The Boston Bruins absolutely were devastated when the All-Star break happened. Not so much that it ACTUALLY happened, but more so the timing of everything.
The B's won six-out-of-eight games before the layoff and climbed into seventh place in the Eastern Conference. One would assume that the sudden halt in the schedule would skew the momentum of a team.
The Bruins kept all of this in mind when they entered Thursday night's game, a contest in which they defeated the New York Islanders. They officially started off the second half of the season exactly where they stopped. With no signs of letting up, the B's returned home on Saturday night to take on the Los Angeles Kings.
The Kings are in a loaded Pacific Division and are one of the deepest teams in the entire NHL. Even with Tanner Pearson injured and Mike Richards put on waivers, the Kings are equipped to shock the B's on home ice. For what it is worth, LA nabbed a 2-0 victory over Boston in December. Would a split in the season series sound good? You bet.
Malcolm Subban was recalled for the first time in his NHL career for this game as the team sent Niklas Svedberg down to Providence for a conditioning assignment.
He did one heck of a job...holding open the bench door for the players as he backed up Tuukka Rask in this game. Don't worry, he will get his opportunity soon enough. As for the action, wow was it intense. The Kings play an incredibly heavy and physical game, and they out-muscled the Bruins in the opening period.
The elite goaltender matchup between Rask and Jonathan Quick was on full display as they combined for 64 total saves. The scoring did not occur until late in the second period as Brad Marchand fought through some battles in order to blast the puck for his 14th goal of the year. After Rask allowed a shaky goal to tie things up, the Bruins scored two goals in the third period to take this game by a final score of 3-1. This was one of the most thrilling games of the season. It is a shame that we only have 32 games left before playoff time.
The Bruins will not play again until Wednesday night when they take on the New York Rangers. That should be another good one.
Gold Star: Brad Marchand...The two goals he recorded were sparked by him not getting any calls to go his way. It is great when he plays with a chip on his shoulder.
Black Star: Craig Cunningham...He got absolutely thrown around out there seemingly every shift. It was a rough night for the fourth-line winger.
Game Fifty Box Score
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