The Bruins opened preseason with a little drama, a lot of special teams work, and a rookie finishing touch.
Boston beat the Washington Capitals 3-2 in a shootout Sunday night at TD Garden, with James Hagens delivering the deciding goal after Charlie McAvoy’s late equalizer forced overtime. Jake Schmaltz and McAvoy scored in regulation, while Michael DiPietro handled the rest in net with a 30-save effort plus three more stops in the shootout.
Marco Sturm kept his group close to the combinations he’d been using at training camp, and he put the kid line into first-line duty. That group was part of an early stretch that tested Boston’s penalty kill right away, as Joey Abate and Jordan Harris were whistled for tripping in the first period and Washington got a two-minute 5-on-3. The Capitals couldn’t cash in, and DiPietro only had to make three saves during that sequence.
The Bruins were the ones to strike first, though not immediately. Four seconds after the 5-on-3 ended, Jonny Brodzinski finished off a pass from Ivan Miroshnichenko to put Washington in front.
Boston had its own power play soon after, with Hagens, Fraser Minten, Alex Steeves, Marat Khusnutdinov and McAvoy on the top unit, while Matt Poitras, Attilio Biasca, Lukas Reichel, Henri Jokiharju and Mason Lohrei worked the second group. The Bruins didn’t convert, but they kept coming.
Late in the first period, Vincent Desharnais was sent off for interference. After the whistle, Tom Wilson dropped Joey Abate to the ice, but only Desharnais was penalized.
That left 1:47 of power-play time carrying over, and Boston began the second period with a man advantage. Again, the Bruins couldn’t score on it.
Still, the second period belonged mostly to Boston. At 13:32, Jonny Brodzinski was sent off for hooking Mark Kastelic, and the Bruins finally made it count. After Jake Schmaltz lost the faceoff, Riley Duran won a battle along the boards against Cole Hutson and found Schmaltz in front to tie the game.
Schmaltz, 25, came into the night after posting 23 points in 64 games with the Providence Bruins last season.
Boston spent much of the period pressuring Logan Thompson, who stopped 12 of 13 shots in the frame. The physical tone picked up too, with Sean Kuraly and Matt Roy mixing it up outside the crease and both heading to the box for two minutes after Roy got the takedown.
The Capitals grabbed the lead back early in the third. Right as a Charlie McAvoy holding penalty expired, Washington kept the puck alive near DiPietro’s crease and pushed it through. Ivan Miroshnichenko got the goal, his second point of the night.
The Bruins had chances to answer on the power play, including a 44-second 5-on-3, but the third period was mostly empty on the scoreboard for Boston. They finished 1-for-6 with the man advantage.
Then, with less than two minutes left in regulation, Boston found its moment. Matt Poitras won a faceoff back to Fraser Minten at the blue line, Minten slid the puck to McAvoy on the left side, and McAvoy hammered a one-timer glove-side past Thompson to tie it and send the game to overtime.
Overtime started with Boston shorthanded after a Jonathan Aspirot delay of game minor. Less than a minute after that was killed, Matt Poitras was called for hooking, but the Bruins survived both Washington power plays and allowed just one shot on goal in the extra session. Boston ended the night a perfect 7-for-7 on the penalty kill.
That set the stage for the shootout, and Sturm went back to Hagens after not being able to use him in the last shootout against Washington. Hagens used the same move he showed after Saturday’s scrimmage, while DiPietro stopped all three Capitals attempts. Lukas Reichel was Boston’s other shooter.
The Bruins are back at TD Garden on Tuesday for their second and final preseason home game against the Philadelphia Flyers at 7:00 PM.
In Other News...
Young Bruins Get A Big Chance With Camp Jobs On The Line
With training camp jobs hanging in the balance, the Bruins are heading into a preseason matchup that should tell them plenty about which young players are ready for a longer look. Boston is using the game to evaluate prospects in a setting that feels a little closer to real hockey, while also giving an early glimpse of what the Providence Bruins roster could look like if a few of those names are headed there first.
Across the ice will be a roster built mostly from Hershey Bears players and Washington depth pieces, which makes this less of a showcase and more of a measuring stick. For the Bruins younger skaters, it is a chance to turn camp reps into something more meaningful, and for the organization, it is one more data point before the decisions start getting a lot more serious. [Read more 🡒]
Bruins Opener Just Became Crucial For Bostons Young Roster Hopefuls
With the preseason trimmed to just four games under the new CBA rules, the Bruins do not have much room to sort out their young roster hopefuls. Their opener against the Capitals takes on extra weight because it gives the staff an early look at several players trying to push their way onto the regular-season roster, with Charlie McAvoy, James Hagens, Frederic Brunet and Matthew Poitras all part of the evaluation.
For a team trying to balance immediate readiness with long-term upside, every shift matters a little more than it used to. The Bruins will use these first exhibitions to start separating players who can handle NHL minutes now from those who may need more time elsewhere, and with fewer chances to make an impression, the first game could shape some of the biggest decisions of camp. [Read more 🡒]
Bruins Camp Is Pointing JJ Peterka In An Unexpected Direction
Training camp has a way of clearing up the guesswork, and in Bostons case the early read on JJ Peterka has been a little different than some fans may have expected. Through the first three days, Peterka has been working on the right wing with Casey Mittelstadt and Pavel Zacha, while coach Marco Sturm has spent camp sorting through combinations rather than simply defaulting to the most obvious fit.
Peterka has said he feels comfortable in that spot, and the Bruins are clearly looking for a grouping that can sharpen the teams offensive efficiency. The longer those trios stay intact, the more they start to look less like an experiment and more like the shape of things when the season opens. [Read more 🡒]