Bruins notebook: Fourth line doing the job

There is plenty to like about the Bruins’ fourth line. Tomas Nosek, Nick Foligno and Curtis Lazar are all fairly savvy veterans, can all take faceoffs, have developed a chemistry down the stretch and have been strong at keeping at keeping good lines to the outside or even back in their own zone.

But don’t hold your breath waiting for a goal.

Lazar, who went into Friday’s regular season finale with a career high eight goals, has not scored since April 10. Foligno, with a career-low two goals, has not scored since March 1. And Nosek, stuck on three goals, had not scored since Jan. 2.

That’s a serious power outage. But if the trio can continue to do their grunt work as well as they have been — and all of them do seem to relish in it — then coach Bruce Cassidy is pleased with what they bring.

“They’re giving us better puck possession in the O-zone, which is a good thing for the fourth line. We obviously want that to translate into offense and goals when you can, but that’s a win for us if they can check well and do it with the puck,” said Cassidy prior to Friday’s game. “It tires out the other team. It builds some momentum for the other lines. They really have been pretty stout defensively and that’s their first job. They’ve got a lot of D-zone starts. We’re trying to incorporate some O-zone starts but they’re going to have to win some faceoffs in order to get that consistent opportunity. So, yes, I’m stating the obvious, we’d like some offense but that’s not the primary goal from that line. I think what they’ve been doing lately is being clean in their own end. They’re managing some pucks, they put some pressure on the other teams’ D when they’re playing in the O-zone. That’s been beneficial for us.”

Night off for regulars

As expected, many of the regulars were given the night off on Friday.

Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, Taylor Hall, Erik Haula, David Pastrnak, Hampus Lindholm, Matt Grzelcyk and Charlie McAvoy were kept out of the lineup to keep them as fresh as possible for their first round opponent.

Chris Wagner, sent down to Providence at the end of camp, was making his first appearance with Boston while Oskar Steen, Jack Studnicka and Jack Ahcan also went in against the Leafs.

Cassidy before the game that there are a few players with some aches, but he hopes to be as healthy as any team is at this time of year.

“We’re not 100%. I don’t think any team is. We’ve got a few bumps and bruises,” said Cassidy. “But let’s get though tonight and we’re hopeful we’ll have everybody available for Game 1. Again, things could change between now and Monday. But that’s what most teams want, to have access to all your players and use them as you see fit. That’s the most important thing. Second is playing good hockey. There’s some teams that can flip a switch going into the playoffs. I don’t think too many can do that. I don’t think we fall into that category. Playing some good consistent hockey, playing to your identity I think is important at this time of year and we’ve done a lot of that of late. That bodes well for us, as well as our health.”

The Leafs took the same approach, sitting Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares and Jack Campbell.

Small taxi squad expected

Most of of the Providence players who were brought up for Friday’s game will head right back down for to play in the P-Bruins’ Calder Cup run, for however long it lasts. Cassidy does not want to keep a large Black Aces contingent.

“They have their own playoff and I think you’re better off playing,” said Cassidy. “Obviously we’ll have some guys as extra guys here. But we won’t keep a large group, simply because I think it’s more beneficial for them to be in live action and playing and getting their reps and getting into playoff mode in case we need them, and also for their own benefit going forward. It’s playoff hockey, no matter what league you’re in. It’s meaningful games and all young kids, if they have the opportunity, they should be playing in them.”…

It sounds like it was a good road trip to skip for some of the regulars. The B’s sat on he tarmac at Hanscom on Thursday night but plane issues prevented them from taking off. They had to fly out on Friday morning.