Lauko Caps Standout Camp with Strong Showing

BOSTON – Jakub Lauko heard the noise, and he didn’t like it.

So, when he took the ice on Saturday night for the Bruins’ exhibition finale against the New Jersey Devils, the 22-year-old had a little extra pep in his step as he aimed to stick it to those wondering why he remained in camp this deep into the preseason.

“It kind of [ticked] me off, to be honest,” Lauko said of the social media doubters.

That added motivation showed, as the Czech native scored his second goal of the preseason while helping to contribute to a strong performance by Boston’s fourth line, which also featured Nick Foligno and Tomas Nosek, in a 5-3 setback to the Devils at TD Garden.

“I thought that fourth line, the Nosek line, was our best line, all game,” said coach Jim Montgomery. “[Lauko] was good. He’s doing what we’ve asked. He’s bringing speed, he’s keeping pucks in the offensive zone or taking pucks into hard areas. That’s why he’s been here this long.”

Before Saturday’s contest, Montgomery was asked about Lauko’s camp and why the 2018 third-round pick had managed to stick with the big club through the entire exhibition schedule. Boston’s new bench boss cited the 6-foot, 196-pound winger’s unique blend of speed and provocation.

“I think the development team here did a really good job of letting him know how he needs to play,” said Montgomery. “He’s done the things that are necessary, that I think builds momentum on the third or fourth line especially with his speed, attacking the net, he’s physical. He’s lippy out there. He’s a little bit of an agitator. He gets under people’s skin.” 

In addition to embracing the core strengths of his game, agitating included, Lauko also believes an enhanced focus on conditioning over the offseason has made a difference during his fourth Boston training camp. 

“Last season, I had a big expectation of myself that I’ll end up with [Boston] to start the season, and it didn’t work out. I wasn’t good enough,” said Lauko. “End of last season was pretty bad. This summer, I was training my battles and hopefully it’s going to pay off. I feel pretty good on the ice. I feel comfortable on the puck.

“I think my conditioning is a pretty high tier right now. I feel good today. I feel best in the third period. When I feel like the other guys are getting tired, I feel best. I think that’s going to be my staple this season, my conditioning and my ability to skate all game.”

Video: Bruins lose preseason tilt to New Jersey on Saturday

Lauko had 16 points (3 goals, 13 assists) in a career-high 54 games with Providence last season – his third with the P-Bruins, all of which were shortened or disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic – a decline from his 19-point campaign (5 goals, 14 assists) in just 23 games. That dip in production, naturally, did not sit well with the winger, leading him to revamp his summer training regimen.

“I spent a lot of [time] with the wrestling guys and the Thai boxing guys. I gained like 10 pounds since last season,” said Lauko. “Just the way they train, it’s something different. It’s much harder than anything I experienced so far, so it helped me a lot. The summer before, I was training three, four times a day. So, it’s going to show up eventually. Right now, I feel pretty good, but it’s just the end of the preseason, and the real season starts next week.

“For me, if it’s here or if it’s Providence, I’ll just keep doing what I was doing so far. Now, I think after this game, my head, my heart is clear that I did everything, and it depends on the guys in the management and development what they will assume is going to be best for me.”

Moving Fourth 

While Lauko ended up with the goal, Foligno was originally credited with Boston’s second tally of the night with 5:45 remaining in the game. Following a strong shift in the offensive zone, Derek Forbort let go a wrister from the left point that sailed into traffic in the slot and grazed Foligno’s stick before deflecting off Lauko’s leg and by New Jersey goalie Vitek Vaneck to pull the B’s to within 4-2.

“That was awesome. He’s a great kid, it’s fun getting to know him,” said Foligno. “I didn’t really get a chance to know him very well last year, but he’s improved so much. I think he’s just having fun. I think even the Czech connection around here, too. There’s a lot of Czechs [six] in the room so I think he feels more at home. He’s a great kid and he’s obviously shown really well and it’s great to see for the organization.”

Foligno, himself, had his strongest outing of the preseason, collecting a game-high six hits to go along with two shots on goal and his assist on Lauko’s goal in 14:55 of ice time.

“It was by far his best game,” said Montgomery. “I thought he handled the puck really clean and made a lot of good plays, support plays, bumps underneath, wall plays to the middle, and won a lot of battles below the tops of the circles, where you look at his career that’s where his money has been made.”

Video: NJD@BOS: Lauko scores in 3rd period

Time to Get Real 

The next time the Bruins take the ice for game action, it will count for real. After finishing the preseason 3-3, Boston will shift its focus to the season opener against the Capitals on Wednesday in Washington, though there is still some work to do shore up some deficiencies defensively from the final two exhibition games, during which Boston surrendered nine goals (one empty-netter).

“When you get outnumbered, especially when the front of our net was as wide open as it was on that third goal – that’s rotational mistakes, coupled with losing 1-on-1 battles,” said Montgomery, whose club will be off Sunday before returning to the ice for practice on Monday at Warrior Ice Arena. “We left [Linus] out to dry, kind of like left [Jeremy] Swayman out to dry a lot [in New York]. Our rush defense, our tracking, and our D-zone coverage needs to be better as a team. I’m really confident in our goalies.”

Video: Condensed Game: Devils @ Bruins

Wait, There’s More

• Patrice Bergeron notched his first goal of the preseason, a one-timer off a feed from David Krejci, with 2:46 remaining and the goalie pulled to bring the B’s to within 4-3. New Jersey sealed the game on Tomas Tatar’s empty-netter with 18 seconds left.
• David Pastrnak picked up his second goal in as many games with a five-hole marker, also off a feed from Krejci, on the power play to tie the game, 1-1, at 7:59 of the second.
• Craig Smith started the game with Bergeron and Jake DeBrusk, though A.J. Greer also saw time as the third member of that trio. “I like Smith playing on the top line, but I wanted to see what Greer would look like with Bergeron and DeBrusk,” said Montgomery. “It was just an opportunity to do it and the game was kind of flat [at the time] – I liked it. I thought Greer had a lot of jump and created a lot of opportunities for them to stay in the offensive zone.”
• When asked if Jakub Zboril‘s game had slipped after a strong start to camp, Montgomery said it was expected that the blue liner would have ups and downs as he adjusts to playing full time after ACL surgery. “I don’t think he played as well tonight as he did in the first exhibition game,” said Montgomery. “We have to remember that he is a young man who just came back from ACL reconstruction, and I think the excitement of playing was when he was on top of his game. The more you play, the more you get the grind of it mentally, having to assert yourself again every game to prepare the right way and to make plays. When you’re coming back, you aren’t in a rhythm of playing a lot of hockey games in a short amount of time and he’s going through that right now. We knew there were going to be moments where he wouldn’t be consistently good for us, just because of the fact that he was coming back from the injury and all of the time off.”