Bruins outlast Winnipeg, 4-1, in defensive battle
Jake DeBrusk puts it out of reach with late goal
The Bruins’ 4-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets on Monday at the Garden may not have been pretty or particularly artful.
But it was the kind of win they’ll need to manufacture come April.
Playing a stingy, tightchecking Jets team that, by coach Jim Montgomery’s estimation, “embarrassed” the B’s when the teams played in Winnipeg a month ago, the B’s managed to get a lead, protect and then grind out a victory over the Jets.
The B’s took a 2-1 lead into the third period and withstood an inevitable Winnipeg push before they finally nailed it down with a late Jake DeBrusk shorthanded goal. Brad Marchand (21) added an emptynetter to finish it off for the B’s fifth straight win. Jeremy Swayman made 20 saves, including 12 in the third period.
The Jets entered the game as the top—ranked defensive team, but the B’s were able to snap their streak of 14 straight games of allowing two or fewer goals.
“I think that’s playoff hockey, to be honest,” said DeBrusk, who potted his 12th of the year. “Obviously, it was probably not as physical or intense, but tightchecking and close scores is what you’re going to be seeing when it counts.”
In that 14-game streak for the Jets, of course, was a 5-1 drubbing of the B’s on Dec. 22, the worst loss of the year for the B’s.
“We don’t like losing twice to a team and we don’t like losing twice in a row and the momentum we had from the last game and the start of this homestand is something we wanted to continue,” said Swayman. “As you saw, from the first to the last whistle, it was excellent Bruins hockey. It was really special stuff we could build on.”
That defeat in the ‘Peg was the fourth of four straight losses for the B’s and, at the time, there was still a question as to just which way the B’s season would go. But since the Christmas break, the B’s are 10-1-3 and are averaging 4.76 goals per game and now hold a seven-point lead over the Rangers for the top spot in the Eastern Conference.
Monday’s game was more like the goaltending-anddefense blueprint that we all thought the B’s needed to employ to be successful, but the offensive output over a good sample size has been as noteworthy as its been surprising.
The secret to the offensive surge?
“Our willingness to hang on to pucks, our willingness to play five guys together, especially coming out of our D-zone through the neutral zone and then really in the offensive zone,” said Montgomery. “I think the defensemen have been active and opened up space for the forwards and I think the forwards have done a really good job of making plays when they’re there and then hanging onto pucks and putting it to areas where we can continue to possess.”
The B’s first goal of the night was just such a goal. The new crash line of Morgan Geekie, Trent Frederic and Jakub Lauko threw a good forecheck at the Jets early on and got on the board just 2:20 in the game. The trio had the Jets hemmed in their own with both Frederic and Geekie keeping the play alive until Frederic, on a quick 2-on0, fed a wide open Lauko for his second goal in three games.
But while the B’s put in the work for their goal, Winnipeg was gifted the equalizer 1:56 later. Marchand tried to make a slick redirect on a breakout, but it went into the middle of the ice where Nic Ehlers pounced on it. He got it back to Dylan DeMelo at the blue line and the defenseman fired a shot that Vladislav Namestnikov deflected past Jeremy Swayman.
The B’s, however, regained the lead before the period was out when Charlie
Coyle deflected a Hampus Lindholm shot/pass past Connor Hellebuyck with 1:34 remaining in the period. That would hold up as the winner, but there was a lot of work to be done.
In a scoreless second period, the B’s had several extended shifts in the Winnipeg zone and outshot the Jets 10-4, but nothing was getting through to Hellebuyck without a fight. And while the B’s had a decided edge in play over 40 minutes, they went into the third period with a slim one-goal lead.
The Jets surged to start the third and Swayman was forced to make a couple of solid saves. The B’s eventually found their legs and pushed back.
Lauko drew a penalty in the neutral zone with 7:32 left in regulation. But the B’s could do nothing with it and, with 23 seconds left on the PP, Lindhollm was called for interference. It all worked out in the B’s favor, however.
Seconds after the Jets went on the PP, DeBrusk gave the B’s some muchneeded breathing space. In an attack that started when the teams were at 4-on-4, Geekie took the puck to the net and Hellebuyck kicked out the original offering but DeBrusk followed to snap it into the low far corner with 5:25 left in the third.
That finally broke the Jets, and Marchand made sure of it with the empty netter.