The Boston Bruins headed into last night’s (Oct. 3) matchup against the Washington Capitals with a three-game losing streak. Unfortunately for them, they dropped their fourth straight game by the end of it, falling to the Capitals in overtime by a 5-4 final score. Although the Bruins suffered another loss, there were some positive aspects of the contest for them. Let’s go over three takeaways from the game now.
Matthew Poitras Answers the Bell
Heading into this game, Matthew Poitras was the player to watch. The Bruins prospect was dressed in back-to-back games, and head coach Jim Montgomery noted before the game that he wanted to see how Poitras would perform against top players like Evgeny Kuznetsov and Nicklas Backstrom. Poitras, like he has done all preseason, answered the bell, scoring a beautiful goal to tie the game in the third.
Poitras, 19, showed immense confidence, completing a gorgeous spin move around Kuznetsov. From there, the youngster roofed it past a quality NHL goaltender in Darcy Kuemper. For a prospect who has a real shot of making the NHL roster for opening night, this is exactly the kind of goal that will only help his chances of doing so.
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It is hard not to love what we saw from Poitras against the Capitals. With the Bruins desperately needing to improve their center depth, it is great to see this young center continue to dominate in preseason play. Let’s see if the Bruins dress him for tomorrow’s (Oct. 5) game against the New York Rangers from here.
Mason Lohrei Stands Out
Although Poitras is naturally generating a ton of buzz right now, fellow top Bruins prospect Mason Lohrei has also had a good preseason thus far. However, the 2020 second-round pick truly stood out against the Capitals. His speed was quite noticeable, both with and without the puck. He made smart defensive plays and was quite aggressive offensively. Clearly, Montgomery liked what he saw from Lohrei, as he led the Bruins with 24:40 of ice time while playing on the top pairing with Charlie McAvoy.
Yet, Lohrei’s best moment came when he scored after a sweet feed from Milan Lucic. Lohrei showed great poise and picked the corner beautifully with his shot. The 22-year-old has been noted for his offensive skills by scouts, and we were given a great preview of that with this goal.
With the Bruins’ left side having Hampus Lindholm, Matt Grzelcyk, Derek Forbort, and Jakub Zboril as options, Lohrei has plenty of completion for an NHL spot. However, with how well he played against the Capitals and all preseason, he should see NHL action this season – whether it is at the beginning of the year or later on.
Lucic Gets Rewarded for Hard Work
Yes, Poitras and Lohrei showed up against the Capitals, but they also received contributions from one of their grizzled veterans – Lucic. Lucic was all over the ice, providing plenty of physicality on the forecheck. This is what the Bruins are expecting from the 6-foot-3, 236-pound winger all season. However, the beloved Bruin also made a big impact offensively, as he had a goal, an assist, and four shots on goal.
As noted above, Lucic set up Lohrei with an excellent pass that led to the 22-year-old’s goal. As for his goal, Lucic received a little help, as his intended pass to Johnny Beecher deflected off Sonny Milano’s stick and went into the goal. Yes, it was not what he planned, but Lucic’s hard work during his shift was rewarded. He forced a turnover in the Bruins’ defensive zone that led to the team breaking out, and he then got the puck right back after it was knocked off Jakub Lauko’s stick.
Although this game was not the strongest showing defensively and in goal for the Bruins, it was still a fun one that had positives. Besides Poitras, Lohrei, and Lucic making an impact, James van Riemsdyk and Beecher also looked solid. The Bruins will now play their final game of the preseason against the Rangers on Oct. 5, before playing their season opener against the Chicago Blackhawks on Oct. 11.
