For the second time in three games, the Bruins came up short in overtime — as Boston fell to the Blackhawks, 3-2, Saturday night at the United Center. Patrick Kane ended the preseason contest with a tally at 3:04 in the extra period. For reference, here was the Bruins’ lineup for the matchup:
Bjork-Lindholm-Ritchie
Carey-Steen-Fitzgerald
Lauko-Frederic-Kuhlman
Gaunce-Shen-Cehlarik
Grzelcyk-McAvoy
Zboril-Carlo
Sherman-Kampfer
Lagace
Keyser
Here are three takeaways from Saturday's loss:
Bruins blue-line regulars shake off rust
While Bruce Cassidy and his staff once again rolled out a JV squad for Saturday’s matchup, the blue line did feature a couple of familiar faces — with regulars in Charlie McAvoy, Brandon Carlo and Matt Grzelcyk all taking to the ice over in Chicago.
Given the fact that both McAvoy and Carlo are less than a week into a training camp (due to the late resolutions to their contract situations) and Grzelcyk was a bit behind the main group because of a lingering lower-body injury, a bit of rust was to be expected for all three skaters on Saturday.
But as the contest progressed,
Boston’s top D-men — especially a pairing of McAvoy-Grzelcyk — quickly asserted themselves against a pretty loaded Blackhawks roster, especially up front.
Despite only being on the ice for one offensive-zone faceoff in 17:42 of 5v5 TOI, the pairing of McAvoy-Grzelcyk dominated in terms of limiting chances around both Maxime Lagace and Kyle Keyser — with Boston holding a 26-10 edge in shot attempts, 19-8 edge in shots on goal and a 12-1 advantage in high-danger scoring chances when the BU products were out on the ice together.
Pretty impressive stuff from a D pairing that potentially could warrant a look at some point during the regular season.
Carlo had a bit of a rougher go of it when paired next to Jakub Zboril, as Boston was out-attempted, 19-10, and out-shot, 14-8, in their 16:21 of 5v5 TOI together. But Carlo still managed to showcase some of his defensive prowess against a high-powered Chicago forward corps — stymying a potential breakout chance in Chicago’s zone by poking the puck free before it could skitter into open ice in the neutral zone.
Keyser locked in
It was a bit of a tough break for Kyle Keyser in the sequence that ended with Kane’ OT winner, as the puck ricocheted off his body, struck Kane square in the chin and dropped right in front of him — giving the Blackhawks winger an easy tap-in past the Bruins netminder.
Kane’s goal marked the first time this preseason that a club has managed to put the puck past Keyser, with the 20-year-old goalie turning aside 37 of the 38 shots that has come his way through two games in the past week.
He might be pretty green when it comes to reps against legitimate NHL talent in his young career, but Keyser hasn’t been rattled despite going up against the likes of Kane, Jonathan Toews, Alex DeBrincat, Jack Hughes, P.K. Subban and others — with the Florida native tracking the puck very well and limiting costly rebounds.
Rebound control was an issue at times for the goalie who started Saturday’s game in Lagace, as Dylan Strome managed to pot a loose puck past him on the power play at 3:14 in the opening stanza. Lagace, who will be competing for regular minutes with Keyser and Dan Vladar down in Providence this season, finished with 24 saves on 26 shots.
Other Notes
Pretty nifty goal on a penalty shot for BC product Ryan Fitzgerald at 3:23 in the second period. While he's largely been overshadowed by other playmaking Providence forwards like Peter Cehlarik and Jordan Szwarz over the years, Fitzgerald has strung together a pair of strong seasons down in the AHL since turning pro in 2017. Don't be surprised if the North Reading native makes a push to be first in line for a call-up if Boston is bit by the injury bug up front once again in 2019-20.
Ryan Fitzgerald ties things up for the Bruins on a penalty shot. pic.twitter.com/gOyNmCAX7t
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) September 22, 2019
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Par Lindholm and Oskar Steen team up for a shorthanded goal. 2-2 game. pic.twitter.com/RwplwYX0yr
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) September 22, 2019