With coach Bruce Cassidy’s pregame announcement that former Boston University Terrier Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson would be making his NHL debut Saturday against Washington, fans donning the black and gold on Causeway Street got what they were looking for. Game 82 of the Bruins’ up-and-down 2016-17 campaign was in need of a spark.
On the ice, however, Forsbacka Karlsson’s impact was negligible; he was unable to provide what Boston sorely lacked against the back-to-back Presidents’ Trophy winners — and they lacked a lot.
“The only thing we talked to him about was, listen, ‘You’re playing against men,’ ’’ Cassidy said. “‘They’re going to be hard on pucks, hard around the puck so that’ll be the biggest difference maker for you.’ He was positionally solid [and] he didn’t hurt us; he’s just going to have to be harder around the battles. Every young player learns that and the quicker you can adapt to that, the easier the transition is going to be for you.’’
Forsbacka Karlsson split a pair of faceoffs in 8:25 of ice time, and got limited exposure on both of Boston’s special teams units.
“[The guys] are bigger, they’re stronger, they make better decisions, they go faster, you have less time with the puck, everything like that,’’ Forsbacka Karlsson said of adjusting to the ranks of the NHL. “It’s a little bit of an adjustment but I think it went well.’’
Playing with a deficit following the opening frame for the first time since March 16 (at Edmonton), the Bruins were unable to generate much in the way of penetration through a stout Capitals line of defense.
Forsbacka Karlsson opened as the third line pivot between Drew Stafford and Matt Beleskey, though Cassidy mixed lines multiple times in the first, searching for answers that were nowhere to be found.
“We gave up that early goal [at 4:21], and if we hadn’t done that, we would’ve stuck it out a little longer,’’ Cassidy said. “With Washington, you have to be careful, you can’t get too far behind. When it was 1-0 we probably needed the next goal.’’
Perhaps that same search was what defined the Bruins’ final outing before the Stanley Cup playoffs commence: Forsbacka Karlsson’s presence only briefly obscured the sobering truth that things don’t appear as rosy for the Bruins as they did following their 4-0 clincher over Tampa Bay on Tuesday.
After losing Torey Krug to a lower-body injury Thursday against Ottawa, the Bruins lost defenseman Brandon Carlo Saturday in the first period, after he absorbed a crushing blow from Capitals wing Alex Ovechkin up against the TD Garden boards. What once was a robust, healthy core of Boston defenders now appears to be a group in flux with only a handful of recuperation days before round one.
Wing David Backes understands the importance of depth in spring hockey.
“Whether you get Krug back for Game 1 with whoever we’re playing or not, that’s part of the beautiful thing about playoffs is you’re going to need extra bodies,’’ he said. “When you get different guys filling in they need to bring their A-game.
“You need everyone else to shoulder a little bit more of the load and just bind together and show that over 82 games and 190 days you’ve built great bonds where you’re going to sacrifice for each other and do all the little things to win games.’’
Washington sliced apart the Bruins’ thin ranks with a late second-period onslaught on stopper Anton Khudobin, providing Boston with a preview of what might be if the teams meet again this coming week.
Still, the mere presence of Forsbacka Karlsson, who obtained his work visa Thursday, was a rare positive to be gleaned from the Bruins’ first regulation loss since March 23.
“It’s nice to get out there and get the first game out of the way,’’ said the 20-year-old center. “I felt better and better as the game went on. Obviously it’s a little bit of an adjustment, but like I said, once you warm up a little bit it feels better. It still hasn’t really sunk in yet.’’
Owen Pence can be reached at owen.pence@globe.com.
