Former Bruins’ goaltending prospect Dan Vladar left tonight’s game early, yielding the net to Aleksei Kolosov, who has been good when needed.
The Bruins have gotten a solid preseason debut from Jeremy Swayman, who has only surrendered a late, first-period goal to Jacob Gaucher as Boston and Philadelphia took a 1-1 into the third period.
Some players look rustier than others, but Frederic Brunet and Dans Locmelis (above) are not among the rusty. Both have looked like NHLers in this camp. Brunet’s timing on puck movement has been excellent, threading outlet passes off the boards between forecheckers and onto a Boston stick with very little margin for error. Brunet also delivered the one-timer from the point that Mikey Eyssimont tipped home for Boston’s only goal thus far.
Swayman shut down Cole Knuble on a partial breakaway early in the third period, and then David Pastrnak drew a crosschecking penalty on Ty Murchison. Morgan Geekie cashed in on the powerplay, tipping Pastrnak’s pass into the slot through Kolosov for a 2-1 lead 5:19 into the third period.
Brian Halonen added an insurance tally at 7:43 of the third, making it 3-1 Boston, and Elias Lindholm made it 4-1 with 5:11 left in the game. Eyssimont added a second tally to complete the 5-1 rout.
Earlier in the day, Jeremy Jacobs announced that he is stepping down from his 19-year role as chairman of the NHL Board of Governors. Capitals owner Ted Leonsis is the new chairman. The senior Jacobs, who purchased the Bruins in 1975 from Storer Broadcasting for $7.5 million, transferred ownership to his six children a few years back for estate-planning purposes, according to Bruins CEO Charlie Jacobs.
There was also noise on social media indicating belief among cross-sport peers that Pastrnak is, in fact, the captain of the Bruins. Whether that was a leak of official news promised by GM Don Sweeney before the season begins next Tuesday at home remains to be seen.
Expect another round of training-camp cuts Wednesday morning if not immediately following tonight’s game.
The Bruins play their two preseason road games against the same opponents, Philadelphia (Thursday) and Washington (Friday).
