Was Saturday’s 3-0 win over the Philadelphia Flyers a perfect game for the Boston Bruins? No. But they didn’t need a perfect game. They needed to play good hockey, get a win, and stop the bleeding, and that’s exactly what they did.
This may have been the Bruins’ best 60-minute performance of the season. It was certainly their most important.
A shaky start to the year had morphed into a full-blown crisis this past week thanks to a shutout loss to these same Flyers on Tuesday followed by an 8-2 massacre at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday. Questions about coach Jim Montgomery’s job security had understandably reached a fever pitch.
At least for 24 hours, until the Bruins host the Seattle Kraken on Sunday for the second game of a weekend back-to-back, everyone can take a deep breath.
The Bruins brought more urgency, intensity and emotion right off the bat in this one. They killed plays in their own zone. They won battles on the forecheck. They held onto pucks in the offensive zone. They opened up an early 6-1 lead in shots, killed off an early penalty, and then took a 1-0 lead 13:28 into the game when Matt Poitras twice retrieved loose pucks off blocked shots and got rewarded with his first goal of the season on a put-back in front.
The captain, Brad Marchand, led by example, putting forth arguably his best game of the season. He set up the second goal in the second period, carrying the puck deep into the offensive zone and holding off a defender despite being at the end of a shift before setting up Justin Brazeau in the slot. Marchand later sealed the win with an empty-netter.
Alternate captains Charlie McAvoy and David Pastrnak stepped up as well. McAvoy was a force driving play from the back end, turning in his best performance in weeks. Pastrnak had a team-high 11 shot attempts and five high-danger chances. He didn’t score, but he did assist on Marchand’s empty-netter. Montgomery praised all three captains for their leadership on and off the ice.
“They were really good, especially how vocal [they were],” Montgomery said of his leaders on NESN. “Never mind what you saw physically on the ice, but how vocal they were on the bench and reinforcing a positive message all night long.”
In net, Joonas Korpisalo was lightly tested but excellent when called upon. He stopped all 20 shots he faced to pick up his first shutout as a Bruin, and the team’s first shutout of the season. His best save came late in the second period when a collision between Hampus Lindholm and Brandon Carlo handed the Flyers a quick 2-on-0 and a grade-A chance for Morgan Frost that Korpisalo turned aside.
The Bruins let off the gas a little too much in the second period, but then they picked it back up with a strong closeout effort in the third. They carried their emotion and intensity right through the finish line, including in a full-line scrum in the final minute that saw Poitras and Carlo getting their hands dirty, Trent Frederic nearly dropping the gloves with Travis Konecny, and Marchand laughing maniacally on the bench in approval.
“It’s a big win for us,” Marchand told NESN. “I really liked the start, the way that we played. They had a couple good pushes throughout the game, but we did a good job weathering them where lately we’ve been breaking. We didn’t tonight, and that’s something we can build off of. It’s a great opportunity again tomorrow, so we need to follow it up now.”
That last part is the key. The Bruins have had other good games this season – a 5-3 win in Colorado a couple weeks ago, or last Saturday’s 4-3 overtime win over Toronto. What they haven’t had is two good 60-minute performances in a row. Both of those wins were followed not just by a loss, but by losing streaks.
That’s what they need to avoid this time. The Bruins can’t afford a step back against Seattle on Sunday, and instead need to build on Saturday’s performance. Back-to-backs aren’t ideal, but the Kraken are playing Saturday as well, so that can’t be an excuse.