Following a string of over a dozen cuts from the Bruins' training camp, the roster seemed to be taking its potential form as the B's prepared for their first preseason tilt of the fall at the TD Garden against the Florida Panthers. Taken down by the Panthers in Rochester, NY. two nights prior by a Dennis Wideman game-winning power-play goal of all daggers, the Bruins took to the ice with a more NHL-loaded line-up.

While notable healthy scratches on the roster cards given to the media for the tilt included never-were's such as 2002 draft class members Vladislav Evseev and Dmitri Utkin along with Swedish-born center and Toivonen-trade-centerpiece Carl Soderberg, the biggest modification to the Boston line-up would be the creation of what seems likely to be Boston's top-line.

Featuring power-forwards Nathan Horton and Milan Lucic as anticipated, creative passer David Krejci would be bumped up on the Bruins' depth chart for the contest--taking the place of center Marc Savard for the indefinite time being.

As the Garden slowly but surely filled up to a respectable capacity for a preseason game, defensemen Mark Stuart dropped the gloves with Panthers forward Kenn McArdle in what quickly became a hugging contest between the two bruisers with the bigger Stuart getting the takedown. As tempers flared after a borderline hit on Horton from Panthers forward Triston Grant led to some pre-faceoff slashing between the two, the 6'4" Lucic came in and did what he's expected to do for the B's this upcoming season by stepping in and dropping the gloves, furiously wailing on Grant.

"He can do everything," Horton remarked about Lucic. "It’s pretty amazing just to watch him, you know. He fights, he hits, he scores."

With the anticipation building after a 0-0 stalemate in the first period, rookie sensation Tyler Seguin quickly brought the crowd to their feet with his first goal at the NHL level on a beautiful cross-ice feed from Bruins captain Zdeno Chara. Remaining in his professional interview character that he's maintained since his arrival, Seguin added that it was just nice to contribute to the team and give the club its first lead of the game.

And when Horton banged home a wrist-shot by 'Cats goaltender Scott Clemmensen at the 11:51 mark of the period, Bruins fans seemed to be experiencing quite the treat from their new guys until the ghosts of 2009-10 came back with a sloppy second half of the game.

Returning to their old form as the Panthers would knot the game up with goals from Radek Dvorak and McArdle in the third, the Bruins and Panthers went to a five-minute overtime and went that wasn't enough the Bruins were heading towards their first shootout of the preseason.

Electing to shoot first, Patrice Bergeron proved his worth as the Bruins' form of "Ol' Reliable" with his nearly automatic goal to give the B's a 1-0 edge before Mike Santorelli quickly tied things up, beating with a wrist-shot to tie it up at one after the first round. Getting the nod for Boston in the top of the 2nd was promising center Ryan Spooner, who was turned away by Clemmensen after a great deke that had the former-B.C standout beat.

Going for the Panthers in round two, veteran winger Cory Stillman nearly effortlessly beat Rask to give Florida a 2-1 advantage after two and putting the game on the stick of Seguin.

Barreling down towards the net with a smooth stride and great stick-work, Seguin whiffed on his attempt to go up top to beat Clemmensen and was denied, slamming the crossbar in frustration as the B's dropped their first of two preseason tilts on home ice.

Admitting the play of the team in second half was less than satisfactory, B's benchboss Claude Julien realizes the preseason provides the club with the time to iron out the kinks they hope to put behind them by the start of the regular season.

"The one thing that we didn’t do very well and we brought that to the players’ attention after the second period, is that we had a lot of unforced errors. Their scoring chance, I think they had maybe three in the second period and it all came from our own doings..," Julien said in his post-game address to the media. "This is training camp, so you get the kinks out of the way and keep working hard to make our team better."

The Bruins will leave now and head towards the mountains of Vermont for a two-day trip of team-bonding/building activities before returning home for a Wednesday night tilt against the Washington Capitals. Praised by the Bruins in 2008-09 as a great way for the team to gel before the season started, the trip to the Green Mountains was postponed last season due to the early start to the NHL season because of the Olympic break.

Follow me on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/_TyAnderson

Join the Discussion: » Comments » Post New Comment

» Bruins fire Jim Montgomery

» Bruins hit with significant blow on backend

» 5 thoughts on 5 Bruins as frustration mounts

» Bruins shutout for 2nd time this season

» B's slide hits three; Marchand, Montgomery address 'The Shove'