With the clocks changing, the Boston Bruins were hoping to get a timely win and prevent the teams that are vying for the final playoff spot from springing forward and passing them. Boston was able to accomplish just that yesterday, when they stole an overtime victory against the Philadelphia Flyers. Boston would need to bring their A-game during a Sunday matinee game against the Detroit Red Wings, a team that boasts the best power play in the league.
“Well that’s probably the tale of the game right there, is the special teams that made a big difference,” said Bruins’ coach Claude Julien. “I thought in the first period our forecheck was extremely good, allowed us to spend some time in their end, but once we stopped putting the puck in deep or they started playing with the puck a little bit more it was a little bit more difficult. We showed some great character there to come out today and skate and work as hard as we did.”
The Bruins’ special teams, especially their penalty kill, would be the story of the day, as they scored two shorthanded goals against Detroit’s top ranked power play unit. Boston, who has the 16th ranked penalty kill in the league, relied heavily on their tenacity and forechecking, which really didn’t allow Detroit much time to set up in the offensive zone.
Bruins’ defenseman Torey Krug added, “Yeah we won the special teams battle. Besides the shorthanded goals, we did a good job of taking away their opportunities on the power play. You give that unit so many looks they’re bound to score a goal no matter what you do. It was a good job today by our special teams and we need that moving forward.”
The win keeps the Bruins in the eighth and final playoff spot ahead of Florida, Philadelphia, and Ottawa. The Bruins need to cash in on this momentum and keep the energy and enthusiasm up as they finish the final month and half of the season. They need to have the mentality that every game is a ‘must win game’.
“Yeah I mean it’s good to get the four points that we needed and the way we battled back in yesterday’s game. We have to put that into the next game and the next games to come,” said forward Daniel Paille, who had two goals today. “We’ve got Ottawa who’s right behind us and they’re playing today as well so they can be three points back and it’s definitely going to be harder than it’s ever been especially towards this end of the season.”
The Bruins look to continue their winning ways when they faceoff against the Ottawa Senators this Tuesday. Currently Ottawa is five points back of the Bruins for the final playoff spot.
