A Strong Third Period & a Shutout By Halak Gives Boston Its Eighth Straight Win, 2-0 vs. Carolina

You know that you are spoiled as a fan of a certain team when you start critiquing wins like they are blowout losses. The Bruins (20-3-5) haven't quite reached that absurd reality level of say the Patriots but they are entering rare territory. Take tonight's 2-0 victory vs. Carolina (16-11-1) at TD Garden as an example of why the Black and Gold are starting to spoil us (at least as far as the regular season is concerned). With no goals in over 55 minutes of regulation, you better believe that there were plenty of low-hanging fruit (what is this soccer?) jokes to be had by the masses. Luckily, the B's turned it on just in time with a pair of goals 1:08 apart to avoid overtime, win their eighth game in a row, extend their overall point streak to 12 games (9-0-3) and their home point streak to 16 games (12-0-4) aka all of 2019/2020 so far.

On a team loaded with so many accomplished veteran players, it often feels like individual Bruins are reaching career milestones in nearly every contest. This was "backup" goaltender Jaroslav Halak's (24 saves, 7-1-3) 500th career NHL game-him and Tuuuka Rask are the only current NHL tandem to both do that-so he marked that special occasion with his second shutout of the season and 49th of his career. Surprisingly, it turned out to be Bostons' first shutout over Carolina since way back on January 17, 2011 (Tim Thomas in a 7-0 blowout on home ice) roughly five months before winning the Cup. Like Halak, David Krejci won't be a Hall of Famer but he's had a really solid career (entirely as a Bruin). He scored Boston's insurance goal which was also his 200th in the NHL.

This was a rematch of the 2019 Eastern Conference Final but truth be told, it would be a shock if Carolina makes it back there anytime soon. That's not to say that they aren't good because they will definitely be in the playoffs again this spring but I doubt that they will get that far then again hockey is more unpredictable than the other three major pro sports in the US (NFL, NBA and MLB). Both teams were called for two penalties-all in the first period-but neither power play could get anything going. The Hurricanes had a great scoring chance early in the second period as veteran left wing Nino Niederreiter hit the post with his backhand shot. Carolina's talented young defensemen Jaccob Slavin thought that he had beaten Halak but his backhander actually went through the side of the net. Seriously, that Hailey's Comet type once in a lifetime occurrence seriously happened in an NHL game.

Boston has been playing a bunch of close contests during this stretch so they obviously must feel confident when they are facing such circumstances. With Hurricanes backup goaltender and former Maple Leafs bum James Reimer (32 saves, 5-5-0) in net, it was only a matter of time before he cracked from the immense pressure of a game on December 3. Not once but twice this evening he stopped shots only to look behind or around him for what he expected to find: a loose puck. The Bruins saved the heroics for crunch time with steady local guy Charlie Coyle redirecting a pass from Brad Marchand (5 goals & 7 assists in his last 8 games; 8 goals & 8 assists in his last 13) at 15:55 of the third period. Danton Heinen started the played by forcing a turnover then smartly funneling it to Marchand along the wall. Coyle's sixth goal of the season gave him 11 points (4 goals, 7 assists) in his last 12 games. Before Bruins fans had a chance to revive a "Reimer, Reimer" chant, it was 2-0 and game over.

This time Krejci tipped in a shot from the point by Charlie McAvoy. David Pastrnak had the second assist on Krejci's sixth goal of the season that gave him eight points (4 goals, 4 assists) in his last six games and 16 points (5 goals, 11 assists) in his last 13 games. Not to be outdone by Marchand, Pastrank has 10 points (8 goals, 2 assists) in his last nine games. For the season, Brad leads the team with 44 points (18 goals, 26 assists) and Pasta only trails him by one point (25 goals, 18 assists). Not that it really means anything or matters all that much but that race between them for most points could go down to the wire in April.

Team records don't mean everything in hockey but at least on paper, Chicago (10-12-5) looks like a team that the Bruins should be able to handle rather easily when they visit here on Thursday (7, NESN). Some teams would possibly be looking ahead to Saturday night's (7, NESN) meeting with Colorado (16-8-2) as a possible Stanley Cup Final preview and far sexier matchup. However, with so many veterans and leaders on the team, the B's rarely overlook any opponent so I am confident that they won't ignore the Blackhawks even though most knowledgeable fans probably will given Chicago's mediocrity in recent years. If it helps you get more interested in Thursday's tilt, take a time machine back to the 2013 Stanley Cup Final when Bruins-Blackhawks was everything in the hockey universe.

Tweet