The joy on the Bruins rookie’s face was apparent.
Fraser Minten dumped the puck deep into the Toronto end from the right wing boards with just over three minutes to go. When Mark Kastelic won a puck battle to retrieve it, Minten went toward the net.
As Kastelic fed him the puck, Dennis Hildeby slid across the goal mouth looking for a one-timer. But Minten recognized how much time he had and waited, just a split second longer, for the goalie’s momentum to pull him a little too far. Minten then snapped a wrist shot into the top left corner and erupted in celebration.
Minten doesn’t think of himself as a goal-scorer, so he’s been demonstrative on each of his three goals this season. But this one, with 3:02 left in the third period to essentially seal the Bruins’ 5-3 win over the Maple Leafs on Saturday in Toronto, was special.
In his first game back in Toronto, he scored a big goal. Not only that, his mother and brother were in the building. Minten pumped his fist and smiled broadly as he skated to the bench.
How good did it feel?
“About as good as it can. Very good,” Minten said. “That’s a huge win for us. Toronto is a good team and they’ve been playing good lately.”
A year ago, he was in the AHL trying to earn a spot in the Maple Leafs lineup. Now, the 21-year-old center the Bruins acquired as part of the Brandon Carlo trade has firmly established himself as an important part of his team’s present and future.
Minten was a favorite of Marco Sturm in training camp and he’s continued to build his coach’s trust.
“I thought he was the best player on the ice. He was just very, very calm,” Sturm said. “The little details he had, he was ready to go.”
Sturm said, unlike many players his age, Minten isn’t intimidated by big moments.
“He wanted to be out there. To me, that’s impressive,” Sturm said. “Because a lot of the young kids, they don’t, especially in tight games. And he got traded from that team. I loved his game today.”
Minten appreciated the praise.
“It’s great. That’s my goal as a player. I’m a competitive guy. I want to be out there playing,” he said. “Continuing to build on that, earn that trust, earn those minutes. That’s why I play the game.”
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