BOSTON — Trent Frederic made a quite an entrance to the NHL on Tuesday night.
The Boston Bruins rookie made his debut against the Winnipeg Jets and showed he was not afraid to throw his 6-foot-1, 203-pound frame around.
The 20-year-old forward sent the TD Garden crowd into a frenzy when he threw down with Jets’ Brandon Tanev late in the second period of Tuesday’s 4-3 shootout loss.
The rookie landed a couple big shots in earning the takedown and got a rousing ovation from the Bruins faithful.
After the game, the praise continued courtesy of Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy.
“I thought he played very well, I mean, he’s as advertised,” Cassidy said. “He played between the dots, strong on pucks, played behind their defense, made a few plays.
“Great scrap, good for him. We need some of that,” Cassidy added. “There are a lot of younger players in the league now, so it can’t be (Zdeno Chara) and (David Backes) policing 20-year-olds every night. … You need a little bit of our younger guys to stiffen up. And (Frederic) brought that tonight, hopefully it rubs off.”
Frederic played 13 shifts, logging 8:29 of ice time while firing two shots and registering two hits. He also went 4-for-7 at the faceoff dot.
The pivot moved nicely into the third line alongside Danton Heinen and David Backes. It would not be hard to see Frederic show some staying power with the big-league club if he continues to provide the punch the B’s have been searching for on their third line.
