Five days after training camp officially opened, the Boston Bruins kicked off the preseason on Sunday at the TD Garden against the Washington Capitals. The Caps brought a fair number of regulars to Boston, including goalie Logan Thompson.
After the two teams were tied 2-2 through regulation, after Charlie McAvoy tied the game late in the third period, the Black and Gold survived multiple penalties in overtime to pick up a 3-2 shootout victory after James Hagens scored the only goal and Michael DiPietro stopped all the Washington attempts. Here are three takeaways from the Bruins' first preseason game of the season.
Michael DiPietro looked sharp in first preseason action
Going into camp, it was widely thought that DiPietro was going to be Jeremy Swayman's backup after Joonas Korpisalo was traded to the New York Rangers on July 1. DiPietro has paid his dues in the American Hockey League (AHL) with the Providence Bruins. He has been the best netminder in the AHL for the last two years and appears ready to be a full-time NHL goalie.
He made some big saves in the game, including one in the first period when the Capitals had a 5-on-3 for two minutes, when he stoned Tom Wilson with a pad save going right to left. He made 29 saves in the game and appears ready to spell Swayman this season, especially early in the season, with a lot of road games in October.
Bruins give young kids a look
It's just the first preseason game, but there were really no decisions that you could say were made. Now, with that said, some players have the writing on the wall and are likely headed for the P-Bruins in the AHL, but one line that played well and scored the Bruins' goal late in the second period was the line of Riley Duran, Jake Schmaltz, and Joey Abate.
They had an offensive zone faceoff in the final seconds of a power play, and Duran won a puck battle behind the net for Schmaltz, and he beat Logan Thompson in close to tie the game. Yes, not really roster decisions could have been made from this game, but all three of these players are destined for the P-Bruins and got a shining moment in the first preseason game.
Did somebody say new rules to enforce?
With a new NHL season come some new rules and some rules that the league wants officials to police. We didn't need long in the first preseason game to see the rule enforced by the referees. Lynden Lakovic was called for an illegal equipment violation. The two rules the league wants enforced have to do with the correct positioning of a player's visor and the jersey not being tucked in the backside of a player's uniform.
The second preseason game for the Black and Gold will be Tuesday night at the TD Garden against the Philadelphia Flyers. It'll be interesting to see what that lineup looks like after a round of cuts tomorrow very shortly.
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