Matt Poitras’ confidence growing amid offensive hot streak for Bruins
Matt Poitras is heating up. He’s feeling it. Do you feel that?
Confidence.
It’s a quality that you can’t quantify, which surely makes a lot of stat-humpers uncomfortable. But Poitras has it, and you could see it and feel it by the time he grabbed his second assist of the game in Tuesday’s 3-0 win over the Wild.
It was Poitras’ fourth assist in his last two games, and arguably his most impressive pass of the four. After gaining the zone down the right half-boards, Poitras anticipated linemate Trent Frederic trailing on the opposite side, and spun a perfect saucer pass across the ice to Frederic, who thankfully finished with a top-shelf snipe.
Poitras executed the pass with the calmness and patience of a confident player, especially for a 20-year-old who has still played less than a full season’s worth of NHL games. He had logged a secondary assist on Charlie McAvoy’s tip-in goal earlier in the game, which helped him see the ice even better as the game went on. It felt like a “Hey, I can do this!” moment for the promising young forward.
“It’s just when you get that first one and when Dave [Pastrnak] feathers it and Chuck [McAvoy] tips it, you’re feeling good about yourself,” Poitras said after the game. “I feel like any player would say the same thing. When you get a point or contribute on a goal or anything like that, you feel good about yourself and it raises that confidence level. It opens up your eyesight and you see the ice a bit different.
“When you’re feeling confident and moving your feet and having the puck, it’s fun.”
It’s been a grind for Poitras to earn his keep at the NHL level, which has been a bit frustrating for those that have watched the Bruins continually struggle to score, or even generate consistent opportunities on offense. It feels like it’s been longer and tougher than it really has been, because Poitras has looked like a confident, smart player since he arrived in the league. But he did just get here as a pro.
Which only makes it more impressive how he looks with the puck on his stick, especially the way he’s seeing the ice and setting up his teammates.
“Matty’s persistent,” said interim head coach Joe Sacco. “He’s on the puck. He wants the puck. He wants to make a difference when he has it. And that’s what I like about his game, besides the fact he’s collecting some points. He’s competitive, and he’s digging in.”
Solid point there by Sacco. Even without the guys finishing, Poitras looks good with the puck right now, regardless. And there’s even a win here for the analytics crowd: so far this month, among forwards with at least 20 minutes of five-on-five ice time, Poitras is 16th among all NHL forwards with 4.97 expected goals per 60 minutes (xGF/60) (via Natural Stat Trick). On that list, he’s sandwiched between J.T. Miller and Carter Verhaeghe.
Hopefully, for the sake of a Bruins team that is now fighting for every last point and enters Wednesday still on the outside looking in for the playoffs, Poitras is here to stay. He’s producing, and more importantly, he’s confident.
Which is more you can say about a lot of forwards that have come through here recently.
Matt Dolloff is a writer and digital content producer for 98.5 The Sports Hub. Read all of his articles here.