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Almost nothing changed in Boston this past summer. Yeah, the Boston Bruins moved on from Jarome Iginla and Shawn Thornton, and added some players to the fold on minor league deals, but the club's core and identity remained intact. The same cannot be said for the Washington Capitals.
Not only did the Caps make a change within their front office -- firing George McPhee and promoting Brian MacLellan -- they also brought veteran coach Barry Trotz, two new assistants, and a new goaltending coach in to replace the ineffective cabinet built during the McPhee-Adam Oates era of Washington hockey.
Oh, and they spent nearly $70 million on blue-line upgrades Matt Niskanen ($40.25 million over the next seven years) and Brooks Orpik (the recipient of a huge five-year, $27.5 million contract).
One game into the Trotz Era, and you can’t help but notice progress with the Capitals. While the Capitals did fall in the shootout in their season opener, 2-1 to Dustin Tokarski and the Montreal Canadiens, the Capitals were simply a more ‘complete’ team. You didn’t see Alexander Ovechkin out there for two-minute long power-play shifts, nor did the Caps rely on a bunch of no-names to back his scoring up. Entries into the Washington zone were met with a physical presence (like Orpik or Karl Alzner), or cleared out of harm’s way by a Niskanen, John Carlson, or Jack Hillen. Much of their offensive damage came in an impressive first period where they outshot the Habs 15-to-2.
The Caps were not a perfect squad obviously, and much of their early-game success could’ve been a byproduct of Montreal playing in the second leg of a back-to-back that began in Toronto the night before, but you didn’t feel like Braden Holtby and the Caps’ top-tier talents were on an island.
In particular, the presence of Andre Burakovsky was an obvious plus in the Caps’ first game, and really seemed to take a boatload of the scoring pressure off the top line of Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, and Eric Fehr. Centering the team’s second line, with Marcus Johansson and Troy Brouwer on the wing, the 19-year-old struck with a wicked shot in the first period and can be relied upon to do that if you give him space (he scored 41 goals in 57 games for the Erie Otters last year).
They were a team, and with Trotz behind the bench, you know what a force a mix like that can become with time. But while progress has been made in Washington, their effort to get in the win column tonight will be met with a rather angry B’s bunch fresh off a no-show against the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night.
“The biggest thing right now is they have to focus on when they come to the rink for a game, they’re ready to play,… Boston coach Claude Julien said of his squad, which plays their third game in four days later tonight. “We’ll do our best to give them the rest that they need and they gotta do their best to get their rest and nutrition that they need in order to stay as healthy and energetic as they can.…
Finishing the night with just 17 shots against Jimmy Howard, the Bruins had seven forwards finish the night with zero shots, and their centers (Ryan Spooner and Chris Kelly most notably) were just absolutely abused at the dot by the Red Wings. They’ll need more from their top-end guys, especially top-line left winger, Milan Lucic, a player still without a shot through two games.
“You can hold yourself accountable but we want to see better play,… Julien said of Lucic. “That’s what’s going to make a player accountable not just saying it but going out there and showing that he wants to be better.…
With just one shot attempt through two games, and after offseason wrist surgery that limited Lucic throughout the preseason, the lack of production is on Lucic, not his wrist, says his coach.
“It’s fully healed. Hopefully he can get over that if that’s what he thinks is holding him back a little bit,… Julien said. “He’s a big part of our hockey club and he can bring a lot to our hockey team. We need to see him at his best as soon as we can. So hopefully his words are sincere and he comes and shows it.…
The Capitals will give the nod to the 25-year-old Braden Holtby for the second straight game.
Holtby stopped 23-of-24 Montreal shots thrown his way on Thursday night in a shootout loss, looked far more comfortable in the net than in years past, and comes to Boston with a strong resume against the Bruins. Holtby has four wins in six career games against the Bruins, and though he lost two of three games against ‘em last year, has posted a .931 save percentage against the Black and Gold.
Boston counters with Tuukka Rask.
This will be Rask’s third start in as many games, and a return to the rink after a frustrating 22-of-24 night in Detroit. (Heck, if probably would’ve been a 6-1 loss for the Bruins if not for Rask’s play against the Wings in the loss.) Rask’s been a dominant home goaltender since the start of last season, with 23 wins in 33 games with a .941 save percentage, but comes into play with shoddy career figures against the Caps with just one win and an .891 save percentage in seven games against the Caps.
- Carl Soderberg has one goal and four points in as many games against Washington.
- Since the start of last season, the Bruins are 9-1-1 when Torey Krug scores a goal.
- Including playoff games, Brad Marchand has just three goals in his last 27 games.
- Washington’s Alex Ovechkin has 14 goals and 34 points in 33 career games against the Bruins.
- Brooks Laich has just one point in his last five games against the Bruins.
News and Notes
Top-line center David Krejci (undisclosed) skated with the team for the first time this morning, but Julien noted that he’s still day-to-day and that he can’t disclose more than that. He could return Monday at the earliest (on injured reserve). Fellow injured centerman Gregory Campbell (core) is also starting to skate, but has not yet been cleared for contract drills. There’s currently no timetable for Campbell’s return.
Camp invitee and veteran forward Simon Gagne is still hanging around the team despite not having a contract, and getting better according to the B’s coach.
“We can see he’s getting more and more comfortable,… Julien said. “This morning I saw him make a couple of little plays in tight. His hands are going to come back. Only time will tell with him. Again its more than just us looking at him, there’s a lot more involved in that process. We’ll see how it all turns out.…
The 34-year-old did not play pro hockey last season.
WEEI.com’s DJ Bean had an interesting morning story where he talked about the new fines and punishments for noted divers. Spoiler: Marchand, called for a dive on Thursday night, does not agree.
Ty Anderson has been covering the Boston Bruins for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010, is a member of the Pro Hockey Writers Association's Boston Chapter, and can be contacted on Twitter, or emailed at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com