BACK ON ICE: Bruins look to pick up the pace in round-robin opener against Flyers

The result counts. Points earned, if any, are worth something.

The Bruins don’t enter Sunday’s 3 p.m. game against the Flyers at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto determined to claim points at all costs, though. They earned the right to use this round-robin game, and the two that will follow in the next week, as preparation for the first-round playoff series of which they’re assured.

And while the B’s may have followed last year’s Eastern [...]

The result counts. Points earned, if any, are worth something.

The Bruins don’t enter Sunday’s 3 p.m. game against the Flyers at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto determined to claim points at all costs, though. They earned the right to use this round-robin game, and the two that will follow in the next week, as preparation for the first-round playoff series of which they’re assured.

And while the B’s may have followed last year’s Eastern Conference championship by posting the NHL’s best record before the regular season was stopped on March 12 by the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s work to do and decisions to be made before the stakes get much higher.

Item No. 1: An uptick in intensity over Thursday’s 4-1 exhibition loss to the Blue Jackets, where both teams experienced a game without fans for the first time. The Blue Jackets responded better than the B’s, at least over a first period that saw them take a 3-0 lead.

"Our guys I expect to play a lot harder than they did against Columbus on Thursday night," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said after Saturday’s practice. "To what degree [the Flyers] play, I can’t predict, but I expect us to be a lot more competitive than we were the other night."

Some of that competition will be internal.

While neither will play on Sunday, wingers Nick Ritchie and Ondrej Kase, acquired in separate trades with the Ducks in February to boost secondary scoring, are tracking toward the lineup.

Ritchie, who missed six straight practices before returning to the ice on Thursday, skated with the main group Saturday, then did a little extra work with the Bruins’ spare players.

Included in that second group was Kase, who arrived in Toronto on Friday after fulfilling quarantine requirements that caused him to miss virtually all two weeks of the practice sessions the Bruins held in Boston before traveling last Sunday to the Eastern Conference hub in Toronto. Their presence will put wingers who have played in their places — especially Jack Studnicka, Anders Bjork and Karson Kuhlman — on notice.

Item No. 2: Execution. It was lacking Thursday, likely a combination of an intensity deficit and plain old rust after a 4½-month gap between games.

To that end, the presence of first-line left wing Brad Marchand in Saturday’s practice was a positive development. He and linemates Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak (who also missed almost all of the Bruins’ local practices) weren’t in sync for much of Thursday’s game, which Marchand left halfway through the third period with what appeared to be lower-body discomfort.

"I would say the reason [Marchand] left the other day won’t preclude him from playing [Sunday]," Cassidy said. "He looked fine.

"Obviously, if there’s a lingering issue with an injury, we’d keep an eye on it, but I think he’s going to be 100%, be ready to go, and play whatever’s asked of him."

Cassidy was less certain of the status of No. 1 goalie Tuukka Rask, who didn’t practice Saturday. Rask has started the Bruins’ last 76 playoff games since 2013, but the Bruins already planned to give No. 2 netminder Jaroslav Halak some work during the round-robin tournament. That work may come Sunday, instead of in Wednesday’s game against the Lightning, or next Sunday’s game against the Capitals.

"I’ll have to talk to Tuukka, see where he’s at," Cassidy said. "If not, [Halak] will be ready to go."

The round robin, contested by the top four teams in each conference, will determine seeding for the first playoff round, while eight other teams per conference, seeded 5-12, face off in best-of-5 "Qualifiers" series. Unlike play-in games, round-robin contests will use regular-season rules, so they can be decided by 3-on-3 overtimes or shootouts, with one point awarded to losers in that scenario. Any ties in the round-robin standings will be decided by regular-season points percentage — another advantage the B’s take into the tournament.

The Flyers are effectively the Cinderella team of the East Round Robin, using a 9-1-0 streak before the season was suspended to pass the Penguins for the No. 4 seed, behind the Lightning (2) and Capitals (3). They went 2-1-0 against the B’s during the regular season (both wins by shootout), but the Bruins spoiled their bid for a 10th straight win with a 2-0 decision behind Rask on March 10 — each team’s last game before the season was suspended.

History like that isn’t expected to be a factor on Sunday.

"My guess, if I had to, is it wouldn’t be as intense as a [Qualifiers] game, simply because there’s not the same at stake," Cassidy said. "But there’s obviously a lot — getting your game in order, getting ramped up to play playoff hockey, and seeding."