BOSTON — By now, it is clear what Elias Lindholm is. The first-year Boston Bruin is a reliable veteran center. The 30-year-old takes difficult shifts against top-liners, such as Saturday’s assignment against the New York Rangers’ Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad and J.T. Miller. He kills penalties. He works the bumper on the No. 1 power-play unit. That Lindholm has now played 14 straight games without a five-on-five point clarifies he is not an offensive driver.
Matt Poitras eludes such positional clarity. That is a good thing for the Bruins.
The 20-year-old had two five-on-five assists, both onto the stick of David Pastrnak, in the Bruins’ 6-3 win over the Rangers. The second-year pro shook off a first-period cross-check from Ryan Lindgren, which put the Bruins on a five-on-three power play. Sixteen seconds later, Charlie McAvoy whistled a power-play goal past Igor Shesterkin for the game’s first goal.
WELCOME BACK CHARLIE MCAVOY! 💪 pic.twitter.com/o6Na0EJHuG
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) February 1, 2025
At the other end, Poitras, centering Trent Frederic and Oliver Wahlstrom on the No. 3 line, was not on the ice for any goals against. It was Poitras’ sharpest two-way performance of his current nine-game recall. At this stage of his career, Poitras is better off taking sheltered shifts on the third line than meeting an unfair ask of No. 2 center.
“I’m happy for him,” interim coach Joe Sacco said. “Really good job by him getting out there at a critical time and making a big play twice.”
Poitras is still a piece of clay, yet to be fully fired in the NHL kiln. It’s possible he could develop into the top-two, offense-first center the Bruins believed they had signed when they invested $54.25 million in Lindholm. As unfair as it sounds, how Poitras develops may be the No. 1 factor in whether the Bruins bottom out or extend their cycle of contention within the career sweet spots of Pastrnak, McAvoy and Jeremy Swayman.
It may even be that Poitras unearths a future connection with Pastrnak, the Bruins’ most gifted scorer. On Saturday, Pastrnak didn’t mind having Poitras as his two-time setup man.
“Great game today,” Pastrnak said of the young center. “My first goal, that’s all him.”
Pastrnak was describing his first-period goal, which he scored after the Bruins killed a Morgan Geekie hooking penalty. Sacco always calls Pastrnak’s number for the first post-PK shift. Pastrnak does not kill penalties. It is only natural that Sacco wants No. 88 to extend the momentum of a successful kill.
Perhaps Poitras will become a permanent Pastrnak sidekick after kills.
On the play, Poitras tracked down his own dump-in behind the goal line. Before Adam Fox closed, Poitras knew where he wanted to go: into the slot. But first, he rolled off Fox’s contact and used his body to protect the puck. When Poitras looked up, he saw a most welcome sight: Pastrnak cutting to the net between the dots. The right wing accepted Poitras’ feed and one-touched the puck into the net.
POTSY TO PASTA 🙌 pic.twitter.com/CCAExFUU7f
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) February 1, 2025
“I saw him,” Poitras said. “I don’t really want to throw it blindly and feed that transition.”
Poitras is 180 pounds. He is good at taking contact, sliding off it and extending puck possession. He also used his two-month assignment in Providence working out and improving his strength on the puck.
Pastrnak has noticed. He was once the NHL teenager getting rocked by older and stronger men.
“We were both kind of lightweight guys coming into the league,” said Pastrnak, who broke in at 18. “So I can definitely relate to it. He’s gotten so much stronger compared to a year and a half ago when he came in.”
In the third period, Pastrnak caused a Reilly Smith turnover inside the offensive blue line, allowing Poitras to settle the puck. Geekie was already deep in the offensive zone. The Bruins had a three-on-two opportunity. Poitras gave the puck to Pastrnak above the tops of the circles.
So Pastrnak briefly thought about turning down the shot and looking to get closer. But Poitras’ pass was so good that Pastrnak could not decline ripping his signature one-timer. Pastrnak put it where he wanted: far blocker on Shesterkin.
“Potsy put it right in my wheelhouse,” Pastrnak said. “So I decided to just shoot it.”
The win put the Bruins back into the No. 2 wild card position. But they are nowhere near out of the woods. With 28 games remaining, it is a coin flip whether they make the playoffs or fall short for the first time since 2015-16.
General manager Don Sweeney does not want the latter to happen. He would like to reinforce the roster, just like Rangers counterpart Chris Drury did with Miller and the Carolina Hurricanes’ Eric Tulsky did with Mikko Rantanen.
But the Rangers and Hurricanes had more cards to play in acquiring their respective reinforcements. Specifically, young players with offensive promise: Filip Chytil (25) and Martin Necas (26). The Bruins are short on such assets.
Sweeney’s hope, then, is that Poitras grows into a top-two keeper. He’s learning the hard way that spending big on Lindholm in free agency does not guarantee an offensive presence.
Saturday was a bright signal that Poitras has promise.
(Photo: Brian Fluharty / Getty Images)
