Can Bruce Cassidy unlock Boston Bruins' creativity?

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Boston Bruins interim coach Bruce Cassidy didn’t see any major systematic issues with the team when he took over on Feb. 7 for fired former bench boss Claude Julien.

Though the Bruins had been uneven throughout the year up until that point, he knew the group was structured, played a strong puck possession game and was sound defensively.

“I think the Xs and Os were solid here, that’s been proven,” Cassidy said.

What Cassidy, who was the team’s assistant coach this season and previously its AHL bench boss for five years, wanted was to unlock some of the creativity in the team’s roster in order to add some life into a group that had become stale. So far, he has done this and the team has gone 4-1-0 since he took over. In that stretch they’ve held a 52.24 CF% 5-on-5, which ranks 11th in the NHL over that stretch. Also the Bruins have outscored their opponents 19-12.

The Bruins currently have 66 points in 60 games and have been fighting to stay in the Wild Card mix of late. They currently have the same number of points as the New York Islanders, the team currently in the Eastern Conference Wild Card, though New York has played one fewer game. The Florida Panthers also have 66 points in 59 games.

[Follow Puck Daddy on social media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Tumblr]

“I think we have better pace. I think we’re harder to play against in terms of us coming at teams and putting them on their heels,” Cassidy said. “Obviously it’s a challenge to do this for a full 60 minutes and that would be our ultimate goal but I think we want to be known as a team with that solid defensive fabric that’s kind of woven into this group for years and now we want to add a bit of some dynamic offense with the D joining the rush and so if we can mix the two that would be great. That’s what we’re in for.”

When the 51-year-old Cassidy was introduced as the team’s interim coach and said he wanted to play with more speed and creativity, the words were met with understandable skepticism. New coaches often say this in part because it’s their only recourse to reignite an underachieving roster.

According to players, Cassidy has started to push the team’s pace in practice with more rapid drills and they’ve seen some dividends from this in games.

“You always practice how you play and I think that’s what he’s trying to do is incorporate the higher pace, the speed, the defense jumping into the play and our game in practicing and it’s transferring over to the game,” Boston forward Brad Marchand said. “It has only been a couple of weeks. It hasn’t been long, but we’re working on it and things like that take time.”

Playing this style has also quickly endeared the Bruins’ players to Cassidy, who is in his first stint behind an NHL bench since a stretch with the Washington Capitals in 2002-03 and part of 2003-04.

After so many seasons in a rigid, and successful for that matter, defensive system they’ve embraced the coach’s decision to open it up and let them have some fun from an offensive perspective.

“Well, we’re a good puck possession team so we’re going to continue to emphasize that. Positionally we’re working on stuff every day like every other team. We want to be solid away from the puck. I think we have for the most part,” Cassidy said. “We had a tough one against Vancouver (in a 4-3 win). I think we got a little loose – I know we got a little loose and we got through it and scored enough goals to win, but that’s not a winning formula every night. Our guys recognize that, but they had fun doing it for one night. Some nights you have to win 4-3, some nights you have to win 2-1. We’ve done both to be honest with you and generally speaking, I think to answer your question, you need both and to what balance and we’re finding ours.”

Part of Cassidy’s job was also being tasked with finding the right spots for players in his lineup. Since the coaching change, big offseason acquisition David Backes has picked up six points. Forward Ryan Spooner has notched three points in five games as the Bruins’ third-line center. Under Julien, Spooner was mostly used as a left wing this season.

“We’ve tinkered with a few things in terms of being more dynamic at times. But it’s more getting these guys back up to speed in terms of them enjoying coming to the rink and trusting their skills and using their skills to our advantage and staying within the framework of what we’re asking,” Cassidy said. “That’s what I’ve done for the last two weeks and tried to do for the most part. We’re always going to tinker a little bit – I don’t think any two coaches are exactly alike with Xs and Os, but for the most part we haven’t changed a lot of that.”

Despite Boston’s hot start with Cassidy there is still a long way to go for the Bruins.

The adrenaline rush of a coaching change can wear off as quickly as it arrives. For example, last season the Minnesota Wild won their first four games with John Torchetti, then lost their next three. Torchetti went 15-11-1 and lost in the first-round of the playoffs. The key for the Bruins is continuing this surge, which will be difficult as the games for Boston get bigger down the stretch.

[Newsletter: Get 5 great stories from the Yahoo Sports blogs in your inbox every morning!]

Against the Anaheim Ducks in a 5-3 loss Wednseday, the Bruins made some nifty risk-taking plays, like a goal by Frank Vatrano off a long outlet pass by David Krejci. But they also had multiple breakdowns in their zone, which seemed very unlike the identity they built under Julien. Since it was Cassidy’s first defeat as the Boston coach it sent a small jolt of adversity through the lineup for the first time since his arrival. Seeing how the group performs Thursday in Los Angeles could be a real indication on whether Cassidy can make some progress in Boston this year more than anything.

“Well, it’s not the first hockey game he has lost. He has coached a lot of our players before, so nothing special is going to happen,” goaltender Tuukka Rask said. “Obviously we have a quick one coming up tomorrow (at Los Angeles). We have to get ready for that, look at the mistakes we did and look at the things we did right today and get ready for tomorrow. It’s a game, a tough loss but we have to bounce back.”

– – – – – – –

Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper

MORE FROM YAHOO SPORTS