By: Ryan Bosworth | Follow me on Twitter / X @RyanJBosworth
Earlier this afternoon, the Boston Bruins squared up against the visiting New York Rangers in their final preseason match up before their season opener on October 9th. The Bruins’ roster was as it’s heaviest today with what will likely be their opening night roster.
Notable names that weren’t suiting up for the Bruins were Matthew Poitras, Matej Blumel, Jordan Harris, and Johnny Beecher, but as Marco Sturm said, they still have a shot at making the opening night roster despite not playing today.
First Period
The Bruins shifted things around and opened the game with Zacha, Mittelstadt, and Arvidsson up front. McAvoy and Lohrei started on the backend with Swayman in net. Things were even for the first five minutes before Nikita Zadorov put one passed Igor Shesterkin off a feed from Fraser Minten.
Fraser Minten was a standout player in the first period, winning battles along the boards and creating plays. He’s one of the bubble players fighting for a roster spot and it’s clear he wants it. He slotted in between Tanner Jeannot and Mikey Eyssimont, and the line performed well throughout the first.
The second goal came from Pavel Zacha in the slot, which was a bit of a tic-tac-toe goal off a feed from Viktor Arvidsson and Casey Mittelstadt. That line proved to be extremely effective throughout the first, moving the puck well and generating chances in the offensive zone.
Things were certainly chippy throughout the first, most notably between Mark Kastelic and Matt Rempe. The two went off for matching minors for unsportsmanlike conduct and then with six second remaining in the first, dropped the mitts which resulted in five minute majors for fighting.
In terms of the defense, things were solid from all three pairings. They did well keeping New York to the outside when they were in the defensive zone and helped in generating chances in the offensive zone. Nikita Zadorov moved the puck well in all three zones. Swayman wasn’t really tested, but stayed solid through the first, facing five shots.
Second Period
The second period proved to be another strong period for Boston, but was scoreless from both sides until the Bruins were able to extend their lead to 3-0 thanks to a tip in from Elias Lindholm off a shot from Charlie McAvoy at the point on the power play with three minutes remaining in the second period.
New York certainly came out with a stronger offensive push, gaining the edge in shots 18-9 by the conclusion of the second period, holding the Bruins to just two shots in the second. The Bruins’ defense and Swayman were solid for another period, largely keeping the Rangers to the outside, and when they couldn’t, Swayman was there standing strong.
There were penalties to both sides throughout the period, and despite the Bruins struggling to get the puck out of the zone at times, they were able to stave off the Rangers thanks to Jeremy Swayman staying solid.
New York was successful in neutralizing Geekie, Lindholm, and Pastrnak for most of the period, but there were some chances generated by the top-line. Another low-event period, but that’s exactly the kind of hockey Boston wants to be playing.
Third Period
The final frame of the day saw more penalty killing for the Bruins. The killing began with Mark Kastelic being called for interference, followed by Nikita Zadorov, who was called for tripping. Towards the end of Kastelic’s penalty, the Bruins generated a short-handed chance, which would’ve put them up 4-0 at that point in the game.
While they were largely successful in their penalty killing tonight, there were instances where the Bruins couldn’t get the puck out of their own zone, and they paid the price, as the Rangers would cash in on one of their power players to cut the Bruins’ lead to two goals.
Swayman continued to play strong in the third period, stopping 12 of the 13 shots that he faced, putting him at a whopping 30 saves on 31 shots. The Bruins, despite not generating a lot of shots, had a good quality of shots against Shesterkin, and played smart defensively. A lot of Bruins wins are going to fit that description during the regular season.
Zadorov added some insurance at the end of the period, scoring an empty net goal from the far blue line, to seal the game at 4-1.
Final Thoughts
The Bruins played a strong game today. While it wasn’t at a high quantity, the shot quality was certainly there. That’s certainly something that can come with time. Fraser Minten Jeremy Swayman were the biggest standouts in a game where there quite a few players that performed well. There was scoring from across the lineup, as Zadorov cashed in twice, along with Elias Lindholm and Pavel Zacha. It was the type of game Boston wants to see.
The season opens on Wednesday, with Boston heading to the nation’s capital in Washington, D.C. to square off against the Washington Capitals, before heading right back home for their home opener on October 10th, against the visiting Chicago Blackhawks.
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