MARCHAND, B’S KEEP UP SCORING SPREE IN ROUT OF FLYERS
Team leaders step up to deliver win against Flyers
If you are a little gun-shy about believing in the Bruins, it is a little understandable. We are more than halfway through the NHL season and the B’s have yet to string four wins together. They’ve only won two in a row once in the past month and a half.
But the signs are there that this team just might be getting it together.
The puck is starting to go in, as the Bruins are averaging 3.5 goals since the Christmas break. The power play is starting to click, going 11-for-42 (26.2 percent) over the past 12 games.
And the best players, some of whom struggled mightily to locate the back of the net for much of the season, are starting to find their game. That much was definitely true in yesterday’s important and entertaining 6-3 victory against the Philadelphia Flyers at the Garden, as the big boys took over the game. Brad Marchand led the way with a five-point day (two goals, three assists) while David Krejci, Torey Krug, Patrice Bergeron and Zdeno Chara all scored and Tuukka Rask stopped 21 shots.
“It is our job,” said the captain, Chara. “We have to do our job to lead this team. It’s not going to be the same guys every night, but we know that it is important for our best players to be our best players. It’s our job to lead by example and lead by our play.”
This was a big game in the standings. With the win, the Bruins maintained second place in the Atlantic Division, though both the Ottawa Senators and the surging Toronto Maple Leafs had six games in hand on the B’s when they met up last night. The victory also leapfrogged the Bruins over the Flyers for a potential wild card, though Philadelphia has a game in hand.
“You never know what’s going to happen. There’s always the wild card and we just have to keep winning games against teams in our conference,” Krejci said. “This was a big game. We responded well as a team and we have to bring the same attitude (tomorrow against the New York Islanders).”
Special teams played a huge role in the game. The Bruins scored two powerplay goals and a shorthanded tally and, though they also allowed a pair of power-play goals (one a 5-on-3 score), there was a big penalty kill to start the third period with Chara in the box. The kill set the tone for the period, as the Flyers were held to just five shots on net.
The Bruins went ahead 5-2 in the second but that 5-on-3 goal, by Wayne Simmonds, came with just 3.2 seconds left in the period and seemed to be just the type of thing that would give the Flyers a jolt going into the third. Instead, the B’s killed off the rest of Chara’s penalty and went from there.
“That was a big key in the game,” coach Claude Julien said. “I talked to the guys about how important that kill was going to be at the beginning of the third. So we certainly didn’t want to give them any life. I thought we did a good job of killing that and then we went back to our game. We did a good job the rest of the period controlling the game the way we wanted to.”
At first it appeared that the Bruins might come up short again in another big game when Pierre-Edouard Bellemare scored on a tip just 2:05 in. The B’s were reeling for a bit after that, but Marchand completely changed the complexion with a shorthanded goal at 7:48.
In the wild second period, Krejci put the B’s up with a power-play goal and Krug scored his third in as many games for a 3-1 lead. Brayden Schenn answered for Philadelphia on the man-advantage to make it a one-goal game again.
The B’s then went on a five-minute power play when Jakub Voracek boarded Kevan Miller, who had to leave the game and did not return. Bergeron scored late in the power play when his shot went off the stick of the Flyers’ Andrew MacDonald and over goalie Michael Neuvirth. Chara then added a one-timer for the 5-2 lead.
With Brandon Carlo in the box for holding and defense partner Chara in for delay of game, the Flyers scored with 3.2 seconds left in the period to seemingly give them some momentum headed into the break, especially with their best penalty killer, Chara, still in the box for another 1:37. But the B’s took it right back from them, playing keepaway for much of the third until Marchand picked Voracek’s pocket and scored an empty-netter in the final minute.
It was a good, solid win for the Bruins. Now they just have to figure out how to keep it going.