With the exception of Mark Kastelic, the Bruins showed little fighting spirit in their lackluster performance against the Rangers

There were some established stars in the Black and Gold cast: David Pastrnak, Charlie McAvoy and Nikita Zadorov, to name a few. You don't have to worry about job security. However, the guys on the fringes do, and not enough of them showed the fight needed to break the squad bubble.

“What we want is for our team to build up its play, and that was below average,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. “But the other part is individuals making their own mark and showing emotion and physicality when things aren’t going their way to give the team momentum.”

There were some impressions from the kids – Brett Harrison's goal after a great feed from Morgan Geekie and the continued controlled aggression from winger Trevor Kuntar and defender Drew Bavaro – but it wasn't enough.

Bad passes and choppy play can be attributed to a lack of chemistry, as players are still getting used to different line combinations and traveling and playing on the same day is not ideal.

Missed checks and indifferent play are not so easy to explain.

After 10 days of training camp, the Bruins got a day off Friday and return to work Saturday with a morning skate at Warrior, followed by preseason game No. 4 at Philadelphia in the evening.

The final push for job creation now begins in earnest; The opening date is less than two weeks away and the young pups will need even more mojo and moxie.

In contrast, two new veterans – Kastelic and Tyler Johnson – continued their strong position. Both have shown valuable versatility as they look to solidify their spots in Montgomery's rotation.

Kastelic came as part of the Linus Ullmark transfer with a reputation for being a physical player in all three zones. He did justice to that.

The 6-foot-4-inch, 227-pounder is an active forechecker who is becoming more familiar with the system Montgomery runs.

“I think there are some other things here that I personally and a lot of other people are not used to,” Kastelic said. “So the more you can not think so much, the easier the game becomes. So it’s about breaking down the structure as best as possible so that the game becomes somehow natural.”

Kastelic delivered a big punch to Mackey, who then asked Kastelic to drop the gloves. He was happy to obey.

“I respect the guy who wants to go after taking a good hit, and I'll never shy away from that,” Kastelic said. “It's something that's always been a part of me and it's hard for me to turn down an offer, but at the same time it can excite the boys and hopefully it's helped a bit.

“This definitely won’t be the last time.”

Montgomery auditioned to be a penalty killer, and Kastelic also meets this requirement.

“I was very proud of being a penalty killer,” Kastelic said. “I feel like I have a lot of good qualities that contribute to a good PK and that's why I try to make the most of those opportunities on the penalty kill, especially in the five-on-three situation.”

“It’s a great honor to be part of the Killing and something I want to continue to build on. And that again comes down to learning the systems and somehow making it more natural.”

Montgomery said Kastelic is definitely making a push.

“You know what to expect from him,” said the coach. “He will be tough. He will be physical. His game was by no means perfect, but the effort was there. The second and third attempts go hard into difficult areas, which has to be part of his calling card.”

As for Johnson being on a PTO, he was slotted at center and on both wings and was a puck magnet.

“He knows where the puck is going, so he's there before the puck is there, and he makes really good, subtle passes,” Montgomery said. “He’s a really smart hockey player who knows how to give his teammates the puck with time and space.”

Jim McBride can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @globejimmcbride.