Need to Know: Bruins at Sabres

BOSTON – Milan Lucic remembers well his first preseason game.

The hulking winger was just 19 years old and riding on a line with veteran pugilist Shawn Thornton as the Bruins visited St. John’s, Newfoundland for an exhibition tilt in September 2007.

“I remember being really nervous…was one of those things, obviously, you always remember,” said Lucic. “But it ended up being good, my linemate was Shawn Thornton, he did a good job, especially my first year – just calming me down and talking me through things and stuff like that.”

Now 35 and entering his 17^th season in the National Hockey League, Lucic has been through his share of preseason contests. But when he hits the ice on Tuesday night in Buffalo, he admitted that pulling on that Spoked-B again after an eight-year hiatus will likely bring out the emotions.

“I guess a little bit of the same feeling here, little butterflies and all of that type of stuff,” said Lucic. “Just being here every day, I guess, helps you move on from the ‘I’m back’ type of phase…it’s the first time actually putting the jersey on and getting into some action. Once you get into the everyday action of it, you can get over that and into the right mindset…every day that goes on it feels more normal and over that phase.”

Like Thornton all those years ago, it’s now Lucic acting as one of the calming, veteran voice in the Bruins dressing room, especially with a large chunk of youngsters on the roster against the Sabres.

“I had a really good experience at the World Championships [back in the spring] kind of being the older guy and having to take on a leadership role, so I guess I got a lot of good prep there and it ended up being a really great experience, great tournament because we won the gold and all that type of stuff,” said Lucic.

“But it was a really good learning curve for myself and try to apply what I learned from that experience into this season.”

Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said he has already noticed how much Lucic seems to be embracing a leadership role around the rink.

“The thing that stood out is that he's really relishing the leadership role and mentorship role, which has been great, his attitude has been fantastic,” said Montgomery. “And then on the ice he's making plays…his ability to make plays in small areas has been very noticeable to me. And I think that he's going to have success with the way we want to play.”

Lohrei Gets A Look

Lucic won’t be the only veteran voice in the B’s dressing room in Buffalo as Brandon Carlo, entering his eighth season with the Black & Gold, will ride alongside 22-year-old Mason Lohrei on Boston’s top defense pairing.

“It’s been a lot of fun playing with him [during camp], I feel like our communication is getting better,” said Carlo. “From there, I feel like he’s had some really great moments moving the puck, you can tell he’s got that within his game. But with our length and long sticks, hopefully we will be able to close a lot of those rushes off by the blue line…something that I’m looking to do with him tonight. But, definitely impressed me so far.”

Montgomery said he has been intrigued by Lohrei’s blend of “brain, length, feet, and tremendous poise with the puck” so far during camp.

“I think the benefit of him going to play in Providence and getting a lot of games and getting used to our system [at the end of last season], he seems to be very comfortable now this year in playing fast defensively in our D zone,” said Montgomery. “What we need to see at the NHL level is how many battles is he going to win, how often is he going to win foot races to be first on the puck, and how much does he help us in our transition offensively and defensively?”

Wait, There’s More

• Montgomery had positive updates on Patrick Brown and Jakub Zboril, both of whom left Sunday night’s preseason opener with injuries. “Both progressing really well,” he said. “Brown is practicing today, Zboril will probably be a practice player [Wednesday].”
• Wingers Alex Chiasson and Danton Heinen, both in camp on professional tryout agreements, will make their preseason debuts. “I think both of them been very effective in camp so far,” said Montgomery. “You can tell that they’re NHL players, and they have NHL brains and they work at the right pace. They need to outplay people. That's what needs to happen.”
• Montgomery on his first impressions of Jesper Boqvist, who will also be in the lineup against Buffalo. “Really fast…not only is he fast, but once he gets going he’s quick in small areas, too. So, he's got two good elements of speed to him. He’s got a good brain. Saw him make some plays already out there today. He’s assimilating quick to how we want him to play. And what we would want from him more - and this is also with the team - is having two on the inside in the offensive zone getting to hard areas, because I think he has the skill to produce but he’s got to get himself in the areas to produce.”
• Boston’s bench boss also gave a scouting report on Luke Toporowski, who had 29 points and 15 goals in 47 games for Providence last season. “Very high energy guy,” said Montgomery. “A guy that gets a lot of shots. Very determined, a guy that goes to the inside, is always in hard, dirty areas because he likes to score goals…and he's not afraid to pay a price to score goals.”
• Johnny Beecher will be the only player to suit up in the preseason opener to play again on Tuesday night in Buffalo. “I think just using his speed offensively and defensively to create numbers… and winning battles, staying on top of pucks,” Montgomery said of where Beecher can improve. “It's an area that everybody can be better in. But I think in it's an area in particular for him is raising his pace of intensity to be able to win battles. His physical tools are very obvious, his battle tools and his will is something that we're looking to see take a step so that he can be a Bruin.”

Tuesday’s Projected Lineup

FORWARDS

Milan Lucic – Marc McLaughlin – Alex Chiasson

Danton Heinen – Georgii Merkulov – Oskar Steen

Trevor Kuntar – Johnny Beecher – Jakub Lauko

Luke Toporwoski – Jayson Megna – Jesper Boqvist

DEFENSEMEN

Mason Lohrei – Brandon Carlo

Matt Grzelcyk – Ryan Mast

Frederic Brunet – Ian Mitchell

GOALIES
Kyle Keyser

Michael DiPietro