BRUINS NOTEBOOK: Defenseman Torey Krug is on a roll

Two more assists in Saturday’s win over the Kings give Krug nine points in the last nine, and have moved him into the NHL lead among defensemen in power play assists.

BOSTON -- Torey Krug always forgets. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be so productive.

The 27-year-old Bruin extended a nice run in Saturday’s over the Kings, picking up two assists to give him nine points (eight assists) in the last nine games. Two assists in that string -- a helper on Patrice Bergeron’s goal in Wednesday night’s shootout loss to the Rangers, and Saturday’s feed to Bergeron for the overtime winner -- have moved Krug into the lead among NHL defensemen with 22 power-play assists -- not bad, considering he missed the first 11 games of the season with an ankle injury.

In each case, Krug saw a play available that nobody else did, and he went for it. When plays like that don’t work out, turnovers can run from merely momentum-killing to truly dangerous, but Krug doesn’t dwell on them.

“Most players who are gifted offensively have some of the shortest memories in the game,” he said.

“That’s good and bad. If you’re going to continue to try things that aren’t working, that are low-percentage plays, it’s going to come back to hurt your team. So you want to kind of find that balance between erasing things quickly, and also learning from situations.”

On a team starved for 5-on-5 scoring (the B’s were tied for 26th in the NHL in that category entering the weekend), the power play is crucial. The Bruins were at No. 3 through 54 games at 27.1 percent, with Krug the league-wide assists leader among defenemen and David Pastrnak topping the NHL with 15 goals. Team-wise, Krug is fifth on the Bruins’ overall scoring list with 38 points (five goals, 32 assists) in just 44 games; Matt Grzelcyk (50 games) is next among defenseman with 14.

Krug’s production has been consistent throughout the season, a four-game gap between points in mid-November his longest drought. The streak he’s on now, though, is one he hopes to ride as long as possible.

“The way things are going right now, you feel like you can make any pass,” he said. “If I can see it, then I’m going to try to make it.”

And if it doesn’t work?

“If I’m trying, and it’s not working consistently, maybe someone will give me a tap on the shoulder and say ‘Hey, let’s look elsewhere,’ Krug said. “But it’s something I feel like I have a pretty good gauge on.”

CLOSE CALL: Rookie center Trent Frederic was a healthy scratch on Saturday, after playing his first five NHL games. He hadn’t scored any points, landed only three shots on goal, and had not yet played 10 minutes in a game.

The limited ice time wasn’t always performance-based, though. A fight in his NHL debut on Jan 29 against the Jets kept him off the ice for five minutes (he played 8:29 that night), and the B’s were locked in close game every time he played. Four were decided by one goal (three of those decided after regulation), and the 3-1 win over the Islanders last Tuesday wasn’t sealed until Patrice Bergeron’s last-minute empty-net goal.

“These are tight games,” coach Bruce Cassidy said. “We want (Frederic) to play well, we want to give him responsibility, but (with) the closeness of the games, we’ve had less freedom to do that.”

Cassidy moved Sean Kuraly into Frederic’s spot, building a new third line in the process. Jake DeBrusk moved down from David Krejci’s line to play left wing, and David Backes returned to the lineup after a one-game absence to play right wing.

Joakim Nordstrom, who had skated with Frederic for four games, moved into Kuraly’s previous spot -- left wing, with center Noel Acciari and right wing Chris Wagner. Backes and Wagner switched lines in the second period.

AROUND THE BOARDS: Grzelyck missed the game with a lower body injury that will probably keep him out of Sunday’s 3 p.m. game against the Avalanche, as well … Defenseman John Moore, who replaced Grzelcyk after sitting out three straight games, left Saturday’s game in the second period after a deflected puck struck him in the face, but he returned for the third ... Jaroslav Halak, 0-3-2- since his last win on Jan. 3, will face the Avalanche.