The Boston Bruins need secondary scoring, and on Tuesday they called up one of their top prospects from the Providence Bruins to help them achieve that.
Matt Poitras has re-joined the Bruins and will play Tuesday night when the Original Six club hosts the Tampa Bay Lightning at TD Garden. It will be his first NHL game since a Nov. 9 loss to the Ottawa Senators.
Poitras' call up from the AHL's Providence Bruins was one of several roster moves the Bruins announced Tuesday.
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They also called up defenseman Michael Callahan from the P-Bruins, in addition to placing center Mark Kastelic and defenseman Charlie McAvoy on injured reserve, and also putting defenseman Hampus Lindholm on long-term injured reserve.
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Poitras began the season with the Bruins and played in 14 games. He tallied four points (one goal, three assists) and just 10 shots on net during that span and didn't make enough of an impact at both ends of the ice. The B's sent him down to Providence in mid-November to get more playing time and rediscover the scoring success that made him a valuable contributor as a rookie last season.
After 23 games with the P-Bruins, Poitras returns to the NHL playing some of his best hockey. The 2022 second-round draft pick tallied 20 points (eight goals, 12 assists) with Providence, including an impressive seven-game goal streak from Dec. 6 through Dec. 18.
Poitras extends his goal streak to 6⃣ games with this one-timer! pic.twitter.com/2lbJdgHAkl
— Providence Bruins (@AHLBruins) December 15, 2024
Poitras explained to reporters after Tuesday's morning skate how his time in the AHL was quite beneficial for him.
"Just got on the ice a lot more, more practices, more reps, I just got that confidence back that I was playing with maybe at the start of this year and last year," Poitras said. "Just go out there and have fun, work hard and let the rest of the stuff take care of itself. It's just getting that confidence back, getting a lot of puck touches. I think that was very beneficial to me."
🎥 Matt Poitras on his time with the @AHLBruins: "Just got on the ice a lot more, more practices, more reps, just got that confidence back…just go out there, have fun, work hard, and let the rest of the stuff take care of itself...I thought it was very beneficial to me." pic.twitter.com/5H5WS9rMXj
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) January 14, 2025
Poitras is a talented playmaker, but he also has a very good shot, and he scored some pretty nice goals for the Bruins last season. Poitras tallied more than one shot in only one of his 14 games with the Bruins earlier this season. He was far more aggressive looking to score in Providence, and the results speak for themselves. The Bruins need Poitras to bring that mentality to Boston.
"When you get that confidence and you're rolling, it's obviously a great feeling," Poitras said. "I feel like I was shooting the puck more, I guess being a bit more selfish. Sometimes I look to pass more, but I think when you get those opportunities to shoot, they don't come that often, so you always have to shoot the puck and good things happen."
The Bruins rank 28th in goals scored per game and 31st in power-play percentage. They desperately need a scoring boost, and of all the players down in Providence, Poitras is the most capable of providing a spark offensively.