The Bruins are winning a lot this season, as they currently have the best record in the NHL, and they've been doing it quite a few different ways.
They've won high-scoring games. They've come from behind to win. They've won in overtimes and shootouts. They've had wins in which they've been dominant five-on-five and others in which their power play has taken over. They've won when they've needed their goaltending to lead the way, like on Wednesday. They've even mixed in a couple blowout wins.
Before Friday night, though, there was one thing these Bruins hadn't really done yet: slam the door on their opponent in the third period of a close, low-scoring game.
That might seem like an odd statement given how good the Bruins have been in third periods in general (they've outscored opponents 20-11 in the third), but it's true.
The Bruins have been great at coming from behind when trailing in the third period, but they've also blown a few third-period leads and struggled to take control of a few games that were tied in the third.
They gave up two third-period goals against the Devils before winning 3-2 in a shootout. They gave up a late goal in a 1-0 loss to the Islanders (still their only regulation loss this season, by the way). They blew a 2-0 third-period lead against the Penguins before winning in overtime.
Last week against the Flyers, they had two games that were low-scoring and tied going into the third -- one that was 1-1 and one that was 0-0. In the first, they gave up two third-period goals before then scoring two themselves and winning in overtime. In the second, they surrendered a goal early in the third before then scoring two of their own.
On Wednesday against the Rangers, they found themselves in another 1-1 game going into the third. This time the Bruins took the 2-1 lead, but then they allowed the Rangers to tie it before recovering to win in overtime.
A win's a win, and that's still a lot of wins, but at some point you'd really like to see the Bruins just shut down an opponent in the third, hold onto a narrow lead, and not have to resort to late-game and overtime dramatics.
On Friday night, they did just that. They led 1-0 going into the third thanks to a second-period goal from Nick Ritchie, and then they barely let the Rangers breathe in the third.
They held New York to just five shots on goal in the final 20 minutes, and just two at five-on-five. They did give away two power plays, but their league-leading penalty kill stifled the Rangers there too, including in the final minute of the game when Brandon Carlo single-handedly killed about 15 seconds by just tying up the puck in the corner and refusing to budge.
Sometimes goals are going to be hard to come by and you're not going to be able to add to your lead and win comfortably. In those games, good teams have to be able to clamp down defensively and make a one-goal lead stand up.
It was one of the few things the Bruins hadn't really done yet this season -- hadn't really proven they could do -- but they did it Friday, and that was an important step to take.
Patrice Bergeron said earlier Friday that all the Bruins' comebacks gave them confidence they could come from behind, because they've already done it. Now they can start to feel confident they can defend a 1-0 lead, too, because now they've done it.
