Going into Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers at Lake Tahoe, every Boston Bruins‘ fan was skeptical about the team’s defense. They were without three regulars in Matt Grzelcyk, Kevan Miller, and Jakub Zboril and would be witnessing a left side that consisted of Jeremy Lauzon, John Moore, and recent called up rookie Urho Vaakanainen.
To make matters worse, Lauzon was injured early on in the game and would not return. This meant the B’s were stuck with playing Moore and Vaakanainen much more than they wanted.
This is the complete opposite of what B’s fans wanted. Going into Sunday’s game, many fans wanted Moore waived (including myself) because of his horrid play in his first two games of the season.
Over the course of the first two games, Moore had scored no points and held a -1 +/-. He didn’t look comfortable at all, especially at the point on the powerplay. For an offensive defenseman, he looked nothing like one. However, he completely shifted the narrative at Lake Tahoe.
John Moore might’ve redeemed himself with his play for the Boston Bruins at Lake Tahoe.
Sunday at Lake Tahoe might’ve been Moore’s best game with the Black and Gold. Unlike his first two games of the season, Moore looked comfortable on the ice. He was making smart, quick decisions and was actually an asset to the team when he was on the ice instead of a liability.
Moore’s great play resulted in him registering two assists. He went from no points and a -1 in two games to two assists and a +1 in three games.
I’m still not sold on Moore to play regularly, but I do feel a little more comfortable with him in the lineup. At least I know now he has the ability to play well and produce offensively like he was signed to do.
Hopefully Moore can continue to play at this level. With Grzelcyk and Zboril being placed on injured reserve, he most likely will be in the lineup for the next few weeks. The Bruins can’t afford to have him making the mistakes he was making in the first two games he played.