Boston Bruins
Minten potted a beautiful goal and had a pair of assists Saturday afternoon.
The Bruins are off to a hot start to the season, and they kept things on track by dominating the winless Flyers 5-1 in Saturday’s matinee at TD Garden.
Fraser Minten stole the show, recording two assists early and potting the final goal of the game, a beauty going coast-to-coast straight past the Philadelphia defense.
The 22-year-old is one of a few young players propelling the Bruins to their hot start, but he was certainly the star of Saturday’s win.
Minten can’t quite pinpoint exactly what’s different about his game from last year, but his early returns are showing steady improvement across the board.
“It’d be hard to say exactly how, but I feel good out there, I feel fast,” Minten said. “I feel like I can make plays and contribute while still being good and responsible defensively.
“The game’s growing for sure.”
As Minten pointed out, part of his struggles last season related to stranding himself in the offensive zone. He would occasionally see scoring chances without recognizing the risk of them. He’s seeing all 200 feet of the ice better this season.
Boston coach Marco Sturm also didn’t pinpoint one specific skill turning a leaf. But he has noticed Minten’s maturity as a player.
“He feels more comfortable, I feel like he has more power in his legs and skates better,” Sturm told reporters. “I can’t really pick one thing, it’s just overall he was just almost like a baby last year. Now he’s growing into a grown man. That’s just part of it.”
Minten is up to five points on the season in a hurry, and only had 35 points all of last season, so he’s on pace to smash through that total before the All-Star break.
The Bruins are making investments into their young core, giving James Hagens, Mason Lohrei, Minten and others plenty of ice time to start the season. They were quiet for virtually the entire offseason when it came to acquiring players, only adding one notable name, JJ Peterka, late in the offseason.
That might have been by design, realizing just how many 24-year-old and under players Boston has at its disposal. There are a healthy mix of veterans as well, but this season feels like the first in quite some time that the Bruins have embraced a young and developing roster of talent.
That investment is paying dividends right now, considering Boston is 4-2-0 and already gelling as an offense. They’ve scored 11 goals in the last two games.
Following the home win, the Bruins now head west for a 4-game road stint against the Sharks, Ducks, Kings, and Stars. Sharks-Bruins is set for 11 p.m. Eastern Time Tuesday.
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