Kessel is learning on the job

Benching is part of his education

WILMINGTON - Throughout the season, Claude Julien has used several tools in hopes of improving second-year pro Phil Kessel's game.

They've had meetings. They've had video sessions.

But last Sunday, in Boston's 4-2 loss to Pittsburgh, the Bruins coach used what can be considered the most eye-opening method.

The bench.

"He wasn't involved last game," Julien said after yesterday's practice at Ristuccia Arena. "He wasn't an involved player. That ended up costing us a couple goals, too."

For all his talents - speed, stickhandling, and release are three of his prime assets - Kessel's all-around game has yet to develop. He has been on the losing end of puck battles. He has thrown seven hits this season. He has won 43.5 percent of his faceoffs. He has had little presence in the danger areas at both ends of the ice.

In the team's last six games - they've had only one win and 3 points - Kessel hasn't recorded a point and has racked up a minus-6 rating. Kessel's last goal came Dec. 6 against Montreal.

By Sunday, Julien had seen enough, limiting Kessel to 7:26 of ice time, his lightest workload of the year.

"He wasn't having a good game at all. He wasn't helping our team," said Julien. "So it's my job to put players out there who can help our team. He missed a period. Now it's up to him to show me whether he wants to redeem himself and play a better game. It's how he wants to react. I think it's up to him right now. Not me."

Yesterday, Kessel was back centering the third line between Milan Lucic and Peter Schaefer. The Bruins acknowledge Kessel's youth; he would have been a junior at the University of Minnesota this year had he not signed with the Bruins after his freshman year.

"In Phil's case, he's a young player," said Julien. "I think he's in the learning process of things. Accountability is one of them and realizing that it's not a given that you go out automatically. The other part is how you redeem yourself. That's all part of a player growing into his role. That's what we're hoping to see Phil do - bounce back and have a strong outing."

Kessel sat out the third period against the Penguins, bearing the brunt of a lesson that Julien hopes the 20-year-old takes to heart.

Thin blue line

Aaron Ward (broken left foot), Andrew Alberts (post-concussion syndrome symptoms), and Bobby Allen (back spasms) didn't practice and did not travel with the team to North Carolina, leaving the Bruins without three of the defensemen who dressed for the season opener against Dallas.

General manager Peter Chiarelli has been looking for a top-four defenseman, but noted that when healthy, he believes in the unit that started the season.

"I saw our defense intact for long enough to know that I'm satisfied with it," said Chiarelli. "If that's the unit and we can stick with it, if everyone's healthy and playing, it's a pretty good unit with the way they're coached and the way they're playing. Part of enduring a long season is just that - enduring it. We have to gut our way through it."

Break point

The Bruins, who returned to work after a three-day holiday break, hope they can perform better after midseason pauses than the 2006-07 club. Last season, after entering the holiday break with a three-game winning streak, the Bruins won only one of their next five. After last year's All-Star break, the Bruins lost their next four games. "Breaks usually help the teams that weren't playing well, and they can hurt the teams the worst that have been on a big roll," said goalie Tim Thomas. "We've had some big rolls the last couple years going into breaks. The breaks seem to throw us off a bit." . . . While noting that power plays can throw off shift lengths - Zdeno Chara, Dennis Wideman, and Marc Savard, the key cogs of the No. 1 unit, fall into this category - Julien said his players are responsible for knowing when to hit the bench for a change. "Between 40 and 50 seconds is ideal," said Julien. "You should try and stay in the 40s." . . . Brandon Bochenski, a healthy scratch the last five games, skated on the No. 1 line in place of Glen Murray (hip flexor strain) yesterday . . . Carolina, already without forward Justin Williams (torn left ACL), might also be without Matt Cullen tonight. The Hurricanes forward was blasted by ex-Bruin Colton Orr Wednesday, suffering a broken nose and possible concussion . . . Chara was second among Eastern Conference defensemen in All-Star voting through Dec. 25. Savard was 26th among forwards.

Fluto Shinzawa can be reached at fshinzawa@globe.com.