Big Brazeau making big Bruins impact

“It was nice to see one go in and count and getting two [goals] is obviously really nice,” said Brazeau.

The 26-year-old Brazeau scored both goals at the net front as part of his classic big man’s game where he can finish plays in the painted area while carving out space with his massive 6-foot-5, 220-pound body. The sheer amount of won battles, quick wraparound chances and pucks that Brazeau can get to the goal line speaks to a big-bodied winger that creates a lot of havoc down low with his size and strength.

“He knows the strengths of his game and he plays to them really well,” said Kevin Shattenkirk. “He’s great along the boards keeping pucks alive, hanging onto them and keeping plays alive below the goal line. Another small aspect is that he’s blocked a ton of shots, so he’s doing the little things to stay in the lineup.

“He’s calling for that puck when I shoot it from the point, and he knows that he’s going to tip that puck and find that rebound. That power move he makes at the end there is his bread-and-butter. It’s great to see him playing so well.”

Watching Brazeau quickly work his backhand-to-forehand while attacking from the side of the net or jumping all over the rebound of a Kevin Shattenkirk point shot on the power play, it reminded Jim Montgomery of a certain NHL Hall of Famer who also used his massive frame to good effect, including a cup of coffee with the Black and Gold at the end of his Hall of Fame career.

“In training camp, I remember saying to people that I think he’s a poor man’s Dave Andreychuk because I think he seems to get to every puck below the goal line and he makes subtle, smart plays,” said Montgomery. “And he has a nice touch. I’m glad he got rewarded because he’s been playing a lot better than what his stats have shown on paper. We’re really happy with how well he’s playing in all three zones and how well he supports his teammates.

“We thought eventually if sometimes arose that he might get [on the power play] because he’s a really good net-front power play guy down in the American League. He screens really well, he deflects pucks, and he can make little plays in tight. His hockey sense and his hockey acumen are really good in those areas.”

Brazeau just continues to view every NHL game as a one-game tryout where he’s bringing his absolute best and contributing a different power forward-type element to a fourth line where Jesper Boqvist and Johnny Beecher are both bringing blinding speed.

“I think I’m just getting more confidence with each game I play. The league almost slows down a little bit when you start getting that confidence. You can make more plays with pucks, so I think the confidence is just building with me,” said Brazeau. “For me every game is a tryout, so I need to keep playing the right way and doing the right things to hopefully earn another game.

“I’ve played a pretty good amount with [Boqvist and Beecher] in Providence so it’s pretty easy to get comfortable. I played a lot with Boqvist in Providence. Knowing each other’s game, we all know that we have to play every shift as hard as we can in order to near the next one. So I think it makes it easy to play the right way.”

It remains to be seen if any of the fourth-line dynamic is going to change when Pat Maroon returns to good health following February back surgery, but that’s giving ample time to the current combination to show exactly what they can. And they contributed in a big way on Tuesday with Brazeau popping in a couple of big man goals and Boqvist scoring his fifth goal of the season after being sprung in the neutral zone on a great cross-ice pass in stride from Beecher.

Combine that with a unique game plan that has Beecher and Boqvist switching off situationally as the fourth line center – Beecher taking all the draws and Boqvist jumping in once the puck is being broken up ice into the offensive zone -- and it feels like the Bruins coaches are curating the ideal usage of their energy line personnel.

“Well, we’re going to have Beecher take the draws because he’s so good at it, right?” said Montgomery, when asked how the fourth line duties will work for his forwards. “If they lose a draw in zone Beecher is going to play center until we get out of the zone, but when it goes five-on-five out of our zone we want Boqvist playing center. We want [Boqvist] handling the puck and when you play center you end up handling the puck more. He’s done a great job, he’s confident with the puck and Beecher’s goal [against the Flyers] is a great entry by him carrying it all the way from the defensive zone.

“We just like him transporting the puck and his speed underneath pucks. It makes the defense give up to the blue line where we don’t have to forecheck as much, and all three of them did a good job in that last game of deciding when it was time to forecheck and when it was time to carry it in.”

Put it all together and the Bruins are watching a diverse fourth line gel together with both speed and size/strength elements ahead of the playoffs that’s only going to be augmented by other options like Maroon or Jakub Lauko when it comes time for the Stanley Cup playoffs. Bargain basement free agent signings like Brazeau and Boqvist are going a long way to make that happen to the great credit of the organizational NHL scouts that identified them as good fits with the Bruins.