BOSTON — The Boston Bruins‘ preseason debut did not go as they hoped. The Washington Capitals took over and beat the Bruins 5-2 in TD Garden on Sunday night.
Remember, it’s preseason. The Bruins are learning a new system piecemeal. Before the game, Bruins Head Coach Marco Sturm specifically stated pregame that he expected to see some mistakes tonight.
With a good amount of veterans on the roster, Boston had higher hopes for their first game in TD Garden on the scoreboard. Looking deeper, there are multiple reasons to come away optimistic about things that happened within the game.
First, Elias Lindholm and Morgan Geekie flew around all night. On the Bruins’ opening goal, the duo combined for a very pretty play.
That subtle, almost non-existent poke by Lindholm to jostle free the puck and ultimately force the puck to bounce to Geekie is a very tricky play. Geekie’s shot hasn’t lost any steam and looks ready for October 8.
As for the goals against, every single one of them is extremely correctable. Three of Washington’s goals came as a result of defensive-zone turnovers.
Those turnovers are a sure-fire sign of a team learning a new system. No, it’s not good that Mason Lohrei and Victor Soderstrom coughed up pucks under pressure. However, it’s about as fixable as it gets.
Similarly, Washington scored two fast breaks on odd-man encounters. Those goals stemmed directly from neutral zone breakdowns, something a new system will help fix.
Postgame, that sentiment was shared in the locker room.
Lohrei called the defensive lapses easily fixable. Charlie McAvoy agreed, while admitting his frustration and desire for things to be perfect straight out of the gate.
“I think anytime there’s change, it just takes a little bit,” said Tanner Jeannot. “Just got to you know, go through the growing pains. Like I said, that’s what the preseason is for, you’ve got to get the reps in, and that’s what we’re doing. Like I said, [we’ll] just grow from here.
“It’s part of the learning process,” said Patrick Brown. “You know, when you learn a new system, especially game one, there is just that feeling that, you’re not questioning yourself per se, but you’re thinking a little bit harder versus having all the repetitions and having done it a lot.
“So as you’re getting into your neutral zone four check or your breakout or your whatever it is, you just think one second longer because you’re just making sure you’re doing it right. But that’s going to go away pretty soon.”
Brown scored a hard-fought goal tonight, as his line with Jeffrey Viel and Riley Duran excelled. After the game, Sturm called them the Bruins’ best line.
Elsewhere, Sturm was rather harsh on the team postgame. He called the failed breakouts and turnovers “Mistakes that can’t happen.” Sturm showed he’s not the type of coach who’s going to lie down and let this type of effort take root, preseason or not.
Sturm implied, without naming any individuals, he expected more from the Bruins tonight. Matthew Poitras had flashes and looks more like an NHLer physically. Fabian Lysell created some good looks, especially early.
Overall, the Bruins took positives away from a negative scoreboard.
Most importantly, Sturm expressed heavy optimism for his team and its future, specifically saying they still have time before the season begins to work out some kinks.
Tonight may not have gone the way Boston wanted, but they put in place clear markers for their future success.
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