Bruins Beat: 2 Week Recap

Welcome back boys and girls, time to get the ball rolling once again on this blog. I hope everyone had a wonderful thanksgiving because I sure did. Not only was I able to stuff my face for a whole day, but I was also able to watch possibly the best game the Bruins have played all season on the Friday after. Before I get ahead of myself however let me breakdown the week before that game as well to put in perspective why that Black Friday game was such an important win for the Bruins moving forward.
In my last post I was able to breakdown how the Bruins successfully ended their 5 game home stand with a positive win/loss ratio as well as winning two games in a row with strong, dominating efforts over one strong team (Wild) and one not so strong team (Leafs). The week following the Bruins traveled to Toronto to complete a home and home stint against the Leafs, hopefully with two wins. Although that ended up being the case, it was only just barely so. The Bruins got pretty badly out shot in all but the third period and gave up a lead twice in the game (2-0 lead and 3-2 lead). No scoring in the third or overtime meant the game went to the shootout, the first time the Bruins had encountered the shootout all season. This had been a blessing for Bruins fans as last season the Bruins had an abysmal 4-10 record in shootouts. Fortunately, this one did not follow the same pattern as David Krejci scored the lone shootout goal and the Bruins walk out of Toronto taking both games in the series but only barely. The Bruins once again had disciplinary issues as they took 7 total minor penalties in the game. All that can be thrown under the rug however cause a wins a win and that win extended the win streak to 3.
 Two days later the Bruins travel to Detroit with hopes of keeping the ball rolling and the win streak alive. However, the ball seemed to roll right off a cliff as the Bruins got absolutely manhandled by the Red Wings for 55 minutes of that game. After scoring quickly in the first to give themselves an early lead, the Bruins subsequently got pummeled by the Red Wings with both shots and hits alike. Only thanks to the wondrous play of Jonas Gustavsson were the Red Wings only up by one goal heading into the last 5 minutes of the 3rd period. Thankfully it was at this point the Bruins remembered they were hockey players and a beautiful passing play lead to Colin Miller tying the game with slightly less than 2 minutes to play. Fast forward to 2 minutes left in overtime and, wouldn't you know it, Colin Miller yet again takes a slapper from the point, tips off Frank Vatrano in front and boom, 4 game win streak.
The Bruins headed home to enjoy their Thanksgiving as the league held no games on that day, but were back at it on national television nice and early on Black Friday as they have been for the past several years. Their opponent this go around was the third best team in the league New York Rangers who had just come off of their own 9 game win streak being snapped a few days earlier. This game was nothing short of fantastic hockey as the Bruins were able to hold their own in terms of skating with the Rangers and trading chance for chance with one of the more solid offenses in the league. The goalies in this one were huge as Tuukka and Lundqvist both made sensational stops and each only allowing 2 goals heading into the third period. Unfortunately the Bruins took a goaltender interference penalty on a pretty bad embellishment by Lundqvist and allow a goal with just over 10 minutes to play. The good thing that came out of that goal was that it lit a fire under the Bruins I have not seen in a long time. Those ten minutes of Bruins hockey were absolutely sensational with Bruins playing offensively and holding offensive pressure for almost that entire span. It pays off just as 5 minutes ticks onto the clock and Jesper Fast takes a penalty which allows the best powerplay in the league to do what they do best. Shot to the net by Eriksson, scrum at the goalmouth and Ryan Spooner swoops forward to pot the goal and tie it with 4 minutes left. I thought at that point that oh boy that means overtime for the third game in a row but thankfully the Bruins once again find another level of offense and after 2 minutes of nonstop scoring chances David Krejci rips it toward goal where it tips off of a Ranger and in with just less than 2 minutes left. Fast forward two minutes and the Bruins win streak is at 5 games.

The only blemish on that game other than the embarrassing dive by Lundqvist to draw the goalie interference call came when Matt Beleskey hit Derek Stepan late in the 2nd period. Stepan wasn't looking and since Beleskey is one of the strong Bruins he was able to send Stepan flying into the boards. Dylan McIlrath takes exception to the hit and proceeds to pummel Beleskey in the ensuing fight. Many people are saying the hit is suspendable but I myself think that it wasn't much in terms of a dirty play. Stepan was unfortuantely caught admiring his pass and, although the hit is a tad late, it wasn’t high and didnt seem to be intentional boarding and I chalk it up as nothing but misfortune for Stepan. Unfortunately that misfortune lead to 2 broken ribs and 4 weeks recovery time. I will leave a video below of the hit and I’ll let you guys decide for yourself if it was dirty or not. On that note I will bring this entry to a close. The Bruins next play the Oilers on the day before I submit this but as the game is a late start I have not watched it yet but I will definitely cover it in next weeks post.