On Wednesday, Boston Bruins forward Matt Fraser was twiddling his thumbs and eating Chipotle. A day later, he scored the kind of playoff goal he must have dreamed about as a kid when his 1-0 overtime winner tied the Bruins’ series with the Montreal Canadiens at 2-2.
It was his first-ever NHL playoff game and first-ever playoff goal on his second career postseason shot.
To give you an idea of how rare this is, consider these bits of history:
.@NHLBruins Matt Fraser is 2nd player in 2014 postseason (6th in last 75yrs) to score 1st career playoff goal in 1-0 OT game (Granlund, MIN)
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) May 9, 2014
Matt Fraser is the first player ever to score OT goals in @TheAHL and @NHL playoffs in the same season. #CalderCup #StanleyCup @EliasSports
— AHL Communications (@AHLPR) May 9, 2014
Matt Fraser becomes the 6th Bruin to score his first NHL playoff goal in OT ^CS
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) May 9, 2014
As exciting as those factoids are, the thing that makes this story especially compelling is how much the 23-year-old’s situation has changed in the past 48 hours. The funny thing about all the “dream” talk is that he might not be doing much of that for a little while.
Matt Fraser: "I hardly slept today. I'm sure I'll hardly sleep tonight."
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) May 9, 2014
Quite a ride for Matt Fraser: "Yesterday I was at Chipotle eating lunch and wondering what I was going to do for the day."
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) May 9, 2014
During his post-game interview with Pierre McGuire, Fraser noted that “words can’t describe” the feeling of scoring that goal in that moment (and that he dreamed up such scenarios on friends’ outdoor rinks many times).
Fraser also mentioned a little guilt about eating frozen yogurt before Game 4, and with that Chipotle admission, some might wonder about his diet if he wants to continue to make an impact during this postseason. (Then again, Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma’s Qdoba ritual became a big story during their Stanley Cup run, so maybe this will be the next Tex-Mex superstition of note for the NHL ...)
Getting to know Fraser
For some, the question is: can this young forward make an impact beyond Game 4?
Here are a few noteworthy things about Fraser:
- He isn’t afraid to get physical. He registered three seasons at or above 115 penalty minutes in the WHL. Despite playing just 14 regular season games with the Bruins, Fraser dropped the mitts twice. His fight against Buffalo’s Marcus Foligno didn’t go too well, but still:
- Fraser scored two goals in those 14 games at the NHL level and had 30 points in 44 contests with the AHL’s Providence Bruins. He scored five points in five AHL playoff games too.
- He’s undrafted and came to Boston via the trade that sent Tyler Seguin to Dallas and brought Loui Eriksson (among others) to the Bruins. Being that it took this long for him to get some playoff action, expectations probably aren’t that high ... but his line with Eriksson and Carl Soderberg showed some promise.
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It’s unclear if Fraser will make much of an impact beyond Thursday’s big goal, but even so, it’s better than sitting around eating burritos.
(Although that’s pretty fun, too.)