Tied 2-2 with the San Jose Sharks on Saturday night at the TD Garden, the Boston Bruins were looking to dig deep to win a game at home and keep their point streak alive. It wasn't the best effort in the first 40 minutes; the Black and Gold struggled in a number of areas.
Boston has thrived on their skating game and puck possession all season long. Against the Sharks, through 40 minutes, it wasn't their best showing, and truth be told, they were lucky it was tied. They allowed a first-period power-play goal when a Bruins clearing attempt hit a teammate on the backside, and the Sharks turned that into a goal. Then in the second period, Elias Lindholm turned the puck over at the defensive blueline on the power play, which led to a shorthanded Sharks goal.
However, what happened in the third period, nobody saw what was about to happen. Boston dug deep and rallied for a win, led by youngster Fraser Minten.
Fraser Minten drops veteran-like quote after win over Sharks
After falling behind 3-2 in the third period, the Black and Gold erupted for four goals in the final 12 minutes for a 6-4 victory. David Pastrnak, Minten, James Hagens, and Will Borgen found the back of the net. Minten's goal on the power play was the game-winner. After the game, Minten had a veteran-like quote about the final 20 minutes.
"Just win a period and win a game. It wasn’t our cleanest today, but a tie game going into the third, we’ll take it, and we can close those out,” Minten said, per Belle Fraser of BostonBruins.com. “We came out and wanted to make that happen.”
He's not wrong. You always hear players say it's hard to win in the NHL, and they find a way. That's what good teams do. Given the makeup of this Bruins roster, winning games the way they do is their recipe for success. Are they blessed with gifted goal scorers? No. However, the system they play and they way they do it, they make it difficult for their opponents to score.
The influx of youth is a major player as well, at all three levels. Minten and Hagens up front, Mason Lohrei and Frederic Brunet on the backend, and Michael DiPietro between the pipes are making major contributions. However, one, Minten, is becoming a leader. He is a quiet leader and had a leadership quote after a win. You love to see it.
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