The 19-year-old was arguably the B's best forward in the 3-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday night.
Matt Poitras has given the Boston Bruins Brass much to talk about after his standout performance against the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday night.
In a 3-1 Bruins loss that saw them all but throw the game away in a flat second period, Poitras was a bright spot and put together a convincing 16:39 of ice time as arguably the B’s best forward.
Bruins coach Jim Montgomery emphasized Sunday that he wanted to see bubble players dig deep as the opening night lineup becomes more clear towards the end of camp. While Poitras skated with Group B this weekend, based on his showing in Philly, he is still pushing to crack the NHL roster. And he’s making a darn good case for himself, too.
“I thought he did an excellent job tonight,” Montgomery said postgame of Poitras. “He shows a lot of poise with the puck, he makes plays, he makes intelligent support plays. He’s someone that built our team game tonight out there and made a lot of smart hockey plays.”
Poitras centered a line with Jesper Boqvist and Marc McLaughlin on the wings against the Flyers and proved that he can drive play without the help of Bruins All-Star David Pastrnak, whom he’d been skating with earlier in camp.
The 19-year-old got reps on both the power play and penalty kill, garnering the secondary assist on the Bruins’ sole goal of the game from Morgan Geekie while on the man advantage at 14:50 of the first period.
Poitras, from the left side, slid the puck down to Charlie Coyle just above the goal line who then back-handed it to a net-front Geekie to knock it past Philly goalie Samuel Ersson. On the power play and 5-on-5, Poitras’ spacial awareness and high hockey IQ was abundantly apparent as he found slots and seams to connect with his teammates with little space and time.
Poitras also went 72.7 percent at the face-off dot, winning eight of 11 total draws.
The B’s 2022 second-round draft pick is ineligible to play for AHL Providence this season due to the NHL-CHL transfer agreement, so if he doesn't make the final cut, Poitras will head back to the OHL to play for the Guelph Storm, where he tallied 79 assists (and 16 goals) in 63 games last season.
With limited spots open up front – and the fact that Poitras is not even 20 – the likelihood of him cementing a roster spot seemed slim at the beginning of camp. But, Poitras has led with his ‘why not me?’ mindset and it’s worked out in his favor.
“Try to be a surprise,” Poitras said on Sept. 21. “I’m still young but why not this year, try to make the Bruins, try to play in the NHL?”
The Bruins are looking to bolster their depth down the middle and – while not playing against a full NHL lineup – Poitras has shown his prowess with the puck through three preseason games played. He’s still adjusting to the speed and size that the NHL level brings, but the kid has held his own and even outplayed a handful of his veteran counterparts – especially on Monday at the Wells Fargo Center.
Asked pregame what he was looking for from the players on Monday’s game roster who are still battling for position, Montgomery described the exact type of performance that Poitras soon presented him with.
“This may sound repetitive, but it’s the guys that build the team game. Guys that can make plays offensively and make plays defensively, play fast,” Montgomery said. “We’re looking for the guys who can execute that.”
It’s been preached from the top down since the very beginning of camp that the players that deserve to make the NHL roster, simply put, will. It’s a small sample size, but looking at the 60 minutes of play on Monday, I’m not sure there was another Bruin on the ice that wanted it more than Poitras.
“For me, obviously the goal is to try to make the Bruins, it would be a dream come true to play in the NHL,” Poitras said on Sept. 21. “I think just putting my best foot forward, try to make it as difficult as possible for them to send me back to Juniors.”