BOSTON — Mark Kastelic made some noise in his return to the Bruins lineup against the Utah Hockey Club at TD Garden on Thursday night.
The 25-year-old forward dropped the gloves not once, but twice with Utah defenseman Robert Bortuzzo in Boston’s 1-0 win in Joe Sacco’s debut as the team’s interim head coach.
The fisticuffs energized not only the Black and Gold faithful in the crowd but also the Bruins players.
“Huge. That emotion and energy, physicality that he can bring, he changes the tide of the game,” Bruins captain Brad Marchand said. “Got us feeling emotionally engaged and you need that throughout the course of the year.
“Guys like him, you never really truly understand how valuable they are. They’re the guys that really carry the team in the toughest times and in playoff time.”
Kastelic may not have made an impact on the scoresheet, but his presence on the ice was not lost on Marchand.
“Depth guys and those emotional guys, they have the ability to change the course of the game in a shift, in a physical shift or a tough shift and the way he plays the game the right way,” Marchand said. “He’s a guy that we can look to be a leader and a guy that we can emulate with the way he plays emotionally and wears his heart on his sleeve. He did a great job tonight.”
Marchand added: “It started with Kasty and the energy and emotion he brought, but all the way through. I thought (Nikita Zadorov) was moving his feet and being physical. Guys were talking on the bench and getting on each other but picking each other up at the same time. It started in the room, continued on the ice, and had a ton of great emotion. It’s what we always thrive on. We always have, and it really picks guys up. We definitely had a big boost of emotion tonight and energy, and it showed in our game.”
