One look at the schedule and this had the makings of one of those very tough weekends where the Boston Bruins had back-to-back games less than 24 hours apart with travel involved for the second game. The Bruins have seen their lead in the Atlantic Division shrink to two points over the Florida Panthers and with the New Jersey Devils and Detroit Red Wings on consecutive nights, the Black and Gold will take any points they can get.
Things didn’t start out well as the Devils jumped out to a 2-0 lead early in the second period, but Boston knew New Jersey was playing for a second consecutive night after winning 6-2 Friday night (Dec. 29) against the Ottawa Senators. After falling behind by a pair of goals, the Bruins wore down New Jersey with five straight goals for a 5-2 victory Saturday night (Dec. 30) at the TD Garden. Here are three takeaways after Boston improved to 21-7-6.
Brad Marchand Keyed Second Period on Slaught
Trailing 2-0, the Bruins needed a spark, and the captain, Brad Marchand, came through like captains do. His forecheck forced New Jersey goalie Vitek Vanecek to play the puck quicker than he wanted, which led to a turnover and Marchand set up Jake DeBrusk’s goal to cut the deficit in half. That play started a stretch where Boston scored four straight goals in the period to take control of the game.
David Pastrnak tied the game when he jammed home a loose puck in the crease off a Brandon Carlo shot, then just over three minutes later, Pastrnak scored on the power play when he snuck behind the Devils’ defense and beat Vanecek for a 3-2 lead after Marchand drew a penalty with his forecheck. One minute and 35 seconds later, Kevin Shattenkirk scored off a pass from Matt Grzelcyk for a 4-2 lead. It was one of the better periods the Black and Gold have played this season in terms of their system and structure.
Bruins Survive the Third Period Once Again
It has been noted this season how many times the Bruins have taken a lead into the third period and ended up going to overtime or a shootout and losing and having to settle for one point in the standings instead of two. Taking a two-goal lead into the final 20 minutes against New Jersey, the Bruins were outshot, 18-8, by a team that was playing on a back-to-back and looked like they had the better legs.
Related: 3 Takeaways From Bruins’ 4-1 Win Over Sabres
Linus Ullmark stopped all 18 shots, but it felt like a reversal of what the Bruins did to New Jersey in the second period, the Devils returned the favor, but just couldn’t find the back of the net. There were a couple of high-danger saves for Ullmark, but there are only so many times that they can survive a final period like that and leave with two regulation points.
Jake DeBrusk & Kevin Shattenkirk Spark the Offense
DeBrusk has been struggling over the last month and after the three-day Holiday break, he returned with two assists in Boston’s 4-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Dec. 27. Following the game in Western New York, second-year head coach Jim Montgomery spoke about DeBrusk’s performance and what it means for his team to get that on a nightly basis.
“I thought Jake was our best forward tonight,” Montgomery said. “I thought his habits (were good), I thought his speed was noticeable, his checking, hanging on the puck and making real good decisions. It makes a big difference when he’s the player we know he can be.”
If Montgomery liked his game against Buffalo, he had to have liked what he got against New Jersey. He got the Bruins on the board in the second period and picked up an assist on Pastrnak’s power play later in the period. He finished with 15:30 in time-on-ice and it was one of his better forechecking games. That’s the player Boston needs him to be.
Looking for depth-scoring, Shattenkirk provided that. After giving the Bruins a 4-2 lead in the second period with his first goal of the night, then in the third period, he sealed the win with a power play goal with 3:11 remaining in the game. It was the seventh two-goal game of his career and the Bruins can use more of that going forward.
Bruins Quick Takeaways
- Ullmark finished the game with 31 saves. He had no chance on Nico Hischier’s first-period power-play goal, but he would like to have had a second-period goal from Luke Huges who beat him over the shoulder with a wrist shot from above the left circle. Certainly seemed like a shot he’d like to have back.
- Grzelcyk returned to the lineup and played well. He had the primary assist on Pastrnak’s first goal in the second period and finished with five shots on the net in 18:20 of time on the ice. he also finished with a plus/minus of plus-1, the first time he finished with a plus in 14 games.
- Georgii Merkulov made his NHL debut and played 15:08 and blocked two shots for the Bruins.
- It was a rough night at the faceoff dot for the Bruins. Merkulov was 3-for-11, Morgan Geekie was 1-for-7, John Beecher was 1-for-5, and Charlie Coyle was 3-for-14. Pavel Zach was 5-for-8, by far the best for Boston. For New Jersey, Michael McLeod was 17-for-20.
- The Bruins were holding their breath after the game after Charlie McAvoy slid into Ullmark late in the game gingerly left the ice and went to the locker room with an apparent left leg injury. Following the game, Montgomery said his star defenseman was fine and it was just a scare. That’s the best-case scenario.
Getting two points was big for the Bruins with a very quick turnaround against the Red Wings in Detroit on New Year’s Eve (Dec. 31). After that, a trip to play the Columbus Blue Jackets awaits on Jan. 2 before two home games against the Pittsburgh Penguins (Jan. 4) and the Tampa Bay Lightning on Jan. 6 before they head West in the middle of the month. Boston needs to collect points wherever they can during the upcoming tough stretch beginning in Detroit.
