(Photo Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports)

By Andrew Bluestein | Follow Me On Twitter @adbblue

The Boston Bruins played their second preseason game, losing 4-1 in Buffalo against the Sabres Tuesday night. They went down 3-0, giving up a goal in each period, but stayed invested until the final horn.

With the roster being far from decided and players mixed and matched, it’s difficult to evaluate certain things, but observations can still be made, and there were plenty of things to take away from. So, let’s dive into what was noticeable in preseason game number two. 

First, a summary of the negative. There was a lot of standing around in the defensive zone, especially in the second period. Sabres players were, at times, getting lost in coverage, and it seemed like there was a lack of communication between the defensemen. This led to a few high-quality chances for Buffalo and led to their second and third goals. The Bruins’ transition game was a bit lackluster, as there was trouble breaking out through the neutral zone and creating off-the-rush. 

Another thing that needs to be cleaned up is the penalties. Through the first two games, the Bruins have taken ten penalties, and they must be more disciplined and can’t rely too much on the penalty kill headed into the regular season. Another lacking thing was the amount of net traffic generated, as there were plenty of good looks, with not enough bodies going to the net.

There were, however, some good things the Bruins did in this game. Offensively, the low-to-high game was solid, as they generated a lot of quality shots from the point and some high-danger chances but ultimately just couldn’t finish. Special teams were fine, a power-play goal was allowed, but the Bruins were three for four on the penalty kill, which was sturdy, forcing Buffalo to the perimeter most of the time. The power-play had three chances and was able to get shots through, but lacked continuity.

John Beecher continues to impress as he again played a solid two-way game. The former first-round pick also had another great chance in front but was stoned walled by Sabres goalie Devin Cooley. Defenseman Ian Mitchell had a solid night, generating some offense, and made a nice sliding defensive play on Sabres star forward Tage Thompson in the third period.

The biggest takeaway, however, was defenseman Mason Lohrei was a minutes eater, playing a total of 29:01, leading all skaters. He was beaten by Sabres youngster Zach Benson, which led to a breakaway in the second period, but overall, he was solid at both ends and added an assist on the Bruins loan goal by Oskar Steen. The goaltending was solid again, with Kyle Keyser getting the start. He made two really nice breakaway saves and was replaced by Michael DiPietro halfway through the second period, who was also solid, allowing just one goal.

There were some good things from the Bruins in preseason game number two that they can build on, but overall, things need to improve in many areas. A lot of details need to be cleaned up, and they’ll undoubtedly work on that in practice through the remainder of camp. Preseason game number three will be Friday night at TD Garden against the Philadelphia Flyers.