Bruins defense turns corner after rough stretch
Saturday’s showing on Long Island was more representative of what the Bruins defense is than it had been in the previous couple of games.
The blueliners led the way on offense, sure, but the shutdown effort against the Islanders was a display of how dominant the defensive end can be. In the games before then — they played well against the
Stars but struggled with the Flames and surrendered nine goals in Vancouver — were merely a blip on the radar.
“You never want to make excuses, and in Vancouver I don’t think we played extremely terrible even though we gave up nine goals,” said defenseman Matt Grzelcyk. “I think we were just maybe loose, especially mentally. Even against the Flames too, didn’t have that shutdown (mentality) we had maybe the 10 games before.”
The B’s allowed five goals to the Flames in a contest where they didn’t have their best effort anywhere on the ice, but it was a continuation of — like Grzelcyk described — a looser defense that burnt them.
The way they played against the Islanders was different; once the shutdown mentality was there, it seemed like it carried over throughout the rest of the lineup and they stopped the Islanders in their tracks.
It looked much more like it did when the B’s had won 11 out of 12 games before the loss in Vancouver.
“We got on quite a roll there defensively,” said Grzelcyk. “It’s more the mindset … We have to find a way to get mentally prepared. I think we did a good job of that Saturday.”
The B’s blue line of course contributed to the offense as well with seven points between the defensemen, and that’s not going to happen every night, but games like that are allowed to happen when there’s responsiBay. ble defense.
That’s been a Bruins hallmark; if they play like they did Saturday, maybe they have it back.
“Because we were good defensively it led to a lot of offensive opportunities,” Grzelcyk said. “Hopefully we can take that (mindset) going forward.”
Wagner practices
Chris Wagner missed the game on Long Island with an upper body injury but skated in full at practice on Monday morning and traveled with the team to Tampa He skated on his usual spot on the right side of the fourth line with Sean Kuraly on the left and Par Lindholm in the middle.
Pastrnak named third star
David Pastrnak was named the NHL’s third star for the month of February where he tallied 10 goals with 19 assists.
The B’s right winger, who should be getting some consideration for the Hart Trophy as the league’s most valuable player, is two goals shy of 50 on the season entering Tuesday’s game.
His teammates have remained impressed with how he’s grown.
“He’s taken a big leap in his development,” said his linemate Brad Marchand. “Consistency is one thing that can separate a lot of guys in this league. You see guys that will score 10 goals in 10 games, but to be able to do it all the way through the season and continue his level of play.”