The Boston Bruins are putting a lot of faith in Matthew Poitras in the 19-year-old’s rookie campaign. After a breakout training camp and preseason, Poitras earned a spot on the team’s opening night roster and hasn’t looked back as he’s contributed to winning hockey games on one of the NHL’s best teams. Still, while head coach Jim Montgomery has praised Poitras throughout the season and given him a plethora of opportunities, one area where he hasn’t seen much action has been late in games when the Bruins are ahead.
This was most notable Saturday when the Bruins took on the Arizona Coyotes in a matinee game. The Bruins held a lead for the vast majority of this contest despite losing Pavel Zacha to an upper-body injury early in the game. Despite being down a top center option, the Bruins would lean on just about everybody other than Poitras to pick up the slack and get the job done. This included Charlie Coyle finishing the game with 20:17 of ice time, Morgan Geekie with 17:31 of ice time and Trent Frederic with 15:13. Poitras, however, would play just 8:26 and would be sat for the entirety of the third period as the Bruins protected their lead.
This came just one game after Poitras was a healthy scratch in what was noted to be a pre-determined rest day for the rookie as the team looks to help him develop.
“Something we’ve been discussing is trying to put him in situations to have a lot of success. So this was planned, he’ll be back in the lineup on Saturday,” Montgomery said Thursday. “This is an opportunity for him to build some strength and rest into his program.”
When Saturday came and the Bruins needed players to step up to finish the job, Poitras’ number was never called. While Montgomery has a response for why this was the case, it doesn’t necessarily help Poitras’ to be watching from the bench while he teammates grind it out on the ice.
“It’s valuing game management is something that we’ve talked to him about,” Montgomery said on benching Poitras. “And it’s still lacking in his game right now. We’re paid to win hockey games and I’m gonna go with the guys that I think are gonna win us a hockey game.”
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Montgomery would elaborate by specifying how he saw the game script playing out.
“It’s a demanding position for us. Especially down low,” Montgomery of the center position. “I figured we were gonna spend a lot of time down low in the third period, just with the way they were pressing. That’s the way it worked out.”
Montgomery Will Do What’s Best for Bruins and Poitras
Admittedly, Montgomery is the expert in this area and it feels difficult to argue with his reasoning. On the one hand, the fact that Poitras isn’t blind to any of this rationale is a good thing. Communication is key and Montgomery appears to be keeping the center in the loop as he makes these decisions in real time. There’s also inherent value in watching the game and seeing things from a different perspective than a first-hand view.
Still, when this becomes a recurring theme, it becomes questionable as the team isn’t really allowing Poitras to fail and learn.
This has become somewhat of a trend lately as Montgomery recently said that Poitras was sat in the third period of the Bruins game against the Toronto Maple Leafs as it was an opportunity for him to learn.
“It’s an opportunity to watch and grow and learn,” said Montgomery. “It was a situation where we had a 3-2 lead with whatever it was, eight minutes left, and we’re gonna go with the guys that have been tried and true before, and he’s got to sit there and watch. If he gets the opportunity, and he will, he’s got to do the right things without the puck to be able to be out there.”
The Bruins would give up a late third-period goal in that game that forced overtime. The team would eventually score in the dying seconds of the extra frame to win, but it’s certainly interesting to think that Poitras isn’t being played in favor of more experienced players when the team is clearly struggling to close out games when the opposition pulls their goalies.
If the Bruins are going to struggle late anyway, it may be best to at least let Poitras earn some reps in those situations to see what happens. At the same time, Montgomery has earned the benefit of the doubt and has been among the best coaches in all of professional sports since joining the Bruins. Giving him some freedom to make these calls as he sees fit is the right decision and it should ultimately work out for all parties involved.
