After having his first two seasons cut short by shoulder injuries, Anders Bjork has played into the month of February for the first time as a pro.
BOSTON -- It wasn’t a numerical milestone, although one of those is on the horizon.
Anders Bjork has definitely hit a threshold, though. When he played (and scored a goal) in Saturday night’s 6-1 win at Minnesota, the Bruins’ third-year winger played a professional hockey game in the month of February for the first time in his three-year career.
“I actually was aware of that,” Bjork said on Monday, after the Bruins prepared for Tuesday’s game against the Canucks at TD Garden (7:05, NESN, WBZ-FM 98.5). “Maybe not the actual date, but I did know I hadn’t made it this far into a season before.”
Bjork, 23, didn’t even make it to January last season. Assigned to AHL Providence after putting up just one goal and three points over 20 games with the Bruins, his second pro season ended just like the first -- with a shoulder injury (sustained Dec. 30) that required season-ending surgery. As a rookie pro in 2017-18, he came up from Providence to play against the Ducks on Jan. 30, and had his season ended just four shifts into the game.
Bjork hasn’t entered entirely uncharted waters, because he played into February and March as a junior-age player, and again over three seasons at the University of Notre Dame. Reaching this point of an NHL season does take Bjork into new territory, though, and he wants to see if it’s as challenging as he has heard.
“It is a tough season,” Bjork said. “That’s why they talk about recovery so much, really harp on it all the time, because it can wear on you.
“But I want to get used to this grind, because I’m hopefully going to be doing it for a while. I want to experience that challenge of finding ways to feel good throughout it.”
Bjork feels pretty good so far. A last-minute cut at the end of training camp, he was promoted to Boston after scoring three goals and eight points in seven games with the P-Bruins, and his 45 NHL games since then nearly matches the 50 he played over his first two seasons. Not surprisingly, his production has increased: Usually in a third-line, even-strength role, he has scored nine goals and 16 points.
“Obviously, coming off the break we just had (nine days off skates, courtesy of a combined NHL All-Star break and Bye Week), you’re going to feel a little different,” said Bjork, who is five games from reaching 100 in the NHL. “And I did feel a little fatigued before that break, but you’re also a little excited because you know it’s coming up.
“But it was actually a little harder for me at the start of this year, conditioning-wise, because it had been so long since I’d been in a season. I feel like I’ve slowly been building that up.”
The post-break schedule tends to be tight, as evidenced by the Bruins playing three sets of games on consecutive nights in just over two weeks. (The B’s are at Chicago on Wednesday night.) Bjork feels ready to attack the 29 games the Bruins face in the next two months.
“It actually feels like the season’s gone by really fast,” he said. “From an energy standpoint, obviously it’s a tiring season, but I feel like I have a lot left to give. There’s still a lot I want to improve on.”
AROUND THE BOARDS: Joakim Nordstrom, who replaced Danton Heinen as the Bruins’ third-line left wing on Saturday, needed a maintenance day on Monday. Coach Bruce Cassidy was uncertain of Nordstrom’s status for Tuesday night. ... Heinen, who didn’t play against the Wild because of a lower body injury sustained on Friday in Winnipeg, was back at practice on Monday. ... Fourth-line center Sean Kuraly, a healthy scratch on Saturday for the first time this season, took most of his shifts at left wing on the third line on Monday. Cassidy left Saturday night’s version of the fourth line -- Anton Blidh-Par Lindholm-Chris Wagner -- intact. ... B’s prospect Jack Studnicka was named the AHL’s Player of the Week after collecting three goals and five points over the P-Bruins’ two-game weekend split. Studnicka went 2-2--4 in Saturday’s 6-2 win at Syracuse.