Rask whitewashes Avs
Krejci’s early goal helps B’s
DENVER — For the second time in two nights, the Bruins had enough quality scoring chances to win in a rout. Also for the second successive night, they barely took advantage at all of their high-percentage shots.
But all that ultimately matters about the past two evenings is the Bruins found ways to win.
Last night, despite playing at mile-high altitude in Game 2 of a back-to-back against a rested opponent, the Bruins delivered a smart, smothering defensive performance from start to finish. The result was a 2-0 victory.
For the Bruins, this was their sixth game in nine days and seventh road game in their past 10 contests. They’re now 7-3-0 in away games. The B’s get a wellearned, rare day off on the road today in Denver, then practice tomorrow before heading to Minnesota to face the Wild on Thursday.
The key to the B’s winning ways, goalie Tuukka Rask (21 saves), registered his third shutout of the season and improved to 10-1-0.
David Krejci was the lone goal-scorer for most of the evening, connecting at 9:30 of the first period for his second of the season. That was the only puck the B’s got behind veteran goalie Semyon Varlamov, who was tremendous in making 42 saves. He was seated on the bench when Dominic Moore hit an empty-netter with 27.2 seconds left to settle the issue.
“That’s how you win a road game,” Rask said. “That’s exactly how you want to play on the road; that was pretty much a mistake-free game. I’m very, very proud of our effort, especially with the stretch we’ve had.
“I can’t recall any real breakdowns for us. We kept them on the outside and really limited their rushes and scoring chances. And then we kept the puck in the offensive zone and made plays and created chances.”
The Bruins played a strong first period, with a 12-7 edge in shots. On their goal, Colorado defenseman Tyson Barrie stepped up to hit David Backes in the right circle, but he left a clear path to the net behind him. Krejci walked in on the right and put a shot low to the far side behind Varlamov.
“A little bit of a broken play,” Krejci said. “(Ryan Spooner) made a nice chip. Backs kind of saw me flying wide. I was kind of coming from behind, and I don’t think he expected a third guy coming with speed. I read the scouting report on their goalie. I tried that shot, and I’m happy that it worked.”
If the B’s were good at the start, they really stepped it up and took charge in the second period, as they spent most of the 20 minutes in the Colorado end. They built a 23-7 advantage in shots, plus bids by Riley Nash and Torey Krug that clanged off posts.
Yet they did not score, just as they had not scored while totally dominating the first period in Phoenix Saturday.
They’re missing the net too frequently, passing when they should shoot, getting shots blocked or simply putting them right in the goalie’s midsection.
“The biggest thing is we’ve got to start getting rewarded for those kind of efforts, that kind of dominance,” Julien said. “Hopefully the goals will follow. It we keep doing the right things here, they will.”
The probably should have had weary legs in the third, but they just kept generating good chances and mostly limiting the threats for Rask. Actually, the biggest threat he faced was the physical, creasecrashing play of ex-Boston University player AJ Greer. Playing his first NHL game, the 19-year-old wasn’t shy, twice plowing into Rask.
The Bruins kept getting chances, with the most entertaining try a clean breakaway by rookie Brandon Carlo with 6:38 left. His crisp forehander was robbed by Varlamov.
And then with final seconds clicking away, Moore hit the open net and, for the first time in two evenings, the B’s could relax.