When the Bruins kicked off the 2015-16 campaign with a 6-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets at TD Garden on October 8th, only one defenseman in the lineup had skated in more NHL regular season games then Torey Krug. That was Adam McQuaid, who after last night is now one game away from 700.

With a young d-core in Boston, Krug has become more and more like a leader, especially to the young guys on the Bruins blue line. Still a young player himself, Krug has no problem with the added role.

“Yeah for sure, I mean I don’t know what the stats are but at one point I was the guy with the second most games on our d-core,” Krug told the media following Saturday’s win over the Red Wings. “You know when guys go down, other guys have to step up. It’s a learning process for me, and it’s been nice to just have a little bit more of a role and obviously the young guys rely on you to ask questions and see how things work.”

Krug has been an extremely reliable piece of the Bruins defense both offensively and defensively. Entering Saturday’s contest with the Red Wings, Krug led all Bruins defensemen in points and assists with 10.

Jumping on the offensive side of the game is something Krug is no stranger to. Joining the rush on a two-on-one last night, Krug fired home a nifty pass from Brad Marchand, his first goal of the season. Despite being held without a goal until last night, Krug was nowhere close to being frustrated due to his lack of scoring.

“I mean I would be more frustrated if I wasn’t getting the opportunities, I’ve been getting a lot of opportunities and by no means is that the frustrating part and it’s nice to see one go into the back of the net,” Krug said. “They’ll come in bunches, and we will see what happens in the future.”

Playing most of this season next to McQuaid or Kevan Miller, Krug is often paired with a more stay-at-home type defenseman. But the former Michigan State Spartan is comfortable being put next to someone who matches his style as a puck moving defenseman.

“I can play with both, in the past I played a little bit with Dougie [Hamilton] last year, not that much with the match ups and everything. This year I’ve had some shifts with Colin Miller, who likes to push the puck up a little bit,” Krug added. “I like playing with those guys, they understand how it works and move the puck up, and I am able to join. When those guys are moving the puck north and south, it allows me to jump in the play a little more.”

Krug has brought a ton of production to the Bruins league-leading power play as six of his 11 assists have come with the man advantage. He ranks second on the Bruins behind Zdeno Chara in average time on ice per game with 22:25.

Krug’s confidence continues to grow, and you can see that on the ice each night. Just like everyone else on the Bruins roster, Krug has had his struggles at times, but he has done a good job putting those behind him and refocusing on the next shift.

Head coach Claude Julien was pleased with what he saw from Krug Saturday night.

“Well if he would’ve missed that one [the open net], he would’ve been in trouble, right? So March [Marchand] did all the work on that one, but Torey did a great job of following up. Give him credit, he followed up on the play and scored. But he’s been good” the ninth year Bruins bench boss told the media in his postgame press conference.

“He’s had his fair share of tough games like everybody else, so I don’t think he’s exempt from anything here, from our record and what we say about our team, where we feel if we had more consistency, we might have a better record. We’ve just got to keep working on it, and individuals have to keep working on their game. Tonight I thought he played really well.”

Krug’s minutes have increased as his responsibilities and confidence grows. Just because those changes have occurred, Krug’s approach to the game hasn’t changed.

“Not really. Obviously I have to know who I’m playing against and who is on the ice for the other team and also for our team,” Krug noted. “With that being said, you go out there and play hockey that is more suitable to my type of game. Playing against top-two line guys, they think the same way that I think. How hockey should be played – it’s more fun to play that.”