Unlike a certain Bruins beat writer that works for the local all-sports station, Boston center David Krejci said he hasn't yet called new teammate Nick Ritchie by his brother's name Brett yet. Brett, of course, was with the Bruins until he was demoted to the AHL.
After playing one game with Krejci, Ritchie might want to call the center by another name: Boom Boom.
Krejci, whose made his way in the NHL by using his hands to make creative offensive plays to the tune of 683 career points, put his paws to a different use Thursday in a 4-3 win over Dallas. The 33-year-old pounded Stars center Joe Pavelski in a second-period fight – Krejci's third fighting major in his NHL career – in a momentum-changing bout that sparked the Bruins to score two goals in a 1:17 stretch of the period that gave them a lead they never relinquished.
"That was big. The crowd was into that one and he definitely got a few good shots in. To see two established veterans, good players fight like that, it's big for the momentum," Ritchie said.
While Krejci was doing the fighting, the 6-foot-2, 230 pound Ritchie, who's seemingly so tough no one has challenged him to a fight in two years, was the one making the offensive plays. Playing his second game with the Bruins since he was traded from Anaheim on Monday, and coming off a lackluster debut on Tuesday, Ritchie had one goal and assisted on David Pastrnak's goal.
Clearly Ritchie was able to get some rest after his first Bruins game came less than 24 hours after he landed in Boston. He not only produced offensively, he also landed three hits, which probably created more force than the alleged seven he was credited with on Tuesday.
"Energy levels were a little higher and I felt better on my legs," he said. "I definitely played a better game and the team played better as whole as well."
But back to Krejci. If you've seen the clip of his previous NHL fight, on Feb. 9, 2011 against future teammate Benoit Pouliot, then of the Montreal Canadiens, you know why Krejci doesn't fight more often.
He got pummeled. But he said he'd taken enough abuse from Pavelski dating back to the first period, and he'd had enough. So he handled his own business.
Coach Bruce Cassidy said the fight "woke up" the Bruins, so once again Krejci showed how his subtle brand of leadership can be crucial to the Bruins' success.
Now let's hope Krejci and Ritchie don't reverse roles again. It's all right for Ritchie to get a couple points a game if he can, but he should be the one exacting the physical punishment on opponents while Krejci watches and waits to ride the wave of momentum to offensive outbursts.
Ritchie and Krejci started the night as linemates but an Anders Bjork benching in the second period and a Chris Wagner injury in the third period sent Cassidy into line-toggling mode and the combination of Krejci, Ritchie and the other former Ducks forward Ondrej Kase hardly saw the ice. Krejci and Ritchie, though, mostly stuck together and Cassidy said he might give them a longer run as a pair.
Could Ritchie by Krejci's Milan Lucic or Nathan Horton 2.0? Let's not get carried away. But for one night, against the type of team – big and physical – he was acquired to play hard against, Ritchie responded to the challenge.
Krejci took care of the rough stuff for one night, now it'll be up to Ritchie to pick up where Krejci left off.
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