The third line was the only one, which was unproductive on the scoresheet in the Bruins' 6-2 over the Hurricanes.
BOSTON - Almost every line had a hand in contributing to the Boston Bruins' 6-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes Monday night at TD Garden. That is, all except one.
Coach Claude Julien's third line mixture of Daniel Paille, Chris Kelly, and Tyler Seguin went pointless and finished a combined minus-three with two shots on goal while 11 other Bruins registered at least a goal or assist.
It was Kelly's first game in almost a month as he was sidelined with a broken left tibia suffered on March 11 against the Ottawa Senators.
Kelly said he felt pretty good after missing 14 games.
"I would have liked to have been a little better on faceoffs and timing and things like that, but it’s to be expected when you’ve been off a month, and guys are more than midseason form," Kelly said. "There’s only 10 games left. I was just trying to go out there and, I don’t want to say blend in, but just be part of it."
Seguin has been quiet since he was pulled from centering Brad Marchand and Jaromir Jagr during the first period of Sunday's 2-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens.
The move came after the three of them were on the ice for Alex Galchenyuk's strike at 6:49, which gave the Canadiens an early 1-0 advantage.
Rich Peverley was moved between Marchand and Seguin while Jagr was bumped down to the third line with Paille and center Gregory Campbell.
Seguin finished with no shots on goal and wasn't out for the Bruins' failed 6 on 4 man advantage attempt in the final 57 seconds of regulation.
Julien felt playing center was too much for Seguin to handle as the absence of Patrice Bergeron (concussion) has taken a toll on the configuration of the lines.
"The change was made for the right reasons and it wasn’t pointing the finger at him more than it was that we needed some experienced guys down the middle," Julien said before Monday's game.
During warmups, Seguin was one of the last off the ice. Marchand waited by the team bench and let Seguin step off first, before he followed behind.