Bruins’ Joe Sacco Has Clear Message For Fabian Lysell

Fabian Lysell made his season debut with the Boston Bruins back on Dec. 28 in the Black and Gold’s shutout win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Lysell jumpstarted Boston’s opening tally against Columbus by using his skating ability to recover the loose puck along the boards and gain possession in the offensive zone. He wasn’t credited with an assist, but his then-linemate Justin Brazeau scored off a rebound past Blue Jackets goalie Daniil Tarasov.

The 2021 first-round draft pick is getting his second opportunity to sport the Spoked-B when he slots into the lineup against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on Saturday night.

Bruins interim head coach Joe Sacco told reporters following morning skate that Lysell will replace the injured Mark Kastelic in the lineup. The 22-year-old forward will begin the game skating with Elias Lindholm and Marat Khusnutdinov. Sacco is expecting Lysell to make the most of his opportunity.

“He’s only played the one game this year, and I thought that the one game he played in, he did a good job, showed some offensive capabilities, just like any other player,” Sacco said, per team-provided video. “He’s gonna get more of an opportunity here tonight playing on that line.

“He’ll get some more minutes offensively. He’s gotta be able to make some plays for us, produce some offensive, whether it’s offensively in the zone or through the neutral zone off the rush, some things like that. And then, his details and habits have to be solid away from the puck.”

Sacco added: “Just go out, play your game. We’ll correct mistakes that happen during the course of a game. We can always handle that. But not overthink, go out, do what you do well. That’s why you’re here. So you gotta go out, and you gotta show it.”

While Lysell was held off the scoresheet in his previous outing with Boston, he has 11 goals and 23 assists, with a plus-11 rating across 51 games in Providence this season.

Despite losing Kastelic for the rest of the road trip, Boston is not planning to call up another forward, giving Lysell the perfect opportunity to show the Bruins he can make an impact down the stretch.