Bruins Notes: Boston Newcomer Shows Signs Of Being Fan Favorite Vs. Rangers

Gordie Howe hat tricks aren’t a customary part of preseason play, but new Boston Bruins forward Mark Kastelic came close to one Thursday night.

Kastelic, who the Bruins acquired this offseason from the Ottawa Senators in the trade of Linus Ullmark, scored a second-period goal and dropped the gloves just over three minutes after finding the back of the net. The only thing missing for Kasetlic was an assist in a 5-2 exhibition loss to the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.

Kastelic was a bright spot in a rather mundane performance from the Bruins, who allowed two goals in the final 1:55 of the first period to fall into a two-goal hole.

Kastelic’s scrappy showing should go over well with Jim Montgomery since the Bruins head coach saw exactly what he wanted to see out of the contest in the veteran forward’s play.

“The most important thing here is what we’re looking for is see our team game build, which that was below average tonight,” Montgomery told reporters, per team-provided video. “The other part is individuals making a mark themselves and showing some emotion and physicality when things aren’t going our way to build momentum for the team.”

Kastelic sure did try to provide the latter for the Bruins. The 25-year-old muscled his way to the front of the net with 6:32 left in the second period and redirected a shot from Drew Bavaro past Rangers netminder Jonathan Quick.

Kastelic looked to keep the momentum up when he fought Rangers defenseman Connor Mackey later in the frame. The scrap occurred after the 6-foot-4, 226-pound Kastelic, who is known for his bruising style, lit up Mackey in the corner.

That type of play and production certainly will go a long way for Kastelic to ingratiate himself with Bruins fans. And it wouldn’t be a surprise if he quickly becomes a fan favorite for his hard-nosed efforts.

Here are more notes from Thursday’s Bruins-Rangers game:

— Brandon Bussi got his second look at the Rangers this preseason and had an uneven performance. He played the entire game and made 28 saves but allowed four goals. The goals weren’t solely on him as one of them came on a 5-on-3 power play and another on a breakaway. The 26-year-old struggled with controlling rebounds as he contends for a roster spot.

“I think they did a good job of trying to get bodies in front, getting a stick on a lot of shots, redirecting them. Credit to them,” Bussi told reporters, per team-provided video. “I think rebounds were the big thing tonight. You clean those up a little bit, you’ll have a little easier night in net.”

— Nikita Zadorov and his hulking 6-foot-6, 248-pound frame could have made a lot of noise in his preseason debut with Boston, but it was a quiet performance from the Bruins newcomer with a couple of hiccups, too. Zadorov took a cross-checking penalty in the first period to set up New York’s 5-on-3 man advantage, and later in the stanza, he had a misplay along the boards that led to Brennan Othmann’s breakaway goal.

— Brett Harrison is a longshot to make the roster, but he notched the first goal for the Bruins with a patient move to beat Quick. Morgan Geekie registered the assist.

— The Bruins played a small handful of NHL regulars in the loss as Kastelic, Zadorov, Geekie, David Pastrnak, Matthew Poitras, Pavel Zacha and Charlie McAvoy all took the ice. Poitras, Zacha and Pastrnak skated on the same line, and each finished as a minus-3.

— Zacha served in a new role as an alternate captain for the contest. It’s likely only a preseason honor for the forward, who is entering his 10th NHL season. Pastrnak and McAvoy also wore the stitched ‘A’ on their jerseys like they did last season.

— The Bruins play their fourth preseason game Saturday night in Philadelphia against the Flyers. Puck drop from Wells Fargo Center is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.