Post-Game Talk: PS 2 - Niagara Falls.................... - Buffalo 4 BRUINS 1

[Alicat]

AHL preaseason starts on Tuesday so today may be a cut day

 

[aguineapig72]

Mitchell threw his hat into the ring. Beecher kept his in it. Lohrei got his feet wet early and went swimmingly as the game went on. The plan I sent to Blowfish to kidnap Benson and get him on the bus back to Boston went bust when he slipped through Blowfish's hands due to the grease on them from all the chicken wings.

 

[Beesfan]

I think you’re supposed to ice a weaker lineup on the road. Give the home town fans some tto cheer for and you get to see how your guys respond to adversity. That said, it was a lineup very low on creativity. I do think they were expecting more from Merkulov. He was very quiet offensively.

I think it's more that there is no reason for the older veterans to be traveling during the preseason. Give them as much time at home as possible.

 

[Guelph Bruin]

Mitchell threw his hat into the ring. Beecher kept his in it. Lohrei got his feet wet early and went swimmingly as the game went on. The plan I sent to Blowfish to kidnap Benson and get him on the bus back to Boston went bust when he slipped through Blowfish's hands due to the grease on them from all the chicken wings.

Benson is an absolute steal at 13th for Buffalo, kid's going to be special if he stays healthy.

 

[HustleB]

They always bring up pace - and Merkulov will need to up this and he should be able to.

His ancillary gsme was good - he won some of the cleanest draws, board play he didn’t get bulldozed over and used angles and stick to win the puck or keep it going till got support- and when he had to the puck good things happened

However without pace you are constantly going to be playing defense and chasing

Monty saw this and flipped Merkulov with Boqvist who pace is not an issue

Immediately his two wingers Heinen & Steen started getting involved

Pace was not an issue for Heinen it was involvement early

Once Boqvist added go rewatch Heinen rest of period - he had a strong period filled with an o zone steal, pushing defense with quickness, good decisions, passing - active around net

Brickley identified this before it happened

Heinen could be cut but today he should have a better chance of making then this time yesterday

To me he’s the third line LW who can jump up as he did early on

He got a thumbs up

I don’t see Poitras sticking

After 2 games I land here

63-13-74
21-18-88
43-11-Geekie
17-Beecher - Lauko
Boqvist

Greer & Steen waived

However both looked good and no problems if stick

I think Boquist and Heinen will be flipped as will Geekie and Frederic.

 

[Beesfan]

Overall super boring game and I fast forwarded through a lot of the middle, but from what I saw...

Beecher was good. Could stand to be more physical and I saw a couple turnovers, but he is controlling the puck well and using his size and speed to move the play up the ice from the center position.

Mitchell put himself into serious contention. There's a real competition between him and Zboril any maybe even Shattenkirk. He seems to play like Clifton with actually a bit more offensive acumen but less physicality.

Lohrei showed his talent, which is what you want to see at this stage. His stat line at the end of the night was good. I think there is all the reason in the world to start him in Providence, but he could be an NHL player by April.

No one else was really worth commenting on in a positive way. Merkulov and Toporowski looked like classic AHL skill players. It's obvious they are not as good as Heinen, who was just the same old Heinen. Chaisson looked like a PTO veteran who did not find the fountain of youth in the summer. I saw positive glimpses from Lauko and Kuntar but overall their impact was limited. Steen scored a goal but that was the only time I heard his name called.

 

[neelynugs]

They always bring up pace - and Merkulov will need to up this and he should be able to.

His ancillary gsme was good - he won some of the cleanest draws, board play he didn’t get bulldozed over and used angles and stick to win the puck or keep it going till got support- and when he had to the puck good things happened

However without pace you are constantly going to be playing defense and chasing

Monty saw this and flipped Merkulov with Boqvist who pace is not an issue

Immediately his two wingers Heinen & Steen started getting involved

Pace was not an issue for Heinen it was involvement early

Once Boqvist added go rewatch Heinen rest of period - he had a strong period filled with an o zone steal, pushing defense with quickness, good decisions, passing - active around net

Brickley identified this before it happened

Heinen could be cut but today he should have a better chance of making then this time yesterday

To me he’s the third line LW who can jump up as he did early on

He got a thumbs up

I don’t see Poitras sticking

After 2 games I land here

63-13-74
21-18-88
43-11-Geekie
17-Beecher - Lauko
Boqvist

Greer & Steen waived

However both looked good and no problems if stick

no patrick brown? assume he's making the team with a one-way deal for 2 years, PK/faceoff guy.
is he injured? i think i saw him block a shot in the first preseason game. hard to get info this time of year.

i like beecher's progression. middle of last year not a lot of good things were being said about him or his game.
always thought of him as a similar version of kuraly. that's the role that will get him a paycheck.

 

[NDiesel]

IMO Heinen and Chiasson didn't do much to earn a contract. Beecher looked good, Lohrei did as well offensively and in transition, and Mitchell was very noticeable.

All that being said, I was watching on my phone so tough to see everything out there.

 

[wintersej]

Other than having the ability to watch the bruins up close anywhere in the arena this game was blah for the bruins and the sabres were simply too good for this group of players...

For Buffalo, Levi will help Buffalo make the playoffs, Benson at age 18 might make the team (unbelievable talent - his quick decision making, speed, creativity, and confidence at 18 was fun to watch)

From the list of players that are not NHL regulars...

My standouts for Boston were Lohrei, Mitchell, Boquist, McLaughlin, Steen (much faster he could make the team), Beecher, Lauko

My disappointments for Boston were Merkulov, Kuntar, Mast, Heinen (sorry DKH I was hoping to see more but his minutes were low for good reason - it's time to give prospects NHL love not the Heinens)

My binky was okay ..Topo didn't show up on the scoreboard but he was engaged, strong on his skates, pain in arse to play against, disrupted bunch of plays, and I thought his line had some of the best chances to score.

#1 star - Lohrei (dude played big league minutes for a reason) ... Mitchell was runner up.

Cuts should be Farinacci, Heinen, Kuntar, Merkulov, Brunet, Edward, Mast,

LOL yes "extremely good" ...I did manage to leave the game early & "of course? miss the only Bruin goal but made it to the border before everyone else...

Your binky should clearly be on the cut list.

Heinen won’t be cut yet. I think Merkulov gets one more chance in a better lineup.

 

[MarchysNoseKnows]

Your binky should clearly be on the cut list.

Heinen won’t be cut yet. I think Merkulov gets one more chance in a better lineup.

Topo looked like he was on peyote last night.

 

[DKH]

no patrick brown? assume he's making the team with a one-way deal for 2 years, PK/faceoff guy.
is he injured? i think i saw him block a shot in the first preseason game. hard to get info this time of year.

i like beecher's progression. middle of last year not a lot of good things were being said about him or his game.
always thought of him as a similar version of kuraly. that's the role that will get him a paycheck.

Yah forgot - he will clear waivers

They got a lot of guys

 

[neelynugs]

Yah forgot - he will clear waivers

They got a lot of guys

lots of interchangeable parts among the bottom 6, which bodes well for any injury issues this year. providence should be
pretty good.

 

[BMC]

I think Beecher made a good case for being the 4C. He's played well in both games. Lohrei- IDK. I wasn't impressed with him the first period and a half but he got better as the game went on.
Woodstock had a very good third but he needs to step it up if he wants a spot, he wasn't good the first two periods. Maybe the change in linemates got him going.
I thought Looch looked good- he had no trouble keeping up with the play at all. Still an intimidating presence too.
Jack- had a few flubs but I thought he was better than last season. I think if he can keep the adrenaline under control & stay calmer while calling a game that will help him.

Next up is the Flyers.

 

[Bodit9]

Benson is an absolute steal at 13th for Buffalo, kid's going to be special if he stays healthy.

Benson was very impressive. Can't believe he's 18.

 

[GoBs]

Lohrei was the standout for the Bruins.

He played great and against Buffalo’s top line with Carlo. Almost 30 minutes first game of the year that’s allot of hockey.

 

[Orr Fourever]

Danton Heinen...

 

[Bodit9]

Other than having the ability to watch the bruins up close anywhere in the arena this game was blah for the bruins and the sabres were simply too good for this group of players...

For Buffalo, Levi will help Buffalo make the playoffs, Benson at age 18 might make the team (unbelievable talent - his quick decision making, speed, creativity, and confidence at 18 was fun to watch)

From the list of players that are not NHL regulars...

My standouts for Boston were Lohrei, Mitchell, Boquist, McLaughlin, Steen (much faster he could make the team), Beecher, Lauko

My disappointments for Boston were Merkulov, Kuntar, Mast, Heinen (sorry DKH I was hoping to see more but his minutes were low for good reason - it's time to give prospects NHL love not the Heinens)

My binky was okay ..Topo didn't show up on the scoreboard but he was engaged, strong on his skates, pain in arse to play against, disrupted bunch of plays, and I thought his line had some of the best chances to score.

#1 star - Lohrei (dude played big league minutes for a reason) ... Mitchell was runner up.

Cuts should be Farinacci, Heinen, Kuntar, Merkulov, Brunet, Edward, Mast,

LOL yes "extremely good" ...I did manage to leave the game early & "of course? miss the only Bruin goal but made it to the border before everyone else...

Topo was a turnover machine. Several poor decisions. Needs to clean that up.

 

[JOKER 192]

I thought Lohrei was very tentative at the start of the game. Someone must have told him not to be afraid to make mistakes because as the game went on you saw him throw caution to the wind and it worked really well for him. Coach giving him 30 minutes of TOI probably didn't hurt either.

 

[Bodit9]

Fancy Stats:

Player 5v5 xGF%
Alex Chiasson 67.23
Frederic Brunet 66.27
Jakub Lauko 63.53
Brandon Carlo 63.24
Mason Lohrei 62.37
Georgii Merkulov 62.11
Trevor Kuntar 56.59
John Beecher 53.85
Luke Toporowski 48.61
Ian Mitchell 46.34
Marc McLaughlin 46.04
Jayson Megna 36.56
Jesper Boqvist 32.97
Milan Lucic 32.08
Danton Heinen 28.01
Ryan Mast 27.3
Oskar Steen 24.85
Matt Grzelcyk 24.08

 

[ODAAT]

totally expected sloppy tilt with so many younger players dressed. My first real look at Merkulov, mistakes made but can see the skill there, saw nothing from Topo who I was also watching for the first time.

Saw lots to like from Lohrei, Brick alluded to it during the broadcast, going to see both the good and the not so good making young mistakes

Really liked the assertiveness from Mitchell, I knew nothing about him before, solid mobility

Like a lot from Beecher but a few stretches of being invisible

 

[SanDogBrewin]

 

[AngryMilkcrates]

wow

 

[JOKER 192]

I think Boquist and Heinen will be flipped as will Geekie and Frederic.

They are not gonna sign Hienen to make him the 13th forward.

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

Fancy Stats:

Player 5v5 xGF%
Alex Chiasson 67.23
Frederic Brunet 66.27
Jakub Lauko 63.53
Brandon Carlo 63.24
Mason Lohrei 62.37
Georgii Merkulov 62.11
Trevor Kuntar 56.59
John Beecher 53.85
Luke Toporowski 48.61
Ian Mitchell 46.34
Marc McLaughlin 46.04
Jayson Megna 36.56
Jesper Boqvist 32.97
Milan Lucic 32.08
Danton Heinen 28.01
Ryan Mast 27.3
Oskar Steen 24.85
Matt Grzelcyk 24.08

Which is better, high number or low number?

 

[ODAAT]

showcase for blockbuster trade