They don’t ask how, they just ask how many. With 16 games remaining in the 56-game 2021 NHL season, the Boston Bruins need to collect as many points as possible to hold onto the fourth and final East Division playoff berth.
Tuesday night at the TD Garden, with their three new teammates acquired at the trade deadline in the lineup, the Bruins were stretched to the limit by the last-place Buffalo Sabres, before surviving for a 3-2 shootout victory to pick two points.
Here are some takeaways from a Bruins victory in the second game of a five-game homestand.
Bruins takeaways
- Taylor Hall played his first game for the Black and Gold since Sunday night’s trade. The Sabres sat Hall out before the deadline and the rust showed after a 10-day layoff. As the game went along, he got better and the more games he gets under his legs, the better.
- Mike Reilly made his presence felt and you can see why he has 19 assists this. He finished with five shots on the net and once the puck is on his stick in the offensive end, it usually ends up near the net. He even was the defensemen on the first power play unit. He finished the game tied with Jeremy Lazuon for second on the team in time-ice at 22:17.
- Curtis Lazar centered the fourth line with Chris Wagner and Sean Kuraly. The trio generated some energy shifts and had their fair share of scoring chances. It was the best-looking fourth line that we have seen in a while.
- Charlie McAvoy returned to the lineup after missing four games with an upper-body injury. As usual, he led the team in time-on-ice at 25:04 on a team-high 30 shifts. Like Hall, there was some rust that had to be worked out, but it was nice to see him back in the lineup.
- Another solid start by Jeremy Swayman in the net. He made 23 saves and stopped both Sabres’ shootout attempts. Both goals he gave up were shots from the point, with the second goal deflecting off a skate and bouncing off the ice and under the crossbar.
- Putting the puck in the net has been problematic for Charlie Coyle and Jake DeBrusk this season. In the shootout, they scored both of the Bruins’ goals. Confidence has to start somewhere and why not in a shootout?
- The Bruins survived by not getting burned when they failed to get the pucks out of their end on multiple occasions. Buffalo is not blessed with goal scorers that will make you pay a lot of the time, but with two games against the New York Islanders and one with the Washington Capitals to close out the homestand, they need to clean up their breakouts.
In the end, the Bruins got what they needed, two points. Now they have to figure a way to get some points in the next three games against the top two teams in the division.