BOSTON – It’s no exaggeration to say that Friday’s matinee win over the New York Rangers was the biggest single win of the season to date for a very different Bruins hockey club.
It had the come-from-behind element in the third period to finish off the 4-3 final score, and it contained the attitude, hard hits and plentiful scoring that’s become a staple for the Black and Gold this season. It also had the Bruins finally triumphing against an elite team after stumbling against the top-tier clubs like the Montreal Canadiens, Dallas Stars and Washington Capitals.
For a newly assembled group of Bruins players this season, this was exactly the kind of proof they needed to show they can beat anybody in the league. It’s been difficult to get a handle this B’s group, which is so different from teams of the recent past, but that’s part of the fun for the familiar faces still present on Causeway Street.
“This is a hard-working team. I think the attitude of this group is they want to do well. Whether they do that every night, I think their intentions are good. When they go out there and compete like they did tonight it’s a lot of fun to coach these guys,” said Claude Julien. “There is a mixture of veterans, there is a mixture of leadership and also a mixture of new faces and young players as well. There’s a lot that has changed in our group. Just to see it grow is what’s fun for a coach as long as you’re heading in the right direction.”
Perhaps one of the best things about the statement win was it featured both the club’s strengths and weaknesses playing out against stiff competition. The Dennis Seidenberg and Colin Miller defense pairing endured some major issues in the second period, and were on ice for a pair of goals against with egregious coverage miscues around the net.
But the Bruins recognized it, and players stepped up to reverse the momentum quickly shifting away from them. One of those major players was Matt Beleskey, who cannonballed into Derek Stepan in the corner after the Rangers had scored the two goals in the middle period. It was a hard, clean check that was perhaps a tick on the tardy side, but it also had the desired effect of completely changing the game’s energy.
Dylan McIlrath jumped Beleskey in retaliation, and then Brett Connolly snapped an 11-game goal-scoring drought to tie things up with a power play strike in the second period. It was the kind of moment the Black and Gold had lacked earlier in the season when players weren’t stepping up as games started slipping away, and also the kind of unmistakable evidence this new B’s group is improving with time and a little patience.
“Early on in the season, it wasn’t a good feeling,” said David Krejci, when asked about falling behind in the third period. “But we feel like our PK has been much improved in the last few games. We never let up. We didn’t quit. We kept pushing. We got a power play goal [to tie it up], and the game-winner after that. We still believed on the bench after they scored the third goal, and [the come-from-behind win] was the result.
“We have a good team. Sometimes we have a tough night, but we really believe in each other in here. It’s starting to show. Even some games maybe we don’t deserve to win, but we’re finding ways to win the game. Five in a row? That’s a good roll.”
The roll was made possible by two goals in the game’s final four minutes. Ryan Spooner stepped up to score on the power play in another adjustment made by the Bruins coaching staff. The playmaking center was encouraged to get off the half-wall and get closer to the net when the puck was on the other side of the ice, or headed toward the net.
He did just that and Loui Eriksson was able to feed a subtle, super-smart pass to an open space where Spooner pounced and fired for the game-tying score.
That was followed a couple of minutes later by one of the most dominant shifts of the season for the Bruins. The Krejci, Beleskey, Eriksson line teamed with Torey Krug and Miller to pulverize the Rangers defense with puck possession, and eventually find a way to get a fourth goal past Henrik Lundqvist. It all culminated in a Krejci point shot through traffic in front with 1:43 to go in the third for the game-winner, and a true character win earned by the Bruins.
A hockey team needs tangible proof sometimes that progress is being made, and that things are headed in the right direction. There’s no better way to get all of that than beating a high caliber team like the Rangers, and doing it in entertaining, colorful fashion.
“We showed a lot of character tonight. I think we have to be really happy about it. How we finished the game, it shows that we’re learning and we’re coming together as a team,” said Brad Marchand. “These are games you have to know how to win and it’s great that we have different guys stepping up every night.”
The positive bend to Boston’s learning curve is also finally starting to show in the Eastern Conference standings.
The five game winning stretch has the Bruins within two points of second place in the division, and brimming with confidence after an encouraging win that followed grinding victories on the road in Toronto and Detroit. Not only are they still scoring goals and producing power play offense at the highest clip in the NHL, but now the penalty kill has stopped 17 of the last 18 opposing power plays over the last five games.
That’s a tough combo to beat when a team is producing power play goals and also neutralizing the other team’s power play on a regular basis. Couple that with growing swagger among the B’s ranks and encouraging character unearthed in back-to-back comeback wins, and the Black and Gold really seem to be onto something pretty good.
If the Bruins do indeed find themselves back in the playoffs come April, this post-Thanksgiving matinee win in front of national hockey audience might just be the day they can point to when it all really became possible.
Or at least it all seemed a little more realistic after the Bruins took down their biggest win of the season by owning their first elite NHL team in the Rangers.