Cole Koepke settles back in with Bruins after recovering from big hit delivered by friend and foe
Coincidentally, Koepke and Raddysh are friends going back to their time together in the Lightning organization. Raddysh reached out to check on Koepke in the aftermath of the hit.
'We were together in Syracuse [of the AHL] for a couple of years and then back and forth in Tampa together, too,' said Koepke, who skated as the left wing on the fourth line against the Jets. 'So, I'm actually pretty good friends with him and, yeah, he did reach out and I talked to him a little bit.'
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Koepke said hits like the one he absorbed are inevitable, especially given the speed of an NHL game.
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'Plays happen quick. Hockey's a physical game, guys are going to hit you and you're going to hit guys and sometimes you're going to be on the bad side of the hit and it's just part of the game,' he said. 'You've just got to do a good job of trying to put yourself in good positions and brace yourself when it's coming.'
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Koepke was quick to point out that there was no malice in Raddysh's actions.
'I don't ever think anyone's intentionally trying to injure anyone,' he said. 'So, with him reaching out and we were just talking through the play and kind of what happened. He wasn't trying to hurt me by any means. That's not the kind of guy he is. I was trying to get the puck out. He was trying to be physical doing his job as well. So, it's just unfortunate the way it played out, but there's no bad blood between us.'
Koepke ended up missing five games, returning to action
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'I'm feeling good. It's never a fun situation when you're not able to play, but the training staff have done a good job helping when we get back into any shape and get healthy. And it's good to be out there with the team,' said Koepke, who went into Thursday's game with a career high seven goals and 12 points. 'It's unfortunate the way the [Sabres] game went, but regardless, it was nice to be back.'
Milestone for McAvoy in return
As expected,
Charlie McAvoy
returned to the lineup after missing seven games with a wrist injury.
McAvoy entered the game ― the 500th of his career ― leading Boston's defensemen with five goals and was second to
Mason Lohrei
in points with 20. He paired with Lohrei (3 goals, 23 points) against the Jets.
'It's great to have [McAvoy] back. He seems to be in really good spirits right now,' said interim coach
Joe Sacco
following morning skate. 'So, we're excited to get him back in our lineup and obviously help stabilize the backend for us.'
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McAvoy, who was named a Team USA alternate captain for the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off earlier in the day, also slotted in the quarterback spot on the top power-play unit along with
David Pastrnak
,
Pavel Zacha
,
Elias Lindholm
, and
Brad Marchand
. Lohrei had been running the power play in McAvoy's absence.
'We like Charlie on his entries. He gets the puck in for us. That's been an area that we've struggled in with our power play,' said Sacco. 'Once we get it set up, we seem to have a little bit more success, so we're hoping Charlie can drive some of the entries for us, help us get in a little bit cleaner on the power play so that we can set up and create some more.'
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Hockey is for Everyone celebration
The game marked the
According to the club, the NHL initiative 'uses the game of hockey and the National Hockey League's global influence to drive positive social change and foster more inclusive communities regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, disability, sexual orientation, and socio-economic status.'
During the starting lineup announcement, the Bruins welcomed six players representing the LGBTQIA+, sled hockey, deaf, special hockey, adaptive hockey, and women's hockey communities.
Washington victims remembered
The Bruins held a moment of silence for the victims of the Wednesday night
Brandon Carlo
also returned to action after the defenseman missed the loss to the Sabres because of an illness … Winger
Max Jones
was assigned to AHL Providence …
Parker Ford
of the Wakefield, R.I., Fords made his NHL debut for the Jets. The forward played four seasons at Providence College and captained the Friars in 2022-23 … Pastrnak entered the game with assists in eight straight games. His assist in Buffalo gave him 787 career points, jumping past
David Krejci
for ninth on the Bruins' all-time list … Song of the night: 'tv off,' by
Lefty Gunplay
).
Jim McBride can be reached at
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