Baby B’s nip new Blueshirts

September 15, 2009   ·   Derek Felix   ·   Jump to comments

The first preseason game was like expected with the Baby B’s nipping the new Blueshirts 2-1 at a scattered MSG. I’ll say it was a decent turnout as the fans who showed made noise and had fun.

Especially during the second when Sean Avery, Henrik Lundqvist and Aaron Voros visited the blueseats stopping for pics and shaking hands. Avery looked to be in tip top shape possibly dropping 10 pounds while King Henrik cut his long hair. Voros had his usual beard going and didn’t get much fanfare. I almost felt like shaking his hand out of sorrow. Poor dude.

As for the action, the Bruins goals came off the sticks of Zach Hamill (PPG) and someone else. Why is the boxscore listing Marc Savard when he didn’t play? I think it was announced Johnny Boychuk. So, we’ll go with that. It was Max Sauve with Boychuk and Milan Lucic assisting.

The lone Ranger tally came from Christopher Higgins midway thru the third when he rebounded home an Alexei Semenov shot. Ales Kotalik setup the play. The club came close to tying it with a nice try from rookie Evgeny Grachev, who looked strong along with Artem Anisimov and Enver Lisin on an all-Russian line.

Boston let Tuukka Rask go the whole way and he finished with 31 saves. So, counting this along with his shutout last season in emergency duty, he’s allowed one goal in two outings versus the Rangers. The Finnish product looks solid and probably should be up as the B’s backup over ex-Pen Dany Sabourin. But it could be a cap issue. Can’t believe the Leafs traded him straight up for Andrew Raycroft. What a joke.

Early on, it was mostly Bruins as they held the territorial edge outshooting the Rangers 14-5. They looked a little tenative and took four penalties including a pair from Brian Boyle who by the third found himself demoted to the fourth line.

Of the two big rookie blueliners, the younger one Mike Del Zotto stood out playing very steady and using his speed to jump into the rush. Matt Gilroy struggled early but got stronger as the night went on.

Both B’s markers were power play with Hamill finishing a nice backdoor setup from Marco Sturm and Boychuk doing similar going backhand five-hole on second half reliever Matt Zaba. The Rangers used two goalies with Steve Valiquette (18 saves) and Zaba splitting duty (15 saves). Both looked sharp.

Following the slow beginning, the Rangers outshot the Bruins 27-21 but only beat Rask once despite some strong shifts from the line of Higgins, Chris Drury and Kotalik. New fan whipping boy Donald Brashear actually played quite well generating the only two scoring chances early. The veteran goon also nearly setup a goal later. Indeed, the bad boy wasn’t affected by the boos forechecking with vigor.

The Rangers only had two power plays taking the collar. Lisin drew the second thanks to diligent work behind the net. He has a good shot getting one through in the first but Rask snuffed it out. By comparison, the Bruins had six PP opportunities connecting twice both on late breakdowns.

The Blueshirts used Drury with Higgins while Callahan saw time with Boyle and John Tortorella also put the young Russian duo of Grachev and Anisimov out as well. Nice to see. The forwards looked fine. It was the D which didn’t do the job. Thought Marc Staal was strong. He was teamed with Del Zotto while Gilroy worked with Dan Girardi. Semenov paired with Mike Sauer, who didn’t make any glaring mistakes.

Also noticable was forward Matt Maccarone who gave the club some nice energy even making a bid to score prior to Higgins’ goal. His size was effective. Dane Byers was alright getting one good hit in but also took a penalty. I also liked what I saw from Pierre Parenteau whose speed was excellent. Wouldn’t mind seeing the AHL lifer get another look as he didn’t hurt himself.

The regulars who played (well that are left) were Drury, Callahan, Staal and Girardi. Cally did a lot of good things out there generating chances playing with Boyle, Brashear and Parenteau in the final period. He’s just all heart. Drury looked good and his line was cohesive with even Kotalik getting involved late to atone for an iffy boarding call he took which Boston cashed in. They were the best line.

Since there are so many new faces, here’s some of the names and numbers for our Devil/Sabre bloggers and fans to get used to:

12 Ales Kotalik

21 Christopher Higgins

22 Brian Boyle

25 Alexei Semenov

32 Mike Sauer

36 Dane Byers

38 Pierre Parenteau

42 Artem Anisimov

43 Mike Del Zotto

59 Evgeny Grachev

81 Enver Lisin (but seriously?!?!?!?!?!)

85 Matt Maccarone

87 Donald Brashear

97 Matt Gilroy

31 Matt Zaba
Lines:

Grachev-Anisimov-Lisin

Higgins-Drury-Kotalik

Brashear-Boyle-Callahan

Maccarone-Parenteau-Byers

Staal-Del Zotto

Girardi-Gilroy

Semenov-Sauer

Valiquette

Zaba

DNP: Arnason, Avery, Bourque, Crowder, Didiomete, Dupont, Gaborik, Heikkinen, Horak, Johnson, Klassen, Kundratek, Locke, Lundqvist, Owens, Potter, Prospal, Redden, Rismiller, Rozsival, Sanguinetti, Soryal, Stajcer, Voros, Weise, Werek, Wiikman, Williams

Figure some of the DNPs to see the ice tomorrow night at The Rock versus the Devils. A game that will be televised on MSG. What won’t be shown is the free game between the Wolf Pack and Lowell at 1 PM. If you can go, it’s free. Not bad.