Plenty of smiles vs. the Isles
Frederic scores a pair in third straight win
Before the Bruins faced off against the New York Islanders, coach Jim Montgomery was asked how his team felt in the wake of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ eyebrow-raising additions of Ryan O’Reilly and Noel Acciari.
“We’re really comfortable,” said Montgomery. “I still would take our roster over anybody else’s.”
Based on the next few hours, it was hard to argue with him.
The B’s, taking full advantage of a New York Islander team that played on Friday night and a goalie who wasn’t ready to pick up his teammates, crushed the wild card hopefuls, 6-2, at the Garden on Saturday.
Trent Frederic scored twice, Jake DeBrusk enjoyed a successful return to the lineup and Semyon Varlamov allowed six goals on 18 shots in the first 40 minutes.
“We were talking about getting a home win. The other night (against Washington last Saturday) we didn’t get one here coming back off the break and it ticked us off,” said Nick Foligno, one of five goal scorers. “Something we talked about at the start of the year was being a real hard team at home, making this a hard place to play and we wanted to get back to that. I was really proud of the guys, against a heavy team. Everyone plays backto-backs in this league, so I don’t buy that excuse anymore. We had to play well in order to play this team. They’re a heavy, hard team,
too, and we got the job done today.”
The Islanders, who could face the B’s in the first round, were undermanned. They started the day without Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Josh Bailey, and then lost Mat Barzal early in the game.
It was a drama-free evening for B’s fans.
The B’s put their stamp on the game with a 3-0 first period. And DeBrusk, playing his first game since suffering thumb and leg injuries in the Winter Classic on Jan. 2, got right back in the groove with his 17th goal of
the season just 2:19 in.
The power play snapped a 0-for-21 skid on Thursday in Nashville, but the B’s first PP on Saturday hummed like it did when it was the best in the league. Eventually Brad Marchand made nice right-to-left diagonal pass to DeBrusk. Cutting across the top of the crease, DeBrusk tucked a backhander through Varlamov’s pads for the 1-0 lead.
The B’s were buzzing and, if that wasn’t enough bad news for the Islanders, they lost first line Barzal on a Craig Smith hit at 6:01.
The fourth line then
stepped up with the first of their two goals in the period. Derek Forbort pushed a pass for the circling Foligno and the veteran’s snap shot from the left circle broke through Varlamov’s glove for Foligno’s ninth of the year at 9:15.
The B’s had one more in them before the period was done. With 2:41 left, Frederic tipped home Charlie McAvoy’s blue line shot and the B’s were well on their way.
With the game in hand, the B’s sleep-walked into the second period. They took their first penalty of
the game, which they killed off with their usual aplomb. But when Hampus Lindholm got caught deep in the Islander zone, the visitors made them pay. From the outside of the left circle, Anders Lee made a beautiful pass to the far post, where Kyle Palmieri tapped it past Linus Ullmark at 6:46.
But the B’s quickly got two back to get some breathing room.
On a 4-on-4, Patrice Bergeron notched his 20th of the year 8:17 on a flukish play. After an Islander turnover, a DeBrusk shot was blocked and went off the glass behind the net. It bounced all the way back in front of the net, where Bergeron was there to bunt it into the empty net. It marked the 14th 20-goal season for the captain, and the 10th one in a row.
Then, after some of the Islanders’ best pressure of the evening, Frederic then got his second one at 11:30. Staring down Varlamov from the high slot, Frederic gave a look to pass but then simply beat him with a low wrister. It was a goal that spoke to Frederic’s mindset these days.
“He also had the poise to open up, it looked like he was going to pass, I think it was (AJ) Greer driving he left wing, and then shooting it. He used the defenseman as a screen and the goalie’s expecting a pass. It’s a confident play,” said Montgomery.
Pavel Zacha tallied his 13th of the season with 1:29 left in the second to officially make it a rout.
Matt Martin added a late goal for the Isles in the third, but they were not about scale the mountain they created for themselves.
After a 1-3-1 skid, the B’s have now won three straight and, at a mind-boggling 428-5, are feeling good about themselves again.
“This is something we haven’t seen before,” said Foligno. “We’re cherishing it and we’re not going to let it go to waste.”