The Boston Bruins received a boost on Tuesday night at TD Garden as David Krejci was inserted back into the lineup by head coach Claude Julien. Krejci hadn’t suited up since the Black and Gold hosted the Edmonton Oilers back on November 6th.

Although it was a quiet night from Krejci on the stat sheet with no points and only two shots on net, the 28 year-old center was a presence while on the ice. His play making ability alone is an asset to the B’s that they desperately missed the last few weeks.

When Krejci is in the lineup, it lengthens the B’s four lines. It allows Chris Kelly to play with Carl Soderberg and Loui Eriksson where each of them have found success playing together. It allows Milan Lucic to drive the net more knowing Krejci has the ability to carry the puck and make a tough pass if need be. There is no secret, Lucic plays better on the first line when Krejci is on the ice. Whether it is the comfort level or Krejci’s style of play, the big physical forward produces points when Krejci is present.

When Krejci was out to begin the year, Lucic failed to record a point in the team’s first five games. In just Krejci’s second game back to start the year, Lucic had two assists against the Canadiens. Two games later against the Sharks, Lucic produced three assists while Krejci netted a goal and assisted on another. When Johnny Boychuk returned to town, Lucic scored off a dish from Krejci. It is just evident that when Krejci is back centering Lucic and Griffith, the team succeeds.

Julien is aware of the domino effect as well as believing with Krejci back that it balances his roster nicely.

“I think it stabilizes a lot of things,” Julien said after his team’s 2-0 statement win over a very hot Blues team. “Kells (Kelly) has been really good with that Soderberg line which was again, very good tonight. Krech (Krejci), I thought for his first game back and missing quite a few that he handled himself well. Even (Seth) Griffith, this was a man’s game. We’re talking about a young player again, being put in some positions here that probably a lot of young players don’t get a chance to get into. He handled himself well along the walls and still was pretty intense. So, I liked the play of a lot of our players tonight.”

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Having Krejci back is a big lift in all three zones. Not only is he an offensive threat, but he is great in the neutral zone and on special teams.

Fellow assistant captain Patrice Bergeron is just happy to have him back on the ice.

“Yeah, it’s nice to have him back,” Bergeron said. “He’s definitely, like I said before, he’s a big part of our team and our offense. It’s definitely nice to have him. I think for us as a team you always have to play with whoever’s in the lineup. We lost Brad (Marchand) today and we all had to step up and find ways to be good, so it’s the same thing but it was nice definitely to have Krech (David Krejci) back.”

No disrespect to Chris Kelly who played very well in Krejci’s absence on the first line, but with Krejci healthy centering the first line, this team is at its best.