Julien: Hamilton Had 'Outstanding' Game In OT Loss To Rangers
BOSTON (CBS) - The lore of Dougie Hamilton is growing by the day, and Boston Bruins head coach Claude Julien is fully buying into the hype.
The 19-year-old Bruins defensemen notched his first career NHL point in Wednesday night's 4-3 OT loss to the New York Rangers, assisting on Brad Marchand's second period goal -- Boston's first power play goal of the season. Hamilton ripped an open shot, which pin-balled it's way passed Henrik Lundqvist to pull the Bruins within a goal.
Though the Bruins lost the match in overtime, Julien has nothing but good things to say about his rookie defenseman.
"Anybody who watched the game had to see this guy, and it was outstanding. Not good -- outstanding," said Julien. "He was so poised and confident. If anybody thinks he can't play in this league, they should just take some time to watch this game."
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"I really liked his game. I think his teammates are seeing the Dougie Hamilton that everybody's projecting. Right now, we've got to keep him going with lots of confidence, because that's what he's shown and it's paying off," he added.
Read: Julien Calls Out NY's Girardi For Embellishing Hit
Comments aside, it's not hard to see the coach has already fallen in love with the Bruins 2011 first-round pick. Hamilton was on Boston's second defensive pair alongside Andrew Ference, and logged 18:55 of ice time on Wednesday. This came after his 23:27 minutes on the ice in Monday's shootout win over the Winnipeg Jets. Just three games in, Hamilton is already logging veteran minutes and making the most of them.
Along with his assist Wednesday night, Hamilton registered four shots on goal and a blocked shot against the Rangers.
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