Coyle scored in OT as B’s top TB
DeBrusk shines with two-way play
Jake DeBrusk has always possessed the goalscoring gene. That much was obvious since his rookie season five years ago. But the question about DeBrusk was whether he could fill in all the other parts of his game to be become a true impact. The uncertainty on which way the winger’s career would go made his name a hot topic at the trade deadline, with the player’s own trade request fluttering in the breeze.
But in the Bruins’ electric 2-1 overtime win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday at Amalie Arena that had a playoff feel to it, DeBrusk demonstrated that he’s got a lot more in tool bag than just the occasional pretty goal. Yes, the goalscoring did come from him on Friday, too, as he notched his 22nd of the year early in the second period. But on Charlie Coyle’s game-winner in OT, it was DeBrusk’s 200-foot game that led the B’s to the victory.
He first thwarted a Brayden Point scoring attempt at the top of the crease to get the puck going the other way. Then he joined the attack. After his first set-up for Coyle didn’t work out, he bumped Point off the puck and got it back to Coyle, who stepped out front and beat Andrei Vasilevskiy for the winner.
DeBrusk, who signed a two-year extension at an AAV of $4 million on trade deadline day, has responded to the opportunity/challenge of playing with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand with the best hockey of his career. His goal was his seventh in seven games and he landed five shots on net.
“I thought he was our best forward tonight, Jake, in terms of all-around play,” said coach Bruce Cassidy, who has butted heads with the winger over the years to coax a more well-rounded game out of him. “He was engaged in the game, he was trying to be physical when he was supposed to be, on the forecheck, he was winning pucks and he played a little on the kill. He did a real good job for us. And Bergy and March, I think they enjoy playing Tampa. They get up for it. They know their matchup is going to be (Nikita) Kucherov and Point, world class players that they want to outplay.”
It was also a terrific night for Linus Ullmark, who made another good argument in his favor for the No. 1 goaltending job. He made 28 saves, many of them quality chances, including a third period breakaway by Point. He has now stretched his record to 6-0 in his last six starts and he’s angling his way toward his first taste of playoff action after toiling for perennial also-ran Buffalo.
“It’s just fun. It’s fun to play these sort of games when it’s getting close to the playoffs and you’re actually a part of it,” said Ullmark. “There’s lots at stake. There’s still 11 games to go to focus on and we’re not trying to get ahead of ourselves or anything. We’re trying to battle for home ice and we’ve got bring it every night.”
Cassidy had not decided on his starter for Sunday’s game in Washington. But there was nothing not to like about Ullmark’s game.
“They have a a world-class goaltender and you’re going to need a great game from that position if you’re going to beat Tampa. I thought it was a real good goaltender’s battle tonight and we were just one better,” said Cassidy, who got a stellar 5-for-5 night from his penalty killers against a hot power-play.
The victory gave the B’s a 3-0-1 mark in the season series against the two-time Stanley Cup champions. The teams entered the game tied for third place in the Atlantic Division with the B’s holding the regulation win tiebreaker. The OT win nudged them a point ahead as well.
The Bolts came into the game a little desperate, not so much for playoff position but just to get to back to playing good hockey. They came into the game losers of their previous three and had dipped into the first wild card spot.
The first period was an entertaining, back-and-forth 20 minutes that saw some very good saves from both starters Ullmark and Vasilevskiy, who kept their respective teams in a 0-0 deadlock. The Bolts had a slight edge in play, especially late in the period when they had the B’s third line hemmed in their own zone but couldn’t crack Ullmark. The Lightning, who had a 1110 shot advantage, also hit a post and a crossbar in the first period. They’d later ping a third pipe.
After surviving that late surge by the Lightning in the first, the B’s burst out of the gate to start the second period and took the first lead of the game 47 seconds into the period. After the B’s had gained the Tampa zone, Erik Cernak tried to chip it right back out but Bergeron blocked it with his body. It deflected into the high slot, where Marchand tapped it down low to DeBrusk. DeBrusk cut across the top of the crease and tucked a slick backhander between Vasilevskiy’s pads for the 1-0 lead.
The lead didn’t last very long, however. The Bolts tied it up at 3:28 when the B’s again had some trouble getting it out of their zone. Trent Frederic, who missed the previous game in Detroit after suffering an upper body injury on Columbus on Monday, was fighting the puck in the early going and it cost the B’s the equalizing goal. Frederic tried to skate the puck out of the zone on his off wing, but with one hand on his stick, he could not get it through a pair of Bolts at the left point and the Lightning worked it down low. From behind the net, Corey Perry found PierreEdouard Bellemare, who blasted a slapper past Ullmark to even it up. Frederic would play only 9:48 on the night.
After that, the B’s were the better team, outshooting the Lightning by a 16-6 margin, but Vasilevskiy (35 saves) came up with the stops to keep it even going into the third.
The Bolts tilted the ice for a while in the third but Ullmark held his ground. His best save of the night came on Point but he had to make several other key stops. The B’s had a chance to win it late when Marchand drew a penalty for a second time, but the man-advantage (0-for-3 on Friday and 0-for12 on the trip) continues to let the B’s down.
But it didn’t matter. DeBrusk and Coyle got the job done in OT and the B’s headed to our nation’s capital in a well-deserved good mood.