Keyser makes the stops
Goalie impressive in B’s opening win
BUFFALO — There is no doubt the Bruins have been dealing with a sizable gap in their goaltending pipeline. Zane McIntyre has not taken the next step and, just when it looked like Malcolm Subban was about to, the first-round pick was snatched by the Vegas Golden Knights on waivers last year.
That gap forced the B’s to go outside the organization for their last couple of backups, Anton Khudobin the last two years and Jaroslav Halak for this season.
But homegrown help could be on the way, albeit in a few years. While top prospect Daniel Vladar, a 2015 third-rounder, is slated to face the Buffalo Sabres tonight in this weekend’s Prospect Challenge at the Harbor Center, free agent signee Kyle Keyser got the nod in yesterday’s opener against the Pittsburgh Penguins rookies, and he impressed.
The 6-foot-2, 182-pound Keyser stopped 34-of-36 shots in the 4-2 victory. The B’s, who had nine firstand second-rounders in the lineup, jumped out to a 4-0 lead in a solid first period. Then they seemed to get almost bored. But Keyser stood tall in the last two periods, especially in the second when he faced three straight penalty kill situations.
“He competes. He’s a battler. He really competes on pucks, tries to find them. He did a nice job,” said Providence coach Jay Leach, who ran the B’s bench. “He’s a gamer, is the best way to describe him. Every game I’ve seen him play, he’s been able to rise to the occasion. That’s a tough game. He goes out in the first period and he sees what (seven) shots? Then all of a sudden they have three power plays in the second period and it’s hard. He did a really nice job of staying focused. He has a nice presence.”
The undrafted Keyser was raised in Coral Springs, Fla., where, as a youngster, he worked with current Panthers goalie coach and former Bruin Rob Tallas before moving to the upper Midwest with his mother Kimberly to chase his dream. Keyser will return to the Oshawa Generals for the upcoming season. He was an invitee to the B’s rookie camp last year and earned himself a contract.
But he has only just begun proving himself.
“You still want to come out here and perform to the best of your abilities,” said Keyser. “You don’t want to take that for granted. Every day I’m trying to impress the people upstairs and show that I’ve been working hard and I’m getting better. That’s all I care about. I’m not trying to take it easy because of what happened last year. I’m trying to build off of it and show them that I had a
‘Every day I’m trying to impress the people upstairs and show that I’ve been working hard and I’m getting better. That’s all I care about.’ — KYLE KEYSER Bruins goaltender prospect
good summer.”
He showed yesterday that he knows how to stay locked in during the dull patches of a game.
“You just have to be mentally engaged the whole game,” said Keyser. “There are times when you’re only going to see three or four shots for 15 minutes a stretch. That’s part of goaltending. You just have to be engaged for 60 straight minutes. I knew there be a time when I was going to get a barrage of shots but there are times you have to just sit there for a little bit, but you have to make sure that your mind’s ready because there could be a 2-on-1 or a breakaway coming down on you and you have to be ready to make a save for your team when they need it. That’s what I was trying to do all night, stay engaged, take deep breaths, try to focus in.”
And he stayed focused.