Boston Bruins: Hearing The Bear Roar Again
The Boston Bruins have made a strong push these last few weeks. Not to long ago, the Bruins were riding the very bottom of the division and the conference. Now, the Black and Gold are fifth in the East and are closing fast on the seriously floundering Montreal Canadiens. The Bruins are within five points from claiming the top spot in the Atlantic for the first time this season.
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Top to bottom, the team has become more dangerous and it’s led the B’s to go 9-1-3 in their last thirteen games. The Bruins have gotten better (for the most part) with their defense, as the young blueliners have gotten used to the pace of the NHL game, and have adjusted their playing style to be more competitive at that level.
The Bruins have once again relied on scoring by committee. The Bruins third and fourth line came up big for the Black and Gold in their most recent win. Max Talbot earned his first goal as a Bruin. Jimmy Hayes and Ryan Spooner also represented for Boston. The Bruins bottom six forwards have surged as of late, and it’s certainly taken the pressure off the Bergeron and Krejci lines when it comes to generating offense.
“That’s what you want to see. You don’t expect them to score at the [rate] that the top two lines are, but you certainly like to see them chip in every once in a while. Tonight, like I said, they allowed us to win this game,” said Claude Julien. “Those first two goals came from the third and fourth line. I even mentioned before the game that you don’t want guys playing in other guys’ shadows. You want them to be able to be confident enough to play in this league and contribute. That’s what two of those guys did for us tonight.”
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The other big reason for the Bruins recent turnaround is their goaltender. Tuukka Rask has come back from the dead by doing a tremendous job in the crease for Boston. In the last month, Rask has not lost a single game in regulation for the B’s. Rask’s recent 7-0-2 record brought sixteen much needed points for the Bruins, and it helped them start to carve out their identity again.
“We’re not trying to win [by scores of] 4-3 or 5-4. We’re just kind of being patient and getting our chances and capitalizing on those, but defensively we’re getting so much better,” said Rask after their 3-0 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. That shutout was Rask’s fourth of the season, tying him for the top spot in the league. “We take pride in that and we finally understood that that’s what our bread and butter is and has given us success a lot.
“It’s so much more coordinating in our own zone I feel like, and guys are not running around. We’re just playing, keeping it tight, you know, because they’re going to get shots. But it’s just a matter of what kind of shots they’re going to get, and lately it’s been on the outside. Guys have been taking care of the rebounds, so that takes a lot of goals away.”
Now the Bruins head back to Pittsburgh to take another whack at a struggling Penguins team. As the B’s close the gap in the Atlantic, they once again remind of us the Bruins that held the Cup just five years ago.