Sep 30, 2014; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Bruins defenseman
Matt Bartkowski(43) is congratulated by defenseman
Adam McQuaid(54) and center
Patrice Bergeron(37) after scoring against the New York Islanders during the third period at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports
The Boston Bruins had a disappointing showing against the New York Islanders. It was a game that had the teams going on scoring runs. The Bruins scored first. The Islanders responded with three of their own, the Bruins fought their way back, but two late goals by the Islanders put the game out of reach, and New York won 5-3. This puts the Bruins at 2-2-1 in the preseason.
The Bruins were as Brad Marchand said”getting the kinks out” . There was some sloppy play, and the Bruins had ten penalties to show for it. While Patrice Bergeron earned his First Star of the Night for his game, his tripping of Anders Lee led to the Islanders scoring their first goal of the night on the power play. Chris Kelly, Carl Soderberg, and David Krejci were all below fifty percent in the face off circle.
The remaining players on the roster are working hard to prove themselves worthy of the few spots available.
Craig Cunningham did his best to impress, and the Bruins gave him a chance to shine by placing him with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand. (Cunningham later called the experience a “privilege”.) He ended the night as a +1, with two shots, one hit, two minutes in penalties, and a takeaway. He spent a minute and a half on the penalty kill (1:29) and 13:30 on the ice. While it wasn’t a terrible showing, it likely wasn’t enough to keep Cunningham on the Boston roster.
Bobby Robins did make his own case to make the final roster. While the Lucic line seemed sluggish and mostly ineffective, Robins brought the old ‘energy line’ mentality back to the TD Garden. While he played only nine minutes on the ice, they were rather eventful.
Robins led all players on the ice with seven hits. He had one shot on goal, two minutes in penalties, but no time on special teams. There has been some discussion on whether the front office’s desire to have a speedier and more skill based fourth line is clashing with the coaches desire just to “tweak” the fourth line. If Claude Julien gets the final say here, Bobby Robins could earn his first NHL contract in the next seven days.
Matt Bartkowski hasn’t had much luck scoring in the regular season. He did put up the prettiest of the B’s three goals last night though. The B’s first short handed goal of the preseason showcased Bartkowski’s skating ability.
It also showcased his ability to make smarter decisions on special teams. He spent nearly three minutes on the ice while the B’s were down a man, and blocked two shots. He did all this without having any mental lapses or causing penalties. If the B’s choose to move him in the near future, he certainly raised his value after tonight.
Jeremy Smith will be going to Providence after last night’s game. While this was practically a given, he didn’t have the strongest showing last night. He stopped fifteen of eighteen (.833) in twenty seven minutes on the ice.
The Bruins have two more preseason games before opening night, and the roster will be likely cut again after last night’s loss. They’ve got just a week to shake off the rust before their season starts.