There are several naysayers out there who believe that peaking too early is a bad thing. Why? How is that possible? When you are on a roll, keep it that way.
With the grind of the NHL season being what it is, stealing and maintaining any type of momentum is vital for success. The playoffs are right around the corner, and the Boston Bruins are among the favorites to reach the Stanley Cup Finals.
Let's focus on the present for right now. The Bruins are coming off a grueling last couple of weeks, but this week will not be too intense-they have three games on the slate for the week. Although the quantity of games will not reach optimum level, the quality of opponent that they will encounter is through the TD Garden roof.
Monday night was the B's last meeting of the regular season with the Montreal Canadiens. Both teams will get into the playoffs, but it is all about seeding at this point. In terms of physicality and the "rough stuff," this rivalry knows no boundaries when it comes to how late in the season they face off. What a game this turned out to be in an attempt for Boston to extend its winning streak to 13 games and split the season series with the Habs.
Tuukka Rask opposed Peter Budaj in net, a matchup that we saw back up in Montreal due to Carey Price's injury. Torey Krug got the nod as the sixth defenseman in this one.
It certainly did not take long for things to boil over. Early on in the first period, Milan Lucic took a low hit to the knees from Alexei Emelin (MTL). From there, it was typical Boston/Montreal. The scoring chances came often for the Bruins, but they could not capitalize in the first 20 minutes. The Habs really brought the bruises, and they did so without two of their tough power forwards (Dale Weise and Travis Moen). They were both lost minutes into the game during the same sequence....
The Habs took a 1-0 lead heading into the second period, which eventually carried over into the third period. The Bruins started seething and seeking out every white sweater on the ice. That cost them because they became more concerned with hitting than scoring. For what it is worth, Boston outhit Montreal 30-9 through 40 minutes. With some timely saves by Rask and key penalty killing, the B's remained in this.
In the third period, the Bruins got their fair share of power play opportunities-four to be exact. Patrice Bergeron netted his 23rd goal of the year to tie the game. It remained tied all the way through overtime and into the shootout. From there, it was Montreal's Alex Galchenyuk who beat Rask in the fourth round to seal the 2-1 victory and end the B's streak. #sadface
The Bruins will play their next game on Thursday night against the Chicago Blackhawks.
Gold Star: Patrice Bergeron...He played hard all game long, and it was nice to see him get rewarded on the power play.
Black Star: David Krejci....Way too much passing in this one. You have to shoot the puck if you want to score.
No comments:
Post a Comment