Bruins
Several young Bruins players put in impressive performances on the TD Garden ice on Tuesday as Boston recorded its first win of the preseason with a 4-2 victory over the Washington Capitals.
Riley Tufte, Fabian Lysell, Patrick Brown and Justin Brazeau all scored goals for the Bruins, with 10 different players contributing no less than one point within the win. Joonas Korpisalo and Michael DiPietro shared the goal for Boston, with Korpisalo stopping all seven shots in his season debut with the Bruins.
Here are 4 takeaways from Tuesday's victory on Causeway Street.
Fabian Lysell comes
Head coach Jim Montgomery will not be normally the sort to criticize his players harshly.
But after a disappointing preseason debut on Sunday, Bruins winger Fabian Lysell received a warning shot from Montgomery on Tuesday morning.
“He's going to have to do a little bit more than he has done so far if he wants to make it to the Bruins. That's certainly true for most of the guys who played the night before,” Montgomery said after morning practice.
Lysell's first few appearances this preseason have been slow to say the least. The 21-year-old winger did not register a single shot on goal in Boston's 3-2 loss to the Rangers on Sunday. Lysell was unable to do much with the puck on his stick and suffered two turnovers.
Although Lysell has not yet played a daily season game within the NHL, expectations are high for the 2021 first-round pick this fall.
Not only has Lysell seemingly maxed out his performance on the AHL level, but his emergence as a legitimate middle-six winger could be welcome for a Bruins team in need of a goal scorer following the free agent departure of Jake DeBrusk.
Lysell admitted after Tuesday's game that he was unaware of Montgomery's comments earlier that morning, but he definitely played like someone who had heeded his coach's message.
The Bruins winger made a huge impact 2:59 into the second period when he fired a pointy shot from the left circle on the facility play that sailed past Caps goalie Hunter Shepard and gave Boston a 2-0 lead on the time.
It was the long-awaited result from Lysell, who also won the penalty that led to his team's fruitful power play opportunity, charging toward the goal only to be brought down by Washington defenseman Hardy Haman Aktell.
“We're really pleased with his development from game one to game two,” Montgomery said of Lysell's play. “And how determined he was with the puck, how determined he was to get shots on goal, how he played offensively and stepped back defensively. Good game for him.”
Although Lysell's skating talent and creativity within the Ozone Zone are well documented, he had an inclination to lose the puck in previous preseason games and let the finer points of his game slip.
But there was a marked improvement for Lysell on Tuesday, using his speed to win races and chase down loose pucks that whizzed across the Class A ice.
At 6'1″, Lysell isn't a huge burden when forechecking, but he can use his agility to his advantage far better than just sliding past other players and making risky forays across the blue line.
“It's numerous fun,” Lysell said of battling for a spot on the roster. “I believe you guys feel the identical way. Maybe I felt a bit of more pressure before. So I believe it definitely helps to approach it with a bit of little bit of a special mindset – just playing your game.”
With five preseason games left, Lysell still has a long way to go before he can officially secure a spot on Boston's roster. But Tuesday was a step in the right direction for the talented young player. Now he needs to build on that and keep going.
Georgii Merkulov also bangs
Not to be outdone, Georgii Merkulov, another of the Bruins' most promising young forwards, put in a solid performance on Tuesday.
The 23-year-old forward provided a great assist for Justin Brazeau's goal in the third period, setting up his linemate with a deft backhand pass after carrying the puck through the neutral zone.
“I've played with Braz for two years now, so I know exactly what he's going to do and he probably knows exactly what I'm going to do,” Merkulov noted.
Merkulov now has two assists in two preseason games with Boston this fall, although his overall performance on Sunday against New York was still relatively modest.
The former Ohio State player was more confident Tuesday as he focused on fellow NHL prospects Tyler Johnson and Justin Brazeau, with Montgomery praising his training habits and details during camp sessions up to now.
The challenge for Merkulov, in Montgomery's eyes, is to translate these details into games.
“If you train well, you'll play well,” said Merkulov. “If you train lazily and don't give your all, you won't achieve anything in the game.”
While other young players like Lysell and Matt Poitras amongst Boston's next wave of talent are more likely to grab a lot of the headlines during training camp, Merkulov could possibly be just as able to make a push as Lysell, especially after scoring 120 points in his last 134 games with Providence.
Don't write him off in relation to Boston's emptiness on the third-string center position.
Solid start for Joonas Korpisalo
While he wasn't exactly bombarded with pucks, Korpisalo was very strong in his debut for Boston, saving all seven pucks that got here his way.
Korpisalo fended off two highly dangerous scoring opportunities, usually standing perpendicular to the puck and at the identical time blocking the post.
“I thought Korpisalo was really good,” Montgomery said. “He made four, what I thought were, difficult saves look really easy, and you can just tell he's composed. He's great in goal. I think Washington had a lot of chances where they missed because he took away the angle. So shooters try to be perfect, they miss. That's a little thing that good goalies do.”
While it could have been a small sample size, given his struggles last season in Ottawa and the opportunity of the Bruins calling on him for his or her season opener in two weeks, getting Korpisalo on their roster and getting him to be ok with his game needs to be Boston's top priority.
“I think it's important,” Montgomery said of the importance of Korpisalo's strong start. “First time out, no matter what last season was like, you want to get off to a good start. You just want to build on that. He's a pretty confident young man.”
“I think he knows how good he is, and he had so much success in Columbus, and can’t forget what he did in LA when he came to LA, when [2023] trading close.”
Loose Pucks
Despite being moved to the wing, Matt Poitras was composed and expert with the puck while skating in a line with Trent Frederic and Brett Harrison. Even though Boston views Poitras as a long-term pivot, moving him to the wing for now could allow him to simplify his game while also developing his playmaking skills further down the sphere.
If the Bruins want to begin a youth movement, Poitras could possibly be a compelling option as a pass-first option in a lineup with Charlie Coyle and Brad Marchand.
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It was a solid preseason debut for 34-year-old veteran Tyler Johnson, currently in training camp on a PTO contract. While he can still skate well at this stage of his profession, it was his details that stood out Tuesday. The forward shielded Shepard from Lysell's goal while also passing the puck to Merkulov that led to Brazeau's goal.
As long as the cash is true, it could not be a surprise if Johnson stays as a Swiss Army knife in Boston's offensive corps.
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It should come as no surprise that Brazeau's goal got here from right in front of the web, however the tall winger also played 1:43 of a shorthanded game in Tuesday's win. Brazeau will not be referred to as a penalty kill specialist, but taking over that responsibility could increase his possibilities of making the team after training camp.
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He benefited from Shepard shooting the tumbling puck into his own net, however it was good for the 6-foot-6 Tufte, who went to the goal in the primary period and was rewarded together with his goal at 11:51. Aside from his goal within the second period, Patrick Brown's line (featuring Joey Abate and Marc McLaughlin) played easy, straightforward hockey all night.
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Hanson native Billy Sweezey continues to dish out the labor. The 28-year-old defender has now scored eight goals in two preseason games.
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The Bruins proceed their preseason preparations on Thursday with an away game against the Rangers. Puck drop at Madison Square Garden is scheduled for 7 p.m.
image credit : www.boston.com