WILMINGTON — In early December, Canucks defenseman Matt Bartkowskirevealed he’d had a back-and-forth with his former Bruins’ teammate, Torey Krug, regarding their goal totals.
Bartkowski, who signed a free-agent contract with Vancouver last July, at one point had a 2-0 edge. But in the Bruins’ 4-0 victory over the host Canucks on Dec. 5, Krug surged ahead of his friend, 3-2.
Those numbers still stand.
Through 45 games, Krug is still stuck on three goals, well below his pace of the past two seasons, when he netted 14 and 12, respectively. And this is a contract year for the 24-year-old left-shot defenseman.
“He’s missed the net quite a bit,’’ coach Claude Julien said.
“He’s shot over the net. We’ve had a talk about that — how he needs to hit the net a little bit more. But there’s no doubt when you’re used to scoring more than that, he’s probably forcing things a little bit.
“Some years everything goes in and some years nothing wants to go in. For Torey, I just think he has to focus on his job and do it right and let things fall into place. If those pucks are going to go in, they’re going to go in. But they’re only going to go in if you hit the net.’’
Their chat, Krug estimated, occurred about a month ago, but he couldn’t conjure up an image of the arena on the road in which they discussed his shooting.
The conversation had not resulted in any goals, yet.
“I think for a while I was trying to pick corners and when you do that, you miss the net a little bit more, so we talked,’’ Krug said. “I had a couple conversations with [Julien], and ever since I had those conversations with him I have really put a focus onto hitting the net and I’ve done that.
“What that does is creates more opportunities for guys around the net. I might not be picking too many corners, but when the puck’s not going in for you, you have to do something to help the team and that’s part of it.’’
But Krug is not concerned.
With 19 assists, he is on pace for a career high, after recording 26 and 27 the past two seasons. And the Bruins’ power play, on which he plays an integral role, is ranked second in the NHL at 27.0 percent, just behind the Capitals (27.1).
A few of his shots have resulted in assists, rather than tallies.
Krug has 11 assists on the man advantage, tied for 12th in the league with, among many others, teammate Patrice Bergeron.
Still, Julien sees continued room for improvement.
“I think that’s just one area I think he could be better at is making sure even if you don’t score when you hit the net, there’s a chance for a rebound, chance for hitting something — loose pucks or anything,’’ Julien said.
“But when you miss the net, you get nothing out of it. So that’s probably the main thing I would say about Torey, but that’s not why he’s only had three goals. But that’s an area where he could help himself.’’
Julien said Krug will “right that part of his game sooner than later,’’ believing the defenseman will up the offense before the season is out. But the coach noted he has been happy with other aspects of Krug’s game, including his workload on defense.
Emphasizing he continues to get chances, Krug said, “I just want to help the team win games and I’ll probably have to start scoring some goals to do that. I’ve never thought about it, to be honest. I’m not frustrated, not worried about it one bit. At some point if it’s affecting our team’s win-loss record, then I’ll start worrying a little bit more.’’
Tortorella ‘unlikely’
Columbus is in town for a 7 p.m. faceoff Saturday night at TD Garden, but coach John Tortorella is “unlikely’’ to be behind the Blue Jackets bench, according to the team. The 57-year-old Tortorella, who replaced Todd Richards on Oct. 21, broke two ribs after a “nasty collision’’ with wing Rene Bourque along the boards in an outdoor practice session for fans Friday at Winter Park in Columbus. Bourque told the Columbus Dispatch after practice he “hit a rut’’ in the ice before colliding with Tortorella. Associate coach Craig Hartsburgis expected to work the bench . . . Julien said left wing Matt Beleskey, feeling under the weather, was sent home before Friday’s practice at Ristuccia Arena . . . Boston continues to struggle on home ice, 10-12-2 in its first 24 games at TD Garden this season — compared to a 14-5-3 mark on the road. That needs to change, as the players have asserted all season. “It starts with our home games,’’ said captain Zdeno Chara, when asked what the Bruins need to do to achieve consistency. “We’ve established our away record, but we’ve got to definitely improve our homestand. It’s not good enough right now. On the road, for whatever reason, we play full 60-minute games. At home, we have trouble to maintain that. So that’s got to be definitely one area that we have to improve and it starts with all the little things — winning faceoffs, changes, you name it.’’
Amalie Benjamin can be reached at abenjamin@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @amaliebenjamin.
