On Monday night, the Bruins would come back to beat the Florida Panthers 3-2 in overtime after falling behind 2-0 earlier in the game. A win against the division rival who knocked them out of the playoffs in April may have felt good in the moment, but they would walk out of that game missing three backs: Charlie McAvoy (suspension), Derek Forbort (injured), and Matt Grzelcyk (long-term injured reserve). It was known that Derek Forbort was battling an injury, so the risk was always there, but losing their top pair was not featured in the underwriting for the Bruins.
Under the captaincy of Brad Marchand, the Bruins have the second worst penalty differential at a rate, primarily because they have taken the fourth most penalties at a rate. If there was a critique in the crowning of the long-time Bruin, this was it. Late in the game Monday night, McAvoy’s undisciplined hit led to a five-minute match penalty against the Panthers Oliver Ekman-Larsson which would lead to a four-game suspension.
At 5:20 on Thursday night, Derek Forbort was walking his dog, Darla, through North Station. Something about the calmness of the unrecognized Bruin casually going about his day roughly two hours before gametime made you feel like everything was going to be alright. There was a hefty weight on the shoulders of Hampus Lindholm and Brandon Carlo to carry their mates through the tough minutes against the Matthews and Tavares lines, but the Bruins would be able to handle the weak bottom-six of the Maple Leafs.
Mason Lohrei got the start, alongside Brandon Carlo with David Pastrnak, Matthew Poitras, and David Pastrnak up front. 23 seconds into the game, a shot from the point that was deflected by former-Bruin Tyler Bertuzzi got through to Jeremy Swayman, leaving a potential juicy rebound for the Maple Leafs captain which Lohrei cleared away. Certainly not the easiest first shift in the NHL.
But it wouldn’t take long for debut kid to record his first point. Just over 19 minutes late, the Bruins would open up the scoring with a goal from Pavel Zacha, assisted by Brandon Carlo and Mason Lohrei.
“Heino made a great effort to get [the puck] out to me at the point. Brando just activated on the side,” Lohrei recollected. “I kind of just drew a guy out to me and hit him, and obviously he made a great pass.”
What stood out on the assist, and what he fails to give himself credit for, is taking the extra second with the puck to allow Carlo’s activation to fully develop. While Bertuzzi’s lack of details and hockey IQ have traveled with him to Toronto, which certainly didn’t help matters here, the threat of a shot while Carlo is able to take more open space is not something many rookie backs are going to be poised enough to do.
Lohrei also impressed in his ability to lead breakouts, controlling seven of nine exit attempts. He had his share of pretty passes out of the defensive zone, but what impressed me most was arguably his ugliest one.
When gathering the puck in the corner, Lohrei shields the puck from the forechecker and makes the simple pass to Morgan Geekie on the center swing. All five Bruins are at the end of their shift. Perhaps the fatigue combined with Geekie not playing much center this season led to an errant attempt. But Lohrei stuck with the play, managed in a tight space, and completed the transition for a dump-and-change.
The way that Lohrei managed his way through regulation gave Jim Montgomery the confidence to deploy him in overtime, where he would eventually be stacked against Auston Matthews, Morgan Rielly, and William Nylander. And it would be his stick who helped force a turnover which would lead to David Pastrnak drawing a penalty.
Lohrei forced Montgomery to throw any bit of cliche wisdom of deployment of a rookie out the window. The game ended with the Bruins having a 20-15 advantage in shot attempts with him on the ice at 5v5, with more than 14 of his 17 minutes against either John Tavares or Auston Matthews.
Of course, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. Lohrei had a poor showing in Detroit, along with most of his teammates. The Red Wings outshot the Bruins 28-12 with him on the ice at 5v5, as he took a pair of minor penalties that sent the Bruins to the penalty kill, both of which the Red Wings scored on in the 5-4 loss on Saturday night.
One thing in Lohrei’s favor is that the Bruins don’t have the depth to push him out of a spot right now. They are forced to have the patience to see him through at least another game, but most likely until Grzelcyk returns to the lineup. As Lohrei said on Thursday night, “It’s good for your mind when you know you’re going to be going back out there.”
Maybe there is a part of him that won’t let him realize that he is he first replacement on the left side and that the Bruins need to do everything they can to make sure he fits into their lineup next season, but this statement of fact is what will guide his development. It’s tough for coaches to develop players when they are in win-now mode, because they can’t afford to ice sub-optimal lineups or there is a chance they’ll get fired. But without alternatives, the Bruins coaching staff is being forced to make their projects work. Judging by another Matthew Poitras goal on Saturday night, it isn’t going that poorly either.
Something that stuck with me after talking with AJ Greer this time last year was how much support he felt he had from the coaching staff. It’s a cultural thing. Patrice Bergeron may have retired, but the culture of continuous improvement and accountability that he helped establish over the last 20 years was transformational for the franchise. If the Bruins are able to transition into the next era of contention, led by a core of Charlie McAvoy, David Pastrnak, and Jeremy Swayman, Bergeron’s legacy will pay its part.