The Bruins are actually off on their three-day Christmas break and, greater than any workforce within the NHL, they’ve earned their cozy time in entrance of the hearth.
And within the ultimate minutes of Friday’s recreation on the Prudential Center, they appeared prepared for a little bit R & R.
In their final recreation earlier than the vacation hiatus, the B’s outlasted the up-and-coming New Jersey Devils, scoring 4 straight targets within the second interval earlier than escaping with a 4-3 win on the Prudential Center.
The victory accomplished the sweep of a troublesome back-to-back with Winnipeg and Jersey and pushed the B’s league-best file to 27-4-2.
“It’s a credit to all the guys in that locker room,” mentioned captain Patrice Bergeron, who scored his thirteenth of the season. “Everyone’s contributing and playing to the best of their ability and there’s still a lot of growth. We can’t be satisfied. We’ll go into the break and enjoy it. But that being said, it’s back to work on the 27th (in Ottawa).”
David Pastrnak scored a pair of targets and Linus Ullmark (36 stops) made all of the well timed saves for the win. Pastrnak’s second aim gave him 24 on the 12 months and it was his 264th profession aim, tying him with Bobby Orr for tenth place on the all-time Bruins’ checklist. Pretty good firm.
This season to this point has surpassed the expectations of even essentially the most optimistic Bruin observers. They haven’t misplaced in regulation at residence (18-0-2) and have but to lose two in a row in any style. In the Atlantic Division, they’ve obtained an eight-point lead with a recreation in hand over the Maple Leafs, who’re having an excellent season themselves.
“If there was a term or word to describe it, it’s a ‘we’ attitude that permeates through the leadership and throughout every player in that locker room,” mentioned coach Jim Montgomery, the main candidate for the Jack Adams Award. “You hear the way they talk on the bench, you hear the way they talk in between periods and there’s a real deep caring for each other.”
The B’s took a 4-1 lead into the third interval and appeared content material to play protection the remainder of the way in which. But the Devils lastly took benefit of that stance at 11:01 when Tomas Tatar scored off a rebound. Then the Devils made it a one-goal recreation with 6:23 left in regulation when Yegor Sharangovich was first to a unfastened puck in a slot scramble and scored to make it 4-3.
The B’s then needed to survive a late Jersey push, which they did, huffing and puffing.
This recreation little doubt was checked out as a measuring stick recreation by the Devils. On Wednesday in Florida, the Devils snapped a six-game dropping streak that noticed them lose their grip on the Metropolitan Division. And they appeared prepared when the puck was dropped, whereas the B’s appeared heavy-legged from taking part in on Thursday in Boston.
After the B’s got here up empty on the primary energy play of the sport, Matt Grzelcyk went into the nook with Michael McLeod and his shove from behind despatched the Devil hurtling head first towards into the boards. Fortunately, McLeod was OK and the Devils went on the benefit.
It took simply seven seconds for Jersey to money in. Nico Hischier received the faceoff again to Dougie Hamilton, who dished it over to Jack Hughes. The 21-year-old franchise ahead walked into the left circle and ripped a shot that beat Ullmark at 16:36.
But as they’ve achieved quite a bit currently, the B’s appeared to take stock of what the opposition has to supply within the first interval after which answered. This time, they posted 4 unanswered targets within the center interval to take a three-goal lead, although Ullmark would additionally play an enormous half within the interval.
The Devils had an ideal probability to go up by two early within the second when Derek Forbort fell down on the offensive blue line and Miles Wood took off on a breakaway however Ullmark stoned him.
Shortly thereafter, the B’s tied it up at 3:12 on a easy play. Bergeron received an offensive zone draw again to Jake DeBrusk and he circled into the excessive slot earlier than sending a shot/move to Bergeron, who scored his thirteenth on a redirection.
Almost instantly, Ullmark needed to come up huge once more, stopping Hischier on a 2-on-1 then, on the identical sequence, Tatar clanged the publish to the left of Ullmark.
And once more, the B’s answered proper again with the go-ahead aim. Former Devil Pavel Zacha picked off a transparent try from goalie Mackenzie Blackwood on the proper half wall. He fed David Krejci within the slot and Krejci dished down low to Pastrnak, who prolonged his level streak to 11 video games together with his twenty third at 4:34.
“Linus stood tall for us like he always does and I think it actually gave us some momentum out of that,” mentioned Bergeron. “You want to respond after big saves like that and I thought we did.”
Pastrnak’s twenty fourth got here at 9:52. After Connor Clifton began the push, Pastrnak took a feed from Krejci on the proper wing, minimize to his left and beat Blackwood with a snipe over the blocker arm.
The B’s weren’t achieved. They stretched the result in 4-1 with 2:33 left within the interval. Brad Marchand, who had simply escaped a tripping name, merely pilfered the puck from defenseman Kevin Bahl behind the Devil web, fed DeBrusk out entrance and the winger chipped it over Blackwood for his second aim in as many nights, his thirteenth of the 12 months that held up because the game-winner.
The Devils have been shell-shocked at that time. They would snap out of it later within the second of the half of the third interval, however it was just a bit too late for them.
Source: www.bostonherald.com