A few thoughts after finally seeing the Bruins play. As expected the play was sloppy with both teams struggling at times to find any flow. However, the Rangers, who iced more regulars and a star-like Panarin, clearly had the better of the play at times. The Bruins had many players who are still getting looks to see what they have.
The players that stood out to me were Studnika , Lysell . Studnicka looks more assertive and although he still seems to pause on plays at times on whether to pass or shoot, he has grown and looked better than he did all last year. Last night he had 6 shots on net, 1 goal and 1 assist and was a plus 2 .Does he have a shot at making the team ? With the Bruins constructed as they are right now with all the new players they signed, hard to say but if a player struggles or gets hurt, I suspect he will be inserted quickly and have a chance. However, if he continues to show this type of play, maybe he deserves a shot out of the gate.
Lysell , the Bruins 1st round pick doesn't look completely out of his depth overall. Granted you could still see many hiccups in dealing with the smaller ice surface and bigger, stronger, faster players defending him, but he was still able to show his speed and skill. He could truly be a really great pick and a player to keep one eye on.
Pre-season is always hard to judge really. Players are thrown together and with the Bruin roster pretty much set , young players or tryouts would need to emerge in such a fashion that they could not be denied . But a few games left yet and so far Studs is showing real growth.
One player I think needs to be seen is Urho Vaakanainen. He is in his 4th year in the organization and has yet to emerge as a roster player and has been passed on the depth chart to even get a shot at a roster spot on the big team. Last night he looked alright at times , got a nice goal but is still easy to get the puck from and his board play is still weak against larger players. I think it's perhaps too early to move on from him but the next year could decide what the organization is going to do. Plus the other problem, wherein the current lineup can he find a spot. He will have to play much better to take any bottom pairing spot.
Final Note : Got to see Ulmark a bit in the nets. He looked solid. Two goals against him were not his fault and he made some nice saves. Keyser came in to spell the 2nd half of the game and he played well, allowing one goal.
Star of the Game : Artemi Panarin
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