Undermanned Bs Stand Up To Minny In 5-3 Win
With Thanksgiving just over two weeks away, the Bruins still have plenty time to get into one of those cherished Turkey Day Top 8 spots that have become a fairly decent predictor of which teams will make the playoffs (about 75%-78% of teams in playoff position on Racist Uncle Dinner Rant Day end up sticking around for the postseason in April). Going into last night’s tilt with the perennially plain Minnesota Wild, the Bruins faced a tough task given that top sniper Brad Marchand joined an already lengthy list of wounded players and they would be icing seven rookies among their 18 skaters (rookies as in eligible for the Calder Trophy).
But the youthful team rose to the occasion with one of its best outings of the season as five different goal-scorers and a solid Tuukka Rask provided the Bs with a 5-3 win to keep pace in the Wales. After Nino Niederreiter put the Wild up 1-0 almost five minutes into the game, the Bruins rattled off the next four goals as Jake DeBrusk caught a nice bounce, Frank Vatrano finally got off the schnide, Sean Kuraly crashed the net, and Torey Krug continued his hot pace. The Bs led 4-1 after two.
Because it’s the Bs, the game would need to become too close for comfort. A wide-open Mikael Granlund got Minny within a pair early in the third. Rask turned aside all Wild attempts, including a Mikko Koivu penalty shot, until Eric Staal beat him on a breakaway with 4:04 left to tighten collars on Causeway Street and make puck line bettors pull the hair out of their heads. But Rask kept the Wild at bay until Tim Schaller, who had another great game, potted an ENG to provide a two-goal win.
Their 15 points have the Bs just outside the Wild Card and Division but they have at least one game in hand on all the teams above them. They’re back at it tomorrow night when they take on the Rags at MSG on NBCSN at 8.
A few more buds for your bowl…
*Matt Beleskey scrapped with Luke Kunin in the first after Beleskey’s twig got a little too close for comfort for Matt Dumba.
*Jordan Szwarz got his first two NHL points, helpers on the Bs first two goals.
*Due to the depleted line-up, the Bs were rare home underdogs (E-6) last night to a team that had one fewer point.
*Krug has 2-4–6 in his last four games.