Boston Bruins at Chicago Blackhawks: 9/30 preseason game preview
Coming off a dud of a performance on Thursday night, the Boston Bruins travel to the Windy City for their preseason finale.
What a weird game the Boston Bruins played on Thursday night in Philadelphia against the Flyers. Defensive lapses all over the zone leaving Tuukka Rask out to dry. A pretty decent David Krejci fight against Flyers #1 draft pick Nolan Patrick.
Overall, the team got worked up and down the ice. The Flyers top players in Claude Giroux and Jakub Voarcek looked in midseason form, and led their team to a 5-1 victory. Rob O’Gara and Matt Grzelcyk, both competing for the final roster spot on the back-end, both struggled.
On Saturday, the Bruins recalled Tommy Cross, Jordan Szwarz, and Jakub Zboril…possibly bringing in some competition for that last spot after a poor outing by the Bruins defense last game?
Tonight’s game
The Bruins head to Chicago to take on the Blackhawks for the second time this preseason. The game will be at the United Center, and game time is 8:30 pm. The travelling roster for tonight’s game features the following players:
Forwards: Noel Acciari, Matt Beleskey, Anders Bjork, Jake DeBrusk, Danton Heinen, Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson, Sean Kuraly, Riley Nash, Teddy Purcell, Tim Schaller, Ryan Spooner, Jordan Szwarz, Frank Vatrano
Defensemen: Chris Breen, Connor Clifton, Tommy Cross, Matt Grzelcyk, Rob O’Gara, Paul Postma, Jakub Zboril
Goaltenders: Anton Khudobin, Malcolm Subban
#NHLBruins morning skate lines:
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) September 30, 2017
Beleskey-Spooner-Heinen
Schaller-Nash-Acciari
DeBrusk-JFK-Purcell
Kuraly-Szwarz-Vatrano
Bjork
Defensemen on the ice: O’Gara, Postma, Grzelcyk, Cross, Breen, Zboril
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) September 30, 2017
Goalies: Khudobin, Subban
What to watch for
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As previously reported on NHL.com, the Bruins bottom-six has about a dozen candidates. Tonight’s game roster has basically everyone competing for a bottom-six role on the big club. Also, Kenny Agostino was placed on waivers, Austin Czarnik missed practice, and Peter Cehlarik made his training camp debut. What will the opening night roster look like?
My prediction based upon the preseason and training camp I’ve watched:
Marchand-Bergeron-Bjork
DeBrusk-Krejci-Pastrnak
Vatrano-Spooner-Backes
Beleskey-Nash-Acciari
Czarnik
Carlo-Chara
McAvoy-Miller
McQuaid-Postma
Krug (injured)
Grzelcyk
Rask
Khudobin
I originally had JFK penciled in as my third-line center, but Ryan Spooner’s preseason performance has earned him his spot. With one year in Providence, JFK could replace Spooner if he has a great season and earns a raise as a Free Agent this upcoming offseason.
Next: Boston Bruins: Ryan Spooner is looking like a new player this preseason
I also think Grzelcyk has earned that 7th defenseman spot, but Paul Postma should step in opening day to replace Krug in the lineup. He has NHL experience, and that’s important to start the season.