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I Don't Believe It: B's win two in a row, beat Enroth and Sabres 3-1 |
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Ty Anderson
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Everyone hits a point where they simply can't take ______ anymore.
For some it's people (I think I know a thing or two about that), others can't deal with the rigors of a mundane nine to five job, but for a team it simply hits a point where you get sick of losing games that you should win. I'm not sure that the Bruins could've handled dropping tonight's game with the Buffalo Sabres -- a team that's won the last two meetings between the sides, outscoring the Black-and-Gold 8-1 over that stretch -- and I know they couldn't deal with the frustration that comes with failing to win consecutive games yet again.
Mercifully for fans in the Hub, the streak of inconsistency finally ended tonight. After 56 days, the Boston Bruins are finally riding a victory streak.
But it didn't come easy for a Black-and-Gold club in search of upping their full-surface play given their rather unfortunate injury situation. Falling behind early when a Jason Pominville rocket beat Tim Thomas late in the first period.
Paving the way for a crash-course final 40 minutes that saw both the B's and Sabres match hit for hit, the Bruins would finally solve the riddle known as the 5-foot-10 Jhonas Enroth when a Cody Hodgson turnover onto the stick of Shawn Thornton gave the Bruins an unlikely chance. Turning the puck over right on the stick of Thornton, the veteran enforcers' shot was tipped by Gregory Campbell for his seventh tally of the season.
Deadlocked at one goal a side for much of the third period, the Bruins would finally break through when Johnny Boychuk fired an absolute bullet through Enroth, giving Boston a 2-1 lead that they'd hang onto behind a 19-save performance from Thomas.
Adding an insurance tally when David Krejci scored his 18th of the year, Boston's road to consecutive wins came from their commitment to the hard-nosed style of play that's kept them in games as of late.
"It’s been a long time, we finally got it. It feels good, I think we deserve it," Krejci said after the win. "Even in some of our losses, we played well. But, even if you got to play the same way, then the wins are going to come."
By the numbers
6:27 - Time-on-ice missed by Brad Marchand in the third period after getting drilled along the half-wall by towering Buffalo defensemen Tyler Myers. Boston coach Claude Julien said that Marchand was fine.
6 - Points in the last three games for 21-year-old Jordan Caron. The 6-foot-3 winger finished the night with an assist and a plus-1.
37 - Wins at the dot tonight for the B's. Losing just 19 face-offs on the night, to the shock of no one Patrice Bergeron led the team with 20 wins in 27 battles at the dot.
One heinous looking set of pads - Donned by Marty Turco, who returned to his gold pads from the Dallas days and his mask from the 2006 Canadian Olympic squad.
Ty's Take: Boychuk pivotal for Bruins in win
The loss of Andrew Ference is one of things that really hurts the Bruins, but doesn't show up in the stat column. Ference, one of the more seasoned B's blue-liners at 32 years old, is a reliable defensemen that can hit, defend, and occasionally chime in with some offense.
The same can be said for Boston's Johnny Boychuk.
Scoring his fourth goal of the season tonight, No. 55 was steady on a night that saw him finish with four hits along with four shots on goal.
"Well he’s been steady, we’ve said that all year-round – all year long I should say," Julien said after the win. "He was a little disappointed on that first goal against that he got his shot blocked and gave the Sabres an opportunity to take the lead so he redeemed himself extremely well with his play the rest of the game."
Up next
Boston's back at it on Saturday afternoon when they play host to the Washington Capitals. This will be the Caps' first trip to the TD Garden since Dec. 2010, and the third meeting between the two sides this year. They're currently split with a win each.
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