Boston Bruins bring the heat in the desert against the Coyotes

After a disappointing week, the Boston Bruins stopped in the desert searching for their identity. The battle of backup goaltenders was sure to prove the merit of both teams as the Bruins aimed to even their record and the Coyotes searched for their first win of the season.

You can breath a sigh of relief – the Boston Bruins were able to beat an unbeaten team. The narrative of a 6-2 win would be more optimistic if the Bs didn’t drop their last two games to the team that submitted the worst record in the league last season. However, this is Boston and Bruins nation, so there is always reason to believe the Bruins are two tweaks away from being an elite team.

Overall, the Bruins win over the Coyotes was encouraging.

The 1st Period

The Bruins’ struggles continued for the opening fifteen minutes with tentative and sloppy play. However, it is hard to expect much more out of the Bs with the continued line juggling on offense after a trying week.

After an injury scare with Kevan Millar, the defense pairings remained the same.

A strike by Mario Kempe of the  Coyotes 15:31 into the first period seemed to awake the Bears as they responded 36 seconds later when Zdeno Chara drilled a slapshot off David Pastrnak’s knee that found the back of the net. Though outshot 10-8 on the period, the Bruins began to play with more purpose after pulling even and were no longer chasing the pack.

The 2nd Period

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The Bruins carried the momentum into the second period where they drew an early powerplay, which resulted in Jake DeBrusk netting his second goal of the season 1:39 into the period. After wounding the Coyotes, the Bruins began to push the pace and make plays through the neutral zone as they sensed disparity in the pack.

Chara capatalized on a failed two on one attempt by Marchand and Pastrnak as he followed up the play and banked in a layup to put the Bs up by 2 5:03 into the second. The pace and physicality increased as the Coyotes attempted to climb back into the game, but their efforts were fruitless as Marchand buried a breakaway chance by going forehand to backhand high under the bar – beautiful.

https://twitter.com/NHLBruins/status/919413965712535553

The Bruins finished out the period up 3 goals and evened the shots at 19-19 after a strong second period.

The 3rd Period

In typical Bruins fashion, the team went into their turtle shell to protect their lead, which worked for most of the period until Torey Krug took a slashing penalty and the Bs gave up a goal to Oliver Ekman-Larsson on the ensuing powerplay with 3:35 left in the game.

However, the Coyotes goal again woke up the Bears as Schaller scored to put them back up by 3 goals 23 seconds later. The momentum gained from their answering goal resulted in a holding penalty on the Coyotes, and Anders Bjork was able to capitalize on the ensuring powerplay for his first career NHL goal.

Next: Surprises and Disappointments

Key Takeaways

• The leaders lead the way. Chara had a goal and two assists, Pastrnak had a goal and an assist, and Marchand had a goal and controlled the play when he was on the ice.
• Khudobin proved his worth with 29 saves. Though only his first game, Khudobin showed he may be able to take some of the load off Tuukka Rask, which will pay dividends come the push for the postseason.
• Though a much needed win, the Bruins need to play with urgency from the opening draw and not wait until they are down to play with purpose.