Subban made 30 saves in just two periods of play - his playing time was determined prior to the game - and came away from the contest feeling like he is on the road to normalcy as his fourth professional season approaches.
"To be honest, no," said Subban, when asked if he thought about the injury at all while between the pipes. "A whole lot of credit to the players in practice - I really haven't had to worry about getting hit. You've got some pretty good shooters, some pretty accurate shooters. I never really thought of it, it didn't cross my mind."
The 2012 first-round pick has taken a number of steps to reinforce the equipment around his neck area. He now wears a neck guard, a plastic dangler that hangs over his throat, and a helmet with an extended chin.
As a result, Subban has had little to worry about from a health standpoint this preseason. His sole focus has been on getting back up to game speed, which he feels he did at times against the Red Wings.
"It was great to finally get back out there," said Subban. "Obviously, really rusty, to be honest. I felt, not so much the goals even, but shots in general, especially in the first. It was the first time in a long time that I can say I felt not up to speed.
"But other than that, I played pretty well….I think it's a great game to build off, for myself and the team."
Subban, funny enough, was most comfortable when he was under fire. He was peppered with 34 shots - three of which were breakaways, including a 2-on-0, in the second - in just 40 minutes of play.
It was the technical side of his game that posed the most trouble. The 22-year-old failed to seal off the post on the Red Wings' third goal and said he found himself getting a bit lost in the speed of the game.
"It wasn't so much the shots, it was the movement of the puck around, obviously just getting back in to the flow of the game," said Subban, who last played on February 5 in Providence.
"In terms of straight shots, in practice you can work on that stuff, the game stuff is more technical stuff like the post seals. Definitely felt a little bit behind, but as the game went on in the second - other than the third goal - I felt pretty good.
"I thought my game was getting better as the game went on."
Assistant coach Joe Sacco, who along with Bruce Cassidy is overseeing the Bruins with head coach Claude Julien away at the World Cup of Hockey, agreed that it was a solid outing for Subban.
"He faced some quality scoring chances out there," said Sacco. "The ones that went in, he'd probably like to have back. But when you look at his overall performance for the two periods, he played pretty solid for us.
"He made some big saves, some timely saves, and moved well in there. I think for Malcolm, despite the score, he had a good night."
Subban stopped the first 15 shots he faced, before former Harvard standout Kyle Criscuolo and Steve Ott scored off of deflections just 21 seconds apart in the last minute-and-a-half of the first period. The Red Wings' speed and ability to charge hard to the net was difficult for the Bruins to adjust to early on.
"I've played them a few times now in exhibition and they like to get shots to the net with traffic, a couple of their goals were like that," said Subban. "They definitely exploited that, for sure. It was good to get those shots from around the net and get back into the game in that way."
In the end, it was all part of the learning experience for Subban, who is just happy to be back on the ice.
