Trent Frederic was a healthy scratch for the Boston Bruins in their season-opening win against the Washington Capitals, but will slot into the lineup Saturday night.
The Boston forward will play on the third line and Craig Smith will move up to the top line after Jake DeBrusk suffered an upper-body injury Wednesday that will sideline him Saturday. Frederic did get into a bit of penalty trouble last year and was outplayed during training camp and preseason, but he’ll get his chance in front of the Bruins’ home crowd and under a new head coach.
After Saturday’s optional skate, Jim Montgomery revealed what his message was to Frederic.
“For a lot of players when they’re thinking too much, you try and give them one or two things to think about and for him I just told him to hunt and hit,” Montgomery told reporters. “Go hunting out there. That kind of mindset gets you on your toes and gets your feet moving and usually impact the game. He’s had his best practices here in the last three practices in a row so I’m excited to see how it translates into the game.”
Frederic certainly can get under the skin of opponents. We saw it last year when he got Alex Ovechkin off the ice and into the penalty box — making the Capitals be without their best goal scorer for two minutes. He can bring a lot to the Bruins and energize the bottom six, but Frederic just needs to be smart with his play.
The Bruins and Coyotes drop the puck from TD Garden on Saturday night at 7 p.m. ET, and you can catch all the action beginning at 6 p.m. on NESN.
