BOSTON -- The Bruins made a conscious effort to exert a full team-wide push in an important Saturday game Saturday afternoon against the Nashville Predators.
The Bs fourth line had a little bit of good and bad in a 4-3 shootout win over the Preds at TD Garden, but was undoubtedly a factor in the needed victory with their infusion of energy. While the Bruins call their fourth line the energy line, but its also essentially a barometer for the physical commitment and energy level exhibited by the Black and Gold.
A Daniel Paille goal and oodles of energy from the fourth line forwards set the tone for the rest of the Bs, and left them with the kind of success through depth and hard work thats also the organizations founding philosophy. They finished with five shots on net as a trio and gave every last ounce of energy in their 14 shifts.
But Shawn Thornton doesnt pull many punches, and also admitted he wasnt too high about the goal scored because they gave it right back early in the third period on a Patric Holmqvist goal.
We were happy to score but then we got scored against so I guess it kind of washes out right? said Thornton. I think everyone showed up to play. There were a couple of mistakes and they capitalized on them, but I think the effort was there from everyone. I think everyone was trying to buy into the game plan, which was good.
Adam McQuaid was hauled down near the Nashville net, and then fell far behind the Predators transition game into the offensive zone. Shawn Thornton stepped up into McQuaids spot to cover the net, but Gregory Campbell lagged behind with back pressure creating a 3-on-2 in front of the net.
It was a mental error, to be sure, but it didnt wipe out the earlier play to give the Bs a temporary lead. Shawn Thornton had his back to the front of the net as he cycled behind the Predators cage, but heard Daniel Paille calling for the puck as he cut to the net.
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Thornton flipped a pass backhanded to the front of the net and Paille finished the play off by raising a backhanded shot over Pekka Rinne.
That leaves Paille one goal short of double-digits this season, and gave the Bs fourth line plenty to build on with some important games on the horizon.
You need that fourth line production no matter what. I think thats Pailles ninth goal. For a guy who plays on the fourth line were certainly happy with his production this year, said Claude Julien. He did exactly what we had talked about. We saw that if we could beat their guy that was pursuing us, it was important that we take it to the net. They played a bit of a man-on-man type of defense, so it was important for us. You saw us tonight go behind the net, trying to jam it coming out the other side. Rinne was obviously standing tall for them, but we had a lot of opportunities that way. We did that in the first, and then again in the third by taking it from the corner and taking it to the net. That was a big goal for us.
The fourth lines contributions were so important that Milan Lucic immediately referenced their days work on Saturday afternoon when asked about his game-tying goal with 1:07 to go in the third period. Thats a sign the Bruins are all in it together at this point in the season, and that production from all four lines will be needed headed into the teeth of a nasty second-half schedule.