Will the Shake Up of the Bruins Lineup Work?

At some point, chemistry becomes secondary. The familiarity of taking the ice with the same players turns from an advantage into more of a state of comfort and the minute that happens, things change.

Things have changed.

For the past few years, you’ve heard about the core of the Boston Bruins. You’ve heard about the advantages of their built-in chemistry, the camaraderie in the locker room, the deep lineup. You’ve heard all of it. But with the recent rash of departures from guys like Andrew Ference, Nathan Horton, Tyler Seguin, and Rich Peverley, it’s obvious that things will be different for the 2013-14 Bruins next season.

And that’s not exactly a bad thing.

The Resurgence of the Boston Bruins’ Third Line

Down 1-0 against the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final, Bruins’ head coach Claude Julien shuffled up his bottom-six forwards to try and generate some chemistry, putting together a third line of Chris Kelly centering Daniel Paille and Tyler Seguin. Since then, including a 2-0 Game 3 Boston victory over Chicago, three of the four Bruins goals in Games 2 and 3 have come from the new-look third line. Something stuck, and really, it has always made sense–we’ve just never notic