If you had to point to one thing that has defined the early portion of the Bruins’ season, it’s been their (surprising) depth.
Boston is 10-1-1, despite having its offseason be defined by questions regarding its inability to retain top free agents and the losses of Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci. Bruins general manager Don Sweeney put a competitive roster together, however, which has continued to win games despite injuries and suspensions forcing unforeseen change.
Milan Lucic, Jakub Lauko, Derek Forbort, Matt Grzelcyk and Charlie McAvoy are all out of the Bruins’ lineup, which had Boston scrambling to find replacements. Johnny Beecher, who was already playing but has seen his minutes increase exponentially, and Mason Lohrei, who got the call after McAvoy’s suspension, are the two players who best represented that depth Monday night when the Bruins defeated the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center.
Beecher and Lohrei each scored their first career goals in the victory, prompting plenty of postgame talk.
“It was great to see them both get that first one, that’s one you always remember,” Bruins captain Brad Marchand said, per team-provided video. “I think way down the line, you look back on your career, it will be one of their favorite memories.”
Marchand has been around for a few seasons now, so he’s seen plenty of milestone moments. He’s even seen a rookie defenseman and forward score for the first time in the same game before, but the 35-year-old made sure to express how good he thinks the youngsters can be.
“It’s great to have that depth, too,” Marchand said. “They’re continuing to establish themselves and building a foundation of their game and their careers. It’s always exciting to see where they start and where they’ll get to. The potential on both of those guys is through the roof. It’s great they’re continuing to get better.”
Beecher has established himself as a steady presence on the fourth line, but Lohrei’s still trying to earn a consistent spot in Boston’s lineup. McAvoy and Forbort will soon be back, meaning it will be between Lohrei, Ian Mitchell and Parker Wotherspoon for one spot remaining on the d-corps. That’s not even to mention the eventual return of Grzelcyk, which is at least a few weeks away.
It’s probably a hard sell trying to get Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery to trust three rookies (we know you didn’t forget about Matthew Poitras) on a nightly basis, but if they keep playing like this, he might not have a choice.
