BSJ Game Report: Red Wings 3, Bruins 2 (OT) - Center competition highlighted in defeat

Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 3-2 overtime loss to the Red Wings in quickie form, with BSJ insight and analysis:

BOX SCORE

HEADLINES

Backes at center: Patrice Bergeron is still recovering from back spasms and aiming to return to the ice for the start of the season, so the opportunity presented itself for David Backes to slide in between David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand on the Bruins’ top line.

It wasn’t a move Bruce Cassidy expected to make with the likes of Trent Frederic, Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson, and Jack Studnicka ― the latter was returned to juniors earlier in the day ― competing for the job, but it was worth a try. Backes felt some comfort there, too, and will do anything to help his team win. That’s the type of presence he is in that dressing room.

“Everyone wants to play in the top six and have those offensive opportunities, play with really skilled players, and be a big contributor to winning games. I don’t know many guys that dream of being a third-line, shutdown guy when they’re 10-years old,” Backes said. “If I can chip in some offense from whatever role I’m in, shut some guys down, and be a good help ― and we’re going to have injuries, too. I think that’s part of what we were doing tonight.

“I felt better tonight in the middle than I have in a long time playing center, probably since I got here.”

There was some instant chemistry with the skilled Pastrnak and Marchand. Backes, who played 4:20 on the power play on the night, fired off two shots and was his usual, involved self in registering two hits and a takeaway, but his 9-5 record in the faceoff circle was a good sign that he could stick in the middle if need be.

There is room for Frederic and Forsbacka Karlsson to grow as one would expect from young players. And a decision hasn't been made about where either one would fit into the season-opening lineup, so opting to put Backes, Sean Kuraly, or a B's newcomer in professional tryout hopeful Daniel Winnik in the middle of a line would provide an NHL-proven presence to start the season.

More eyes on the youngsters: With Studnicka out of the equation, all eyes are on Frederic and JFK for the open center position on the third line. There wasn’t a whole lot to notice for either up-and-coming former collegiate prospect on this night.

JFK was held without a shot on a line with skilled sophomores Jake DeBrusk and Danton Heinen, while Frederic had three hits but was held to one shot. The two combined to post a 10-18 mark on faceoffs.

It’s possible that both of them will see the ice for one final tryout when the Flyers come to town Saturday night. Both had “some pockets of good hockey,” but Cassidy isn’t ready to make any commitments yet. “We just have to figure out now, are we willing to go with those guys? Because I can’t sit here and tell you, unequivocally, ‘Yeah, they’re the third-line center,’” he said.

It's no secret that Cassidy wants to incorporate youth into the lineup, but only if those players are ready. We'll see what the lineup looks like on Saturday, but having a veteran like one of those mentioned above wouldn't be the worst scenario in order to give Frederic or JFK a bit more time to season in Providence.

Busy second period: All four goals scored during regulation time came in the second period before the Wings netted the goal that mattered most as Filip Zadina beat B’s goaltender Jaroslav Halak (33 saves) with a one-timer 24 seconds into overtime to take the win out of Boston and keep their undefeated preseason alive.

https://twitter.com/DetroitRedWings/status/1045130455438249984

David Pastrnak and Lee Stempniak struck within four minutes to give Boston a two-goal lead, but Detroit evened the score before the second intermission. Stempniak’s goal was just the B’s second in 27 power-play attempts during the preseason.

https://twitter.com/NHLBruins/status/1045113657460436993

THREE UP

Stempniak: One of two players signed to a professional tryout agreement just before the start of camp, Stempniak is making it awfully hard for the Bruins to take him off the roster.

Stempniak needed just five seconds of the Bruins’ third power play of the game to double their advantage, beating Detroit goaltender Jonathan Bernier upstairs on a hard wrist shot from the left circle. The Dartmouth College product leads the B’s with six points in four preseason games, including a pair of goals.

https://twitter.com/NHLBruins/status/1045114381405757440

Offense was hard to come by as Boston registered just seven shots in the second period and six in the third, but Stempniak provided offense in a way that was even harder to come by for the team on this night.

“He did something that the other group wasn’t willing to do,” Cassidy said, “which was step into a seam and shoot it with traffic.”

Third D pair: Having a defenseman with NHL experience in dress clothes is likely how the B’s will start the season next Wednesday night in Washington. Tonight’s game showed off two more capable options in the young Urho Vaakanainen and newcomer Steven Kampfer, who was acquired from the New York Rangers in return for dressing room favorite Adam McQuaid just before the start of camp.

Kampfer lofted a puck on net from the right point that Pastrnak tipped past Bernier for Boston’s first goal and finished the night as a plus-1 in 14:48 of ice time, while Vaakanainen had the same rating and trailed only Charlie McAvoy in ice time (20:37) on the team.

“I thought he was very good tonight,” Cassidy said of the B’s first-round pick in 2017. “Joins the rush effectively, at the right times, pretty smart, gets through there clean. He’s probably figuring out some of the guys, what plays are there to be made, moves well at the offensive blue line. I think he doesn’t look like he gets many shots blocked, so I think he does a good job of finding the lane. It’s not always on net, but at least it’s through to the area, so good defender with his feet and stick. Like a lot of young guys, he’ll have to get harder on those small-area battles, but I think that’s normal. I think he’s been really good.”

Krug, Acciari back: The Bruins aren’t at full strength health-wise, but the return of defenseman Torey Krug and forward Noel Acciari was a good step towards reaching that point. Cassidy is hoping to see a more finished edition of the lineup for the final game of the preseason, though the main focus is to get Bergeron healthy for the season opener that counts next week.

Krug returned to his regular partnership with Brandon Carlo, while Acciari was strong in his grinding, fourth-line role with a pair of new partners in Winnik and center Jordan Szwarz.

For the veteran defenseman, getting back on the ice in a game situation for the first time since suffering a broken ankle in May was a big step.

“You can never prepare for the physicality, pushing off guys in the corner, getting hit and going back for pucks,” Krug said. “You don’t have that same competitiveness in practice because your teammates don’t want to blow you up. A lot of times, the read and reaction part of it has to come back, so hopefully, I’ll get another shot at it on Saturday.”

TWO DOWN

Giveaways led to shots: The B’s were on the low end of a 36-23 shot total and the team’s 21 giveaways make it no coincidence. Frederic led Boston in that latter category with three.

It’s not a number you want to see in the penultimate tuneup before the regular season, but the ice was a bit choppy on an unseasonably warm day in Boston and there was some rust to shake off for players making their preseason debuts and/or not having taken the ice since the team’s trip to China.

“A lot of it is that some of the guys tonight haven’t played a lot, so I think they’re still a little bit in circling mode and not detail mode. We’ll have to address that,” Cassidy said. “I thought the ice conditions were soft, so the puck was bouncing, so the guys were getting frustrated.”

There will be plenty of skill in the Boston lineup in a night-in, night-out basis, but keeping it simple and getting pucks to the net ― just as the B’s did on their goals, though in different fashions ― wouldn’t hurt either.

“(The ice conditions were) the same for both teams, so the onus is on us then to get it to the net, go for some second chances,” Cassidy said. “But I think we tried to be too cute.”

Tighten it up: The bouncing pucks on choppy ice didn’t help, but the B’s had some trouble clearing the puck away from Halak’s net and out of harm’s way on Detroit’s power-play chances. The Wings scored each of their first two goals on the power play, by Gustav Nyquist and Dennis Cholowski.

Nyquist’s goal was a direct result of an inability to clear the puck from the crease as the former Maine star got a second chance at a rebound in front and beat Halak.

It’s hard to fault Halak for much in this one as he made several key stops, including a Dominic Turgeon shorthanded breakaway at the end of the first period. Zadina was left all alone en route to scoring the winner, so the play in front of him will need to get better. And again, it’s probably a situation where getting back into game speed solves the problem.

UP NEXT

The Bruins round out their preseason schedule at 5 p.m. Saturday against the Philadelphia Flyers.