Boston Bruins: Zach Senyshyn gets first goal with empty-netter

With the playoffs and their position in it a lock, the Boston Bruins decided to rest some of their key players, leading to Zach Senyshyn being given a chance.

With five members of the Black and Gold taking a night off as healthy scratches, the Boston Bruins called up two players from Providence. Trent Frederic had already seen a dozen or so games in the NHL. But a lot of attention was put on the other call-up, forward Zach Senyshyn.

Zach Senyshyn was part of that strange 2015 NHL Entry Draft, where the Bruins ended up with three consecutive picks. The Bruins grabbed Jakub Zboril, Jake DeBrusk and Senyshyn with those three picks. Of the three picks from that first round class, it took Senyshyn the longest to progress from juniors to the professional level.

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Senyshyn has been a mixed-bag while in Providence. In 132 games with the Providence Bruins, the 22-year-old forward has put up 51 points (26 goals) in the AHL. He’s a streaky player, but that’s something Boston Bruins fans have certainly gotten used to over the years.

Senyshyn, overall, had a solid first NHL game. He did something we haven’t really seen in many of our younger players: He threw his body around. He was also tenacious in the dirtier areas of the ice and he fought along the boards. The newest #19 looked like he belonged in the spoked ‘B’.

Zach Senyshyn was ultimately rewarded for his hard work with an empty-net goal late in the third period.

Senyshyn finished with 12:41 in ice-time. He was credited with four shots on goal, one hit, and even spent a little time (0:18) on the penalty kill for Boston.

The Boston Bruins blanked the Wild 3-0. The Bruins stay in second place in the Eastern Conference, and the Minnesota Wild get ready to head to the golf course wondering where things went wrong for them this season.

Time will tell if we’ll see more of this from Senyshyn. But it was a strong start. If the Bruins organization were hoping for a confidence-boosting game for him, they got what they asked for.

Zach Senyshyn will likely play the final game of the season in the spoked ‘B’ and then head back down to Providence to await his next chance to show off his skills to Coach Cassidy.