Boston Bruins: The Black And Gold Earn First Preseason Win
The Boston Bruins earned their first win of the preseason with a 2-1 overtime win against the Detroit Red Wings.
There was a lot of rust on the ice when the Boston Bruins took on Detroit last Wednesday. Veteran players looked terrible as the Wings ran over the B’s in a 5-1 drubbing. This time around, there was a lot less rust and a lot more gold on the ice for Boston.
There were plenty of good things to see with the Bruins in tonight’s 2-1 overtime win at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.
Ryan Spooner looked much better than he did on Wednesday.
Spooner looked terrible in the faceoff circle on Wednesday, winning only 4 of 16 faceoffs. Tonight, Spooner seemed more relaxed and played his game. While Spooner isn’t entering Patrice Bergeron territory just yet, the 24-year old center won a very respectable 63 percent of his faceoffs tonight.
Spooner also tallied the overtime winner. He received a great pass from Joe Morrow and sent it past Wings netminder Jimmy Howard. Spooner led all forwards with 20:08 in overall ice time. He had four shots on goal, and a block. Spoons spent over six minutes on special teams tonight as well.
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Anton Khudobin also had a seriously improved game.
When the Boston Bruins welcomed back the Khazak netminder, some fans were skeptical. He spent the majority of last season in the AHL, and it seemed his game was on the decline. Khudobin’s performance tonight should silence some of the critics. He went 34-for-35 in the net (.971 save percentage) against the Wings, and stopped some rather strong shots tonight.
Danton Heinen may end up the winner of the Frank Vatrano sweepstakes.
Frank Vatrano is expecting to be out until just after the start of 2017. There are plenty of young players who can end up claiming his roster spot (at least for the first half of the season). Danton Heinen was a fourth round pick for the Bruins back in 2014. He’s shown to be one of the more dynamic young players fighting for a spot.
Heinen earned the tying goal tonight against the Red Wings. He got the backhanded shot off while on his knees. The puck went past two defenders and Jimmy Howard to get the Bruins on the board. When the Detroit announcers exclaim “How the heck does that find its way into the net?!“, you know it is a very filthy goal.
Heinen has been solid in practice and in the preseason. He just might end up on the roster for opening night.
While there are no points up for grabs in the preseason, the win on Friday certainly gives the Bruins a shot of confidence as they continue with the 2016-17 preseason.