B’s lose game, Krug in preseason finale
The Bruins weren’t going to get out of the preseason unscathed, in the loss column or the injury front.
In a 4-1 preseason finale loss to the Flyers last night at the Garden, the Bruins might have worse news to contend with after defenseman Torey Krug didn’t return from a lower body injury in the first period.
After the game, B’s coach Bruce Cassidy had “no idea” about the severity.
“Hopefully it’s nothing serious,” he said. “Tough luck if it is.”
After missing the majority of the preseason, Krug got into his first game Wednesday night and didn’t suffer a setback. He had been projected to be ready to go for the season opener on Wednesday in Washington.
“When he got in the lineup over here, it was kind of his feel versus the medical,” said Cassidy. “When he was cleared, when he felt he would be ready to play . ... Then he gets injured again.”
Krug’s departure highlighted an already struggling defensive effort, with Philly’s first two goals coming off turnovers.
A Kevan Miller giveaway gave the Flyers their first score, as Taylor Leier found the puck on his stick underneath the left faceoff dot and fired a wrister through Tuukka Rask 5:21 into the first period.
The Bruins knotted the score 5:10 into the third period, when David Pastrnak’s shot from the point deflected off Ryan Donato for a power-play goal, but then the defensive sloppiness reared its head again.
With the B’s back on the power play, Charlie McAvoy was bounced off the puck in a race against Jori Lehtera deep into the B’s zone. Lehtera retrieved the puck and found Michael Raffl wide open in the slot to wrist in the go-ahead shorthanded goal.
Wayne Simmonds buried the dagger with the Flyers third goal with just under six minutes left in the third, following up his initial shot by sweeping the rebound past Rask. Raffl dangled around the B’s defense to backhand his second goal of the game with 1:21 left to seal it.
“Stuff happens in the preseason, maybe plays you want to prevent, things to look at going forward, but that’s the good thing about the preseason,” said McAvoy. “It sucks losing that game, and there’s a lot of things to fix and things I need to fix personally, but the good news is we have some time.”
Even with question marks looming, some of the forward play could be taken as a bright spot. In his first game since shoulder surgery eight months ago, Anders Bjork played just under 16 minutes and had some good looks as he continued to vie for one of the final roster spots.
Originally with Sean Kuraly and Ryan Donato, Bjork was sent to the second line with David Krejci and Jake DeBrusk midway through the second, but Bjork’s comfort level with Kuraly created some good shifts.
“(Kuraly) brings a ton of speed to whatever line he’s on, and I try to use my speed as well,” said Bjork. “He’s an easy guy to play with. You know what he’s going to do and he makes the right play and plays hard too. A lot of the time he was right there to support me.”
With Krug’s injury, the B’s defensive depth may get tested early. While Matt Grzelcyk is scheduled to skate tomorrow and could be ready for opening night, Cassidy expressed confidence in 19-yearold Urho Vaakanainen’s play if he were to be called upon.
“He’s been fine,” said Cassidy. “Real composed, he’s done a really good job for us. In an NHL game when things ramp up a little bit, it will be a different animal. But from what we’ve been able to evaluate, he’s been very good.”
Despite a strong preseason according to the wins and losses (a 5-1-2 mark), the Bruins have plenty to work on ahead of Wednesday night. Last night’s game emphasized how many things still need to be addressed.
“The points accumulated, which is important,” said Cassidy, “but overall play isn’t where we want it to be. Part of that is lineups; we still haven’t seen our true team.”