Matthew Poitras, Johnny Beecher Flash Potential In Bruins Debuts

Sometimes, it can be difficult to determine what will translate from the preseason to the regular season, but two Bruins rookies showed they’re ready to contribute right away.

Boston beat the Chicago Blackhawks 3-1 at TD Garden on Wednesday in a night highlighted by the returns of multiple legends for the opening of the franchise’s centennial season. It also marked the second game for emerging Blackhawks phenom Connor Bedard.

It’s only natural for players to get caught in the moment, but that wasn’t the case for Matthew Poitras and Johnny Beecher. Poitras helped the Bruins even the score after Bedard’s first goal by registering the first NHL point of his career with a secondary assist off a deflected Brandon Carlo shot that Trent Frederic finished.

Frederic admitted he was impressed with Poitras’ poise. And throughout Wednesday night, Poitras continued to find opportunities for his teammates and nearly had his own goal, too, with the two shots he got on net. But Poitras’ patience and ability to work the left wall stood out, especially for a player making his NHL debut.

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Poitras also won five of his seven faceoffs, and while Boston’s offense didn’t steamroll Chicago, the 2022 second-round pick’s ability to maintain puck control and seamlessly find open teammates for scoring opportunities will be a huge asset when the top-six forwards don’t have their best games. Poirtas also played well centering the second power-play unit.

“I felt pretty good. Felt good out there,” Poitras told reporters, per Eric Russo of BostonBruins.com. “It was nice to kind of get that first point out of the way then kind of roll from there. There weren’t too many nerves. Once I got that first shift out of the way, then everything kind of faded away. … I felt like it was definitely faster. It was definitely harder to hold onto pucks. It just kind of ramped up a bit.”

Beecher centered the fourth line, which arguably was the best line Wednesday night. Milan Lucic notched an assist on David Pastrnak’s goal, but Jakub Lauko and Beecher also helped bring physicality to the Blackhawks. Lauko scrapped to help draw a power play.

But Beecher’s toughness was on display when Jason Dickinson went up to the 2019 first-round pick’s face after he boarded his Blackhawks teammate, Cole Guttman, in the third period. Beecher didn’t arrive in Boston with a fighting résumé, but the 6-foot-3 forward didn’t hesitate to throw hands at Dickinson and more than held his own. It might not have been a high-profile encounter, but it was a message to the rest of the NHL that he’s not a pushover.

“He did well. He could use a little work,” Lucic told reporters of the fight, per The Boston Globe’s Conor Ryan. “So I could give him a few pointers. Good to see him stand up for himself there.”

Beecher won six of 11 faceoffs and had a shot on goal, so he showed he can contribute on offense, too.

There were a lot of question marks after Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci retired, but the Bruins — with Poitras and Beecher — showed Wednesday they still are among the best teams in the NHL and there’s still plenty of talent on the roster.