
“We kind of know what our strengths are, so ‘Beech’ is good at face-off, he can skate very well,” Lauko told The Hockey News. “‘Patty’ is good at holding pucks. When he gets the puck on the wall, he– most of the time, he comes with the puck and makes play after.
“And I’m good in winning those goal line races to put stress on the [defense], to win those forecheck battles. So I think just trying to win our matchup, [it] doesn’t matter what line we [are] playing on, but just trying and just want to go there and win the matchup.”
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