‘Triple D’ line lifts B’s past Flyers
Pastrnak pots 2 in shootout ‘W’
PHILADELPHIA — As is usually the case with preseason games, the Bruins did not have a full lineup in their tilt against the Flyers last night at the Wells Fargo Center. We’re still almost two weeks away from opening night and the forward lines are still anyone’s guess.
But the Triple Ds combination of center David Backes, left winger Danton Heinen and right winger
David Pastrnak had something going immediately. The line finished as plus3, with Backes notching three assists in his first night in a Bruin uniform while Pastrnak potted two goals and Heinen scored one. It went to a shootout, where Malcolm Subban (29 saves) stopped two Flyers and Heinen and Jake DeBrusk beat Michael Neuvirth for a 4-3 Bruins victory.
“It kind of had that adrenaline rush of some of my first games in the league,” Backes, who signed a five-year, $30 million deal on July 1, said. “You’re in a new spot. You want to impress coaches and management. They’ve put a ton of belief in me and signed me to a big contract. Now it’s my job to make them look good and help them win games ultimately.”
It was a back-and-forth affair, with the Bruins getting two leads, losing them both and then having to get the equalizer, which Pastrnak did late in the second period after Backes battled for a loose puck and set the young Czech up for a one-timer.
The third period was scoreless and Subban had to make five saves in OT to push the game to the shootout.
“They were really good, all three of them,” said coach Claude Julien of the top line. “I just saw some instant chemistry between the three of them, which is nice to see. Never played together before. Backes just kind of led the way for those two young guys. I thought he did a great job and obviously both those young players responded really well. Pasta, you continue to see the improvement year to year, whether he’s stronger or more experienced. He’s got more confidence and no doubt a more determined player. I liked his game, I obviously liked David Backes’ game but even Heinen continues to really impress us and just making our decision tougher.”
Gang back at it
Julien, fresh off assisting Team Canada in their World Cup victory, was back behind the bench. He was expecting veteran tryout Christian Ehrhoff to be on the ice tomorrow, along
with fellow World Cuppers Patrice Bergeron, Brad
Marchand and Zdeno Chara. “(Ehrhoff) is a goodsized defenseman, skates well, moves the puck well. What I liked about him was his compete level was pretty good. If he comes here and competes the same, he’s a guy that could certainly makes things interesting for us,” said Julien. …
Dominic Moore (lower body) remained off the ice yesterday. Julien termed him as day-to-day.
“We’ll see how he is (tomorrow),” said Julien.
Initial decision time
With the B’s still carrying the full load of players with which they started camp, some cuts could be coming as early as today. Julien is giving the players a day off today. ... Julien said that David
Krejci, coming off of hip surgery, is getting close to returning and could play in a preseason game as early as Tuesday in Quebec City. ...
Austin Czarnik was stopped on two breakaways in overtime. ... Jimmy Hayes led the B’s with five shots on net.
High praise
Assistant coach Bruce
Cassidy was Czarnik’s coach in Providence last season and says Czarnik brings a lot to the table.
“He would be to me what you’d describe as that ( Bill)
Belichick- type of player that you could use in a lot of different situations,” said Cassidy last week. “Very, very high IQ. Quick learner, very coachable. He’s a guy you could move around, play with different players. He plays on the penalty kill, he’s good on the power play, especially on the point. I think from night to night, if you wanted to, you could move him around in your lineup and he’d be effective for you.”