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.
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.