During his first month on the job, Bruce Cassidy hasn’t shy to change things up when needed.

In two of the last three games, the interim Bruins coach made in-game adjustments in hopes of getting a spark after trailing in the third period against the Rangers and Senators. Both resulted in losses.

Two things to consider about those adjustments. The first is the difference between Cassidy and Claude Julien’s philosophy. More often than not, Julien would at least ride his 12 forwards for at least a few games before shaking things up with those four forward lines. In-game changes happened a little less frequently during his 10 years in Boston. The second is in regards to the Bruins spot in the tightly contested Eastern Conference Playoff race and the fact that they can ill-afford to keep points on the table.

More importantly for Cassidy, it’s about just getting a needed spark from his team. They got a little bit of a lift on Monday after Marchand tallied a power play goal with Pastrnak flanked on the opposite wing.

“Sometimes it’s just your gut. But you’re usually [when you’re] behind and that’s a no-brainer,” Cassidy said about his decision-making process on his line adjustments after a day of off-ice activities for the Bruins at Warrior Ice Arena on Tuesday. “Sometimes you get a bounce from that and sometimes you don’t. That’s just the way it goes.”

David Backes is one of those Bruins who shifted from his spot on the first line against the Rangers and Senators. After starting the game with the formidable duo of Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand, the former Blues captain was placed on David Krejci’s unit against the Blueshirts. A few nights later, he was bumped to the third line during the B’s 4-2 loss to the Sens.

More often than not, the line changes haven’t been needed under Cassidy. But with a little more versatility in the lineup following the acquisition of Drew Stafford at the trade deadline, the Bruins have formidable options to move pieces within the lineup.

“It seems to me that we’ve reverted back to the old faithful,” Backes said about Cassidy’s in-game adjustments.

“I think we’ve had a lot of success so far in his tenure. We’re 8-3 I believe so to throw it in a blender and mix it up from the start I think is a little premature. But knowing that at any time he’s got other options is certainly nice for him to have that option, but it’s good to know that he’s not just going to sit back and let it play out if things aren’t going well on the ice.”

Entering Wednesday’s game against the Red Wings, Cassidy’s hand is forced again thanks to the news of Ryan Spooner’s concussion. The third-year Bruin is out indefinitely as he enters the NHL’s concussion protocol.

To correspond with Spooner’s injury, the Bruins recalled Austin Czarnik from Providence. During his most recent stretch with the P-Bruins, the former Miami Redhawk tallied five points in five games, including a goal and an assist in his recent outing versus Leigh Valley.

Whether or not Czarnik skates with the big club for the first time since February 4th – where he was a minus-2 in the B’s 6-5 loss to the Maple Leafs – is anyone’s guess at this point.

Given his call-up, Czarnik is one of the logical choices to replace Spooner as the third line center. Backes is also an option. Either could play at wing as well – or Cassidy could go with either Matt Beleskey or Jimmy Hayes and shed some of that combined $6.1 million salary from the Level 9 press box.

Both Pastrnak (with Bergeron and Marchand) and Drew Stafford (with Krejci and Peter Cehlarik) moved up one line Monday night in Ottawa. There’s a possibility that those two changes will carry over into Wednesday’s matchup with the lowly Red Wings.

For a team that had stayed clear of the injury bug during the first month of the new regime, Cassidy has an important decision ahead in regards to Wednesday’s lineup.

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Here’s a look at the Bruins lines from Wednesday’s morning skate:

Marchand-Bergeron-Backes
Stafford-Krejci-Pastrnak
Vatrano-Czarnik-Hayes
Riley Nash-Dominic Moore-Tim Schaller.

The first and fourth lines remain the same while Cehlarik (two assists in 11 games) and Matt Beleskey (who last appeared against the Rangers six days ago) appear to be the healthy scratch. We’ll have more on the Bruins’ lineup and other storylines to watch in the game preview later today. Stay tuned.