The Providence Bruins started their November schedule with a pair of games last weekend.
On Friday night, Providence traveled to Utica to take on the Comets. The Baby P’s left with a 2-0 victory.
Max Legace finished with a shutout, as he stopped all 34 shots he faced. This was Legace’s third shutout of the season, and it brought his save percentage to .930.
Zach Senyshyn and Joona Koppanen had the goals for Providence.
The next night, Providence took on the Hershey Bears. Providence came back from an early two-goal deficit but ultimately lost the game 5-3.
Brendan Woods, Paul Carey, and Jakub Zboril scored in the game. This was Zboril’s first goal of the season.
Jakub Zboril makes a strong impression
The Boston Bruins are loaded with left-shot defensemen in the system, and Jakub Zboril is one of them.
The Bruins drafted Zboril in the first round of the 2015 NHL Draft. He made his debut in Providence in 2017, but he’s yet to earn a spot in Boston.
Zboril has a ton of talent, but he hasn’t been able to put it all together. If you watched him last year, you could see the upside, yet there seemed to be something missing.
Defensemen often take time to develop, so the Bruins were patient with Zboril. That patience looks like it could play off.
Although he appeared to fall behind Jeremy Lauzon and Urho Vaakanainen on the depth chart, Zboril looks better than them this year.
Look at how he helped set up Brendan Woods’ goal in the game against Hershey:
Amazing sequence from Zboril on Woods’ goal. Zboril goes for the low-shot into traffic, keeps his head up and comes darting back into the zone at the puck. He turned on the jets, puck-carried and then opened his hips along the wall to make the play. High-end stuff. #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/FDen19jVLM
— Bruins Network (@BruinsNetwork) November 3, 2019
Zboril pretty much took over the game for a short period of time, and the result was a pretty easy goal for his teammate.
The Bruins may have some roster spots on the left side of the defense next season. If Zboril continues his strong play this year, don’t be surprised if he fills one of them.