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After two games, Alexander Khokhlachev’s long awaited ‘chance’ with the Boston Bruins is over.
On Boston’s first line with David Krejci and Loui Eriksson throughout his recall from Providence, the 22-year-old center-turned-winger put three shots on net and finished with a minus-1 rating. And the demotion comes on the heels of a 4-1 loss in Washington in which Khokhlachev finished the night with the second-best Corsi-For% at even-strength among Bruins at 66.7%.
But Khokhlachev’s big minus came last night on a shift that left the B’s stuck in their own zone until Alex Ovechkin made ‘em pay after ‘Koko’ couldn’t make a simple clear out of his own end.
There’s nothing that says that Khokhlachev can’t return to the Hub and light the world on fire, but through six NHL games, it’s clear that the Bruins have wanted more from the former 40th overall pick. This time around, the Bruins gave him the minutes, and while he had flashes of brilliance with the puck or along the boards, it seemed that that extra bit of hesitation doomed his chances. That’s a major difference between the AHL and the NHL -- you don’t have as much time to simply plan out your next move when you’re driving towards the net at the game’s highest level -- and that hurt Khokhlachev.
In essence, he wasn’t nearly as aggressive enough as the Bruins expected a player with his ability to separate from defenders with speed and skill and break through into open ice, to be.
Khokhlachev’s departure has brought Frankie Vatrano into the NHL mix on his first recall as a pro. Vatrano, a native of East Longmeadow, Mass., signed with the Bruins as a college free agent last spring after two years with UMass-Amherst, and joins the Big B’s after a torrid start to his pro career, with an AHL-leading 10 goals and 12 points in 10 games for Providence this season.
Vatrano hung around camp for a long while as a first-year pro back in September, and is a player that simply loves to have the puck on his stick (he’s put 37 pucks on net in just 10 AHL games this year).
That’s what the Bruins, who can’t seem to hit with the net with the consistency they need to in order to beat great goaltending, need right now in the absence of David Pastrnak, and what they hope to get from the 5-foot-10 Vatrano in their Saturday night showdown with the Montreal Canadiens.
A Saturday night road game against the Canadiens? Hell of a game to make your debut, no?
Ty Anderson has been covering the National Hockey League for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010, has been a member of the Pro Hockey Writers Association's Boston Chapter since 2013, and can be contacted on Twitter, or emailed at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com.