Bruins F David Krejci: “Talk Is Cheap At This Time Of Year”

Following Game 4, Boston Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy called out his forward group for not helping the shorthanded defense corps when they lost captain Zdeno Chara early in the second period of the Bruins’ 4-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues. Then on Tuesday, forward David Krejci called out his teammates and himself urging them to stop talking and start walking the walk.

“I think the effort’s there every single time,” Krejci replied when asked about how the Bruins could do better offensively. “I don’t think we worked as a unit together. I wasn’t really happy about the way we played last game. We need to talk about it, keep talking about it. Talk is cheap at this time of the year, so. …wee just got to look at ourselves in the mirrors and do the things that we talk about doing.”

This came less than 12 hours after Cassidy expressed his disappointment at the forwards’ not stepping it up when Chara went down.

“We’ve talked a lot about the defense here, personally, I think our forwards have got to do a way better job with our defense out,” Cassidy said. “They’ve got to pull their weight in terms of puck support and helping out the defense, finishing some plays.”

Cassidy also called his coaching staff and himself out stressing that they can do a better job helping the young D core adapt when a teammate goes down.

“Obviously with Zdeno out…the onus becomes on us more as far as a staff to coach,” Cassidy said. The remaining defensemen are a younger contingent. They’re young. You’ve got [Connor] Clifton, you’ve got [Charlie] McAvoy, you’ve got Carlo, these kids are young. Torey [Krug’s] been around, and [John] Moore, but they’re not old, grizzled veterans, so we have to coach them up. That’s our challenge going into Game 5. We have to do a better job with them as a staff.”