Matt Poitras is a member of the Boston Bruins, and barring a serious change to the setting round him, it ought to keep that approach.
The 20-year-old isn’t an ideal participant, and with simply 50 profession video games below his belt, Poitras nonetheless has quite a bit to study. At this fee, although, the expertise is an excessive amount of to disregard and given the Bruins’ present state, the sparkplug ahead has earned the appropriate for extra on-the-job coaching on the highest degree.
Simply as it will be silly to dismiss a nasty recreation as a blip on the radar, we shouldn’t put an excessive amount of inventory into Poitras’ efficiency in Monday’s win over San Jose, both. That being mentioned, Poitras’ potential was on full show alongside new linemates, and extra importantly, he continues to exhibit the expansion of his recreation.
Poitras logged a modest 13:14 of ice time within the Bruins’ win over the Sharks, however he made probably the most of his probabilities. He chipped in with a pair of assists, each on Charlie Coyle targets within the third interval. On each tallies, Poitras confirmed off some heady, expert performs. The primary got here when he went to the puck to alleviate Brad Marchand, who confronted a double-team within the nook, earlier than feeding a nifty backhanded move into the slot for Coyle. Then, on the second Coyle aim, Poitras deftly maneuvered the puck into the assault zone the place he acquired it to the charging Coyle after which went to the online to create commotion.
Whereas Poitras is a splendidly gifted offensive participant, it’s his work in different areas that impressed and may very well be the largest indicators he’s in Boston for the lengthy haul, particularly as he begins to stack performances.
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“I feel with Matty we had been on the lookout for somebody to assist transport the puck by means of the impartial zone,” Bruins interim coach Joe Sacco mentioned after the sport. “On their aim, he did that. He got here by means of the impartial zone with some pace. … Any person to assist carry the puck by means of the impartial zone with some pace and a few area helps his flanks quite a bit.
“Defensively, Matty was good tonight. … I simply preferred the steadiness of that line right here tonight, (and) hopefully that’s one thing they’ll construct off. We’ll see.”
Give the Bruins credit score — it appears they’ve stumbled into one thing with the Poitras-Coyle-Marchand line. It is smart, too. Coyle and Marchand is likely to be the Bruins’ two most accountable forwards, who can train Poitras on the fly and canopy for him when he makes a mistake; Coyle, as Sacco famous, took the defensive-zone faceoffs.
And as they confirmed Monday, Poitras’ offensive contact and creativity may very well be simply what somebody like Coyle — not precisely identified for his offensive contact — must be productive. Poitras goes to place him able to attain extra typically.
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“I feel we are able to feed off one another,” Coyle instructed reporters after the sport.
From a big-picture standpoint, the Bruins are at a degree the place they should make some choices about their short- and long-term future. Crew president Cam Neely acknowledged as a lot final week, admitting the workforce hasn’t carried out to the extent anticipated and the Bruins should quickly decide their lane.
It’s onerous to place an excessive amount of of that on Poitras. He has solely performed in 17 of Boston’s 48 video games.
Poitras admitted the time in Windfall was “very helpful” to him, permitting him to regain his confidence, and he did that with eight targets and 12 assists in 20 video games with the P-Bruins. Whereas that was occurring, the Bruins went by means of their struggles, particularly within the offensive finish. At this level, with these choices looming, it’s extra helpful to see what Poitras can do as an on a regular basis NHLer.
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The early returns are fairly good, and Poitras is likely to be able to take off working.
