Jones: Fraser Provides Much-Needed Spark To Bruins Lineup In Game 4 Overtime Win
BOSTON (CBS) - Matt Fraser, an afterthought in the Tyler Seguin trade, was the unlikely hero Thursday night for the Boston Bruins.
Tied 0-0 in overtime, the recent call up from the Providence Bruins found a loose puck near the right post, flicked the puck backhand and his teammates joined him in celebration on the ice after netting the game winner past Montreal's Carey Price.
98.5 The Sports Hub's Adam Jones was on the air following the game to provide a recap, and he was joined with Dave Goucher and Bob Beers of the Bruins Radio Network.
"I thought the [third line] was pretty good as a unit to be honest with you. There were some plays there that didn't materialize the way you would have hoped, but I didn't mind Matt Fraser's game at all," said play-by-play man Dave Goucher. "Down in the minors he's a 20-30 goal scorer, I don't know if that will materialize up here for him, but I thought he was fine on that left wing. I thought he fit in pretty well."
Fraser not only won the game and evened the series with Montreal 2-2, but the 23-year-old also gave the Bruins lineup a much needed spark (specifically the third line with Carl Soderberg and Loui Eriksson) even before the final buzzer rang.
"I thought the Bruins needed some sort of a change up front. The Krejci line? That's a separate issue. To reunite [Gregory] Campbell, [Shawn] Thornton and [Daniel] Paille on the fourth line I thought maybe you'd get an infusion of offense on that third line, and sure enough Fraser ended up getting the goal to win it," said Goucher.
Color man Bob Beers couldn't agree more with his colleague's assessment of Fraser.
"Yeah they needed some more there on that third line. Carl Soderberg drew a lot of praise early on in the playoffs, and I don't want to say he flatlined but his play had dipped a little bit. Loui Eriksson's play had dipped a little bit too, especially in this series, and they wanted to give some sort of spark to that line.
"Well, do you do it with Jordan Caron and flip flop Dan Paille? [Paille] really wasn't working there [on the third line] and generating much offensively, so you try somebody else.
If you reach down to Providence there's a lot of choices for you down there right now. Do you call up Ryan Spooner and move Soderberg to the wing? They want to keep Soderberg at center, and they feel that Matt Fraser can be a better player along the wing than Soderberg. He's a big body. He's not the fastest skater, but he's got a NHL shot and he's got the ability to score.
"In the past two seasons he's got more goals than anybody else in the American Hockey League," said Beers.
Listen below for the full postgame recap:
Bruins-Canadiens Game 4 Recap
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