Boston Bruins
“When I feel like I did today, I know I can do a lot of things.”
The Bruins rolled out a lineup with plenty of NHL talent on Monday night at TD Garden.
But even with several lineup stalwarts like David Pastrnak and Jeremy Swayman making their preseason debuts, it wasn’t enough for Boston to come away with a win — as the Bruins fell to the Flyers 3-2 in a shootout.
Sean Kuraly and Morgan Geekie scored for the Bruins, while Swayman stopped 20 of the 22 shots that came his way in the shootout defeat.
Here are three takeaways from Boston’s latest preseason outing:
Boston’s top players get some heavy run
In what could very well stand as Boston’s “dress rehearsal” game prior to the start of regular-season action on Oct. 8, Marco Sturm rolled out a lineup that was only missing a few NHL regulars on the TD Garden ice.
Here’s a look at Boston’s lines for Monday’s matchup:
Geekie-Lindholm-Pastrnak
Zacha-Mittelstadt-Arvidsson
Blumel-Minten-Poitras
Jeannot-Kuraly-Steeves
Zadorov-McAvoy
Lindholm-Peeke
Brunet-Sweezey
Swayman
While most of the focus on preseason play revolves around younger players and skaters on the roster bubble, a majority of Boston’s top players were as advertised on Monday.
Pastrnak — making his preseason debut after missing the first few days of camp with knee tendinitis — looked no worse for wear against the Flyers. The Bruins winger set up Sean Kuraly’s second-period tally shortly after exiting the penalty box, while also doling out four hits over 19:35 of ice time.
Pastrnak is not a power forward by any means. But it was encouraging to see Boston’s top player go full-tilt in what could be his lone preseason tune-up before regular-season action begins.
“It’s been a long summer, so today was a perfect reminder of how much I love the game and enjoy it,” Pastrnak said. “When I feel like I did today, I know I can do a lot of things.”
Boston’s top forward line generated all of the team’s offense, as Geekie later cashed in on a 2-on-1 bid via a saucer feed from Elias Lindholm.
Swayman also made his preseason debut, facing just 22 total shots on the loss. The Bruins’ 26-year-old netminder had a rocky showing in the second period, as his turnover behind the net led to a tally from Noah Cates at 13:38 in the second period.
But Marco Sturm found promise in Swayman’s play down the stretch, with the netminder stopping the final 13 shots that he faced in the third period and overtime.
“It was not easy for [Swayman], I gotta say,” Sturm said. “First of all, we’re in week two [of the preseason] and he still didn’t play a game yet. First one is always the toughest one. In the third, he got better, especially in overtime, he got more comfortable. So he’s just gonna get better.”
For Swayman, who missed all of training camp last year amid a contract dispute, Monday presented the optimal runway to further shake off the rust.
“Excellent. It’s good to get back on the ice. Good to be here,” Swayman said. “A year ago today was a little different, so I feel great being with the guys — ramping this thing up and getting ready for opening day.”
Some growing pains with new systems
As the Bruins continue to overhaul their systems and strategies under Sturm, there were some good and bad to draw from Monday’s preseason action.
The good? Boston’s penalty kill was stingy against an admittedly underwhelming Flyers forward grouping — negating all four power-play bids on the night. Nikita Zadorov in particular was strong down the stretch, recording a pair of key blocks during a 4-on-3 Philly man advantage in overtime.
The Bruins’ transition game was also solid, especially with both Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm ferrying the puck out of danger and through the neutral zone. Boston’s roster is still rife with question marks, but Lindholm’s strong play through two preseason games — especially after suffering such a severe knee injury last year — is a very welcome sight.
“It’s just so nice to have him,” Sturm said of Lindholm. “Can’t imagine [us] without him. Not just on the ice, but off the ice, too. In the room, he’s a guy who likes to talk a lot and get involved in a lot of things, and wants to be the difference and wants to get better … So I was really happy that he’s healthy first of all, and he played both games very solid.”
The bad news? Boston’s power play has continued to be uneven, with the Bruins failing to strike on both of their bids against the Flyers.
It’s encouraging to see Pastrnak operate as more of a rover on the man advantage as Boston tries to brew up more unpredictability for opposing PK units, but there still isn’t a whole lot of cohesion down low when it comes to feeding pucks back up to the blue line.
“Power play has to be much better,” Pastrnak said. “Game one — first game as a group. We have and we’re going to be much better than that. And like I said, I feel like we’re getting there. It’s got to start with breakouts. I think we had good breakouts, and spent some time in the O-zone. So a good first step.”
Boston also continues to place a premium on putting pucks on net, with Sturm’s team attempting 60 shots on Monday — as opposed to just 39 for the Flyers. But the Bruins continue to labor with actually hitting the net, as Boston missed a whopping 23 shots, headlined by five attempts that either sailed wide or high from Pavel Zacha.
Wanting more from the kids
Despite rolling with close to a full squad on Monday, Sturm also set aside a third line that primarily featured three unproven younger players in Fraser Minten, Matej Blumel, and Matt Poitras skating on the wing.
Even though Sturm opted to flip Poitras and Viktor Arvidsson (who landed zero shots on goal over 14:54 of ice time) in the middle-six grouping, Boston’s head coach said that the trio still has some work to do as they try to find their footing this fall.
“All of them had three games so far,” Sturm said of Minten, Blumel, and Poitras. “They might end up with one more game. But I think they really practice so hard and so well the whole time, and I feel like in games, they think too much.
“So I got to get them out of that. Just don’t think, just play the game. It’s a tough league, but it’s even tougher when there’s a lot going up in your brain. So I want him just to play free and just play and have fun.”
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