Night made from scratch
Peter Schaefer was the last healthy player on the Bruins' roster, so when the team found out yesterday that Chuck Kobasew's leg injury was a fractured tibia, Schaefer got the call. Against the Maple Leafs last night, Schaefer was asked to skate alongside a pair of 20-year-old linemates, center Vladimir Sobotka and right wing Phil Kessel, and to use his experience to settle the youngsters.
Funny thing is, the kids have been regulars, and Schaefer, in his eighth NHL season, was a healthy scratch the previous five games. Worse, at Wednesday's practice, coach Claude Julien bluntly said the 30-year-old Schaefer "hasn't played as well as we'd like. I'm not going to hide that fact."
Schaefer was expected to play with Marc Savard on the top line this season, but he never got comfortable. In 57 games, he had produced eight goals and 15 assists and was scratched nine times.
Schaefer was a different player last night, scoring a goal and setting up another in the Bruins' 4-2 victory. It was Schaefer's lead pass that sprung Kessel on a breakaway early in the third period, which Kessel converted to give Boston a 2-1 lead. And it was Schaefer's ninth goal of the season near the end of the third that pushed the Bruins ahead, 4-2, only 23 seconds after Pavel Kubina had brought the Maple Leafs within one.
"It's been tough," acknowledged Schaefer. "I'm not going to lie to you - I haven't played in a while and I didn't feel the greatest. But I just went out there and worked hard. The lungs burned a little bit but, hopefully, that'll come back quick and the timing; game timing is a lot different than getting skating back."
Schaefer and his linemates made a compelling case for more ice time. Kessel also had a goal and an assist, and Sobotka snapped a nine-game scoreless stretch with an assist on Schaefer's goal. Sobotka corralled the puck deep in the right corner of the Leafs' zone and Schaefer headed straight for the net, arriving in time to tip the rookie's pass. The shot deflected over Vesa Toskala's shoulder and into the net.
"I'm playing with two great kids," Schaefer said. "Kess is an unbelievable player and Sobotka's going to get more of an opportunity now with the injuries. I'm just going to go out there and hopefully lead those guys in the right direction.
"We played fairly decent out there and we got a chance, they kept putting us out. Any time you get a chance to get some flow, you get a little confidence. It's definitely a bit of a monkey off my back."
The coach was back in Schaefer's corner, too.
"No doubt, he was very good tonight," said Julien. "We know what he's capable of doing and he came in tonight and did a great job."
Schaefer noted that every player on the team had to step up to compensate for the injured players - Kobasew is expected to be out for 4-8 weeks, and Savard is out indefinitely with a back injury - and he added, "Probably, I've got to step it up more than most."
Though he was wearing the team hard hat, bestowed on one player postgame for his gritty work, Schaefer is an experienced guy. He knows he'll have to earn every minute.
"I'm back in the lineup, for tonight anyway, and we just have to pick up our game," said Schaefer, who played 12:54 last night. "We can't use [injuries] as an excuse."
It was a long time between goals for Schaefer, who last scored March 6, also against Toronto. He is stoic about being scratched, but it's an awkward situation.
"I haven't been through it since I first broke into the league years ago in Vancouver," said Schaefer. "It's been tough, the nights when [Julien] doesn't put me out. I haven't had the season I wanted to have. Now there are five games left, I'm just going to leave it all on the ice every night and see what happens."
rising
falling 