Lord Stanley’s two-month long dance? Well, the Boston Bruins are officially in it.
Behind goals from Patrice Bergeron, Carl Soderberg, and 31 stops from Chad Johnson (his second shutout this season), the Black-and-Gold became the first team in the league to punch their ticket to the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs with Friday night’s 2-0 road victory over the Colorado Avalanche. And not only was their shutout of the Avs was the first time Patrick Roy’s club had been held to zip this year, but it was also Boston’s 11th win in a row. That’s officially the longest winning streak by any NHL club this year. The win gave the Bruins 101 points this year (70 games played), tied with St. Louis (69 games) for the most in the league.
Everything’s coming up Milhouse.
But unlike many of their victories during this admittedly unbelievable run of steady scoring and goaltending, the Bruins had to work for this one from start to finish. The Avalanche aren’t the Florida Panthers, Carolina Hurricanes, or New Jersey Devils. They’re not even the Montreal Canadiens or Tampa Bay Lightning. They’re good. They’re one of the best teams in the league, actually.
But the Bruins -- a team fixated on fine-tuning their game even more with each win -- stepped up to the challenge that a quick-moving Avs squad led by Semyon Varlamov presented.
On the Bruins’ first goal of the night, a hard forecheck from Brad Marchand and Reilly Smith, great pinch from Zdeno Chara, and excellent keep in from Dougie Hamilton allowed Boston’s Patrice Bergeron to get a clear look at Varlamov and the cage behind him. Even then, the Bruins needed a rebound from the Colorado netminder to bury their first of the night (and Bergeron’s 21st of the year). All things considered, Bergeron’s marker may have been the hardest goal scored throughout Boston’s winning streak in terms of its five-man effort.
Ultimately surviving a 14-shot first frame from the Avs, the Bruins would extend their lead out to two behind an absolute laser of a power-play goal from Carl Soderberg (his 13th of the year), and finished the period with a lethal shutdown of the Avs’ high flying offense.
That continued on into the third period as well, as the B’s held the Avalanche to just seven minutes in the third period, and that’s even with the Colorado net being empty for the final five minutes plus of the night’s contest. (Yes, that’s right: An empty net in Colorado’s end for five minutes.)
Able to hang on for his 16th win of the season, Johnson finished the night a perfect 31-for-31 (including six stops with the B’s shorthanded), and extended his personal winning streak to five in a row. And since Dec. 28 -- Johnson’s last loss in regulation -- the 27-year-old has posted a 10-0-1 record with a stellar .934 save percentage in 13 games. This man is being paid $600,000 this year.
Obviously, it’s tough (or impossible) to deny the fact that this was the most impressive win of the Bruins’ 11-game run here. While their win in Montreal was undoubtedly dominant, and though their character was tested in Tampa Bay, everything about the Avalanche presented the B’s with a challenge. From their offensive attack (talk about skill, huh?), ability for the defense to join the attack ala the Chicago Blackhawks, and strong goaltending in a building where they’ve won 23 of 36 this year, the Avalanche play with the style and edge of a bonafide playoff team in this league.
So who better to clinch a postseason berth against then, right?
Beyond the end result and trip to the postseason for the seventh straight season, what stood out for the Bruins tonight? Well, how about the continued analysis of one Andrej Meszaros?
I found it particularly interesting that assistant coach Doug Houda made it a point to bring up the fact that they’re still getting Meszaros conditioned to playing on a full-time basis. Which makes sense. In Philadelphia this year, Meszaros was a healthy scratch in 23 of 60 games. In Boston, Meszaros is being counted on to be a fringe top-four defender when in the lineup. That’s quite a change. And tonight, I really don’t think that Meszaros disappointed. He put five of Boston’s 28 shots on net, looked comfortable in nearly three minutes of shorthanded time on ice, and was even out there in the waning moments of the win, playing the role of crease cleaner. In the absence of Dennis Seidenberg, Adam McQuaid, and now Johnny Boychuk, the Bruins are expecting results out of the 28-year-old Meszaros. And while it’s not perfect and while he’s still a bit sheltered by a B’s coaching staff unwilling to throw him to the lions, it’s enough for now.
Meszaros still has 12 games to solidify a role in the club’s postseason defensive rotation.
And hey, want to hear a stat that’s gonna blow your mind? The Bruins have not trailed in any game for over 360 minutes now. That’s six hours of hockey. That streak goes all the way back to March 9 against the Florida Panthers. Completely nutso and certainly telling of how great they’ve been.
Ask me about the last Bruins loss, HockeyBuzz.
The Bruins will finish their back-to-back Saturday night in Phoenix when they take on the Coyotes. It will be the second meeting between the two clubs in nine days. Boston won the previous meeting by a 2-1 final, and will enter play in search of their 12th straight win and a season series sweep of the ‘Yotes. But with Phoenix in the thick of the West’s wild card race, riding a three-game winning streak and with wins in seven of their last ten, expect a serious push from the Coyotes this time around.