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At the end of his final shift in his 35th game at the National Hockey League level, center
Ryan Spooner could finally call himself an NHL goal scorer. At the 2:46 mark of overtime, the 23-year-old, with the feed from
David Pastrnak and Torey Krug, sniped home the dagger into
Cory Schneider’s cage to seal the deal on a 3-2 Boston win in New Jersey on Friday night.
The goal salvaged would have been an straight-up disastrous loss for the Black and Gold, headlined by a third period two-goal collapse that saw the Bruins outshot 13-to-9 and allow strikes from
Travis Zajac (a power-play goal) and
Jordin Tootoo 2:09 apart, on
Niklas Svedberg.
Despite the Devs’ third-period rush, this was a game that included some positive signs from the B’s.
Number one?
Danny Paille has goals in two straight games. (Knowing the struggles that he’s gone through in 2014-15, that’s perhaps the most amazing thing you’ll read all year.) Paille’s goal did come as a result of an absolutely horrid turnover by
Andy Greene, but the Paille of say, last week, probably would have found a way to roof that puck into the netting above the glass. But after a 36-game goalless streak (and two healthy scratches), Paille is finding a way to contribute on that third line with
Carl Soderberg and right winger
Loui Eriksson (who set the goal up).
Number two? David Pastrnak found the back of the net. It’s been a tough go of it for the 18-year-old of late, entering last night’s game with just two goals in his last 16 games. But that was to be expected. If you include Pastrnak’s 24 games with Providence this year, the Czech winger has now skated in 49 games this year. That’s 13 more games than his career-high 36, set last year with Sodertalje SK. The grind/wall of playing against full-grown men was bound to happen, but it’s encouraging to see the 170-pounder is still muscling through and finding ways to be a viable contributor for the club.
Number three and perhaps the most important? The play of Svedberg. In just his third start of 2015, the 25-year-old Swede stopped 29-of-31 shots against, including two game-saving stops in the waning seconds of regulation. It was the most NHL action that Svedberg’s faced since Dec. 17 against Minnesota (another overtime win), and best he’s looked since, well, that game too. Given the list of Boston’s needs (a top-six winger, a top-four defender), the Black and Gold undoubtedly need more performances like this from their backup netminder to keep
Peter Chiarelli from straight-up wasting resources on a position that they really don’t want to make an upgrade to unless forced.
The win puts the Bruins in the position for a clean weekend sweep if they can sink the visiting Arizona Coyotes, a team with 20 wins and 47 points (third-worst in the league) at TD Garden later today.
The Bruins throttled the Coyotes by a 5-2 final in their prior meeting, in Arizona back on Dec. 6., and should probably do the same against this ‘Yotes bunch. Arizona enters this one with losses in eight straight, and have allowed a league-most 210 goals in 62 games this year, while their minus-73 goal differential is the second-worst in the entire NHL (Buffalo is No. 1 with a minus-87).
The Masked Men: Mike Smith vs. __________
The Coyotes will give the start to
Mike Smith. The 32-year-old heads into this one mired in a seven-game losing streak, and has posted a save percentage over .900 just twice over that skid. Taking the loss behind a 34-of-38 showing in New York on Thursday night, Smith takes to the ice with three wins and a .911 save percentage in 12 career games against the Black and Gold.
No morning skate in Boston, so no confirmation in net just yet. What we do know-- it will be either
Tuukka Rask or Niklas Svedberg in the crease. Rask, who missed last night’s game in New Jersey with an illness, will likely be in the net if the Bruins deem him healthy enough to start, and enters this one with four wins and a .928 save percentage in five career games against Arizona. Personally, though, I’d give this start to Svedberg. This is a Coyote club you should be able to handle with Svedberg in the crease, even if it’s the second leg of a back-to-back, and Rask could without question benefit from a weekend off the ice. But, points…
Stats of Note
- B’s winger
Loui Eriksson has 16 goals and 32 points in 42 career games against Arizona.
- Dougie Hamilton has one goal and five points in his last six games played.
- Boston forward
Milan Lucic has just one goal in his last 10 games.
- ‘Yotes captain
Shane Doan has been held without a point in 13 of his last 15 games.
Other news and notes
The Bruins have returned goaltender
Jeremy Smith, an emergency callup yesterday afternoon, to the American Hockey League. The search for NHL Game No. 1 continues for Smith, too, as he’s now dressed in NHL games for the Nashville Predators, Columbus Blue Jackets, and now Bruins, but has failed to earn a second in the crease for game action. For what it’s worth, I probably would have kept him up for today’s game, and even given him the start. He’s earned that with his play in Providence, and there’s probably not a better game to get him in for, all things considered.
Boston is still without
Gregory Campbell (upper-body) and David Krejci (knee), while
Kevan Miller (shoulder, done for the year) is out. Craig Cunningham will be a scratch.
Today’s also Arizona’s last game before the NHL Trade Deadline, so it’ll be interesting to see who plays and who’s scratched. There’s hot, hot interest in defenseman
Zbynek Michalek according to sources (expect the Bruins to be in on that), along with
Antoine Vermette (again, expect the Bruins to be in on that). The two present an ideal package combo for so many teams, though, so the Bruins wouldn’t be alone in their pursuit for the two pending unrestricted free agents.
Ty Anderson has been covering the Boston Bruins for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010, is a member of the Pro Hockey Writers Association's Boston Chapter, and can be contacted on Twitter, or emailed at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com
Boston Bruins Blogger •Bruins Feature Columnist • 
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