By Joe Haggerty
CSNNE.com Bruins InsiderFollow @hackswithhaggs
BOSTON -- It appears it will go down to game time for a decision on Benoit Pouliot and Jordan Caron as it did for opening night against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Caron got the call and Pouliot never made it onto the ice for pregame warm-up when it came to decision time on the left wing spot for Bostons third line, but the results werent there for team or individual. Caron never really made much of an impression skating with Chris Kelly and Tyler Seguin, and Claude Julien remarked the next day that perhaps the 20-year-old was a little more tentative than hed been during the pre-season.
He played 10:20 of ice time in the first game and didnt have a single shot on net, but Caron felt like he played within the system even if he didnt jump off the page when perusing the stat sheet postgame.
I dont think it was a bad game. It was more of a normal game. I think I did the little things pretty well, but it was just okay. I thought I played a pretty good game defensively and both Seguin and I had some pretty good chances offensively, said Caron. The competition pushes you harder and you know that you cant even take a day off during practice. I know I need to go 100 percent and its been a pretty good battle.
Pouliot admitted on Friday hes still adjusting to the Bruins offensive and defensive systems, and may need a few more games to become fully integrated into the Black and Gold way of doing things.
So Caron may get another chance to prove himself against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night given the aberrational nature of opening night paired with the banner-raising ceremony. Julien stressed that any decisions made in the ensuing gamesincluding tonights tilt against the Boltswould have nothing to do with the results from Thursday night.
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I dont think I would make any changes based on the result of the game, or the way the game was played, said Julien. I dont think I would ever do that. I didnt think we played well as a team, but thats about where Id leave that.
Should be a few interesting calls for the Bs lineup with Julien having at least the RaskThomas and CaronPouliot decision on his hands entering a game against a very good Tampa hockey club.
Joe Haggerty can be reached at jhaggerty@comcastsportsnet.com. Follow Joe on Twitter at http:twitter.comHackswithHaggs
