BRIGHTON - The Bruins got a little pregame tune-up in on Saturday morning, and it came in the form of a 30-minute scrimmage between their two training camp groups at Warrior Ice Arena.
With Boston just one day from its first preseason game, all 49 players at camp were split into black and white sweaters and thrown right into game action. Billy Sweezey was back in the mix after missing one day with an upper-body injury, and the whole session had the feel of a dress rehearsal before Sunday’s opener against the Washington Capitals.
“Yeah, that [was] great,” newcomer Will Borgen said. “It’s always fun playing real hockey again, a little more organized.
You play summer hockey, you don’t skate backwards too much in the summer. So it’s nice to get those feels again.”
The line combinations held steady, just as Marco Sturm hinted they would on Friday. Each group rolled out its top line, and the offense took a while to show up.
For the first 10 minutes, Jeremy Swayman and Michael DiPietro shut everything down. In the middle 10, Simon Zajicek and Jiri Patera did the same.
What really popped was the “kids’ line” of James Hagens, Fraser Minten and Marat Khusnutdinov. They didn’t cash in on the scoreboard, but they were active in the offensive zone and kept driving play. Sturm liked what he saw.
“They did pretty good today,” Marco Sturm said Saturday. “They were buzzing.
Looks like they had fun. They were controlling the puck pretty good, especially in the o-zone.
Had some chances. I think James could have scored three, four goals today, missed the net a few times, but it was fun to watch.”
The only goal of the scrimmage came in the final minute, and it belonged to Navrin Mutter. The AHL veteran, who had two points (1-1-2) and 95 penalty minutes across 39 AHL games last season, finished a setup from Brendan Gaunce in front to give Group A the win.
Max Lundgren was beaten five-hole on the play.
After Group A’s 10:00 AM practice, Group B got back on the ice 20 minutes after the scrimmage ended. The Bruins will not hold a morning skate on Sunday before hosting the Capitals at 5:00 PM.
Bruins Saturday Lines
Group A
Morgan Geekie - Elias Lindholm - David Pastrnak
Alex Steeves - Sean Kuraly - Mark Kastelic
Attilio Biasca - Matt Poitras - Lukas Reichel
Wyatt Bongiovanni - Brendan Gaunce - Brian Halonen
Navrin Mutter - Ivan Ivan
Frederic Brunet - Charlie McAvoy
Nikita Zadorov - Connor Clifton
Jonathan Aspirot - Mason Lohrei
Billy Sweezey - Max Wanner
Jeremy Swayman
Simon Zajicek
Max Lundgren
Group B
Casey Mittelstadt - Pavel Zacha - JJ Peterka
James Hagens - Fraser Minten - Marat Khusnutdinov
Tanner Jeannot - Dans Locmelis - Mikey Eyssimont
Joey Abate - Jake Schmaltz - Riley Duran
Kalle Vaisanen
Hampus Lindholm - Will Borgen
Jordan Harris - Henri Jokiharju
Loke Johansson - Maxence Guennette
Tobie Paquette-Bisson - Ty Gallagher
In Other News...
Bruins Camp Opens With One Absence And A Heartbreaking Loss
The Bruins have opened camp with the usual early fall rhythm of sessions, scrimmages and line combinations that stay largely intact from one day to the next. There is, however, one personnel change already on the board: Billy Sweezey is dealing with an upper-body injury, which has created an opening for Dylan Mackinnon to join the camp roster as Boston starts sorting through its depth and conditioning work before the preseason games begin.
The bigger news, though, has nothing to do with a lineup card. The organization is mourning the death of Alex Gimenez, who had just been hired in July as the teams director of hockey operations for the collective bargaining agreement, a loss that has cast a shadow over the first days of camp. Around the league, there have been other notable storylines involving familiar names, but for the Bruins, this week has been defined first by that absence off the ice and the reminder that some things matter far beyond the competition for roster spots. [Read more 🡒]
Bruins Prospect Dan Locmelis Is Already Facing A Tough Camp Reality
Bostons training camp has barely had time to breathe, and that makes every day of evaluation feel a little sharper for the Bruins. With a shortened preseason and a quick turn to the regular season opener, the club is already sorting through the bottom of the roster, where young players have less margin for error and fewer exhibition games to make an impression.
For Dan Locmelis, that reality is setting in fast. The prospect is in the mix, but the Bruins have roster flexibility with him that they do not have with some others, and that could shape where he starts the season if the club decides he is better served in Providence. For now, Boston is still working through those decisions as the preseason moves along, and Locmelis is one of the names most affected by how little time there is to sort it all out. [Read more 🡒]
Bruins Nearly Made A Huge Blue-Line Splash Fans Never Saw Coming
The Bruins spent part of the summer looking for ways to add to their blue line, and one of the names that surfaced was Filip Hronek of the Canucks. Bostons interest was enough to become public in a roundabout way, which only added to the sense that the club had at least kicked the tires on a meaningful move while trying to strengthen a defense group that has been under the microscope.
What makes the Hronek pursuit stand out is how close it appears Boston came to trying something significant, even if nothing materialized. Vancouver, for its part, is not looking to move him and still views him as part of its long-term core, which leaves the Bruins back in the market for help on defense and a reminder that not every aggressive inquiry turns into a transaction. [Read more 🡒]