The Boston Bruins finished up a home/home set with the Philadelphia Flyers last night. It was the 3rd and 4th games of their 6-game preseason schedule. Let’s take a look at how the Black and Gold are shaping up as we head towards opening night.
—The fact that Lysell and Locmelis did not get into either of these games seems to be the writing on the wall as to where they will begin the season. Hopefully Locmelis plays well down in Providence and reaches the potential he has shown. I am probably going to follow a bunch of Bruins prospects this season as I do with the Yankees every year and Locmelis will definitely be on the list.
—The first game was in Philly and the Bruins did not send a lot of NHL guys. So there wasn’t too much to be gleaned from the game. Mind you, Philly was the worst team in the East last season (The Bruins won the tie breaker against them) so it’s not like they had tough competition.
—With that said, I thought Viel looked really good again. He had a nice goal and continues to make really nice passes from behind the net to set up teammates for scoring opportunities. Makes me wonder how he would be with really good line mates and how he would be on the power play. I don’t understand why this 28-year-old isn’t on an NHL roster somewhere. He’s not a start or probably not a top 6 guy but he should be in the league if the preseason is any indication. The Bruins happen to be loaded with bottom 6 guys so he’s most likely going to start in Providence but I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets called up the first time the Bruins need to call up a forward.
—I don’t particularly care for the white uniforms the Bruins are sporting this season. Too much white. They are just washed out. Makes the Yellow look pale. The black unis are nice by but they either have to add a patch to the left shoulder or take the patch of the right shoulder. It looks dumb to only have one shoulder with a patch.
—DiPietro looked good in the first game. Much better than his other outing. Made some big saves down the stretch. They sent 3 goalies to Philly yet he played the whole game. I think that’s a good sign.
—Speaking of goalies, Swayman made his preseason debut in the second game. He looked like a guy making his first start. In other words, it was up and down. Had a turnover that led to the first goal and would probably like the second goal back. But then he was really good after that once he got into a rhythm. Made some big important saves in the 3rd period and helped kill a penalty in overtime.
—The Power Play is starting to come along a bit. Entries have been better and they are having long periods of puck control. As you would imagine, having the regulars out there in game 2 really helped. Still not really scoring on it but hopefully that will come. The same can be said for the Penalty Kill. It looked much better in the second game with the regulars than in the first game with the AHL guys.
—The one power play goal they scored in these two games was scored by Dalton Bancroft. Bancroft was the only player besides Viel to stand out in game one. He was a highly desired college free agent at the end of last season. He had 15 goals and 12 assists in 36 games for Cornell last season. He’s someone we’ll have to keep an eye on in Providence this season.
—In the second game the Bruins put out a pretty representative squad on the ice. Pastrnak made his debut and assisted on the first goal with a really nice pass and his line scored the second goal of the game. So, business as usual.
—I though McAvoy looked really good in the second game. He doesn’t seem to have any lingering effects from his injuries from last season. Just having him back should make the Bruins a much better team than they were last season.
—Hampus Lindholm looked good as well. Which is to be expected as this isn’t the playoffs. He and McAvoy will really elevate the defense and help keep the Bruins in games. Hopefully they can get enough scoring for it to matter.
—Zacha is the new Coyle. If you have read any of my Bruins stuff the [past couple of years you know I was not a fan of Charlie Coyle and was happy when they traded him. Well, Zacha is the new guy in my dog house. I just think he is the most average at best guy. I would rather see some many other guys get the chance to play than him. For instance, I would rather see Arvidsson on the first PP unit than him. Last night he had a ton of opportunities and couldn’t put the puck in the net. I have a feeling I will be complaining about him all season.
—The Bruins are still giving up goals at the ends of periods. They really have to work on that. Finishing periods can’t be an issue if you want to make the playoffs.
—Blumel is the anti-Samsonov. If you are old enough to remember Sergei Samsonov playing for the Bruins, you remember him being a rather talented skater and puck handler who never shot the puck. I would spend 3 hours a night during his tenure with the Bruins screaming “shoot the puck” at my tv screen. Well, that is something you do not have to tell Blumel to do. He is more than willing to let loose on the goal tender from anywhere in the offensive zone. This is a good thing and something the Bruins need. Especially if he keeps consistently getting said shots on net. All the pucks to the net will start resulting in Bruins goals whether he beats the goalie or they start knocking in rebounds, good things will happen.
—I think the second game (4th overall) was pretty indicative of how the Bruins are going to play this season. Lots of defense, not much offence. As the case was last year, the scoring revolved around Pastrnak and Geekie. The Flyers only had 21 shots on goal and the Bruin managed just 15. Given, the Flyers blocked 18 shots and the Bruins 11. If this is how they are going to play their special teams are going to have to be top of the league. They can’t afford to give up PP goals and they are going to have to take advantage of their Power Plays. I think more scoring will come as the season moves along and guys get more comfortable with each other and the lines get sorted out but they are not going to be the ’88 Oilers.
So, 4 preseason games down, 2 more to go. They play the Capitols on Thursday then finish up with the Rangers on Saturday. They already cut all of the unknown guys from camp. I expect more cuts to come this week. I expected some today but as of this writing there haven’t been any. Maybe they are waiting for the Thursday game, which is on the road, so they don’t have to play all of the regulars.
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