Boston Bruins Remain Undefeated In Preseason
The Boston Bruins pulled out their third straight overtime win in the preseason last night, beating the Detroit Red Wings 4-3. This makes the Bruins 4-0 in preseason play. The Bruins fielded only eight NHL players in last night’s tilt, while the Detroit fielded fifteen NHL players, including all of their top six forwards. Torey Krug had to lead from example as he took a relatively untested group of blueliners against one of the more explosive offensive teams in the NHL.
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The Boston Bruins have faced increasingly tougher opposition in the preseason. While other teams have made broad cuts to their roster, the Boston Bruins still have to figure out who is going to fill out the bottom six for forwards, and who will be the seven(or eight) defensemen for the Black and Gold. This means college kids, junior players, and a few AHL hopefuls will be taking on some of the best hockey players on the planet. That they’ve stayed the course and have kept on grinding out wins is impressive.
There a few solid takeaways from the Bruins fourth straight win:
David Krejci looks healthy. That alone should have the Bruins fan base breathe a collective sigh of relief. The Bruins top line center put in two goals in 2:18 against a NHL goaltender, Petr Mrazek. He was everywhere he needed to be for the Bruins, and the B’s alternate captain was the consummate professional on the ice. He had five shots, was a +1, and played twenty-one plus minutes last night.
Malcolm Subban doesn’t look ready for the NHL (yet). Subban went 18/21 tonight against the Red Wings. While Subban did have some rather acrobatic saves during the bout, this was the first time he was tested against NHL-caliber players.
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Torey Krug wants to be a leader for the Bruins. Torey Krug was spotted once again wearing an ‘A’ on his jersey, and he made a case for himself being a future leader of the team. He led the team with ice-time, playing 24:45. He won the game with his overtime goal, earned an assist on Krejci’s second goal, and took charge of the blueline for Boston. Only three of the B’s defensemen had any considerable NHL experience (Kevan Miller and Zach Trotman), and the three-year veteran was called upon to help lead his team tonight.
Chris Kelly is fighting for his job (literally). Chris Kelly’s contract has long been the ire of Bruins fans. They believe they can find a cheaper replacement who can match or exceed Kelly’s production. With the way the roster is shaping up, Chris Kelly could find himself as the fourth line center in Boston. His four million dollar price tag is outrageous for a player who will be playing limited minutes for the team.
Chris Kelly dropped the gloves tonight against Detroit’s Justin Abdelkader. It’s unusual to see two veteran players drop the gloves in preseason. It’s more of a move made by younger players when the want to impress the front office. While the Bruins love Kelly’s contributions to the locker room, that four million dollar price tag makes the veteran Bruin look more like an albatross.
The Bruins had a little help in this last game. The Detroit Red Wings played seriously sloppy hockey. The Wings had nine minor penalties, one fighting major and a 10-minute misconduct in last night’s game. The Bruins’ five minor penalties, one fighting major and a 10-minute misconduct. The Bruins were able to capitalize on the power play twice, and that made the difference in the win.
“This team took too many penalties last year and you can’€™t take this many penalties for sure,” said Red Wing coach Jeff Blashill after the game. “So that’€™s something we’€™re going to address and we got to make sure, we got to be near the lowest and not near the highest penalized teams.”
The Red Wings will be in Boston on Monday.