GOLD STAR: Patrice Bergeron was Mr. Everything for the Bruins, with a pair of goals scored, eight shots on net, and 10 shots generated overall. Bergeron also took half of the team’s face-offs while winning 18-of-30 draws for the game. It was also Bergeron that scored the game-winner on a power play redirection of a Ryan Spooner pass in the high slot, and then added the insurance marker for another power play goal that finished off the Coyotes. Bergeron did a little bit of everything in his 22:07 of ice time, and showed his incredible worth at both ends of the ice.
BLACK EYE: Joe Vitale is literally going to have, at the very least, a black eye after picking a fight with Kevan Miller, and then getting dropped by a couple of big right hands by the tough-as-nails Bruins defenseman. Vitale caught the last punch flush to the left eye that ended the fight, and then never returned to the game following the vicious bout with Miller. One has to hope that the former Northeastern University standout is going to be okay because of the heavy punch he took flush to his face. The Bruins also certainly derived plenty of confidence and jump from the fight, which couldn’t have been what Vitale had in mind when he challenged Miller.
TURNING POINT: The Bruins certainly buckled in the third period when Arizona scored a pair of goals to tie up the game in the third period, but the Bruins didn’t break down despite losing the momentum away from home. They instead grinded through some third period issues on the breakout and in the neutral zone, and fought their way into a couple of power play chances that produced the game-winning goal and the insurance marker for Patrice Bergeron. It was a good sign of resiliency for the Bruins, but it also showed there’s still plenty of work to do with this team.
HONORABLE MENTION: One goal and three points for David Krejci, who helped dominate the game along with fellow center Patrice Bergeron. Krejci had nine shot attempts in 20:31 of ice time, and was making plays all over the ice at both ends throughout the win. While Krejci only had the one goal, it’s pretty clear that his hard work improving his point shot in the offseason has helped make the B’s power play a much more dangerous group than it was last season. Krejci now shares the NHL lead in points with his four goals and five assists for nine points in five games for the Bruins.
BY THE NUMBERS: 10 – the number of registered hits for Matt Beleskey, who was making his presence felt physically while the offense was a bit hard to come by for him against the Coyotes.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “We’ve had good effort in the last two games. A 60-minute effort is what we’re looking for. Our guys battled and competed hard. We let them back into the game in the third period with some bad goals, but I thought we battled hard to get back the lead, and our guys were there in the end.” –Claude Julien, happy with what he saw overall from his Bruins team against the Coyotes on Saturday night.