Bruins vs. Red Wings 9/19/17 Preseason RECAP: Boston makes the 2nd period count again in 4-2 win!

First Period:

It was very similar to the Habs game yesterday, really. Boston got out to a huge shot lead, bolstered by the new heavy calling of stray stick penalties. However, no score came from it, and I briefly wondered if Anton Khudobin would ever be seen on stream again.

Second Period:

Like last game, the Bruins decided all of their goalscoring should start in the 2nd period, because that’s exactly what happened.

They opened the goalscoring with a slick bit of passing plays as done by David Krejci and Jakub Zboril getting Ryan Fitzgerald in the right place and he put home the right shot. 1-0 Bruins!

Fitz with a near automatic shot. Can’t stop that.

The next goal came on yet another great passing play as JFK defended the puck and got a great pass right off to Danton Heinen who bounced it in. 2-0!

As if things couldn’t get easier, the Red Wings defense began being silly, and pulled Austin Czarnik down and got him a penalty shot!

He made the most of it.

Jeez, worst case scenario for poor Coreau. Czarnik had him dead to rights and all he needed was to close the space. Just stone cold.

The Bruins proceeded to do what they did in the first: Overrun the Red wings, limit chances...but not everyone can be perfect, as Khudobin apparently fell asleep at the wheel and let a puck dribble in in the final seconds of the period. 3-1 Bruins.

Other than that, B’s looked phenominal in this period!

Third Period:

Dylan Larkin scored from an absolute bullshit angle. Khudobin should’ve had it, and while the Red Wings will probably be not good for awhile, they can rest easy knowing he’s still a player who can make it interesting. 3-2 Bruins.

Thankfully, the B’s bounced back with play more reminiscent of the 2nd and 1st period, and Charlie McAvoy was able to spring a play from his own end and create a 3 on 1 chance. Czarnik dished it to Teddy Purcell, and Purcell, no doubt ecstatic to be rid of Daryl Sutter, proved his worth by scoring. 4-2 Bruins!

Time wound down, the Wings couldn’t get a goal, and the Bruins went home with a 2-0 record in Preseason!

The Bruins will play Philadelphia on thursday at 7pm.

Game Notes:

• Torey Krug and JFK had to leave the game early for different moments of being harmed: Krug took a nasty shot to the mouth and Forsbacka Karlsson took a major hit late. Here’s hoping both recover quickly.
• Both goals on Khudobin were kinda...iffy. It’s stuff like this that leaves his spot open, but it ends up, once again, being the goaltender’s responsibility to prove themselves. Expect McIntyre/Subban between the pipes again sometime soon.
• While we had plenty of scorers and they certainly showed their prowess, a lot of it came at the behest of solid passing plays of players like JFK, Charlie McAvoy and Jakub Zboril who found the holes in defenses and timed their passes perfectly.
• Austin Czarnik earned the 1st star tonight. While taking advantage of Detroit’s somewhat haphazard defense is always nice, he showed incredible pace and never quit on plays.
• Nice of Teddy Purcell to show us what he’s got. I doubt he’ll make the team but he certainly showed a drive that can only come from being stuck in the AHL for a year.
• To be frank, Detroit looked very...very bad. It never felt like the B’s were in any real danger of losing the lead or having to change up their game plan.
• Those new penalties are gonna get annoying if the Bruins have an off-day with them, but they seem to be adapting better than most teams. That’s a good thing going into the early part of the year.
• The new Bruins play by play commentator for 98.5 is pretty good! He’s no Dave Goucher, but he’s gonna do just fine.

See you Thursday!