What makes this result interesting is that this is essentially a taste of the playoffs for the B's since their next game is Sunday afternoon (12:30, NBC) in Pittsburgh. The Penguins are in Detroit (12-32-3) tomorrow night before the return bout with the Bruins but that hardly counts since the Red Wings are easily the worst team in the entire NHL. In their only other meeting this season which was over two months ago, the Bruins also came out on top with a wild 6-4 victory on Nov. 4 at the Garden. The extra physical play was probably just setting the stage for Sunday yet you couldn't help but think what fun it would be to see these teams meet again this spring in the postseason. The 2013 Eastern Conference Finals is the last time they meet in the playoffs so it's been far too long!
Things didn't exactly start out positively for Boston as Sidney Crosby (in his 2nd game back after missing 28 games following muscle core surgery) fired in a laser only 24 seconds into the contest. He returned with four points (1 goal, 3 assists) in Tuesday's 7-3 beating of the Wild (21-20-6) so in that sense, he picked right up where he left out with his seventh goal of the season. Dominik Simon and Jack Johnson (300th NHL point for the veteran defenseman, not the singer from your college days) had the assists on the first shot of the game for either club. Naturally, Boston turned to its third and fourth liners to put them ahead with a pair of goals later in the frame.
Karson Kuhlman is about the furthest thing that you'd find from Crosby-a generational talent-but the Bruins' scrappy rookie returned from missing 32 games of his own with a broken leg. In less than ten minutes of ice time (9:56), he managed to notch two assists (his 2nd multi-point game in the NHL and 1st time he had a pair of helpers) to help spark the offense. Sean Kuraly threw the puck at the net and Kuhlman's net drive did enough to distract Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry (26 saves, 16-7-1) with the puck deflecting off a Pittsburgh defenseman. Charlie McAvoy had the secondary assist on Kuraly's fourth goal of the season at 10:03. A little over two minutes later, Par Lindholm tipped in Kuhlman's shot for his third goal of the season.
Things were simmering in the first with five combined penalties and they started to boil over in the second period namely for Torey Krug and Patric Hornqvist. Besides the fact that he stinks, the main reason that Brett Ritchie was placed on waivers yesterday by the B's (for assignment to Providence) is because he didn't step up in a physical way after the Rask injury. Krug is not exactly what you picture when you think of an enforcer but he more than held his own in his fight with Hornqvist late in the second. They were called for matching roughing penalties but that didn't stop them from settling things six seconds after they got out of the box from serving those infractions. With David Krejci out with an upper-body injury, Boston survived another injury scare as Joakim Nordstrom blocked a shot and glided on one leg to the bench in what seemed like serious pain (Patrice Bergeron helped him get to the bench). From there, he briefly sat down then got helped to the dressing room but miraculously he returned and barely missed any time, playing 12:06.
It shouldn't have taken this long to mention him but Jaroslav Halak (29 saves, 11-5-6) played his best game in awhile which was good timing since he'll probably get the other two starts before the All-Star break with Dan Vladar (recalled from Providence today with no NHL regular season experience) serving as his backup. Halak made many fine stops but none were better than the three (Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy thought there were four) saves late in the second when Pittsburgh somehow broke in on a 2-on-0 while they were shorthanded. Halak stoned Bryan Rust once then Northeastern's Zach Aston-Reese at least twice leading the Garden crowd to go crazy (in a good way of course).
Pittsburgh mostly dominated the third period but they had nothing to show for it thanks to Halak. Boston put it out of reach with Bergeron's sweet top-shelf shot at 3:19 from David Pastrnak. It was Bergeron's 20th goal of the season, the seventh year in a row that he's reached that mark and 11th time in his brilliant (and one day Hall of Fame career). Pasta's pass was beautiful too as he spun around by the boards and put the puck right on Bergy's stick without even seeing him there. The NHL's leading goal-scorer was in a giving mood as Pastrnak passed up an empty-netter in the final minute and instead gave it to Marchand who could use that positive reinforcement (especially after he had another puck issue-a shorthanded breakaway ending with him fumbling it away).
Scoreboard watching after the game, the Bruins got some help from the Wild who surprisingly beat the Lightning (28-15-4) 3-2 in regulation. That leaves Boston eight points ahead of Tampa Bay although the Lightning still have two games in hand. Toronto (25-16-7) is a little bit less of an immediate threat since they trail the Bruins by 11 points with only one game in hand on them. No doubt, the B's would love to sweep the season series with the Pens but it won't be easy to complete at PPG Paints Arena where Pittsburgh is 17-5-3 this season. For whatever reason, I feel like Boston's games there in recent years have usually been bonkers.
The Bruins return to the Garden on Tuesday (7, NESN) to host the Golden Knights (25-19-6) who fired their head coach Gerard Gallant yesterday in a move that few saw coming because the team still holds the top Wild Card spot in the Western Conference. From there, Pastrnak and Cassidy head to the All-Star Game (Rask is skipping it even if he's healthy by then) in St. Louis while everyone else-unless Bergeron or Marchand is an injury replacement for a guy from the Atlantic Division team-gets a legitimate break since the next game isn't until January 31 (8, NESN) at Winnipeg (25-18-4). If the B's can get points in those final two matchups, they'll put themselves in a great spot heading into the stretch drive-the last 31 games of the regular season.
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