With just three days of training camp under their belt, the Boston Bruins hit the TD Garden ice Sunday evening for their first of six preseason games. They fell behind 4-1 in a disastrous first period and ultimately fell to the Washington Capitals 5-2.
Here are five takeaways from the game:
1. Too many D-zone turnovers
The Bruins’ top priority going into this season is to re-establish their defensive identity. It’s a good thing they still have two and a half weeks to work on that before opening night.
Boston’s defensive-zone play Sunday was… not good at all. Just 31 seconds after the Bruins took a 1-0 lead 6:17 into the game, Nikita Zadorov committed a D-zone turnover, Victor Soderstrom couldn’t handle Sonny Milano in the slot, and the Capitals tied it.
Five minutes later, Washington took the lead when Soderstrom threw a hot potato of a pass through Elias Lindholm’s legs right into the slot for another turnover and another goal. The Zadorov-Soderstrom pair was on the ice for the Caps’ third goal as well, with Zadorov losing track of Milano as Milano raced in behind him for his second goal of the period.
While Zadorov is obviously locked in as a regular defenseman on this team, Soderstrom is trying to make a case to be the seventh D, competing against the likes of Jordan Harris and Mike Callahan. Sunday did not help that case.
The Capitals would make it 4-1 before the end of the first period, capitalizing on yet another defensive-zone turnover. This time it was Mason Lohrei nearly running into the ref before then losing a battle to Ivan Miroschnichenko, who set up Bogdan Trineyev in front, with neither Charlie McAvoy nor Matt Poitras able to tie up Trineyev’s stick.
It is just the first preseason game. The Bruins have had only three practices to learn new coach Marco Sturm’s system so far. There is legitimately a lot of time for them to get better before the regular season starts. Still… you would have preferred a more encouraging start.
2. DiPietro gives up 5
Michael DiPietro came into camp with a chance to push Joonas Korpisalo for the backup goalie job behind Jeremy Swayman. He still has that chance, but Sunday didn’t exactly help his case.
DiPietro played the first half of the game and gave up five goals on 21 shots before giving way to Simon Zajicek. He didn’t get much help – any help, really – from the defense in front of him, but when you’re the underdog in a battle for an NHL job, you have to go above and beyond to beat out the incumbent. Taking one or two of the goals off the board with a high-danger save would have stood out, but that didn’t happen.
Zajicek, meanwhile, was not tested nearly as much in the second half of the game. The Bruins actually did tighten up a bit defensively as the game went on, and the Capitals almost certainly took their foot off the gas. Zajicek saved all six shots he faced, with the highlight being a point-blank save on Hendrix Lapierre in the final seconds of the second period.
3. Geekie picks up where he left off
It’s easy to forget, but Morgan Geekie got off to a terrible start last season. He had five points through the team’s first 25 games and had been a healthy scratch five times. Then he completely caught fire from Dec. 1 on, racking up 31 goals and 52 points over the final 57 games.
With a new six-year, $33 million contract now in hand, Geekie is hoping to pick up where he left off and avoid another slow start. He has taken a step in the right direction through the first four days of training camp, including Sunday’s preseason opener.
Geekie scored the game’s opening goal Sunday, pouncing on a loose puck in the slot and ripping a shot past Logan Thompson. That after looking like the best player on the ice through the Bruins’ first three practices. It’s an encouraging sign, especially since he hasn’t even gotten to skate with usual linemate David Pastrnak yet. Pastrnak is expected to practice with the team for the first time early this week after missing the first few days due to tendinitis in his knee.
“He looked great in camp,” Sturm said of Geekie. “I didn’t really know him, just by watching him, but he’s dialed in. He came in in really good shape, and so far he’s been excellent.”
4. Some notes on the kids
Let’s run rapid fire through some of the youth:
-Fabian Lysell: Terrific first shift, combining with Tanner Jeannot to force a turnover on the forecheck before then setting up Fraser Minten in front for a grade-A chance. Some inconsistency from there, including a couple offensive-zone turnovers. Lysell’s forecheck game is noticeably better so far this camp, though.
-Fraser Minten: Couldn’t bury the scoring chance mentioned above, but did some good things. Won five of six faceoffs and threw three hits, both of which help his case for a third- or fourth-line center job. Led a couple transitions through the neutral zone.
-Matt Poitras: Drew all three Washington penalties, which is great. Was also a minus-3, which is not. Either he or McAvoy needed to make a play in front to take away a stick on the Capitals’ fourth goal.
-Frederic Brunet: May have been the Bruins’ best defenseman in this one. He and Andrew Peeke were certainly their best pair, and the only one that wasn’t on the ice for a goal against. Made some plays with the puck in transition, and broke up a few Washington zone entries. Brunet, 22, will almost certainly start the season in Providence – he needs to play and not just be a seventh defenseman in Boston – but don’t be surprised if he winds up being at or near the front of the call-up line as the season goes on.
-Matej Blumel: Maybe not quite a “kid” at 25, but worth touching on. Saw time on the Bruins’ top power-play unit as he continues to get put in spots to show he belongs (in practice, he has been on a line with Pavel Zacha and Tanner Jeannot). Had a couple good zone entries on the man advantage, but was otherwise pretty quiet overall. Sturm had a mixed review for the Blumel-Poitras-Alex Steeves line.
-Riley Duran: Strong performance, along with linemates Patrick Brown and Jeffrey Viel. Those three combined for the Bruins’ second goal, with Brown scoring off assists from Duran and Viel. Made some things happen on the forecheck and sustained some offensive-zone time. Sturm called this trio, the team’s de facto fourth line for the night, the Bruins’ best line.
5. Zadorov, E. Lindholm wear A’s
We know there will be no ‘C’ to start this season. We know Charlie McAvoy and David Pastrnak will both wear alternate captain’s A’s. We don’t know who will wear the third ‘A.’
On Sunday, McAvoy wore one of the A’s, and it was Nikita Zadorov and Elias Lindholm wearing the other two. Pastrnak did not play. Nor did Hampus Lindholm, another candidate to wear an ‘A.’
Hampus Lindholm is probably the favorite to wear the third ‘A’ come the regular season, but Zadorov and Elias Lindholm are certainly candidates as well. The other option is rotating that third ‘A’ amongst that group.