Apr 22, 2014; Detroit, MI, USA; Boston Bruins left wing
Jordan Caron(38) skates down the ice in the third period against the Detroit Red Wings in game three of the first round of the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Joe Louis Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
The Boston Bruins headed out to D.C. to take on the Washington Capitals last night. The Bruins sat Zdeno Chara, Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, Milan Lucic, and Tuukka Rask. Even with the core of the team not playing, the Bruins came within a few botched plays of a win over Alex Ovechkin and the Caps. The game couldn’t be resolved in regulation, and it had to go to overtime. Regrettably, the Capitals took advantage of another breakdown and Troy Brouwer pitched it past Niklas Svedberg half way through OT to give the Capitals a 5-4 win.
Once again, there were positives and negatives to take out of this game. There were players that made a solid effort to prove they want to be on this team, and there were players that will likely be heading back to Providence, or leaving the Bruins.
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Matt Fraser earned his second goal of the preseason with the B’s first score. Both have been on the power play. For a team that has been looking for people to step up with the man advantage, Fraser has been that go-to guy. That he earned that first goal of a rebounding ‘Johnny Rocket’ from Johnny Boychuk, and played that puck without a helmet certainly had to impress the B’s staff.
“You’d rather play a better all-around game than just be scoring goals, and I think that’s the mentality of this team,” said Fraser. “I think you put everyone ahead of yourself and it is preseason, and this is a time to show that.”
Fraser finished the night with a -1, and had four minutes in penalties. He had four hits and spent 3:50 on the power play last night. While he had some Spooner like defensive bloopers, his over all performance has lifted him out of the next round of cuts that will likely come after tonight’s game.
Seth Griffith punched in two goals during the game, and it’s safe to say he’ll make the next round of cuts as well.
Puck Prose
David Warsofsky might just surprise everyone and make the roster as the seventh defenseman. Last night he had two shots, one hit, had three takeaways, and lead the team in ice time (23:37) and special teams time (7:37). While he didn’t get any points last night, he earned his +1 by being where he needed to be.
He was even able to steal the puck from Ovechkin as he came barreling in an attempt to score another Capitals goal on the power play.
I think the best way to sum up the pre-season of Jordan Caron is this:
If the pod people abducted Jordan Caron and replaced him with a duplicate, then give the duplicate a jersey.
— Andrew E Thompson (@Godwentwhoops) September 27, 2014
Jordan Caron has been impressive. He was the guy who was relegated to the role of the thirteenth forward, and when he played it usually wasn’t that great. Caron came back from the offseason and has been playing with some real heart. Caron finished the night with a +2 and two points (both assists on Griffith’s goals).
“ played well,” said Claude Julien of Caron’s performance. “I thought he had a real strong game tonight. There’s no doubt he’s fighting for a spot, and he wants to show us that he belongs here, and if he plays like that, he’s got a real good chance of sticking.”
He had two hits, one breakaway, one takeaway, and did an awful lot of work for a guy who only put in 13:39 of ice time. If Gregory Campbell remains unable to play through the preseason, Caron and Campbell may find their roles reversed at the start of the 2014-15 season.