WILMINGTONJordan Carons quick one-day trip to the Providence Bruins to play in an AHL game Sunday night caused an unexpected ruffling of rumors on the internet about trades and roster moves, but all of that was incredibly overblown speculation for what it actually was.
The simple, kinda boring truth: Caron hadnt played much lately and Sunday proved to be a good opportunity to get some game action in for the winger while he serves in Boston as the 13th forward. Caron skated with Zach Hamill and Carter Camper in Providence and notched an assist while playing power play, penalty kill and all other situations hes missed out on in Boston.
I think its a good thing. I didnt play the last two games here, so it was good to play in all situations, power play, PK and all of that stuff, said Caron. I felt confident out there and I felt fresh. I wasnt used to getting that ice time, but my legs felt pretty good and thats a good sign.
It never hurts. It cant be bad to go down there and play every once in a while. Just practicing with the guys the pace is higher here, but the biggest thing I have to work on his skating. Being here with these guys helps me in that area.
With the Bs Caron is averaging slightly more than nine minutes per game, is sitting at a minus-2 and has only leveled a pair of shots on net in four games that have been pretty invisible in the early going. Meanwhile Benoit Pouliot has made some mistakes for the Bruins that have landed him in the penalty box, but the former Habs winger is also drawing some penalties and making aggressive mistakes.
The 20-year-old Caron said it helped to knock a little rust off Sunday night, and its helping him focus on this weekends home-and-home series against the Montreal Canadiens thats starting up Thursday night. Its an option that the Bs might use for several spare players should they go any significant length of time without getting into any NHL games.
Its an advantage that we have to send players that need to play, so they dont get stale here, said Claude Julien. Thats good because we have several players that we have the option and opportunity to send to Providence as were moving forward here.
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It remains to be seen if the quick trip to the P-Bruins will help Caron the next time he gets into the Bruins lineup, but at least the effort is there to keep the former first round pick sharp when his No. 38 gets called again.