Bruins Prospects: Matthew Poitras Hitting Reset Button In Providence

Poitras’ trademark creativity with the puck was noticeably missing during his last few weeks with the Bruins, where he tallied just one point in his final seven games before being demoted. 

The forward already had a delayed start to the season after suffering an injury toward the end of training camp and never found traction once he did make it back on the ice. 

Read More: Bruins Send Matthew Poitras Down To AHL Providence

While his spot in the lineup fluctuated and his linemates changed on a nightly basis, Poitras had only five points with one goal in 14 games. 

“It’s a really hard league, everybody’s just so good,” Poitras said. “My confidence wasn’t where I need it to be to go out there and have the confidence that I’m a good player, that I can play at (the NHL) level. Get that back and just play the right way.”

At 20 years old, the in-game mistakes that Poitras would make were understandable but became more frequent and harder to ignore while the Bruins themselves spun their tires. 

“He puts himself in some bad situations, which he needs to learn from those,” Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery said prior to a game against Seattle on Nov. 3. “We’ve given him an opportunity to play higher up, and we’ve given him the opportunity to play on the power play. We really want him just to focus on simple things, being really good five-on-five right now and helping us in that regard.” 

After sending down Poitras, the Bruins brought only 12 forwards with them on their recent two-game road trip through St. Louis and Dallas. That was until they called up Providence captain Patrick Brown on Thursday, which officially signaled Poitras’ demotion was more than a simple paper transaction. 

Instead, Poitras will work with other Bruins prospects like Fabiain Lysell down in Providence, where he will try to find his game once again and eventually his way back to Boston. 

Providence Bruins:

The Providence Bruins play three games this weekend, including two at home at Amica Mutual Pavillion. The Bruins will host the Cleveland Monsters tonight at 7:05 p.m. They’ll then travel to Hartford tomorrow afternoon to take on the Wolf Pack at 6 p.m. before returning home on Sunday to face Cleveland once again at 3:05 p.m.

Like its parent club, Providence has had a stop-and-go start to the season but seems to have found its stride amidst a three-game winning streak. 

With a record of 6-6-0 and 12 points, Providence sits in fifth place within the AHL Atlantic Division. 

Vinni Lettieri and Georgii Merkulov share the team lead with 11 points apiece, while Fabian Lysell is stuck on four points after battling through an early-season injury. 

Projected starting goalie Brandon Bussi has scuffled out of the gate, allowing Michael DiPietrot to take over as the No. 1 between the posts in Providence. With a  5-2-0 record in seven starts and a .936 save percentage, DiPietro’s 1.70 goals against average ranks fifth among qualified AHL netminders. 

Top Bruins Prospects This Week: 

Georgii Merkulov: Merkulov lit up the stat sheet for the P-Bruins last week, scoring five points in three games, including a three-point performance at Bridgeport on Nov. 9.

John Farinacci: With two goals against Bridgeport on Nov. 9, Farinacci broke himself out of a six-game dry spell. He’s not up to four points with three goals this season.

Andre Gasseau: Gasseau had three goals in two games for No. 2 Boston College last week against Maine, helping the Eagles improve to 7-1-0 this season.