Before the Boston Bruins jumped on a plane Tuesday afternoon to head out west for a five-game road trip, they made a couple of roster additions from the Providence Bruins in the American Hockey League (AHL). They called up top prospect Fabian Lysell for this tour of duty in Boston and defenseman Michael Callahan.
Interim coach Joe Sacco spoke about Lysell's game in the AHL and that he would get some action on the trip. He did not play in Thursday night's 5-1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights, but he will play in his second career NHL game this season on Saturday night.
Fabian Lysell will play against the San Jose Sharks on Saturday night
After having Friday off, the Bruins practiced on Saturday at the SAP Center in San Jose ahead of Saturday night's game against the Sharks. Jim McBride of the Boston Globe was inside the arena for the practice and reported that Lysell would be in the lineup and play on a line with a veteran and a newcomer.
McBride reported that Lysell will play on a line with Elias Lindholm and newly-acquired Marat Khusnutdinov against San Jose. Lysell made his NHL debut back in December against the Columbus Blue Jackets at the TD Garden. On his first NHL shift, he was relentless on the forecheck which ended up leading to a Justin Brazeau goal.
After the loss to the Golden Knights, the Bruins' playoff chances took a huge hit and honestly, in reality, they're nearly over with. There are just too many teams that they need to jump in the Eastern Conference race for a wild-card spot with few games remaining.
We are at the point of the season where you need to play Lysell if you're the Bruins. This is going to be a big off-season for the front office and you need to see what the 2021 first-round draft pick can do. He'll play on a line with Khusnutdinov, who ironically was acquired from the Minnesota Wild on March 6 for Brazeau, and could create speed for Lindholm on the outside. It'll be interesting.