Need to Know: Bruins vs. Capitals

BOSTON – Matt Poitras is getting quite the look.

The 19-year-old centerman will play in his fourth contest of the preseason on Tuesday night when the Bruins host the Washington Capitals at TD Garden (7 p.m. ET on NESN and 98.5 The Sports Hub).

“To see how he handles being able to play on a back-to-back,” coach Jim Montgomery said when asked about Poitras playing in two consecutive exhibition games. “We’re gonna see a real good lineup from Washington. From the looks of it, it’s pretty much Washington’s team up front. See him go against the [Nicklas] Backstroms, the [Evgeny] Kuznetsovs of the world and see how he handles that.”

Montgomery has seen Poitras gradually improve throughout training camp, something that Boston’s bench boss noted is usually a trait of good players.

“We see the capabilities of what he can do, creativity, and the growth of his game,” said Montgomery. “The other component is the physical aspect of it. It’s a man’s league compared to junior league. He’s used to playing against people within two years of his age. That’s the component, balancing those two to see what’s fits the benefit for him, right, as far as his confidence and him being able to be someone that not only helps the Bruins but if you went back, how much more confident does he grow.

“There’s a lot of factors that grow into it. He’s done so well so far, that’s why we’re giving him these opportunities so that he’s in the picture.”

Poitras, like he did on Friday night against Philadelphia, will center Brad Marchand (as well as Trent Frederic). Marchand said that the 2022 second-round pick reminds him of Toronto Maple Leafs star Mitch Marner in the way that he blends skill and compete.

“He’s smart on both sides of the puck…the way he moves and can dish it,” said Marchand. “Just reminds me of [Marner]. Similar where he’s not timid to get into the dirty areas and compete for pucks. He’s got great vision. He does a great job of cutting to the middle and buying himself some space.

“He’s able to find the quiet areas where he has an extra second to make a play. Even when he’s under pressure and guys are kind of barreling down, he finds holes. He’s got great vision for sure.

“He’s definitely shown a lot of promise. He’s had a great camp so far, but he’s got to keep it going. It’s gonna be tough on him tonight having a back-to-back with travel…those are things that you need to be able to show you can do at the next level is, be consistent…he’s a great little player. He’s got a bright future ahead of him.”

Marchand also pointed to Poitras’ demeanor off the ice as something that has caught his attention.

“He’s got a great head about him,” added Marchand. “He seems to be very smart hockey-wise but even off the ice he’s a real nice kid and you can tell he cares a lot and he wants to be a good player.”

Poitras was flattered by Marchand’s praise, as he discussed how he has viewed his performance to this point in training camp.

"I feel pretty good. Feel good on the ice, a lot more confident now that I’ve been here a bit longer and I’ve gotten to be on the ice with these better players more. Just building a comfort level and being confident with the puck on the ice. I feel good,” said Poitras.

“It’s just getting more reps, getting more touches. The more I touch the puck, the better I feel. Just lots of repetitions, lots of touches.”

Wait, There’s More

• Derek Forbort will make his preseason debut after dealing with an injury earlier in camp. “He probably would have played by now already, he had a minor setback with a lower-body injury that we didn’t want to take chances on during training camp or else he would have,” said Montgomery.
• Montgomery said that “I’m sure” there will be some roster cuts coming on Wednesday.
• Marchand on how he feels heading into his second game of the preseason: “It’s hard to tell. I’ve had one game. Practice doesn’t mean a whole lot. It’s good to get the compete level up and to work on certain things. But the pace of the game is a different level. I was happy with how I felt the other night, conditioning and skating wise I felt really good. There’s some areas where I was holding onto pucks for too long or trying to do some different things. But that’s what preseason’s for, work those kinks out and work out the summer hockey. So far, I feel good. But got to translate that it now to the regular season.”
• Montgomery on Fabian Lysell’s camp thus far: “I think Lysell’s had moments where he’s been good. He’s had moments where he’s struggled, just as far as he’s drafted to be a skilled offensive player and in order to be a skilled offensive player, you’ve got to produce and we haven’t seen the production yet.”
• Boston’s bench boss on Ian Mitchell’s preseason performance: “Mitchell I think has played fast. He seems to have assimilated to the way we want to play pretty quickly. He’s done some really good things offensively but that hasn’t materialized into offense for us. We would like to see him continue to get the chances and as long as he’s getting the chances you think good things are gonna happen. His trajectory has been pretty good.”

Tuesday’s Projected Lineup

FORWARDS

Brad Marchand – Matt Poitras – Trent Frederic

James van Riemsdyk – Pavel Zacha – David Pastrnak

Milan Lucic – Johnny Beecher – Jakub Lauko

Trevor Kuntar – Jayson Megna – Danton Heinen

DEFENSEMEN

Mason Lohrei – Charlie McAvoy

Jakub Zboril – Matt Grzelcyk

Derek Forbort – Kevin Shattenkirk

GOALIES

Linus Ullmark

Brandon Bussi