The Bruins' offensive struggles continued Monday on Long Island in a 1-0 loss to the Islanders, dropping Boston to 1-1-1 on the season.
Here are three key takeaways from the game:
1. Trent Frederic making an impact
Trent Frederic understands that if he wants to stay in the lineup, he'll have to bring intangibles not every player has.
In addition to bringing physicality and energy to the Bruins' fourth line, Frederic has been going out of his way to get underneath opponents' skin.
Three games into the season and opponents are already taking notice of Frederic's agitating efforts.
In New Jersey, P.K. Subban and Frederic exchanged a series of conversations between whistles. After being on the receiving end of multiple checks from Frederic, Subban was sent to the box in an attempt at retribution.
Monday against the Islanders, it was star forward Mat Barzal to whom Frederic introduced himself. Following a stoppage of play in the first period, Frederic angled Barzal into the end boards resulting in the two teams coming together.
The art of agitating is oftentimes subtle. For example, simply standing over a goalie after a coverup and not moving will get the attention of the other team. Frederic has done a noticeable job so far at annoying his opponents, and can really prove to be impactful with the frequency of meetings versus divisional teams this season.
2. Scoring chances from an unlikely trio
Between the injury to Ondrej Kase and lack of scoring to begin the season, Bruce Cassidy has been forced to tinker with his original line combinations.
Of the new groupings, perhaps none are more interesting than that of David Krejci, Nick Ritchie and Jack Studnicka.
Dare I say, they actually played pretty well?
Perfect? Far from it. Still, the three combined for a number of scoring chances.
Ritchie had a team leading six shots on goal versus the Islanders and continues to show a willingness to shoot the puck and go to the net.
Studnicka is still getting used to NHL speed both physically and mentally, and needs to work on getting stronger, but has shown the ability to make plays in tight areas.
Krejci, Ritchie and Studnicka are not likely to be a long term combination but if they can contribute offensively, it may help the team’s confidence at even strength.
3. Matt Grzelcyk leaves the game
As if the Bruins didn't already have a thin enough margin for error, things got even tougher when they lost the services of Matt Grzelcyk.
The smooth skating defenseman got tangled up along the boards with Islanders forward Jordan Eberle with what looked to be some sort of arm injury.
Grzelcyk’s skating and passing ability on the back end will be difficult to replace should he miss an extended period of time.
Charlie McAvoy would slot in as quarterback on the top power-play unit, and Jakub Zboril would likely be asked to log more minutes.
Urho Vaakanainen may even get an opportunity to help fill the void in the transition game.
Hopefully for the Bruins, leaving the game was more precautionary, but in the event that Grzelcyk does miss time, Boston may have to roll the dice with an extremely young defensive unit when the Philadelphia Flyers visit TD Garden on Thursday night.