Rookie thrown into fire
JFK holds own in debut vs. Capitals
If you were going to pick a spot to make your National Hockey League debut, you might not choose to break in against the best team in the league while your own team is in a playoff race. But that’s how it fell for Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson and, though he didn’t have any dazzling moments in the 3-1 loss to the Washington Capitals, the former Boston University star did have some educational ones.
It started on his first shift when, carrying the puck out of his zone, he had his pocket picked by Lars Eller. Welcome to the NHL, kid.
“It’s not ideal … coming in this time of year in meaningful games,” said interim coach Bruce Cassidy. “Only he can answer the comparables of college hockey versus the NHL and how he felt. But really, the only thing we talked about was ‘Listen, you’re playing against men. They’re going to be hard on pucks, hard around the pucks, so that’s going to be the biggest difference for you.’ So I think he probably found that out. He was positionally solid and he didn’t hurt us. He’s just going to have to be harder around the battles and every young player learns that. The quicker you can adapt to that, probably the better and easier the transition is going to go for you.”
Forsbacka Karlsson, who saw 8:25 of ice time, was happy to get the first game out of the way and felt he got better as the game went on, though the speed of the game was what caught his eye the most.
“It’s a lot faster. You have less time with the puck,” he said. “Guys are stronger, faster. It’s a little bit of an adjustment.”
Forsbacka Karlsson had a strong college career in the faceoff circle and Patrice Bergeron has been impressed by what he’s seen of the rookie.
“He seems to be a very smart player on the ice. His positioning is always where it needs to be. He also seems to be a very nice kid and wants to learn,” Bergeron said before the game. “But I think on the ice, what’s stuck out the most is we took some faceoffs (Friday in practice) and he seemed to be very strong on the stick. For a young kid, it’s something you notice right away. Young guys aren’t always that strong on their sticks right away on faceoffs.”
The rookie won one draw and lost one yesterday.
Shuffle ’em up
The insertion of JFK into the lineup at center moved Ryan Spooner to left wing as he took the suspended Brad Marchand’s place on the Bergeron- David Backes line. Spooner probably doesn’t have to be concerned with losing his job to JFK, but Spooner did not have a great day with a minus-3.
Spooner’s potential linemate, Frank Vatrano, only saw 7:21 of ice time after he made a bad change on the Caps’ first goal.
Another Selke?
There’s more to winning the Selke Award than a good faceoff percentage, but it doesn’t hurt to have one. And Bergeron made a pretty good late-season run. He went into yesterday’s game having won 34 of his previous 38 draws, which included a perfect 17-for-17 against Tampa on Tuesday and seven straight against Jonathan
Toews last Sunday. “It’s like anything — when confidence is there, you get on a roll and you feel pretty good about it. I’ve been getting a lot of help from the wingers and the defensemen, especially in the defensive zone,” said Bergeron, who has won two Selke trophies. “They’re always helping out. We always talk about starting with the puck, so I think it’s important as a team. It’s like we’ve been doing it, and it’s not just centermen. It’s going well and you want to keep it going. But you’re going up against good centermen, too.”
He won 12-of-15 yesterday to finish the season with a 60.1 win percentage.
Take a bow
The Bruins’ season awards were given out before the game. David Pastrnak won the Eddie Shore Award given by the Gallery Gods for hustle and determination as well as the John P. Bucyk Award for his participation in charitable events. Marchand won the Elizabeth Dufresne Trophy for outstanding performer in home games. Tuukka
Rask, Bergeron and Marchand won the First, Second, and Third Star awards respectively. ...
Tim Schaller returned to action after missing 14 games with a lower body injury. He looked pretty strong in 11:03 of ice time, doling out three hits and getting credited with three takeaways. …
One of the biggest cheers from the Garden crowd came when Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, watching the game from one of the Garden luxury suites, was shown on the Jumbotron. Kicker Stephen Gostkowski visited the B’s locker room after the game.