Claude Julien Rewarded For His Patience With A Game 3 Bruins Victory

May 6, 2013; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Boston Bruins forward Nathan Horton (18) celebrates his goal with forward David Krejci (46) against the Toronto Maple Leafs during the second period of game three of the first round of the 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs at the Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

Earlier today I wrote about how Boston Bruins head coach Claude Julien was going to stick with his forward lines from game 2, a game the Bruins looked flat in and lost 4-2. The patience and faith in his roster paid off for Julien as the Bruins defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-2 in game 3 of their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal matchup. The Bruins now hold a 2-1 series lead.

The Bruins came out flying and the much maligned 3rd line of Jaromir Jagr, Chris Kelly and Rich Peverley were one of the better lines on the ice tonight. Peverley even got on the scoreboard with his first goal of the playoffs.

David Krejci continued his playoff dominance and was the motor that gets Nathan Horton and Milan Lucic moving their feet. Horton scored his 3rd goal in as many games and Lucic was hitting everything insight while getting in on the forecheck.

Not to be left out, the 4th line was their usual pesky selves and Daniel Paille scored a short-handed goal in the 2nd period that gave the Bruins a commanding 4-1 lead at the time. Shawn Thornton also almost had the goal of the playoffs but couldn’t lift the puck to finish the play.

All in all it was a good win for the Bruins and they did well to weather the storm most of the night and silence the crowd when things got close or the Leafs started to gain momentum. After all this was the first playoff game played in Toronto in 9-years so the hometown fans were looking for any reason to cheer. Heck, a minute into the game they started their own version of the “Thank you Kessel” chant that has become infamous in Boston, you’ll remember he scored the game-winning goal in game 2 for the Leafs and even found the scoresheet again tonight when he scored on the power-play a minute into the 3rd period.

I guess you could call it a textbook road game by the Bruins, the were fast, crisp and physical for most of the night. When they did have hiccups, Rask head their back more often than not as he made 46 saves on 48 shots in the win. He saw the puck well most of the night and was very quick on the puck. He’s been solid all series in my opinion and tonight was no different.

Game 4 is Wednesday night in Toronto and the Bruins will be looking to duplicate their effort in tonight’s game.