Regardless of what the Bruins do with David Pastrnak and their top line, the right wing role on one of the Bruins top two lines is up for grabs. After an impressive performance from Ryan Donato in China on Saturday, it was Danton Heinen's turn to audition for the role.

Heinen skated alongside Ryan Fitzgerald and David Krejci in Sunday's 2-1 shootout victory over the Washington Capitals. The team's second shootout win in as many days.

With most of their projected roster overseas in China, Fitzgerald, Krejci and Heinen made up the Bruins first line. Despite failing to find their names on the scoresheet, the line looked solid, especially Krejci and Heinen who had themselves several key scoring chances. Heinen finished with three shots on goal before scoring the lone shootout goal for the Bruins.

Slick move from Danton Heinen in the shootout. @NHLBruins beat the @Capitals 2-1 in preseason play pic.twitter.com/d1H1PxQx8H

— Dan Bahl (@danbahl) September 16, 2018

Filling in behind the bench with head coach Bruce Cassidy in China, assistant coach Joe Sacco liked what he saw from Krejci and Heinen together.

I liked it. I thought it was good. I thought that those two guys seemed to have the puck quite a bit. Krech [Krejci] had it on a string there earlier on in the game, the first half of the game," said Sacco. "I thought they played well. I thought the two of them showed they’re smart, they’re good with the puck, they make good decisions, and they have a high-skill level with the puck. I thought it was a good start for those two guys as far as trying to form a little bit of chemistry with each other."

Heinen started last season in Providence before getting the call up to the NHL where he would stay for the remainder of the season, appearing in 77 games. His rookie season was a solid one for Heinen, despite some ups and downs. With an opening for a top-six role, Heinen comes into camp with a different mindset this time around.

"Yeah, I think so. I think… yeah, a little more confident. I think I want to just keep on trying to
grow every game, and you know, like I said, there’s nothing like game shape, so you’re just trying
to get… get your legs going, get back into game shape, so you know, that’s what I’m trying to
focus on," said Heinen.

With one more game before the rest of the team returns from China, Heinen should get at least one more crack at working on his chemistry with Krejci.

"Yeah it was nice to play with him [Krejci]. You know, obviously not as crisp as we’d like
first game, but I thought we had a few looks, a little bit of zone time, and I thought it was an okay start," added Heinen.

The Bruins need someone to step up and take grasp of the opening on the right side. Heinen building some chemistry with Krejci is a good start.

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