Boston Bruins: Top 3 heroes against Winnipeg Jets
By Luke Ryan
3. Torey Krug
Torey Krug may seem like an odd choice as one of the Boston Bruins’ heroes in this game, especially when you have the likes of Jake Debrusk and David Pastrnak notching multi-point nights and David Krejci coming away with a +3 plus/minus score.
However, Krug deserves a mention given that he was a last-minute decision as he was suffering from a flu bug in the lead-up to last night’s fixture.
To come through a game while suffering flu symptoms isn’t unheard of, but to do so while registering the second-most ice-time among defensemen, even if 5:07 of this was on the power play, shows real strength of character.
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Not only did he play through his symptoms, but he also managed to tally an assist and come away clean in terms of a 0 plus/minus score.
Per Natural Stat Trick, only Chris Wagner and Brandon Carlo laid more hits, with Krug also managing to draw a penalty on the night for the Boston Bruins.
At even strength, only Chris Wagner had a better Corsi For percentage than Krug’s elite 66.67%, especially considering he played 8:16 more than Wagner. His Fenwick score and Shots For percentages also paint a picture of a dominant performance from the defenseman.
The Winnipeg Jets are no walk in the park by any stretch of the imagination, but Torey Krug, whether by luck or more likely due to the strength of his defensive efforts, was only on the ice when the Jets scored 1 of their 4 goals.
Krug was a hero in regards to playing on through illness and doing so without letting his usual high standards drop. He was duly rewarded with an assist in David Pastrnak’s power-play marker.