Nash savors chance to win Cup

Rick Nash played in the postseason in each of his five full seasons with the Rangers and advanced to the finals in 2014. But he was on the verge of missing the playoffs this season before the rebuilding Rangers traded him to the Bruins on Feb. 25 for Ryan Spooner, Matt Beleskey, Ryan Lindgren, a 2018 first-round pick and a 2019 seven-round selection.

BOSTON — Rick Nash has scored the fourth-most regular-season goals (437) among active NHL players, but he doesn’t even rank in the top 50 in Stanley Cup playoff goals.

 A big reason for the discrepancy is that Nash reached the playoffs only once in his nine seasons with Columbus Blue Jackets after they selected him with the No. 1 overall pick in 2002.

 Nash played in the postseason in each of his five full seasons with the Rangers and advanced to the finals in 2014. But he was on the verge of missing the playoffs this season before the rebuilding Rangers traded him to the Bruins on Feb. 25 for Ryan Spooner, Matt Beleskey, Ryan Lindgren, a 2018 first-round pick and a 2019 seven-round selection.

 “It’s exciting,” Nash said of joining the Bruins, “especially for me. I haven’t had a chance to win it (the Cup). During my career, I’ve seen it happen to so many people in Columbus. You’re not going to make the playoffs so you leave. That’s the way it goes. You get rented out to try to help a team and now it’s the point of my career, it’s my turn to do that.”

 In his 78 career playoff games entering Game 2 of Boston’s first-round playoff series against Toronto on Saturday night at the Garden, Nash had 15 goals and 26 assists for 41 points. He hopes to add to those totals this postseason. More important, he’d like to capture the Stanley Cup for the first time.

 Nash said he was concerned he might miss the playoffs after he suffered a concussion on St. Patrick’s Day and sat out Boston’s final 12 regular-season games.

 “For sure,” he said. “It’s a dangerous injury and it’s a huge problem in any sport. You look around at kids playing soccer, kids playing football. It’s a big deal and I think we’re just at the beginning of trying to figure these things out through doctors and science and whatnot. So yeah, it was definitely a concern.”

 The 6-foot-4 Nash returned to the lineup on Thursday, a 5-1 Bruins victory in Game 1.

 “I was very relieved,” Nash said. “Not matter what injury you come back from, that first game is always the tough one where you’re testing yourself.”

 Nash said he was sore the next day.

 “That was rough,” he said. “You haven’t played a game in almost four weeks so there’s definitely some aches and pains. But during that time you try to work a lot on things, get strong, get fast, keep your speed.”

 Most important, his head felt clear in Game 1 when the Bruins improved to 9-3 with him in the lineup compared to 5-3-4 without him. They’re 3-0 when he scores a goal and 5-0 when he earns a point.

 Nash didn’t score in Game 1, but he did draw two penalties, including one that led to a power-play goal by Brad Marchand. Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy liked what he saw of Nash.

 “I thought he was possessing the puck,” Cassidy said. “I thought he had his foot speed, his awareness was good. For missing that much time and coming right into a playoff game, I thought he looked very good. In terms of the areas you figure he’d have some rust, I didn’t think he had much.”

 Nash has rejoined veteran center David Krejci and rookie winger Jake DeBrusk on the Bruins’ second line.

 “He’s a big guy, but he can fly,” DeBrusk said. “I like to play down low and he helps me a lot. Every time there’s a 50-50 puck battle that we win and I get it to him, something good usually happens.”

 Nash, 33, felt a bit old when he was told that DeBrusk, 21, said he grew up watching Nash on television.

 “It’s crazy how fast your career goes,” Nash said. “I think he’s got a bright future in this game. He’s got all the tools. When he puts them all together, he’s done some pretty cool things. So it’s fun for me to get a chance to play with a guy like him.”

 Bruins rookie Sean Kuraly grew up in the Columbus suburb of Dublin, Ohio, so he’s very familiar with Nash’s game.

 “He’s a possession monster down there in the O-zone,” Kuraly said. “He’s a big body, he’s throwing his body around and he’s been in the playoffs before so he’s just a big body that has a commanding presence in front of the net and on the forecheck in the O-zone.”

 Nash becomes an unrestricted free agent this summer. So this could be his only chance to win a Cup for the Bruins and he plans to make the best of it.