Boston Bruins: Takeaways and 4 Stars From a 4-0 Win Over NYR
Two nights after dropping a 2-1 shootout to the New York Islanders, the Boston Bruins bounced back with a much-needed victory Thursday night over the New York Rangers, 4-0, at the TD Garden.
It was a dominant effort from the Bruins for most of the game in improving to 4-1 on the season against the Rangers. Here are some takeaways, and stars of the game for the Black and Gold, who won their 14th game of the season.
Some takeaways from the Bruins victory.
- Zach Senyshyn made his season debut for the Bruins and although he didn’t score, he was noticeable in the game. He showed just how fast of a skater he was in the opening period when he beat two Rangers defensemen back to avoid icings. He also had three 2-on-1 beaks with Sean Kuraly. Although they failed to score on each one, how many 2-on-1’s do teams get in one game, never mind three?
- Brad Marchand came into the game leading the Bruins with 12 goals, but Thursday night, his playmaking ability was on full display. He assisted on the first three Boston goals. The first one he laid a nice pass to David Pastrnak at the blueline, whose blast beat Rangers goalie Alexander Georgiev. Later in the period, he made two nice moves in the New York end with the B’s shorthanded and fed Patrice Bergeron in the slot and the captain buried it for a 2-0 lead. Marchand also assisted in the second period on David Krejci’s power play goal.
- Speaking of Krejci, the veteran second-line center finally found the back of the net in 2021. Coming into the game, he had 11 assists in 19 games, but he was able to break through with a power play goal 3:31 into the middle frame for a 3-0 lead.
More Takeaways
- It appears that Jake DeBrusk got the message sent by Bruce Cassidy. For one game anyway. He played arguably his best game of the season and scored his first 5-on-5 goal of the year. It was his second goal in 2021. DeBrusk was slotted on the second line with Krejci and Nick Ritchie and in 15:48 of ice time, he had two shots on net, two hits, and was noticeable just about every shift. He killed a first-period penalty with rookie Jack Studnicka and the duo had a great scoring opportunity, created by DeBrusk’s hustle, right after Bergy’s SHG. Now the question is, can he do it again Saturday?
- The night didn’t go by without the Bruins having some scares in regards to injuries. Already been hit as hard as any team in the league early in the season, Boston had Ritchie, Craig Smith, Marchand, and Jakub Zboril go down the runway during the game in pain, but each returned to finish out the game.
- The NHL’s top two penalty-killing units were on display in the game and the Bruins got the best of the Rangers. Boston was perfect 4-for-4 in the PK against the Blue Shirts, while the Rangers allowed Krejci’s second-period tally on the man advantage. New York killed Boston’s other opportunity later in the period.
- Even though they led 2-0 on the scoreboard after the first period, the Bruins were lucky to have the lead as the Rangers had the better of the scoring chances. That changed in the final two periods as the Bruins created better chances and chased Georgiev from the game after DeBrusk’s goal. At one point near the end of the second period, the Rangers had just one shot on the net. They finished with three for the period.
Stars of the Game
Jaroslav Halak
Halak has been very good recently and his solid play continued Thursday night. He stopped all 27 shots by the Rangers, including 14 in the first period to help his team take to a 2-0 lead to the locker room. In his last three starts, Halak has given up two goals and has a .977 save percentage (SV%) in those games. Over the past three seasons, Halak has been everything that general manager Don Sweeney and the Bruins have hoped for.
Brad Marchand
As stated above, Marchand’s playmaking abilities were on full display with him assisting on the first three goals. He finished with a plus-3 in just under 15 minutes of ice time.
Charlie McAvoy
He was held off of the scoresheet, but it was once again the little things that McAvoy did that led the way on the blueline. In just over 22 minutes of ice time, he was a plus-3 and had four shots on the net. His transition game was once again on full display. Hard to argue with his nightly performances that he should not be a finalist for the Norris Trophy.
Jake DeBrusk
Why not? He scored his first even-strength goal of the season and for once was noticeable for most of the night. Again, did he get the message from coach Bruce Cassidy through the healthy scratch and comments? Time will tell.
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All in all, it was a good night for the Bruins. They got the victory, appeared to avoid some injuries to some key players, and got goals from DeBrusk and Krejci. After a day off today, it’s back to work tomorrow for a 1 p.m. matinee at home against the Rangers, again.