In what has been a sea of bad news during their five-game losing streak, the Bruins finally got a pleasant surprise on Friday.
Matt Poitras, who suffered what looked like a serious lower-body injury when he crashed dead-on into the boards with the door open at the Islander bench on Thursday, was back on the ice for Friday’s practice ahead of the B’s two-game road trip to Pittsburgh and Minnesota.
He has not been ruled definitively in for Saturday’s 3 pm matinee against the Penguins, but it’s trending that way. Poitras himself said he was ready to go, though coach Joe Sacco was a little more cautious.
“When he went out of the game (Thursday) night, we were a little concerned. We held him out for precautionary reasons. He presented well this morning, he was able to get through practice so that’s a good sign. We’ll see how he is (Saturday). He may be available for us,” said Sacco.
In the second period of the 2-1 loss to the Islanders, Brock Nelson was trying to ride him out of the back check along the boards while, unbeknownst to both Nelson and Poitras, backup goalie Jakub Skarek was opening the door for a line change. Nelson wound up guiding Poitras directly into the edge of the boards at the open door.
Poitras called it “kind of an unlucky play.”
“Obviously it was a little scary. Didn’t feel very good last night but I feel better today, so I’m just lucky it wasn’t worse than it was,” said Poitras.
“When I woke up this morning I felt better. Just got some imaging and it came back clean. It’s still a little sore, but it’s just a bruise.”
Poitras didn’t hold any ill will towards Nelson.
“I saw it after the game. It’s kind of a scary play and you never really think something like that would happen. I just think it was very unfortunate and unlucky,” said Poitras. “I can’t really blame anyone for that. It was just kind of a fluke play. I watched it a couple of times and obviously it doesn’t look great but, yeah, I’m glad it’s fine.”
He said he can play against the Penguins.
“I just want to try and do anything to help the team win. Points are very important right now, we’re playing well and hopefully we’ll be rewarded,” said Poitras.
Meanwhile, the B’s made several roster moves ahead of their flight to Pittsburgh. After Oliver Wahlstrom cleared waivers, he was sent to Providence along with Riley Tufte and Michael Callahan. After practicing with the Providence Bruins on Friday morning, Georgii Merkulov, Jeffrey Viel and Ian Mitchell were called up.
Merkulov had one assist in three games with Boston earlier this season while producing at his usual high clip in Providence (13-31-44 in 47 games). Viel (8-18-26 and 130 PIMs in Providence played one game in Boston (one fight, no points) while Mitchell (4-23-27 in 46 games in Providence) is on his first recall this season….
After David Pastrnak extended his point streak to 16 games with his 31st goal of the season and 800th point of his career, captain Brad Marchand banged the drum for Pastrnak’s Hart Trophy candidacy. While it might be hard for him to overcome Nathan MacKinnon’s or Leon Draisaitl’s numbers, especially if the Bruins don’t make the playoffs, there is an argument to be made for Pastrnak. As of Friday afternoon, he was tied for fifth in scoring (73 points in 60 games) on a team that is 25th in the league in scoring. Offensively, he is carrying this team on his back, and it’s a heavy load.
But beyond the points, Sacco is seeing growth in Pastrnak’s leadership.
“I think that not just because of the points that he’s producing and the streak that he has, I just think the way he’s handling himself and carrying himself right now, he’s a guy that our players look up to and there’s certainly a leadership there,” said Sacco. “And he’s taken that leadership away from the rink and into the room and areas of that nature. Obviously, he’s leading by example on the ice but I do like the way he’s starting to become more of a natural leader for the group. I think it’s a good sign.”
It has taken a while for the 28-year-old Pastrnak, as happy-go-lucky a kid as you’d find when he was drafted a decade ago, to grow into the role.
“I think when you have great examples that he’s been able to have in front of him that he’s played with – you go back to (Zdeno Chara), you go back to (Patrice Bergeron) and Marchy now – he’s got guys in front of him that have been great leaders, so he’s been very fortunate have those guys and see how they handle themselves on a day-to-day basis,” said Sacco. “I think he’s understanding that and it does take time. It takes time for any young player to understand that, especially when he’s a skilled offensive player and he’s learning from playing with Bergy the value of not just playing with the puck but without the puck at times, too. But I think his leadership skills have definitely grown.”….
Saturday’s game against the Penguins is the first of 10 out of 14 games that will be played on the road in March. Since the Christmas break, the B’s are just 1-8-1 away from Causeway Street.
“We have to embrace the challenge on the road,” said Sacco. “We have to look at it as a way to push out game to a higher level. That’s really what it comes down to…Sometimes when you get on the road, things change a little bit. The matchups don’t come into play as much and maybe guys start thinking a little less and just go out and execute and play.”