Nov 24, 2014; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Bruins left wing David Pastrnak (88), playing in his first NHL game, looks to take a shot during the third period of the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 win over the Boston Bruins at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports
Seth Griffith was sent down to Providence. The Boston Bruins had to come up with a plan that kept the Bruins from having to risk sending a player through waivers, stay under the salary cap, and get Brad Marchand to play tonight. The B’s looked at their options and decided to send Griffith back to the AHL. It’s the best decision the Bruins could make with the options they had available.
There is also the theory that Griffith was sent down in order to keep Simon Gagne in Boston. I’m not sure how much truth there is to that, but it’s not implausible.
Jordan Caron and David Pastrnak are in for Boston. Jordan Caron has had the worst stretch of luck of any player to wear the Bruins jersey in quite some time. When Caron was playing poorly, the Bruins kept him in Boston. When he was playing well, he’d either get injured or sent down to Providence (and get injured). Caron had a good enough training camp to make the team, but was quickly sent down to Providence.
David Pastrnak became the youngest player in the NHL tonight with his limited performance against the Penguins. In fact, the Bruins ‘fourth’ line of AHL players saw very little action last night. The Bruins were effectively playing three lines last night. The kids played well last night, and should have been trusted with a little more responsibility.
The refs found another way to steal points from the Bruins. The refs chose to take two (but really only one) goals away from the Bruins. A high-stick call against Bergeron on his goal (which was correct), and then a phantom glove call put against Carl Soderberg. I assume the refs were just doing their jobs, but it seems the Bruins have lost goals and points due to overactive interference from the guys in the stripes.
Lucic and the Swedes. The pairing of Milan Lucic with Carl Soderberg and Loui Eriksson started out as a slapdash improvisation. The more I see of it though, the more I like it. When Lucic is playing angry, he works very well with the technical playing style of Eriksson and the bull in the china shop style of Soderberg.
The Crosby line is filthy. Any self-respecting hockey fan has to respect what Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin bring to the game. They play very well together and they were responsible for all three goals that got past Tuukka Rask last night.