Talking Points: Beleskey's energy powers Bruins

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GOLD STAR: Matt Beleskey didn’t end up on the score sheet, but was incredibly active throughout the game. The left winger changed the momentum of the game when he crushed Derek Stepan in the corner with a punishing hit, and finished with nine shot attempts and five registered hits. The ensuing power play from Dylan McIlrath jumping him earned the Rangers D-man an instigator penalty, and helped set up Brett Connolly’s badly needed goal in the second period. Beleskey has begun to really show his strengths as a player beyond the offensive stats, and his maximum energy shifts have been a real plus to the Black and Gold amid their five-game winning streak. It’s rare to see a non-goalie with zero points get the gold star, but Beleskey did it on Friday.

BLACK EYE: Henrik Lundqvist went over the top with the full body embellishment after some contact was made between Brad Marchand and the Rangers goalie outside of the crease. While it did look it might have been a legitimate penalty call on Marchand as his knee did make contact with King Henrik’s head, the second or two delay between contact and Lundqvist flopping to the ice were really over the top. The Bruins also managed to get four goals on 27 shots against the All-Star netminder, and that’s not an easy thing to do either. Overall it was a tough day for King Henrik, but he’ll still look like a movie star tomorrow. So I’m pretty sure he’ll be okay either way.

TURNING POINT: The King Henrik flop was actually the turning point in the game. It led to the Rangers scoring the go-ahead goal, but it incensed the Bruins enough that they responded strongly with a furious comeback at the end of the third period. The two goals in the final four minutes of the third represented a rare comeback against a normally solid Rangers bunch, and it’s exactly the kind of late life that the B’s didn’t have earlier in the season.

HONORABLE MENTION: Even if the B’s did allow a PP goal to J.T. Miller and the Rangers on a fluke bounce, the Bruins penalty kill has now snuffed out 17 of their last 18 power plays they’ve faced over the last five games. They might not have much in the way of impressive statistics for quite some time, but they’re now helping the B’s win games. When you couple that with a power play that supplied a couple of goals tonight, you’re starting to talk about an impressive special teams display by the Black and Gold. Don’t underestimate the impact of Dennis Seidenberg on the Bruins PK, and how that has helped stabilize things since he came back from his back surgery.

BY THE NUMBERS: 11 – the number of games Brett Connolly had gone without a goal before his power play strike in the second period.

QUOTE TO NOTE: “He must have gotten hit with a cement block the way he went down…I didn’t know I was that strong.” –Brad Marchand, describing the flopping of Henrik Lundqvist that drew a key goalie interference call on him in the third period.

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