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Boston Bruins: 3 Stars of the Week

By Scott Roche

Mar 16, 2021; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Boston Bruins goaltender Daniel Vladar (80) wipes his face during a time-out in the third period against the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena. Boston won 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 16, 2021; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Boston Bruins goaltender Daniel Vladar (80) wipes his face during a time-out in the third period against the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena. Boston won 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports /
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In what started out as a four-game game road trip through Pittsburgh and Buffalo, has turned into a three-game trip with word coming down Friday that the Boston Bruins placed four players in the NHL’s COVID-19 protocols, making it a total of five after a player into the protocols Thursday.

Despite the road trip being cut short by one game, here are the three stars of the week for the Black and Gold from their three games, two of which were victories.

3. Matt Grzelcyk

Finally healthy after missing 13 games with various injuries, Grzelcyk had a solid road trip. Monday, he scored his first goal of the season on a shot from the point on the power play in a 4-1 Bruins’ loss. He finished the game with a team-high eight shots on net that night. Tuesday night, he picked up an assist on David Pastrnak’s first-period power play goal and finished second behind Charlie McAvoy in time-on-ice at 23:42.

Thursday night against the Buffalo Sabres, his shot from the point early in the first period was redirected by Greg McKegg for an early Bruins lead on their way to a 4-1 win. Grz finished tied with Pastrank with a team-high six shots on net.

2.  David Krejci

Krejci has had a frustrating season to this point in the goal-scoring department, but Thursday night, he showed why he is still a good playmaker for the Bruins.

He assisted on three of the four Boston goals against the Sabres. He assisted on Jake DeBrusk’s power play goal in the second period to give the Bruins the lead for good, which also was his 700th career point. Later in the period, he had the main assist on Craig Smith’s goal and for good measure, he assisted on Pastrnak’s third-period power play goal. Krejci has 15 assists this season.

1. Dan Vladar

Where else would we go other than the Bruins rookie netminder? In his first career NHL start Tuesday night against the Penguins, Vladar stopped 34 of the 35 shots fired at him by Pittsburgh, including a stellar stick in the first period to robbing Colton Sceviour in what could be described as a big win.

Must Read. Why Bruins Hope COVID-19 Protocols List Stops Here. light

Vladar had an excellent 2019-20 season with the Providence Bruins in the American Hockey League and was off to a good start down there early this season. Before the next two Bruins games were postponed, it would not have surprised anyone if coach Bruce Cassidy gave him another start. He earned it.

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