Nobody expected Jakub Lauko to light it up on the scoresheet this year. Last season, the sparkplug winger proved to be a useful fourth line energy player and not much more could have been penciled in for him.

But everybody has to account for at least a little bit of production and, going into Thursday’s big win over the Colorado Avalanche, Lauko was looking at “a bagel” next to his name in the goal column. When he backhanded Morgan Geekie’s pass into the open net to give the Bruins a 2-0 lead early in the B’s 5-2 win over the Avs, his relief was palpable in Garden.

So was the energy he brought to his team.

“I think everybody was happy for him,” said coach Jim Montgomery. “He’s a real likable teammate, just because of the energy and the kind of goofy smile he carries around on himself. He brings a positive energy to the group that way. I think everybody was happy for him and I know he was extremely relieved. He even joked about it, (saying) he couldn’t miss that backhander.”

Lauko received the normal attaboys and, of course,, the obligatory barbs when he got back to the bench.

“(Brad Marchand) had some obviously. I started calling him Bradley after that, so he kind of shut up,” said Lauko with a laugh. “Monty had a couple of good ones. I think (assistant coach Chris Kelly) told me to go get the puck and keep it. So yeah, it was a long time coming. I was ready for it.”

Yes, it was a long time coming. Lauko has talked about needing to get the monkey off his back for a month now. It’s been a grind for him to finally break through.

“Sometimes it wasn’t easy, like when you have a couple of chances during a game and you miss an empty net or something,” said Lauko. “It’s frustrating. So it was really hard to get through. I didn’t have much going on in the season, so it wasn’t easy sometimes. It was kind of hard. I was just trying to stay positive as much as I could. But there’s the next game (Saturday) and I’ll try to build on it.”

Lauko got a little reward even before he scored the goal. Montgomery put together crash line or sorts with Lauko, Trent Frederic and Geekie. While he bumped up from the fourth line to a third unit, his icetime (9:05) was actually a tick below his season average of 9:17. But it felt like he ad a bigger impact, beyond even the goal. The line had nine of the B’s 26 hits, of which Lauko had three.

“I know my role and what I need to do, play physical,” said Lauko, who was on the same line in practice on Friday. “The only difference (Thursday) was that I was on the third line. We were playing those minutes. We obviously weren’t playing minutes like Pasta and Marchy, so every single time I’m on the ice I’m trying to do my best to be physical, trying to hit people and when I’m on the bench, I’m trying to get the guys going, keep a healthy atmosphere on the bench, trying to cheer for us. Like (Thursday), it was one of our best games this year. It’s just the way we played with the lead. So it was good and I really liked the whole atmosphere. On the bench it was a little different than other games.”

Lauko, who has played a lot of games with John Beecher and Oskar Steen, did enjoy getting a taste of playing with more experienced players.

“When me, Beech and Steener play together, we don’t have much experience in this league,” said Lauko. “We don’t have 100 games in the league. So every time you play with someone (more experienced), even when it’s Freddy paying with us, or Geeks for a couple of games or (Danton Heinen), you know those guys bring a difference to us because they bring experience and a different feel to the game because they’ve been around longer. It’s always nice to have someone like that. For us, me, Beech and Steener, it’s (important) to get experience and slowly become a bigger part of the group.”

And for now, Lauko is not getting carried away with the one goal he’s scored. He’s just glad he’s got it.

Said Lauko: “It’s nice when I don’t see that zero there.”…

Both Brandon Carlo (upper body) and Derek Forbort (groin) are getting close and could be available on Saturday against the Canadiens.

“They both feel a lot better, specifically Brando and Forby. We’ll see how they feel (on Saturday) but it’s a lot more promising,” said Montgomery.

Forbort led the stretch after practice, which is usually a tell-tale sign of a player ready to make his return.

Not counting the two defensemen – Carlo is on IR and Forbort is on LTIR — the B’s current roster is at 22 so they would have to make a move if both are activated to get cap and roster compliant. Mason Lohrei could go down to Providence without waivers, as could John Beecher, who as been a fairly regular scratch lately. Also Matt Poitras could go on IR retroactively to make roster space. Montgomery said the rookie, who has been practicing with the team, still has “a few more boxes” to check before he could return to the lineup…

Marchand did not practice on Friday. Montgomery termed it maintenance and that’ll he’ll play against the Canadiens….

Montgomery took to the practice sheet wearing a fat gold necklace with David Pastrnak’s face adorning the medallion at the bottom of it.

A lost bet perhaps? No, just B’s in-house media looking to create social media fodder.

“They were carrying it around. They needed content. I said ‘I’ll wear that thing,’” joked Montgomery.