As the focus narrows in on the Jeremy Swayman negotiations between now and 5 p.m. on Monday when the rosters have to be registered, the Bruins did find some solace in their final preseason game in Washington on Saturday.
Brandon Bussi showed he just might be able to help Joonas Korpisalo hold down the fort until Swayman and the B’s come to terms, presuming that is in fact the end game.
While the teams took different philosophies into the game, Bussi kept the B’s – outshot 32-17 – in the game by stopping 30 of 32 shots in a 2-0 loss to the Capitals in Washington.
For the second time in as many preseason games, the Bruins managed just two shots on net in the first period, but they had a little better excuse than they did in Thursday’s 4-1 loss to the Kings in Quebec City.
The Caps chose to use the final preseason game as more of a dry run for their opener and had many of their regulars in the lineup. The B’s, meanwhile, called up a handful of Providence players to go with just a few projected NHLers.
And for the second time in as many games, the B’s coughed up a shorthanded goal, albeit a flukish one. With a faceoff in the B’s zone between Morgan Geekie and the Caps’ Aliaksei Protas, the bounced off the lineseman’s leg and through Geekie. Protas pounced on the loose puck and beat Bussi with a quick shot over the glove.
Other than that, Bussi was good in the first, stopping nine of 10 shots.
Jim Montgomery put together what should be a promising line in Providence, with Georgii Merkulov centering Fabian Lysell and Brett Harrison. In the waning seconds, the trio put together a pretty looking play but Merkulov could not finish off, slipping the puck under Charlie Lindgren but it went just wide.
The action was a little more even in the second period than the first, with the Caps holding a 9-7 shot advantage, but Bussi was able to keep his team within a goal going into third period.
Cole Koepke was robbed in the first minutes of the third period by Lindgren before Bussi made his best save of the game when Andrew Mangiapane broke out on a clean breakaway. Bussi was able to deny the Cap by holding his right pad tight to the post.
Harrison, who had scored a pair of goals for Providence on Friday, nearly evened the game when he had a chance from the low slot. Lindgren closed the five-hole but then needed help from John Carlson, who batted away the rebound the aerial rebound tat appeared to be headed for the net.
But the Caps finally put the game away with 5:38 left when he beat Bussi with a slick shortside backhander just under the crossbar.
The game did allow the B’s captain Brad Marchand to get in a full preseason, forgettable thought it was, after having to leave his previous foray after just one period because of illness. He played 15:54 and took a minus-2, as did Lysell and Geekie.
The next time we see the Bruins in uniform, it will be for real when the they open the regular season against the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers on Tuesday. Whether or not Swayman has a deal by then it remains to be seen, but the B’s might be OK in net for a while if he’s not.
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