Boston Bruins: Frank Vatrano Shows No Rust In His Return
Boston Bruins: Frank Vatrano Shows No Rust In His Return To the Bruins lineup
Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
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The Boston Bruins got some good news on the injury front when it was announced that Frank Vatrano would be dressing for the Bruins’ game against the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday. After missing the Bruins’ last two games with an upper-body injury suffered against the Minnesota wild on November 19th, Vatrano returned to the Bruins lineup and skated alongside Ryan Spooner — who was returned to his natural center position — and Brett Connolly. Wasting no time to show that he was healthy and ready to play, Vatrano launched a slap shot from the point past Red Wings’ goaltender Peter Mrazek to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead in the first period. The Red Wings would go on to tie the game up and eventually take the lead in the second period, but Vatrano has shown that regardless of his linemates, and regardless of his ice-time, he’s a big impact player who can get the job done and was able to find the back of the net in overtime to win the game for the Bruins.
Vatrano has been one of the biggest stories for Boston so far this season after tearing up the AHL, scoring 10 goals and adding two assists in 10 games. After some injury trouble struck the Bruins up-front, specifically with David Pastrnak‘s foot injury, Vatrano received an opportunity to play for his home-town team and he did not disappoint. Vatrano’s first goal came in his first game, which also happened to be against long-time rivals of the Bruins, the Montreal Canadiens.
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“It’s honestly a dream come true. The Bruins/Canadiens rivalry is something I’d always been watching growing up. I’d just been putting pucks on net (in Providence) and they were going in for me. I was just trying to keep my game simple, put pucks on net and not try to overthink things.” Clearly not overthinking things worked out for the young forward, as he received his opportunity and from the way things are looking now, he shouldn’t worry about packing his bags to return to Providence any time soon. “I didn’t really know when the call was going to come. I was just worried about playing my game down there. I just wanted to keep things simple, and hopefully catch their attention down there…it looks like I did that. I’m excited to be here.”
Vatrano only put one shot on net against the Red Wings in regulation, which is a modest total for a player who seems to shoot the puck more than any other player on the Bruins’ roster. Fortunately for the young rookie, his one shot was all he needed to get the Bruins on the score board, and his two additional shots in overtime ended up leading the Bruins to a 3-2 victory in Hockey Town. Vatrano will look to continue increasing his goal total on Friday when the Bruins return home and host the New York Rangers.
Follow Brandon Share-Cohen on Twitter @BShareCohen to discuss all things Bruins and sports