Bruins’ Matt Poitras is not ready for No. 2 center, and it’s not his fault

BRIGHTON, Mass.

In Tuesdays second period, Owen Power received a pass from Tage Thompson deep in the Buffalo Sabres zone.

Power had all day to skate the puck out of his end.

The Boston Bruins forecheck was nowhere in sight.

We have forwards that are getting too passive in the neutral zone, interim coach Joe Sacco said on Wednesday.

Theyre backing off.

Theyre backing our D off right now.

We need to be more aggressive up ice.

We need to do a better job checking up ice, whether it be on the forecheck or in the neutral zone.

Advertisement Matt Poitras should have been in Powers face.

He was not.

Poitras was drifting backward in the neutral zone, practically inviting Power to advance the puck.

Power accelerated to full speed.

Poitras, just about flat-footed by the time Power approached the red line, could not break up the defensemans pass to J.J.

Peterka at the offensive blue line.

The Bruins were in trouble.

Because of how the forwards had backed off, neither Mason Lohrei nor Andrew Peeke could gap up to close off Peterkas approach.

As Peterka carried the puck into the Boston zone, a flying Power was providing middle drive.

Peekes assignment was to go with Power.

It was Poitras job to backtrack and contest Peterka on the wall.

But Poitras had hesitated slightly as he thought to chase Power.

This let Peterka skate unopposed to the top of the left circle and slingshot a pea over Jeremy Swayman s glove.

The perfect shot pic.twitter.com/WEqB5IaHPO Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) January 29, 2025 Peekes gapped out there, Sacco explained.

Because our forwards pushed him back.

If he has a better gap, he can challenge and contest that play at the blue line.

But we dont want him stabbing up in that situation.

Wed rather have a forward go.

It was the deciding goal in the Bruins 7-2 loss.

Sacco and the Bruins are committed to giving Poitras an extended ride on the second line with Brad Marchand and Charlie Coyle .

The 20-year-old center has zero goals and three assists in seven games following his AHL recall.

Poitras has shown spurts of offensive creativity.

During his two-assist Jan.

20 performance against the San Jose Sharks , Poitras did not settle the puck on his stick for long before giving it to Coyle for a pair of tucks.

Defensively, however, Poitras is like most 20-year-olds asked to play second-line center in the NHL : a work in progress.

Advertisement In 45:09 of five-on-five time Marchand, Poitras and Coyle have shared, the Bruins have been outscored, 5-2.

The second line was on for two Buffalo goals.

They drew the assignment of playing against Peterka, Thompson and Jiri Kulich .

Peterka and Thompson each had hat tricks.

Hes a young player.

Theres going to be mistakes, Sacco said before the loss to the Sabres.

Theres mistakes with every player on the ice.

With young ones, you just want to make sure that youre trying to correct it and nip it in the bud right away.

Poitras, the Bruins 2022 second-rounder, could grow into a dependable NHL center.

But he is learning the hard way that forechecking efficiently, picking up assignments, occupying passing lanes and supporting his teammates are not easy skills to master with just 54 games of NHL experience.

Elias Lindholm has left Poitras and the Bruins with no other choice.

Lindholm previously filled the second-line position between Marchand and Coyle.

But Lindholms offensive disappearance prompted Sacco to put him on the No.

3 line.

Based on Lindholms production, Sacco had no alternative.

The coaching staff and management need to determine whether Poitras can grow into the top-two center they signed Lindholm to be.

Lindholm has zero five-on-five points in his past 12 games.

He has 11 this season, the 10th-most on the roster.

Fourth-line wing Cole Koepke , who missed five games after being belted in the head by the Tampa Bay Lightning s Darren Raddysh on Jan.

14, has the same number.

Lindholm is averaging 1.06 points per 60 minutes of five-on-five play, according to Natural Stat Trick .

As of Wednesday, 279 forwards had logged 500 or more five-on-five minutes.

Lindholms 1.06 placed him at No.

254.

Against Buffalo, Lindholm was the No.

3 center with Trent Frederic and Vinni Lettieri .

The Bruins outshot the Sabres by a 4-2 margin at five-on-five with the third-liners on the ice.

But they did not score.

Advertisement Lindholm is averaging 1:40 of short-handed ice time per game, third-most among team forwards after Charlie Coyle and Pavel Zacha .

Hes won 54.8 percent of his faceoffs.

He has been a dependable third-line center and penalty killer.

The Bruins signed him to be more than that.

The Bruins have help coming.

Charlie McAvoy could return on Thursday against the Winnipeg Jets after missing the past seven games because of a wrist injury.

What they really need is for Lindholm to turn the offensive corner.

This would let them move Poitras lower in the lineup.

But maybe Lindholm is what he is.

(Photo: Maddie Meyer / Getty Images).

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