Bruins Prospects Defeat Penguins Prospects In Game One

The Boston Bruins Prospects Challenge in Buffalo New York kicked off yesterday afternoon. The Bruins prospects took on the prospects of the defending Stanley Cup Champions Pittsburg Penguins.

The game was live streamed by the Penguins on NHL.com.

The Bruins got off to a slow start allowing two goals in the first period. The team did not look good, the chemistry seemed off.When they came out for the second the B’s looked like a completely different team. The passes were crisp along with the breakouts.

Boston then went on the power play and Jack Studnika scored to bring the game back to one goal, the assists were from Matt Grzelcyk and Jeremy Lauzon. The second period ended with the B’ still down by one. Boston had taken control of the game as they out shot the Pens 11-4 in the second.

Just one minute into the third Jakub Forsbacka Karlsson tied the game at two. The third ended at two-two so they headed to overtime.

Jesse Gabrielle netted the overtime winner for the Bruins. Here is Gabrielle on what went down.

Both Gabrielle and Lauzon were the standouts of this game. It is still too early to say, keep an eye on those two to get a shot at the big club.

“Yeah I went D zone, offensive zone, missed it, had to get back, and then I had another chance there, and we were both pretty [tired],” smiled Gabrielle. “So I was glad we got to finish the game there.”

Then here is Leech on the team’s performance yesterday afternoon:

“So hopefully they understood that we’re more of a straight line team, a team that wants to get pucks to the net,” said Leach. “And I think you saw that in the second and third. It was a night and day difference.”

The next game is tonight at 7 PM, a link to the live stream will be tweeted by the @NHLBruins.

Here was the starting line up for the Bruins:

Danton Heinen - Jack Studnicka - Zach Senyshyn

Ryan Fitzgerald - Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson - Oskar Steen

Jesse Gabrielle - Joona Koppanen - Justin Hickman

Cedric Pare - James Hamblin - Shawn Boudrias

Matt Grzelcyk - Victor Berglund

Jakub Zboril - Connor Clifton

Jeremy Lauzon - Emil Johansson

Starting Goalie: Kyle Keyser, Backup: Luke Richardson

Healthy Scratches:

Anders Bjork, Rob O’Gara, Sean Kuraly, Charlie McAvoy, Jake DeBrusk, Owen Headrick, Ethan Sakowich, Alex Gacek

These Are the Players That Could Have A Breakout Season

The Boston Bruins are not in as much trouble as people think. If these kids can break out and make a name for themselves. All of the prospects the Bruins have in the system is what they have going in their favor. Who will we see in the big club this season?  Maybe we will even see some become stars.

Frank Vatrano

Frank Vatrano is a kid who has excellent potential but he has just not been able to put it all together. No one knows if it is just because he is not that good or if he is playing with the wrong people. I think it is that he is playing with the wrong people. He generally plays on the line with Ryan Spooner.

Now Spooner is not a bad player but I do not think he is the centerman for Frank. Frank needs a guy like Backes or Bergeron to feed him the puck. Vatrano is a shooter and shooters are going to shoot. Frank has one of the best shots that I have seen in a while, it is not his speed at which he shoots but his quick release. Similarly to David Krejci, Frank is a guy with a sneaky good shot, and can get it off in almost any situation.

Vatrano has played in 83 career games with the Bruins over two seasons. In those two seasons, Frank has 18 goals and 29 assists. I say Vatrano is the dark horse for the Bruins this year.

Charlie McAvoy

Charlie McAvoy showed us in the playoffs that he is ready for the NHL Now. This kid has what looks like top 2 potential. However, let us keep in mind that he is only 19 and has only played 6 NHL Games. It very tiring hearing people say that this kid is the second coming of Bobby Orr. McAvoy is a very talented young prospect with a ton of potential. We should not put him on a pedestal and overwhelm him with crazy expectations. Just let the kid play hockey and wait to see what happens.

In his time here he played with Zdeno Chara and also has some time on the power play, and this is where he started to look comfortable. McAvoy has an extremely high hockey IQ and this is why he will be running the power play in one of the units, this is also why he is such a good defenseman.

In the six games, he played Charlie had 3 assists. Look for McAvoy to be apart of the top 4 most likely playing with Chara, as he would be the pick to have the best year.

Brandon Carlo

After finishing his first full year with the team Brandon Carlo looks like he is ready to take an even bigger role on the team. This past year he took on a big role already by being paired with Chara as the teams first pair. This was a huge ask of a 19-year-old. He then went out and proved that he deserved that spot.

Carlo averaged 20 minutes of ice time during the regular season. Carlo is the opposite if McAvoy as not many people knew of him and his expectation from the fans was not as high. He is an excellent and very smart defenseman. I would say he plays more of a 2-way game with more concentration on the defense but he can still produce offensively.

Carlo skated in 82 games the last season and scored 16 points. He was also a plus 9. Look for Carlo to Fight for the number one pairing spot with McAvoy in Camp. Either way, The Bruins Top 4 is starting to look pretty good.

Anders Bjork

There is not much known about Ander Bjork other than he played at Notre Dame this past season. He also helped them get to the frozen four. Bjork is a great player from what has been seen from his play with the Irish. He is a goalscorer and that is what the Bruins need is offense. This kid can play but like McAvoy, he is still unproven at the professional level so we will have to wait.

Hopefully, he has a good camp and makes the big club which he most likely will. Bjork has all upside at this point and he is looking to prove that he is ready to play now.

Boston Bruins FanFest A Success In Providence With Countless Fans Showing Up To See The Black and Gold Show

The Boston Bruins FanFest hit Providence, Rhode Island on Thursday afternoon from 2-7 pm. Boston set up at the Alex and Ani ice rink at Kennedy Plaza in the heart of Downtown Providence.

Fans lined up in the hundreds ahead of the open at 2 pm with the Bruins ready to put on a show for the fans in attendance.

Making appearances at the Providence event included Johnston, RI native Noel Acciari, and second year Bruin Riley Nash.

Tommy Cross, Riley Nash and Noel Acciari doing a Q&A with the fans. #BruinsTour pic.twitter.com/cFlVBNl94l

— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) August 31, 2017

It wasn’t just the players who showed up though.

Bruins head coach and former Providence Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy was in attendance as well as Team President Cam Neely and NESN play-by-play broadcaster Jack Edwards.

Head Coach Bruce Cassidy helping teach kids on the rink. #BruinsTour pic.twitter.com/sC9zxp1guj

— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) August 31, 2017

Overall it is safe to say the turnout for the event was in the low thousands with many passing in and out throughout the entire 5-hour event.

Many fans were ecstatic during the FanFest and were more than happy to wait in lines to meet Bruins personnel and players.

With hockey season right around the corner, this FanFest can be classified as a success for both the Boston Bruins and the City of Providence.

Check out our gallery from our time at the event this afternoon!

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