The Boston Bruins skated to a 3-0 shutout against the New York Rangers at TD Garden in their first preseason game on Sunday night.
Goaltender Brandon Bussi stopped all 29 Rangers’ shots he faced earning his first win of the postseason.
“I felt pretty good,” Bussi told Adam Pellerin, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “I was able to knock a little bit of the rust off for sure. Thought my rebound control was a little hit or miss. It’s just a huge credit to the team for the buy-in, clearing pucks, doing all the little things.”
Bussi earned an early “save of the year” candidate highlight reel when he robbed Rangers forward Johnny Brodzinski with the flash of his glove.
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“Little compete, little luck,” Bussi said of the save. “You got to battle and sometimes hope you get the puck bounce. I did tonight.”
Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery thought it was more about the goalie than lady luck.
“He was phenomenal,” Montgomery said, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “He was the best player in the game. If it wasn’t for him we might have been on the wrong side of the scoreboard but he played well.”
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Montgomery said that even though a lot of players are battling for roster spots come opening night, he is not just evaluating individual performances but the team as a whole.
“My concern is how are we building our team game?” Montgomery said. “Are we starting to see the things we tried to implement the past three days (of training camp)? Are we starting to see it being executed in games?”
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The second-year coach said that he saw glimpses of the game plan being executed, but not for a full 60 minutes.
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“There were parts of our game that were really good. The first period, transition both ways,” Montgomery explained. “But as the game wore on, you could tell our breakouts weren’t very good. You could tell our entries and possession play in the offensive zone weren’t very good.”
Here are more notes from Sunday’s Bruins-Rangers game:
— Matthew Poitras opened the scoring for the Bruins with a power-play goal in the first period from Reilly Walsh and Jake DeBrusk.
“We had them hemmed down in their end for a little while and the (penalty killers) were a little tired,” Poitras said during the first-period intermission, as seen on NESN. “So, Walshy game me the pass over and the seam opened up — I let it fly. I was fortunate enough it went in the net.”
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— DeBrusk looked like he was ready for the season to start when he potted his first goal of the preseason in the second period. James van Riemsdyk and Poitras had the assists.
— Bruins prospect Johnny Beecher is battling for a spot in Boston’s bottom six forward group. He notched his first goal of the preseason and won seven of the 11 faceoffs he took.
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“It’s huge. Just a confidence booster. Everybody loves seeing the puck go in the back of the net,” Beecher told reporters after the game, per team-provided video. “It’s a big thing for me, relying on my shot and all the training I had this summer. It was nice to get the first one out of the way.”
— The Bruins will play their next preseason game on Tuesday night when the club heads to Buffalo, N.Y. for a matchup with the Sabres. Puck drop from KeyBank Center is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET. You can catch the game on NESN+.
Featured image via Eric Canha/USA TODAY Sports Images
