Lucic had a goal and an assist in his return to TD Garden as a Bruin while playing on a line with Johnny Beecher and Jakub Lauko.
Milan Lucic’s return to Boston is more than just a feel-good, full circle story.
In the Bruins’ 5-4 overtime loss to the Washington Capitals on Tuesday, the 35-year-old winger proved that he’s still got the offensive punch B’s fans remember him for earlier in his career and, while his physicality is an obvious benefit, he’s here to be more than an enforcer.
Lucic returned to the TD Garden ice sporting the spoked-B for the first time since the 2014-15 season Tuesday night and posted a goal and an assist while skating on the potential regular season fourth line with center Johnny Beecher and right wing Jakub Lauko.
“To be honest, I was kind of nervous and had a little anxiety on that first shift and to be able to make a play on a goal right off the bat took a lot of those butterflies away,” Lucic said. “Felt good, felt right. No matter how long it’s been, kind of erase it and feel like you’re home again.”
With the game tied 1-1 less than a minute into the fist period, Lucic set up Mason Lohrei, dishing him the puck from the right side across the zone, for the defenseman to snap it home for a 2-1 advantage at 2:42.
That’s when the “Loooooch” chants started, and they didn’t waver for the rest of the night.
Lucic’s line continued to push the pace of play through three periods, finding a nice balance of young speed and veteran sandpaper that went in, did the dirty work, and came out with offensive opportunities because of it.
“I thought we were good, I thought we were on the puck and created a bunch of chances,” Lucic said. “We were good as a line and I think all three of us are at our best when we’re moving our feet and, obviously, playing with the puck. We did that more than not tonight so that was good to see.”
After winning a puck battle in the O-zone, Lucic cashed in for his first goal of the preseason, lofting one from the right circle that deflected off Capitals forward Sonny Milano’s stick and in as Beecher stationed himself above the crease. Lucic’s tally tied the game 3-3 at 8:23 in the second period.
“Nice to get one back, get one on my first home game back,” Lucic said. “I know it’s preseason and kind of unofficial, but obviously good to get that one.”
The chances that Lucic and his linemates created weren’t highlight reel material, but that’s not what you need from a fourth line. The trio made it hard on the Capitals, taking away space and clogging up the neutral zone, while earning every quality shot they let off.
To the likes of Bruins coach Jim Montgomery, Lucic, Beecher and Lauko’s buttoned-up defensive effort created looks the other way.
“I think we played a pretty solid game as a line and we were able to kind of push a couple of nice turnovers,” Beecher said. “Really kind of just dialed in, being a heavy, hard line to play against. Getting pucks deep when you have to, just using our speed, being reliable in the D-zone.”
Along with Matt Poitras, Beecher is another player forcing the Bruins’ front office to think long and hard about the makeup of its 2023-24 forward group.
Through three preseason games played, Beecher has shown his stability down the middle, and on Tuesday, really flashed his speed to help get his line going. He was slick on the transition, wholly bought into the bottom six role and also went 7-for-13 at the dot (54 percent).
“I thought he was really good,” Montgomery said. “I thought he won a lot of battles that created offense, he got a lot of good offense from defense which is something that was very encouraging to see. He played a really good hockey game.”
The Bruins have one preseason game left – Thursday against the New York Rangers – before opening night on Oct.11, and Montgomery said the lineup at Madison Square Garden will likely mirror the regular season rotation.
Beecher’s general body of work through training camp has stood out, and his chemistry with Lucic and Lauko on Tuesday lended to the type of fourth line that the Bruins breed for – grinding, gritty but still goal-scoring.
Whether Beecher will continue to make that impact on an NHL roster will be determined in the coming days.
“It’s tough at the end of the day – it’s three or four games at the start of the year – but I’m happy with the production I’ve had and I’ve done a lot of the things I wanted to do coming in,” Beecher said.