Bruins’ Seguin sees error of his ways, how to earn more minutes

Seguin/By S. Bradley

BOSTON — There have been some nights this season that Tyler Seguin has been basically pinned to the Bruins’ bench for the third period of tight games, but few like the one the other night in Carolina.

During Boston’s 3-2 win over the Hurricanes, the rookie skated just eight shifts total for 6:37 of ice time. He was on the ice for just one shift in the third period. Seguin only played less time once previously (6:30 in Atlanta Dec. 30) this season.

“Of course, obviously when you don’t play that much it’s tough,” Seguin told TheBruinsBlog.net today after the team’s morning skate at TD Garden in preparation for an evening date with Dallas. “But the other guys were going and coach wanted to do what he thought was right for us and we ended up winning. So I sat there and supported the boys as we won.”

The No. 2 overall pick, however, understands where things went wrong for him.

“I think my first couple shifts, I kept bobbling the puck and for myself, that was not how I play,” he said. “It showed a bit of lack of confidence out there, but the puck was just kind of bouncing on me and that was just it for the night.”

Overall, Seguin said his confidence to perform in the NHL is still high. That’s not a surprise about the 19-year-old who has made it this far in a short time with a confident, almost-cocky, approach. The production hasn’t been there, however, with Seguin in the midst of a nine-game goal drought. He hasn’t even recorded a point over that span while averaging around 12 minutes per game.

But there are other ways he could contribute more to Boston’s cause and in turn avoid his ice time from being cut. And even if he’s getting passed over in Boston’s rotation, he knows he has to do things to impress the coaching staff.

“All I know is whatever I’m getting I’ve got to take a bit more advantage of,” he said. “I’m going to be taking it shift by shift from now on, which is what I’ve got to do because [they might be rare].”

With his new shift-by-shift approach, Seguin might increase his ice time and show more flashes of offensive upside.