The Boston Bruins want and need some of their young players to step up this season. In the case of Fraser Minten and Marat Khusnutdinov, that means taking another stride forward after promising campaigns last year. For James Hagens, Matt Poitras, Frederic Brunet and Michael DiPietro, that means breaking through and establishing themselves as full-time NHLers.
On Sunday, all six of those players made a good case for themselves in the Bruins' preseason opener, a 3-2 shootout win over the Washington Capitals at TD Garden.
First and foremost, DiPietro was easily the No. 1 star. He stopped 30 of the 32 shots he faced, including all eight in an overtime that saw the Bruins shorthanded for 2:48 of the five minutes. He also stopped all three shootout attempts he faced.
According to Natural Stat Trick, 11 of DiPietro's saves were of the high-danger variety, and he ultimately saved 3.99 goals above expected. To put that in perspective, Jeremy Swayman saved that many goals above expected in a game just once all of last season – a season that saw him finish third in Vezina Trophy voting.
DiPietro outdueled the guy who finished fourth in Vezina voting, Logan Thompson. Thompson was also excellent on Sunday, stopping 28 of 30 Boston shots, but DiPietro faced more high-quality chances and was a little better in the end.
After being named the AHL Goalie of the Year in back-to-back seasons, DiPietro will back up Swayman this season. While his AHL track record certainly suggests that he is ready for the job, you never know for sure until he does it in the NHL. This was just a preseason game, facing roughly half of Washington's regulars, but the Bruins have to feel pretty good about DiPietro after Sunday.
Michael DiPietro on his mindset this training camp: “I think for me, just trying to compete, staying humble, and just trying to lean on my work ethic and try to earn a job.” pic.twitter.com/JmDyzRdFhD
— Scott McLaughlin (@smclaughlin9) September 21, 2026
In other youth news, Bruins coach Marco Sturm rolled out his "kid line" of Hagens, Minten and Khusnutdinov. The three played together late last season, and they've now been together four straight days to start training camp. It is increasingly looking like they may very well be a line on opening night next Tuesday.
They actually got off to a bit of a disjointed start Sunday, but got better as the game went on. They were on the ice for Charlie McAvoy's tying goal late in regulation, with Minten picking up an assist. Hagens then scored the winning goal in the shootout, sliding a nifty backhander through Thompson's legs.
Slim Jim for the win ✌️ pic.twitter.com/TXsjroFFnJ
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) September 20, 2026
The kid line's best work this weekend actually might have come on Saturday during the Bruins' intrasquad scrimmage. They were easily the best line during the 30-minute game, generating a bunch of offensive-zone time and creating several great scoring chances.
The Bruins' best line Sunday was actually a different youth line – the one with Poitras centering Lukas Reichel and Attilio Biasca. During their 6:22 together at 5-on-5, Boston out-attempted the Capitals 11-2, outshot them 7-1, and had a 5-0 advantage in high-danger chances.
Poitras won the offensive-zone faceoff that set up McAvoy's tying goal with 1:43 left in regulation. A pass-first player by nature, Poitras did a good job of looking for shots in this one. He tied for the team lead in shot attempts (7), shots on goal (4) and individual scoring chances (6).
Despite now needing waivers to be sent back to Providence, Poitras very much remains on the bubble when it comes to making this team. Sunday offered good reason to keep him around, though, especially since he clearly outplayed another bubble forward in Alex Steeves.
Poitras on his assist on McAvoy’s goal and overall play in preseason game 1:
“It’s nice to have that confidence from Marco to send me out and take the draw. And yeah, I'm just happy that I won it and happy to that we tied the game. I felt good at the dot, and just yeah, I was… pic.twitter.com/nlm3EVUphz
— Bridgette Proulx (@bridgetteproulx) September 21, 2026
On defense, Brunet paired with McAvoy, just as he did in the first three days of practice leading up to Sunday. Like the kid line, that pair had a few hiccups early in Sunday's game before settling in and playing some big minutes as the game went on. Brunet made a couple massive defensive plays late, clearing a rebound away from a near-empty net in the final seconds of regulation and then blocking a Jakob Chychrun shot at the end of the Capitals' overtime power play.
The Bruins have five defensemen battling for two or three roster spots, and all five played Sunday. In addition to Brunet, that group includes Mason Lohrei, Jonathan Aspirot, Jordan Harris and Henri Jokiharju. Brunet was arguably the best of the bunch Sunday, and the only one who wasn't on the ice for a goal against. Like Poitras, Brunet needs waivers to be sent back to Providence, so the Bruins have some extra motivation to keep him around and not risk losing him for nothing.
After an off day Monday, the Bruins host the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday for their second preseason game.
