Trent Frederic may not be lighting the lamp every game, but he’s certainly making his presence known on the ice.
That was the case Wednesday night at TD Garden during the Boston Bruins’ 2-1 shootout loss to the Washington Capitals.
Frederic tried to fight Alex Ovechkin, giving his jersey a few tugs before agitating him a bit more later in the game. That led to both players going off for penalties after Ovechkin speared Frederic.
But this agitating, instigating type of play is nothing new to Frederic. The 23-year-old dropped the gloves in his NHL debut back in 2019 against Brandon Tanev and showed opponents that he could throw some serious haymakers.
B’s head coach Bruce Cassidy has no issue with how Frederic played during his time with the team this year. And wants Frederic to continue that style of play so long as it doesn’t impact his game.
“He’s come into the league and decided he’s gonna be an agitator to a certain extent, but keep his discipline, so it’s not putting us at a disadvantage,” Cassidy said after the game. “I think he’s done a good job with it. . … We like that out of him. It’s a little bit of abrasiveness. It’s still welcome in the game. He can continue to bring it as long as he doesn’t get off his game.”
Brad Marchand, who was a bit of a pest early on in his career, echoed those sentiments.
“I think he’s been doing a great job so far. He’s in people’s faces every single game. He’s tough, plays physical. … I think he’s been doing a great job. He’s really come in, earned his spot. He competes hard every day. He’s a great kid in the room. Brings a lot of energy. So I think for him, he wants to toe the line, but he’s been really good at that. He doesn’t seem to cross it very much. He’s just learning the game, and he’s been doing a great job so far.
“… We definitely feed off him.”
Here are some other notes from Wednesday’s Bruins-Caps game:
— Zdeno Chara made his return to TD Garden without fans in attendance. He still received a video tribute from the team he served as captain for 14 seasons, though.
Still, after the ovation he received in Game 5 of the 2019 Stanley Cup Finals after suffering a broken jaw the game prior, it’s fair to wonder just how loud TD Garden would have been.
“I felt a little bad for him that there weren’t 18,000-plus fans here giving him the ovation he deserved, to be honest with you,” Cassidy said. “That would have been a real nice thing for him, but obviously that’s not able to be done right now with the circumstances, so too bad for him. … I certainly thought of the St. Louis final, coming back from a broken jaw, was probably the first thing that went through my head, the ovation he got that night I’m sure it would have been very similar.”
— David Pastrnak continued to add to his goal totals when he potted No. 10 in the third period to open the scoring.
— Tuukka Rask made some pretty big saves between the pipes, including one on Dmitry Orlov in overtime that helped push the game to a shootout.
— The Capitals and Bruins are in first and second place, respectively, in the East Division. Washington still holds the edge after picking up two points Wednesday, but Boston remains close behind.
— These two teams go at it again Friday night at TD Garden.
