Boston Bruins demolish Senators in final game of 2017

After a very disappointing shootout loss in Washington on Thursday night, the Boston Bruins went from the U.S. capital to Canada’s capital city of Ottawa to face the Senators.

The Boston Bruins game last night marked the return of David Krejci, and it could not have come at a better time.  The Bruins power play has been terrible as of late, especially in Washington as they went 0 for 5 with the man advantage.

With Krejci’s return the power play was on fire tonight scoring not once, not twice but three times in victory tonight.  In their final game of 2017, the Bruins played well 5-on-5 and on both the power play and penalty kill units shined, and the Bruins overall strong play continued with a dominant win over the mightily struggling Senators.

Period 1

Just like the game Wednesday night, the Bruins started quick with a couple of early chances against Sens goalie and Massachusetts native Mike Condon, but the game remained scoreless.  The game would remain 0-0 until the Senators were called for a penalty and Ryan Spooner converted on the PP to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead midway through the 1st period.

More from Causeway Crowd

• Harrison, Toporowski shine in Prospects Challenge
• Obscure former Boston Bruins: Steven Kampfer
• Bruins release Prospects Challenge roster, schedule Tuesday
• Bruins release full “Historic 100” list ahead of season
• McAvoy, Lucic named to “Historic 100” list over the weekend

The Bruins maintained control for the rest of the period and had their chances to double the lead but could not.  The period came to a close with the Bruins leading 1-0.

Period 2

The middle frame is where the Bruins really showed their dominance as they scored three times and put any hopes of an Ottawa comeback to rest.  Three minutes into the period, during a strong shift by the 4th line, the Bruins doubled their lead after a great backhand snipe by Noel Acciari put the Bruins ahead 2-0.

Just minutes later, Spooner, the Ottawa native, blocked a Sens shot and was off to the races and slipped one past Condon on a breakaway for his second goal of the night, and gave the Bruins a commanding 3-0 lead.

Later in the period, the Bruins added their 4th goal of the night as again on the PP, the returning David Krejci stuffed one home in the crease and drove it by Condon for a goal in his first game back from his injury.  The intermission horn sounded with the Bruins in complete control with a 4-0 lead with just 20 minutes to play.

Period 3:

The Bruins began the period on the PP and they scored for the third consecutive PP as Patrice Bergeron tipped a Torey Krug point shot and game was over with the Bruins up 5-0.  With the decision already wrapped up, the Bruins next focus was establishing good habits and playing mistake free hockey.

They did just that as Ottawa only had 4 shots on goal in the third period and Tuukka Rask got his second shutout of the season and the Bruins win their final game of 2017, 5-0 over the Ottawa Senators.

Next: Bruins 3rd line key to success

Short Shifts

• The return of David Krejci resulted in Anders Bjork being scratched.  He did not play well on Thursday, but it will be interesting to see who Cassidy scratches with 13 healthy and effective forwards on the roster.  My gut tells me that it will either be Kuraly or Acciari that heads upstairs, which sucks because that line along with Schaller is playing great hockey right now, but he should be looking to keep Bjork and DeBrusk in the lineup every night.
• Tonight was Rask’s second shutout of the season, which continues his recent run of tremendous play.  Before tonight’s game, in  his last 10 starts Rask was 9-0-1 with a sub 2 GAA and a .950 save percentage.  His season GAA is now 2.13 with a save percentage of .923.
• With the win, the Bruins are officially in 2nd place of the Atlantic Division, tying the Maple Leafs on 48 points, while having 2 games in hand over Toronto.
• The Bruins are off until January 2nd, where they head down to Brooklyn to take on the Islanders.