Jan 7, 2015; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Boston Bruins center
Patrice Bergeron(center right) celebrates with left wing
Milan Lucic(17) and defenseman
Torey Krug(R) after Bergeron scored the game winning goal in overtime against the Pittsburgh Penguins at the CONSOL Energy Center. Boston won 3-2 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
The Boston Bruins knew they had to get a win tonight. They suffered overtime or shootout losses in the last three games. They weren’t in a playoff slot. The Bruins new CEO, Charlie Jacobs had practically read the team the riot act yesterday during a press conference. The Bruins had to give a total effort to get those badly needed points last night.
For the most part, they succeeded.
Claude Julien once again took a Rubik’s Cube approach to his lines. He took his top two lines and decided to make a few changes. Patrice Bergeron found himself demoted to the second line to shore up Milan Lucic and Daniel Paille. (Although at this point, it’s pretty safe to say now that any line Bergeron is on is to be considered the top line.) David Krejci found himself centering Brad Marchand and Reilly Smith.
Puck Prose
This wasn’t the Black and Gold’s best game of the year. The Pittsburgh Penguins found themselves in the Bruins defensive zone a lot more than the B’s wanted. Tuukka Rask was very good for Boston last night. He stopped thirty-seven of thirty-nine shots(.949%, and good enough for Second Star of the Night Honors) for the Bruins. The team responded well, but didn’t play a complete sixty minute game. Thankfully, the B’s goaltending was there when the team wasn’t at their best last night.
All the B’s scoring came from the leaders of the team. Bruins captain Zdeno Chara got his third goal of the year on a murderous shot that sailed cleanly past Marc-Andre Fleury. That goal got the Bruins tied up at one. After that, the rest of the game slowly morphed into the Patrice Bergeron show.
Patrice Bergeron earned First Star of the Night Honors for the game, and he was awarded the same honor from NHL Network’s NHL Tonight. He was the brightest spot on a team that found itself in trouble early and often throughout the game. Bergeron was back to his old self in the faceoff circle. He won sixty-seven percent of his faceoffs. He was seven for eight on special teams, three for four on shorthanded draws, and three out of four against Sidney Crosby.
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Bergeron was the total package for the Bruins tonight. The Bergeron line found themselves going hard against the Crosby line night all night, and they were the better line tonight. Coach Julien chose to rotate three lines after the first period, and that put additional pressure on the B’s alternate captain. (He finished with a season high 21:34 of ice time.) Bergeron spent nearly three minutes (2:58) on the penalty kill, and was instrumental for the team stopping all four Penguin power plays.
He also scored twice for Boston. The first goal gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead, and the second one gave the Black and Gold the overtime win. While the goal was considered controversial, the refs and the staff in Toronto agreed that the puck hit his stick below crossbar height.
“I thought it was inconclusive and they called it a good goal on the ice, so usually when that’s what happens, it’s hard to turn back,” said Bergeron of the goal post-game. “I was pretty confident it was below the crossbar. At some point, it’s going to have to go our way, and tonight that was the case. And definitely, it wasn’t perfect by all means, but it was definitely a good effort and we found a way to get the big win.”
Those two goals got Patrice Bergeron into double digits for goals for Boston. That now gives the team two players in the double digit goal column(along with Brad Marchand). Bergeron leads all Boston players in overall scoring. He now has thirty points(ten goals) on the season. He has put in a point a game in the last ten games (five goals). In those last ten games, Bergeron has been at fifty percent or better in the face off circle.
To be fair, it wasn’t just Patrice Bergeron out there last night. Milan Lucic had a two point game himself and finished with a +3. Lucic had two shots and four hits during the match. Daniel Paille looked remarkably comfortable for being bumped up two lines. (If you’ve been reading my articles over the last three years, I’ve been pushing and hoping for Paille to get moved up a line.) Paille was also a +1 with an assist. He played over seventeen minutes tonight, and his speed was consistent throughout the game. This could be a positive sign for him as he’s playing for a contract next year.
So, the Bruins heard the message Charlie Jacobs gave them. Now, it’s back home to exorcise the New Jersey Devils from the TD Garden.