SAN JOSE, Calif. — David Pastrnak spent the weeklong break on the beach at a Jamaican resort. Tuukka Rask, Dominic Moore, and Kevan Miller, who grew up around Los Angeles, spent their time off here in the Golden State. Coach Bruce Cassidy took his wife and three kids to Orlando. Team captain Zdeno Chara stayed home, relaxed, and worked out (of course). Patrice Bergeron went home to Quebec City.
“For the warmth,’’ kidded Bergeron. “I think it was minus-20 my last day there.’’
The Bruins, their scoring hands hot before they went on mid-semester break following last Sunday’s 4-0 win over Montreal, return to work here Sunday night against the Sharks. The Bruins, riding a three-game winning streak, have 24 games to go in the regular season and still cling, somewhat perilously, to one of the eight postseason berths in the Eastern Conference.
“Generally you’re going to be rusty, and it’s usually your hands,’’ said Cassidy, following a remarkably up-tempo 50-minute workout here at Solar4America Arena, the Sharks’ practice facility. “So puck management will be key. You hope to be able to defend fine, you should have the energy to do that well — you won’t forget that part of it. But your hands might leave you a little bit. You’ll be a little rusty, get behind the play and then make some mistakes with the puck. So we’ll have to guard against that.’’
One of the keys to the recent winning stretch was the call-up of rookie Peter Cehlarik from AHL Providence. The rawboned Slovak left winger collected two assists in the win over Montreal, interfacing seamlessly with Eastern European brethren David Krejci and Pastrnak (both of whom are from neighboring Czech Republic).
“I want to keep that flow going,’’ he said.
Unlike his varsity brethren, Cehlarik returned to the WannaB’s during the bye break and kept up his skating and conditioning. He took off Monday and Tuesday, then practiced with Providence for three days before joining his Boston teammates first thing Saturday morning in Bedford for the club’s charter flight west.
European players often say they think of the game a little differently than North Americans, in large part because they typically learn the game on bigger playing surfaces — the wider sheets (by 15 feet) that most North Americans only experience when they play in international tournaments.
The University of New Hampshire is an exception, its surface the 200-foot by 100-foot European configuration.
“I think we figured it out pretty quick,’’ noted Cehlarik, referring to the obvious chemistry he found with Krejci and Pastrnak. “We talked a lot before the games . . . about our play on the puck and making plays. It worked out pretty well. We like to play with the puck and think offensively.’’
There is slight difference in the Czech and Slovak languages. When the linemates are among their teammates, particularly off the ice, they speak English. When they are dealing on the ice as a unit, in games or practices, they speak Czech.
“Some of the words are different,’’ said Cehlarik, the 90th pick in the 2013 draft. “But even if I don’t know it, I can figure it out pretty quickly.’’
Tough turn
Sunday’s game will begin at 8:30 p.m. Eastern and should be tougher on the Sharks, who played Saturday night in Arizona . . . Austin Czarnik, sidelined with a foot injury prior to the break, skated for two days in Brighton before heading to Michigan to spend three days with his family. He made it through the workout here without any issues and will be game-ready if Cassidy opts to use him. It’s more likely that he will be a healthy scratch, along with defensemen Joe Morrow and John-Michael Liles . . . Practice ended with a high-paced 3-on-3 scrimmage played entirely in the neutral zone, the nets parked on opposite blue lines. “That’s kinda fun,’’ said Chara, unaccustomed to practicing in such a tight space. “At the same time, you have to react quickly to pucks, and change of positions. It’s a fun drill, but it’s also to reconnect your brain to react quickly on the ice.’’ . . . Team president Cam Neely attended the workout. Asked if he felt the club would make a deal prior to the March 1 deadline, he only said GM Don Sweeney continues to do his due diligence, looking for ways to upgrade the roster. Read: They’d like to acquire a winger . . . Neely would not comment on the club’s appetite to trade Brandon Carlo or top prospect Charlie McAvoy, the skilled BU backliner. Despite rumors, it’s extremely unlikely the Bruins would trade either one.
Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at kevin.dupont@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeKPD.
