Jim Montgomery on Mason Lohrei’s debut: ‘He made a lot of intelligent hockey plays’
The Bruins young core of players have made a noticeable impact this season. Matthew Poirtras looks like he can play at the highest level at 19-years old and now defenseman Mason Lohrei has arrived.
Lohrei was added to the Bruins roster after a slew of injuries hammered the blue line.
In his NHL debut, 22-year-old looked like he belonged. Lohrei played in a top-four defensive pairing which includes spots on the penalty kill against the Maple Leafs.
"He was dynamite. He played really well," Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery said of Lohrei's debut. "His poise with the puck in all three zones was very noticeable. He made a lot of intelligent hockey plays."
The young defenseman looked poised with the puck and showed his ability to clear the zone and rush the puck up the ice. Lohrei collected his first career point on a secondary assist on Pavel Zacha’s first-period goal that opened the scoring for the Black and Gold.
Lohrei saw 1:43 minutes on the penalty kill, including breaking up a scoring chance from former Bruin Tyler Bertuzzi.
In his season debut, Lohrei played 21:23, with 17:34 of ice time at 5-on-5. Typically a rookie defenseman won’t see time like that on the ice, but with the Bruins down Charlie McAvoy, Matt Grzelcyk and Derek Forbort, he stepped up when he was needed the most
"I've penalty killed my whole life, did it in junior, we had a really good penalty kill at Ohio State, so it's not new to me," Lohrei said. "Obviously doing it up here is new and harder, but it's a great group up here to learn from. Coach (Joe) Sacco has been great, watching film and stuff. I just try to use my stick and my size. I like to play all situations, and the PK is one of them."
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