Line change puts a jump into Ryder and Wheeler

They were struggling so much — playing a soft, east-west style instead of straight-line hockey — that coach Claude Julien had no choice but to yank them away from David Krejci, dumping them with Vladimir Sobotka.

Turns out that Sobotka was exactly what Wheeler and Ryder needed to bring some bark to their games.

“It’s kind of strange a little bit,’’ said Julien, whose team will try to close out its first-round series against the Sabres when they meet tonight in Buffalo for Game 5. “You move those guys off the line because you felt David, at one point, was the player that was playing the best on that line. You needed to give him a little bit of a different look. You move those guys around, and now those guys are playing some of their best hockey ever with Vladi.’’

For most of last season, when Krejci centered Wheeler and Ryder, the threesome gave the Bruins fearsome offensive depth. At times, when Patrice Bergeron was still looking for his offensive touch, Krejci & Co. served as the No. 2 line behind Milan Lucic, Marc Savard, and Phil Kessel.

But for some reason, that chemistry rarely existed this season. They were too soft. They were careless with the puck. They floated instead of driving to the net. Now, with Sobotka leading the charge (and earning punches and cross-checks from Sabres who have taken exception to his belligerence), Wheeler and Ryder are playing up to their beefy frames.

“Both those guys had been good with David. Right now, both those guys are great with Vladi,’’ Julien said. “Vladi is one of those guys, right now, that I really like the way he’s driving the net once we get across the blue line. If he hasn’t got the puck, he’s driving the net.

“He’s a force out there. I think that’s created room for those guys. With a straight-line approach with Vladi, there’s less criss-crossing with those guys, which was probably happening a little too much there with Krech at one point when that line went stale.’’