Bruins Notebook: Youth being served for B's in playoffs

It’s an offensive skill level that nobody else on Boston’s back end can really match, including Charlie McAvoy as more of the very solid Drew Doughty two-way defenseman offensive capabilities. McAvoy's defensive acumen is where he really separates from a player like Lohrei as his shot-blocking, hitting and shutdown capabilities are something that may not ever really be Lohrei's forte at the NHL level.

There may be a little more flash and dazzle to what Lohrei can do with the puck, but having two D-men capable of dynamic offensive play really changes how dangerous Boston’s defensemen can be right now.

“His poise with the puck and willingness to hang onto it to find a better play is amazing,” said Jim Montgomery. “The goal he scored and before when he hit the post, that shift, it gives confidence to the team. But his ability to do that in big moments, some players have that like [David Pastrnak] has it, where you think, ‘why isn’t he shooting?’

“Well, he’s waiting for the five-hole to open or something. He has that ability as a defenseman to make that kind of play. Just like CMac does a lot of times, holds the puck, holds the puck, and all of a sudden, he goes across the seam for an empty tap-in. His ability there is something that gives our team another dynamic to us.”

Lohrei now has a goal and three points in six games while averaging 17:34 of ice time in the playoffs but has continually upped his ice time and responsibilities while playing his best hockey of the season. Quite honestly, Lohrei is looking like a guy that belongs as a top-4 defenseman at the NHL level and still has some room to grow based on his size, strength and puck skills that are really impressive.

“It looks like he’s finding his stride as we go,” said McAvoy. “I know that he’s a confident kid, but he’s shown maturity playing in the playoffs. Some of the situations that he’s been in.

“He’s really thrived and flourished, and I think now you’re seeing he’s starting to feel a little more comfortable and he can make special plays like he did a couple times [Monday] night. Just want to keep encouraging him and supporting him in whatever way we can. Look forward to him growing.”

Brazeau was an undrafted player who has always had talent as a 6-foot-5 power forward but has really blossomed as a member of the Bruins while shedding some weight and gaining just enough skating speed to keep pace with everybody else. Certainly, he looked up to the pace in Game 1 when he got behind the Florida defense and managed to pull off a backhanded double move that beat Sergei Bobrovsky for an important insurance goal.

The dividends the B’s are seeing now is why the B’s bench boss pushed him into the Game 5 Bruins lineup against the Maple Leafs after he hadn’t played in a month following an upper-body injury at the end of the regular season.

“The plays we’re seeing, he made in Game 7 and tonight, is what we were seeing that in the regular season,” said Montgomery. “And that’s why I put him in in Game 5 because he needed to get in a rhythm. We’re playing him because we believe he’s an excellent hockey player that can really help you, offensively and defensively. That’s why what you’re noticing there is something that we think is part of him.”

The most important part of a healthy draft-and-development system for any NHL team is producing players that can help at the NHL level, and even better that can assist the team in playoff success at the most important part of the hockey season.

It sure feels like the much-maligned Bruins draft-and-development system is pretty robust while churning out players that are helping Boston win games in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

ONE-TIMERS

*Derek Forbort made a strong return to the Bruins lineup in Game 1 against the Florida Panthers after coming back from multiple surgeries that had him sidelined for a couple of months. It was thought at the time of the surgeries that his season, and perhaps his time with the Bruins, was done, but he’s worked hard to make himself an option for the second round of the postseason. Forbort finished with a plus-2 rating in 18:13 of ice time and clocked in with 1:57 of shorthanded ice time as is his penalty-killing specialty.

“Forbort looked really confident, he was moving really well,” said Montgomery. “The best we’ve seen him move probably since before his leg injury last January. That was a pleasant surprise and really happy for the young man because he’s worked really hard to get back to wear the Spoked-B and help us in this playoff run.”

 *After his spectacular 38-save performance against the Panthers in Game 1, Jeremy Swayman became just the eighth goalie in NHL history to allow two or fewer goals in his first seven starts of a postseason. Montgomery admitted that the Bruins toyed with the idea of starting Linus Ullmark in Game 1 against the Panthers given all the factors involved but made the right decision continuing to stick with the hot goalie until the performance on the ice tells them to do something differently.

“That save in the first minute of the game…that gets jacked in our net, we’re down 1-0, the crowd’s going wild and we’re on our heels right away,” said Montgomery. “Instead, he makes that save on a tremendous second effort play that you don’t see very often because he’s just in a zone that’s unparalleled in someone’s first seven games of the playoffs…it gives you confidence – that’s what he does, he raises the confidence of the team.

“We talked about [the starter for Game 1] as a staff. Because of the emotional high of Games 7 and the travel, we contemplated going with Ullmark because we have so much confidence in him too but when a guy [like Swayman] is playing that well, it’s like don’t outsmart yourself.”