The Boston Bruins needed a major win tonight. The Detroit Red Wings had beaten the Minnesota Wild 3-2, briefly moving ahead of the Boston Bruins in the playoff standings. If the Bruins were going to keep the race for the postseason alive, they had to earn the two points. After a nail biter of a third period, the Black and Gold emerged victorious, skating by the St. Louis Blues in a 6-5 win.
It was a rare night for the Bruins organization. Winning both the game and a coaches’ challenge in the same night doesn’t happen very often for the B’s, but it was certainly a rare occurrence for the Black and Gold. There was also another big milestone reached in tonight’s win that a lot of people may have missed.
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- The Lasting Legacy of David Krejci
Bruins forward and alternate captain David Krejci put in his first career four-point NHL game. It seems kind of odd that the 29-year old Czech forward hasn’t been able to put in that kind of performance during his 10-year career with the Bruins organization.
The Czech forward was the complete player the Bruins needed him to be tonight. Krejci helped put the Bruins up 2-1 late in the first period by catching a Matt Beleskey shot that rebounded off of Blues goaltender Brian Elliott. He later put in the Bruins first power play goal of the night by getting a shot through a double screen of Elliott. (The Bruins wound up chasing Elliott out of his crease at the end of the period.) He earned assists on the later goal put in by Beleskey and the power play goal put in by Patrice Bergeron to seal the win for Boston.
With his four point performance, Krejci now moves past Loui Eriksson and Brad Marchand to take over second place in overall scoring with 60 points. He leads the team in assists this season with 43.
Krejci had been asked about the pressure the team was under yesterday. His response certainly matched the kind of game play he had tonight for the Bruins.
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“We have five games left, so you just leave everything out there,” said Krejci. “There are no regrets after games. You just go out and play as hard as you can, and you do everything you can to help the team win. Obviously people talk about , but it’s so far back in the back of my head. There are too many positive things going on, so you don’t let those negative things creep in there. You stay positive, battle hard and do whatever you can to help the team.”
Krejci certainly left everything on the ice tonight, and it’s great to see the B’s alternate captain come alive at such a crucial time for the Black and Gold.