Boston Bruins: Matt Fraser leads B’s to victory over Ottawa, 4-2.

Nov 1, 2014; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Bruins defenseman

(27) congratulates left wing

(25) after scoring a goal during the second period against the Ottawa Senators at TD Banknorth Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

Just before the game tonight against the Ottawa Senators, Boston Bruins head coach Claude Julien took a roll of the dice. He chose to sit Bruins forward David Krejci and play Matt Fraser. It looks like number ’25’ added up to lucky seven for Boston. Matt Fraser had his best game in a Bruins uniform tonight scoring two goals within ninety seconds in the second period.  He led the team in shots and was everywhere he needed to be. That he accomplished all of this in under eleven minutes of ice time is truly impressive.

The Bruins scored in all three periods and played (by and large) a solid sixty minute game. The Boston Bruins went over the .500 mark tonight, defeating the Senators 4-2. Fraser went on to receive First Star of the Night for his performance.

While Fraser was the Star of the Night (no word on whether or not he’ll dress like a Disney Princess before every hockey game. (Hey, if it’s not broken, why fix it?)), there were other Bruins who stood out tonight. Tuukka Rask played a lot more like the Tuukka Rask we’re used to. He stopped twenty five of twenty seven shots on net tonight for Boston. Several of those saves were either quality shots at range or shots that Tuukka intercepted on instinct alone. He improves to 5-4, and has gotten his save percentage over .900 (.902).  His actions earned him Second Star of the Night honors.

Brad Marchand and Dennis Seidenberg both put in goals tonight as well. It’s good to see that Marchand’s hot hands are coming back on line for him, as scoring is still desperately needed by the Black and Gold. Seidenberg’s goal was just a missile that flew through traffic, and Robin Lehner just never saw coming. It was the icing on the cake goal for the B’s. Carl Soderberg was totally unselfish in tonight’s performance, helping set up both Fraser goals. With his sixth and seventh assists on the season, Soderberg now stands atop the Bruins leaderboard with ten points so far this season.

Dougie Hamilton led all players with 22:28 on ice time. Hamilton hasn’t buckled under all the pressure the organization has given him for needing to step into the very big shoes of Zdeno Chara. The Bruins played a very clean game tonight, with only a single minor throughout the game (a tripping call against Simon Gagne).  They established a solid forecheck and maintained it by spending significant amounts of time within the offensive zone. While it certainly wasn’t a perfect game, it was reassuring to see a young team put on a commanding performance tonight.

The Bruins play again on Tuesday when the welcome Shawn Thornton back to Boston as they take on the Florida Panthers.