Bruins’ confidence in Justin Brazeau pays off on hockey’s highest stage

Bruins

“I always believed I could be here and do this kind of thing.”

SUNRISE, Fla. – All Justin Brazeau needed was a chance.

One such opportunity presented itself when he scooped up the puck near center ice at Amerant Bank Arena on Monday night. With only Sergei Bobrovsky in front of him, the 26-year-old striker turned on the afterburner.

Using his 6-foot-5, 220-pound frame to shield the puck from defenseman Aaron Ekblad, Brazeau outplayed the defender to the outside as he slid into territory. Bobrovsky’s slide to the right was in vain, as Brazeau’s series of fakes ended with a puck sliding across the goal line – and a first career playoff goal added to his resume.

“He’s incredibly talented,” fellow rookie (and Game 1 scorer) Mason Lohrei said of Brazeau after Boston’s 5-1 win over Florida. “Such a good finisher in tight, which is pretty deceptive for a big guy. But he’s got that scoring touch and it’s pretty cool to see him do a forehand, a backhand there.

Brazeau’s opportunistic rushing goal was emblematic of his first NHL campaign – with the undrafted power forward and former junior league star finally getting the chance to prove he belonged at hockey’s highest level .

And so far, the Bruins are reaping the rewards of their acquisition in the big league of New Liskeard, Ontario.

“I always believed I could be here and do this type of thing,” Brazeau said after lighting the lamp Monday. “So I wouldn’t say I didn’t believe it. But obviously, it was a bit of a stretch to start the year, just for an AHL deal. So I’m obviously extremely happy to be here.

Brazeau’s path to Boston has been anything but linear. Although he recorded 113 points in 68 games during his final junior hockey season with the North Bay Battalion in 2018-19, Brazeau was only able to parlay that into an AHL deal with the Maple Leafs.

Unable to establish himself as a key cog in Toronto’s prospect pipeline, Brazeau ultimately latched onto the Bruins after signing with the organization in 2021-22. He spent time in the ECHL with the Maine Mariners before logging 167 total games with Providence.

Brazeau’s mix of size and finishing talent on Grade A ice has made him a prospect worth backing. That belief has now yielded strong returns when Boston needs it most, lower down on its depth chart.

After establishing himself as one of Boston’s main surprises during the regular season (five goals, two assists in 19 games), Brazeau was reinserted into the Bruins’ lineup in Game 5 against Toronto – his first match experience in more than three weeks after suffering an upper-body injury in Nashville on April 2.

His return to the playoffs was “rusty” against Toronto in Game 5, according to Montgomery. He spent 9:36 of ice time in Boston’s Game 6 loss to the Leafs at Scotiabank Arena.

But everything came back into place during Game 7 in Boston on Saturday. Placed alongside Trent Frederic and James van Riemsdyk on the third line, Brazeau led all Bruins players in shot attempts (10) and scoring chances (six) against Toronto. He recorded the second assist on Hampus Lindholm’s equalizer in the third period – the byproduct of a lengthy puck possession clinic.

That momentum continued in Monday’s series opener against Florida – with Brazeau’s acceleration while parting ways with Ekblad as evidence of the progress the winger has made since joining the organization of the Bruins.

“It’s been something my whole career, I think — I’ve always been told I’m not a good enough skater,” Brazeau admitted. “So it’s something I’ve always worked on. I still work today. So it was obviously nice to have him.

The impact of Brazeau and his new teammates went far beyond his highlight reel total. In the 21:43 of 5-on-5 ice time that the Van Riemsdyk-Frédéric-Brazeau line has accumulated during the playoffs, the Bruins have outscored their opponents, 2-0, and hold a dominant 9- 0 in high season. danger of scoring chances.

“I think we can be really good,” Brazeau said. “I think we play a similar type of game. We try to keep it simple. I don’t think we’re trying to overcomplicate anything. I think we just focus on doing good work on the forecheck and supporting each other. So when we create a blocked puck, we get it back. So I think it plays to our strengths and it’s gone well so far.

If the Bruins plan to extend their season into late May and early June, they will need their forwards to generate looks on A-level ice. Having a player of Brazeau’s size certainly helps achieve that goal as a monolith in front of the net and a puck vacuum along the backboards.

But Montgomery and his coaches believe there’s more to Brazeau’s game than just his size. It’s a belief validated by Monday’s deft finish against Bobrovsky, and spurred after years of faith in a player finally looking to earn his chance.

So far, Brazeau is making the most of it.

“The plays we saw in Game 7 and tonight, we saw in the regular season,” Montgomery said of Brazeau. “And that’s why I put him in Game 5 because he needed to find a rhythm and we continued to play him because we believe he’s a great hockey player who can really help you – offensively and defensively. That’s why – what you notice is something that we think is part of him.