Their overall offense flat, their power play operating at about 5 watts, the Bruins Saturday welcomed would-be scorer Danton Heinen back to the lineup.
Heinen, assigned to Providence after his slow start out of training camp as a rookie, clicked at a point per game (13 games: 7-6—13) with the WannaB’s and started Saturday night vs. the Leafs at left wing on a line with David Krejci and David Backes.
“I think I got my confidence back,’’ said Heinen, the former Univesity of Denver standout, reflecting on his time in Providence. “I was put in a good position there, played quite a bit, so yeah, confidence is a big thing.’’
In training camp, Heinen, 21, was brimming with confidence and looked like he would be an instant offensive sensation, consistently in the offensive mix and putting pucks in the net.
But once the action turned real in the regular season, Heinen’s game retreated. Scoring chances disappeared. Like a lot of first-year wingers, he looked lost along the wall, unable to compete for pucks that could lead to scoring chances.
“That’s one thing they told me to work on,’’ said Heinen, noting the need to improve his board work. “I tried to focus on that and I think I improved there. So I am just going to try to bring that up here.’’
At the urging of management and coaches, Heinen also emphasized shooting more and playing more at speed, be it moving faster to head up ice or engage in playmaking in the attack zone.
“It’s tougher to get chances here, you can’t pass up shots,’’ said Heinen.
“Earlier in my career, I was more of a playmaker, I was a pass guy. As I got older, my shot’s developed a little more. I’ve got to learn to use it.’’
Part of being a new guy on campus, particularly in the world’s best league, often is being reluctant to shoot. In his first turn with varsity, Heinen often was guilty of looking for the more established roster players to take shots.
“I was playing with good players and I would defer to them,’’ he said. “I’ve got to have confidence in my shot when it’s there. You’ve got to learn to use your linemates, but you’ve also got to take the shots when you’ve got ’em.’’
The Bruins scored only 26 times in their previous dozen outings. Heinen took Tim Schaller’s spot on the Krejci line.
The Bruins misfired again against Toronto, losing, 4-1. Heinen squeezed off three shots, only one of which made it to the net, in 14 minutes of ice time.
“My hope is that he can come in and give us some good hockey,’’ noted coach Claude Julien prior to puck drop. “Nothing special about anyone who comes in, other than we know he is a skilled player and he’s been [in Providence] for a while [since Nov. 2] and I guess, the feedback I get, is that he is playing well. Hopefully he can play well here also.’’
Julien said he liked the skill Heinen added to the lineup, noting he needed the AHL time to fill in some holes in his game.
“The base of his game has to be a little bit better,’’Julien said following the morning workout. “And the battle . . . coming up with the puck more often on the walls . . . those are the things we thought he could work on down in Providence.’’
Off to Providence
With Heinen recalled, the Bruins sent Anton Blidh back to Providence. Blidh picked up a lone assist in his four games as a fourth-liner.
“He was fine, no issues there,’’ said Julien, asked what he thought of the left wingers’s brief tenure with the varsity.
“Bleeder does his job, played with lots of energy. He’s obviously getting more experience. You can tell he’s a lot better as far as understanding positioning in the game and what he has to do . . . I liked seeing him and thought he helped us out for the time he was here.’’
Power drain
Prior to faceoff, Julien made it clear that the anemic power play (ranked 25th in the league) needed to get better soon. Very soon.
If not, said the ever-patient coach, he stood ready to make changes.
“They know that . . . we need more out of them,’’ said Julien, his power-play units 2 for 24 (8.3 percent) over the last nine games.
“You can only put so much trust and put so much patience in a power play that has been successful, but needs to get it going.’’
Joe Morrow was back in action after being scratched the last three games and paired with Kevan Miller. During the morning workout, Morrow also worked the left point on the No. 2 power–play unit, with Austin Czarnik at the other point. Come game time, Morrow did not work the point. Instead, Julien rolled out team captain Zdeno Chara to work the left point on the No. 2 unit, with Czarnik at the right point.
The unit didn’t score, but the threat of Big Z’s sizzling slapper opened up room, acreage the Bruins haven’t seen of late on the man-advantage.
Acciari returns
Noel Acciari, who wrenched his left knee vs. the Sabres Nov. 7, also made it back into the lineup, bumping Jimmy Hayes off the right wing of Dominic Moore’s line. Schaller was the line’s left winger. Acciari played Friday night with Providence to prep for his re-immersion in the NHL game.
“Felt good to get my legs back under me,’’ he said. “As the game went on, I felt a lot better.’’
Acciari was sidelined for a long stretch last year, his first season as a pro, when he fractured his jaw.
“I was out for about a month because of jaw surgery,’’ he recalled. “I am 2 for 2 now on injuries that hold me out for a month. It’s not fun, eating everything with a spoon or sipping it through a straw.’’
Top of the charts
The Leafs have three forwards in double-digit goal scoring: Auston Matthews and James Van Riemsdyk (each 12) and Nazem Kadri (10). David Pastrnak was the only Bruin in double digits . . . Torey Krug entered the night ranked fourth for shots on net (84), but had only one goal. The league’s other five top shooting blue liners began the night with an average six goals apiece. Krug got off two more Saturday, but had nothing to show for it . . . The Leafs managed only two shots in the first period, the first by Morgan Rielly at 4:33, followed by William Nylander at 18:02, for a dead spot of 13:29. The Bruins held the Panthers to only two shots in the second period at the Garden Dec. 5 . . . A vast difference in shots attempted. The Bruins fired 69 times, of which 33 made it to the net. The Leafs took only 39 shots, 20 that made it to the net . . . Ex-Bruin Matt Hunwick, who underwent an emergency appendectomy during his days with the Black and Gold, picked up a pair of assists . . . Tuukka Rask, given a night off Thursday, was back in net, his fourth start in five outings. Rask had gone 3-0-2 since his last regulation loss, 3-1, Nov. 24 at Ottawa . . . Bill Deveaux, commercial coordinator for TD Garden’s off-ice officials, died Saturday. Deveaux suffered a fatal head injury Friday while working at his job as an electrician. Deveaux was 54 and the father of four children.
Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at kevin.dupont@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeKPD.
