The Boston Bruins have played their first two preseason games and so far it’s been a mixed bag.  That’s to be expected though with a team that has had so much turnover and has a new coach.  I wouldn’t put too much stock in the first two preseason games in a normal year, never mind this season.  Some observations…

            —It was almost poetic that Geekie scored the Bruins first goal.  Especially with Pastrnak not playing.  A lot of people think that last year was a fluke for Geekie, I am not one of them, so seeing him get off to a good start is a very good sign for the Bruins.

            —The power play still sucks.  Given, it’s extremely early and Pastrnak hasn’t played yet but it’s still an area of concern. 

            —Through the first 5 periods the offense wasn’t any better than last season either, scoring just 2 goals.  But then they made their chances count in the third period of game 2 and overtime.  I think we will start to really see improvement once they start whittling down the roster and the guys who are going to make the team all start playing together. 

            —Poitras has been all over the pace and is always around the puck but he has nothing to show for it.  He has zero points and is a minus 5 having played both games.  If the Bruins are going to hold onto Zacha, that really only leaves one center spot open. It would help Poitra a lot if his good play started resulting in points.

            —The same can be said for Lysell.  He makes a lot of nice plays with the puck but everything seems to die on the vine.  He also played both games and has zero points and only 3 shots.  He is a plus 1 though.  To me, we need to see more production from he and Poitras if they want to start with the big club. 

            —Korpisalo looked like his regular below average self in game 2 giving up 4 goals in a period and a half.  But for some reason with about 3 minutes left in the second period he turned into Patrick Roy.  The 4^th goalie, Zajicek looked good in game 1 but only faced 6 shots before they decided to have a shoot-out.  He did well in the shoot out but then did yield the only goal. DiPietro did not help himself at all in game 1. His play has everyone saying “I guess they won’t have to worry about getting him through waivers”.

            —The best guy in game one was Jeffrey Viel.  He made a lot of nice plays including setting up the Bruins second goal.  He will be heading to Providence but he was the only guy to really stick out against the Caps. 

            —Eyssimont looked really good in the second game.  I did not know he had the type of finish he showed scoring 2 nice goals.  As someone who is supposed to be a grinding 4^th line type, if that game is any indication, he could be a pleasant surprise this season.  He did not look like a guy who only scored 9 goals last season. 

            —I thought Mittelstadt looked good.  I think if he is lined up with some good players he could have a really nice year for the Bruins.  He does still suck at face-offs though.  That needs to improve or someone else on the line has to take the face-offs.  Especially in the defensive zone.  

            —I thought Beecher and Callahan were awful in game 2.  Both of them should be headed to Providence at the first cuts.  I also thought Kastelic did not have a particularly good showing.  He needs to be the 4^th guy on the 4^th line.  They just have better options down there.  This is what I mean by them being better when they start shortening the roster and all the good players play together.  Guys like them getting replaced in the line up by good players will make a big improvement. 

            —I can’t say I am a big fan of Minten’s offensive game.  Just didn’t seem like he had much going on that end of the ice.  Again, just his first game so not jumping to any conclusions but he needs to show more with the puck than he did in game 2. 

            —Locmelis was rather invisible in game 2.  He played the wing so that might have had something to do with it.  He played center in the prospect showcase and played well. Maybe there is just some adjusting to do. He was a plus 2 so it wasn’t bad just not noticeable out there. 

            —Steeves managed a couple of nice scoring chances but was unable to finish.  The fact that he gets scoring chances is good.  His history says he should start netting his share of them going forward. 

            —I thought Blumel looked good.  Yes, he had a terrible turnover that led to a shorty but aside from that I thought he played well. He likes to shoot and he gets the puck on net, and he did score.  These are good things the Bruins need in their lineup.     

As I said, it’s only the first two preseasons games so they are not expected to look like a well oiled machine. Most of the guys only played in one of the games and their best player is yet to take the ice against someone in a different colored sweater. These guys are still getting to know each other and the new coach they are playing for is trying to get to know them. Hopefully we see improvement as the preseason moves along.