Boston Bruins Shutout Vancouver Canucks With Wild Finish To Close Out Road Trip
Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports
Puck Prose
The Boston Bruins ended their three game road trip to Western Canada on a high note. After struggling to play their own brand of hockey against the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames, the Bruins simplified things against the Vancouver Canucks. Rather than exchanging scoring opportunities with Vancouver the way they tried to against the Flames and Oilers, the Bruins played a much more disciplined game that consisted of heavy hitting and strong defensive play. The result was a familiar one for the Bruins who beat the Vancouver Canucks with a score of 4-0 — the final score of game seven of the 2011 Stanley Cup finals — and it was certainly a result the Bruins needed.
Bruins head coach Claude Julien made some questionable lineup changes going into the final game of their road trip by scratching Dennis Seidenberg, Jimmy Hayes, and Colin Miller. The Bruins have struggled defensively this season and scratching their entire second pairing seemed a little strange, but the results were clearly satisfactory for the Bruins who ended up earning four of a possible six points from their road trip after the win in Vancouver.
With 1:53 remaining in the third period, Canuck’s forward Brandon Prust made an incredibly classless move — although not unlike one made by Milan Lucic in the past when he was a member of the Boston Bruins — by spearing Brad Marchand in between his legs.
Brandon Prust was escorted off of the ice and handed a 10-minute misconduct. There is no doubt that the NHL’s Department of Player Safety will look into this and Brandon Prust will be fined or suspended. The action didn’t stop after that spear, as Zac Rinaldo and Derek Dorsett got into another scuffle which ended about as quickly as it started.
Tyler Randell wasn’t going to let it end that easily though, as he also decided to get in on the action and drop his gloves.
More from Bruins News
- Bruins release Prospects Challenge roster, schedule Tuesday
- Bruins bringing back familiar forward on tryout contract
- The Bruins should take a look at these four free agents
- NHL Network lists Ullmark as sixth-best goalie in the league
- The Lasting Legacy of David Krejci
Despite the wild finish, the Bruins won the game 4-0 by way of solid play in every aspect of the game. Landon Ferraro was able to score his second goal as a member of the Boston Bruins and Joe Morrow recorded his first NHL assist. Something that was more familiar for Bruins fans was the fact that Tuukka Rask was perfect for his team, putting together a 17 save game for his third shutout of the season, and the 29th of his career — putting Rask just two behind Tim Thomas for third among Bruins in franchise history — to earn the win.
Follow Brandon Share-Cohen on Twitter @BShareCohen to discuss all things Bruins and sports