Putting aside the depressing reality of a Betts-less Red Sox club that has been a sheer disaster this entire offseason (a major cheating scandal and manager Alex Cora fired topped off with trading their best player), the Black and Gold should give us plenty more smiles like the ones that they provided this evening. With the win, the B's are only one point behind Washington (36-13-5) for the most in the NHL (77). Boston has returned from its extended break with three wins in a row (at Winnipeg and at Minnesota over the weekend) which coupled with their two points against Vegas (27-21-7) two weeks ago-their last home game-means that they have put together a four-game win streak. With less than three weeks (Feb. 24) until the NHL Trade Deadline, the Bruins have the look of a Cup contender that dare I say (with some more good luck on their side) could find themselves yet again competing in May and June.
Obviously with his third shutout of the season and 48th of his NHL career, you'd assume that Boston goaltender Tuukka Rask (25 saves, 19-4-6) had a phenomenal performance but truthfully, he didn't have to do too much heavy lifting. This sounds like troll-speak but Vancouver's goaltender Jacob Markstrom (38 saves, 20-14-3) was almost more impressive in terms of the high quality stops that he made. Of course, the Bruins still found a way to beat him four times so there is that hard-to-ignore fact. From the obscure stat department: Rask extended his home point streak to 17 games (11-0-6) which tied Gilles Gilbert's club record home point streak from the start of a season (16-0-1 in 1973-74).
There were many promising signs for the B's as four different guys (Charlie Coyle, Brad Marchand, David Krejci and Karson Kuhlman) scored goals for them, only two had to play over 20 minutes (Charlie McAvoy had a team-high 20:42 time on ice and his defensive partner Zdeno Chara was close behind at 20:20) while everybody played at least 10:12 (Chris Wagner) for the home team. This was key since they headed straight from the Garden to their charter flight to Chicago as they visit the Blackhawks (25-21-7) tomorrow night (8, NBCSN) in primetime. It was also nice to see them not rely so much on their power play (1-for-6) or David Pastrnak (game-high 7 shots on goal but 0 points) which are both brilliant but shouldn't have to produce all the time to win. Boston's penalty kill was flawless (3-for-3) and they even almost scored a pair of shorthanded tallies as Wagner and Coyle were both stopped on breakaways when they had a teammate in the penalty box.
The first goal for the Bruins looked like it would surely be overturned at first glance (as Vancouver's head coach Travis Green challenged it) since Sean Kuraly appeared to be offsides when McAvoy stickhandled over the blueline. It turns out that Coyle's goal (coming on a rebound) counted since McAvoy had waited to touch the puck again before Kuraly was properly in position. It was the 10th goal of the season for Coyle, assisted by McAvoy and Anders Bjork at 14:24 of the first period for the 1-0 Bruins lead. McAvoy somehow still doesn't have a goal this season but his initial shot forced a kick save by Markstrom and Coyle was untouched in front of the net and able to make a move and decide where to shoot the puck by him.
Boston outshot Vancouver 13-6 in the first period and led 1-0 before the barrage of rubber continued on Markstrom. The B's outshot the Canucks 17-9 in the second and were able to double their lead at 15:35 thanks to Marchand, Bergeron and McAvoy. It all started with an offensive rush to the net by McAvoy, the puck was knocked away from him but Bergy was there to pass it to Marchand who buried it for his 23rd goal of the season. Markstrom continued to give his team a puncher's chance of stealing a point but it was not to be as Krejci put this one away with a 4-on-4 goal at 14:09 of the third period. His 13th goal of the season was assisted by Sean Kuraly and Brandon Carlo. Krejci found space in the slot and while he whiffed on his first shot attempt, his second was a snipe to the top corner. Kuhlman's goal (which came on the power play in garbage time) was where a fortunate bounce came into play for the B's-not that they needed it at that point-because his deflection was actually kind of terrible but it went off Vancouver's defenseman Troy Stetcher's skate and into the net. Kuhlman's first goal for the Bruins since the Stanley Cup Final in June was assisted by Coyle and Matt Grzelcyk-the BU connection.
Jaroslav Halak (13-6-6) will get the start in Chitown and thankfully, the Blackhawks played tonight as well (a 3-2 loss in OT at Minnesota) and had to travel too so there won't be any additional rest factor on Chicago's side who is four points behind the Golden Knights for the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference. Could it be another spring without playoff hockey for the Blackhawks? After that, Boston returns home to host the Coyotes (27-21-7) on Saturday afternoon (3, NESN) and then they go to Detroit (12-38-4)-the worst team in the NHL-for a Sunday matinee (12:30, NBC). It's a busy stretch for the Bruins but some very winnable contests all around them ending with a meeting with Montreal (25-23-7) next Wednesday (7:30, NBCSN) at the Garden followed by hosting the same crapbag Red Wings next Saturday (1, NESN).
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