For the Boston Bruins, a team with just one win in their last five games, a Thursday night meeting with the Florida Panthers was an absolute godsend. Especially for goaltender Tuukka Rask.
In an afternoon loaded with talk of the injured Tim Thomas and his return to the Garden for the first time since April 27, 2012, the 26-year-old Rask did what he had to in order to remind the Boston faithful of what they have right now: An elite goaltender capable of putting together the kind of night that allows a club to bust out of a slump. Even if it comes against the seventh place ‘Cats.
Put to the test early and often in a first period that saw Florida come at the Bruins with 19 attempted shots -- largely aided by two Boston penalties, one to Dougie Hamilton (hooking) and another to Carl Soderberg (high-sticking) -- the B’s netminder stood tall, putting on an absolute clinic and failing to let the B’s fall behind for what would’ve felt like the 20th game in a row.
Rask’s saves, totaling eight through 20 minutes, proved to be monumental.
“I think the consequences of me not being on top of my game might be a little different than in the past. I just try to stop every puck and keep the game tight,… said Rask after the game. “If we’re not playing our best – it’s been a little unusual situation for us, giving up chances, and what kind of chances we’ve been giving up but it’s part of the game and we just have to battle through that.…
Searching for any openings against the 36-year-old Scott Clemmensen, the Bruins finally broke through behind a goal from the club’s most opportunistic scorer, David Krejci.
On a play that started with Milan Lucic’s great pass (and even greater keep-in) to Dougie Hamilton, the Bruins’ ability to cycle along to blue-line from Hamilton to Zdeno Chara and then back to Krejci allowed the Czech center to blast home a slapper, good for his third of ‘13-14.
The Bruins, a team simply starving for balanced scoring throughout their lineup, weren’t done.
With just over four minutes gone in the third, Brad Marchand found the puck loose in Clemmensen’s crease, and banged home his second of the year, and first since the B’s second game of the year, all the way back on Oct. 5.
Throwing the proverbial monkey off his back in celebration, the drought-ending tally from No. 63 not only proved to be the game-winner, but provides Boston’s sparkplug with the potential to jumpstart his confidence from chances to goals.
“I have to make plays. It’s my job and I know I can. It’s just when they’re there I have to make it and it seemed like early on when they were there I wasn’t making them and it was a bit of a high risk play so thank God it didn’t turn over for a breakaway but, it resulted in a goal so I’m happy,… Marchand said. “You gotta start somewhere and I think we definitely feel like tonight we started that trend so we have to make sure we have a good day at practice tomorrow and continue to play well next game.…
Boston would add two more, one from Torey Krug (his sixth of the year) and another from Reilly Smith (his second), while Florida could only respond with one marker of their own, coming off the stick of veteran bottom sixer Jesse Winchester.
With the victory, Rask now has nine wins in ten career contests against the Panthers, boasting a .967 save percentage against Florida over that stretch. Good lord.
Thomas gets closure, ovation
With Tim Thomas in the building for the first time as an opponent, and nearly two years since the whole White House cluster(youknow), nobody really knew what to expect out of the Boston crowd when it came to acknowledging Thomas’ near decade worth of contributions to Bruins hockey.
Well, one thunderous standing ovation later, it’s time to put this whole thing to bed.
“Timmy was an important part of this team and obviously the Cup year. It was nice for the fans to give him that reception,… B’s center Chris Kelly said after the win. “I clapped too. I like Timmy. I like most guys I play with well all guys I play with. I don’t think there’s been a bad guy that I haven’t liked.
“I think when he made that decision he had that right to it and I guess it was for family reasons and personal reasons and he had that right to chose and he’s on to the next chapter of his life,… Kelly noted, adding, “I wish him all the luck.…
It appears that Boston feels the same way, too.
Krug moves into tie with Sens’ Karlsson for d-men scoring lead
After last night’s tally, rookie defensemen Torey Krug has six goals in 15 games. A lethal weapon from Boston’s blue-line, the tally was enough to tie Krug with 2011-12 Norris winner and Ottawa puck-mover Erik Karlsson for the league lead in goals scored.
For Krug, it’s just another day at the office, but his ability to create chances for a rather slow skating Boston defense has been absolutely unbelievable in 2013-14.
“That’s what we’ve talked about for years now – that we needed some guys who could carry the mail as we say and jump into the plays and he did a good job again tonight,… said B’s coach Claude Julien. “He seems to find the right times to jump in and get some opportunities.…
Since the start of the 2013 Eastern Conference Semifinals against the New York Rangers, Krug has scored 10 goals and tallied 15 points in just 30 games, and is on pace for a ‘13-14 campaign that’d featured 30 goals and 50 points.
Lethal.
Up next
For the first time since their epic Game 7 comeback, the Boston Bruins will play host to the Toronto Maple Leafs in a battle of Atlantic Division powerhouses. Toronto enters the Hub with a 10-5-0 record on the year and a plus-12 goal differential, while the Bruins will look to continue to established a home-ice edge that's given them a 5-3-1 record at the Garden through nine games in 2013-14.