Youth Tops Experience in B's 5-2 Win

When the Bruins lined up against the defending Stanley Cup champions on Tuesday night, the only players to have appeared in an NHL games for the Bruins last season were Sean Kuraly and Anton Blidh. Kuraly played 75 games, spending the majority of his time as the fourth line center. Blidh skated in one contest as a brief callup. Opposite the Bruins assortment of prospects, P-Bruins players and PTO signees were top end Capitals players such as Nicklas Backstrom, TJ Oshie and Braden Holtby.
Despite the lopsided matchup in terms of NHL experience, the Bruins young squad left Capitol One Arena with a 5-2 victory.

"I think that certainly our goaltender played very well," said Bruins assistant coach Joe Sacco of Dan Vladar. "He kept us in there, gave us a chance. Third period I think we took four penalties. Yeah, you always want to win regardless of the game, and they found a way to win, so good on them. I think it was an eye-opener tonight for some guys as far as the pace was a little bit quicker tonight, the battle level was increased tonight. I think that they won more pucks than we did. We found a way."

Senyshyn Pots a Pair

Bruins prospect Zach Senyshyn was held scoreless in the B's first game against the Capitals on Sunday. The 21-year-old broke out on Tuesday with a pair of goals in the victory.
"It felt great," said Senyshyn. "Definitely been gripping the stick a little tight. I wanted to help out the team, but it was my turn tonight I guess to help out, so I was really happy to be able to do that."

On his first goal, Senyshyn received a pass from Austin Fyten to send him on a partial breakaway. The Ottawa-native fired a shot off the shoulder of Capitals netminder Ilya Samsonov, creating a rebound chance which he backhanded into the the net.
"I tried to stick with the play," said Senyshyn. "Tried to show a little bit of determination. Again, I really wanted one tonight, and I was fortunate enough to get a great pass from [Austin] Fyten. He stopped the first one, but I stuck with it and was able to pot the second chance."

After playing 66 games for the AHL's Providence Bruins last season, Senyshyn was excited to make a difference on an NHL stage.
"It kind of gives you a little bit more confidence," said Senyshyn. "Again, I don't really have too much experience up here, and it's been great to watch and great to learn in Providence, but it definitely gives you a lot of confidence to be able to pot a couple."
Sacco noted the added confidence that Senyshyn is playing with and the areas he is improving.
"Just a little more confidence than he had last year" said Sacco. "…His game is still growing. His wall play, his play away from the puck defensively, his battles, things like that. Winning against pucks, I think that's still growing. He made the most of his chances tonight. He popped in two at the end of the night, so he did something right."

Senyshyn credited his coaches in Providence with preparing him to play against strong competition such as the Capitals.
"It was a really hard team tonight," said Senyshyn. "They had a lot of really great players in there, and I just tried to use what I learned in Providence last year from my coaches and really tried to use all my defensive plays to turn into offensive plays. I think that kind of showed in the second goal, to have a good stick and be able to go on the offense the other way."

Speed Boost

When Jakub Lauko was selected in the 3rd round of the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, speed was listed as possibly his greatest strength. The elite speed has been on display through two preseason games. Late in the first period against the Capitals, Lauko found himself exiting the penalty box and suddenly in hot pursuit of a puck that few skaters would have tracked down. The Czech-native corralled the puck and calmly zipped a shot five-hole past 2016 Vezina Trophy Winner Braden Holby.
"I hoped that I would catch it," said Lauko of his race to the puck. "Yeah, when I went from the [penalty box] I thought 'oh the guy should pass me too then I should score it', so it happened. I'm happy that it happened."

Lauko also had two minor penalties against the Capitals, showing an area he can improve.
"It's just a young player who got caught in the wrong side one time in the defensive zone in the third period," said Sacco of one of Lauko's penalties. "…A young player, I don't know if it caught up to him tonight. Listen he's 18, he still did some good things. I'd like to look at the good things that he did. I talked to him about the stick being out, and he told me it was down. I said I don't think it was. No, he's okay. He's fine."
Lauko was critical of his own game and hopes to improve at his next opportunity.
"I'm not so happy with my performance," said Lauko. "I think I played better, on Sunday I think I played better. Today it's good I scored, but I'm not happy with my performance. I've been twice in the box, and I lost so many pucks."
Despite losing a few puck battles, the Czech-native's impressive qualities stood out.
"I mean he's got some speed," said Sacco. "He's got some skill to his game. It's an opportunity for us to get a good look at him. That's what we're doing."

Vladar Backstops B's to Victory

Czech-native Dan Vladar stopped 31 of 33 shots he faced on Tuesday. Vladar also squared off with the daunting Capitals power play eight times, only ceding one goal on those opportunities.
"Yeah, I thought he played really well tonight," said Sacco. "He was square, did a pretty good job of not really letting any rebounds loose there. They made some seam passes through their power play, and he reacted to it quickly. He did a good job. He was the difference tonight."
Prior to the teams departure for DC, Zdeno Chara gave Vladar some tips on what to expect from the strong Washington power play unit.
"In the morning I talked to Zee [Zdeno Chara]," said Vladar. "He gave me some tips that Backstrom's not going to shoot a lot and he will try sauce it and he did, so I have to say thank you to him when I see him."

During one Washington power play in the third period, Vladar was faced with a different kind of challenge: equipment issues. After getting brushed in front of the net by a Capitals sakter, a strap on the 21-year-old's helmet broke, forcing him to wear backup goalie Kyle Keyer's mask for a few minutes.
"It wasn't good, to be honest," said Vladar. "I kind of felt a little bit different. I was just thinking about the game still. I didn't want to get off my mind or something. It was a lot harder to see the puck, and I got hit in my neck too."
Despite the difficulties, Vladar felt good about his game and praised his teammates for supporting him in front of the net throughout the game.
"Guys were helping me a lot every chance that they got," said Vladar. "I know that I just had to be square on the puck. I just knew that they were going to have all the rebounds, and they did. The guys played really well for me, and it's a good team win."

Hughes Finds the Scoresheet

Former University of Wisconsin Badgers captain Cameron Hughes tipped in his first goal of preseason play off a blue-line shot from Cody Goloubef just 1:45 into the game.
"I'm starting to get more chemistry with the guys I'm playing with," said Hughes, "And I had fun again tonight. I think the biggest thing too is thinking the game fast, knowing what you're going to do with it before you get it. I'm definitely just trying to continue to grow in those areas and keep making plays."

Hughes saw game action on Sunday, but he played an expanded role on the penalty kill on Tuesday.
"I thought that when he got out there on the kill he was good," said Sacco. "He was efficient in his game. I used him a little bit more tonight in a checking role, and he seemed to respond well to it."

Riley Nelson contributed to this article.