Four weeks ago, the Bruins nearly got a signature win on the road in Colorado. They led the league-leading Avalanche 3-1 after two periods, but spent too much time in their own zone in the third and couldn’t hang on, allowing the Avs to tie the game in the final minute and win it in overtime.
This time, Boston closed it out. Still playing without Brad Marchand, who was serving the sixth and final game of his suspension, the Bruins dominated the Avalanche Monday afternoon at TD Garden and came away with a 5-1 victory that stands as their most impressive of the season.
The Bruins were ready to go right from the opening faceoff. They dominated the first period, registering 16 of the game’s first 19 shots on goal and ultimately outshooting Colorado 21-9 in the frame. One of those dominant shifts finally led to an opening goal with 2:30 left in the period.
The Trent Frederic-Charlie Coyle-Craig Smith line, which has been strong since being put together, pinned the Avalanche deep in their own end for an entire shift. While they didn’t score, David Pastrnak did mere seconds after the line change -- with four tired Avs still stuck on the ice -- as Charlie McAvoy’s pass bounced past Patrice Bergeron and right to Pastrnak.
Over the last couple weeks, the Bruins have struggled to carry some strong starts into the second period. That was not the case Monday, though. The Avalanche pushed back to start the period, but a couple good saves from Jeremy Swayman on Nathan MacKinnon preserved the lead. The Bruins then made it 2-0 8:01 into the middle frame when Taylor Hall set up Patrice Bergeron, who didn’t score on his first shot but did on his second.
MacKinnon cut the Bruins’ lead in half with a power-play goal a few minutes later, but Boston answered right back to restore the two-goal lead when Pastrnak buried a one-timer for his second goal of the game. Hall picked up his second of three assists on the day on the setup. A minute later, McAvoy made a great play to keep the puck in the offensive zone and Jake DeBrusk squeezed a shot past Darcy Kuemper to make it 4-1.
“You have to regroup,” Bruce Cassidy said of his team’s response to the Colorado goal. “All of a sudden you’re thinking, ‘OK, it’s 2-1. We’ve really been the better team. Marginal call. Now the lead’s cut in half.’ We have to make sure we take a deep breath after that, let it out, take a deep breath, and get back to work. We did a great job of that. Credit to the guys to keep pushing through.”
Even with a 4-1 lead, there wasn’t going to be any sitting back in the third period this time. The Bruins never opened the door to a Colorado comeback, and in fact slammed it shut with a power-play goal from Coyle four minutes into the third. That snapped an 0-for-13 stretch for Boston’s power play and was a fitting way to finish the game, as the man advantage had also looked good on its first two tries Monday despite not scoring.
When it was all said and done, the Bruins had outshot the Avalanche 45-29, outscored them 4-0 at 5-on-5, and registered 20 high-danger chances in all situations while holding Colorado to just four.
“It was a really good hockey game for us,” Cassidy said. “Our top guys outplayed their top guys. Goaltending was solid. I think our D were engaged in the game. We played as a group of five. … There’s gonna be some really good teaching moments in this one, and it also resulted in some goals and a nice win.”
The Bruins now head back out on the road for their next six, and when they next hit the ice Thursday night in Seattle, they’ll have their leading scorer back.