'I thought they were our best line'.
Not much went right for the Boston Bruins in their penultimate home game at TD Garden against the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday night.
The Blackhawks pulled away with three goals in a span of 93 seconds in the third period, and the Bruins never recovered, losing 5-2.
David Pastrnak and Morgan Geekie had a goal and an assist each for the Bruins, however, the alternate captain was more impressed with the young third line of Marat Khusnutdinov, Fraser Minten and Riley Duran.
“I thought that was, looking wise, offensive zone time, the best line was Minty and Riley and Khusy,” Pastrnak told reporters after the loss. “I thought they played really well together. They had a lot of O-zone possession, they made plays. Minty had a breakaway, half a breakaway. So, I thought they were our best line. They were fun to watch.”
While Minten and Khusnutdinov have at least a few games under their belt with the NHL club, Duran made his Bruins debut Thursday.
“Just sucks we didn’t get the win, but it was an unbelieveable experience,” Duran said. “One I won’t forget. … I loved playing with those guys. … I really enjoyed those two. They were flying around so it was fun to play with them.”
“I thought that Riley got better as the game went on,” Sacco said. “He had a really good opportunity in the second period. I think he hit the goalie in the shoulder. He was in on the forecheck. He was moving his feet. He was noticeable, which I thought was a good start for him.
“And I thought his line actually was probably one of our better lines offensively. I know Pasta’s line does the scoring, but that other line with him and Fraser and even Kusty, they generated some good quality chances, especially in the second period.”