BOSTON – The Bruins knew they needed to roll up their sleeves and start playing some good, old-fashioned defense if things were going to improve for them at this late regular-season date and that’s exactly what happened for the Black and Gold.
A Thursday night 2-0 shutout of an explosive Dallas Stars group at TD Garden served as the culmination of three games in a row where the B’s have scrapped and defended their way to tight, mandatory victories. It’s about defensemen stepping up and blocking shots and all B’s players locking into hustling and back-checking to eliminate odd-man rushes and the goaltending ironing out any issues with mandatory bullet-proof play between the pipes.
Put it all together and the Bruins are cooking a recipe that’s going to allow them to have success in the March and April games that bedeviled them the past couple of seasons.
“The last three [games] I think have been real determined, doing whatever it takes to keep pucks out of our scoring area. We really made concerted effort to limit the odd-man rushes tonight with a team like Dallas that can come at you in a hurry,” said Bruce Cassidy. “So we made it hard on ourselves at times certainly with our puck management, but, you know, we really have to give credit to our defensive effort in terms of our willingness to keep the puck out of the net.
“The penalty kill came up huge in the third at a crucial time, so those things win hockey games when you don’t have your ‘A’ game, so to speak offensively. We’ve got to shut it down in terms of limiting their chances when you do have the lead, particularly in late March with the position we’re in. The biggest point is that a lot of the guys in the room understand where we are [at this] point of the year and they want to make sure they do the right thing.”
After experiencing a couple of ugly defensive displays in losses to Edmonton and Tampa Bay the past couple of weeks, it was a must for the B’s to snap back into good defensive habits and away from some of the cheating toward the offensive side of things.
It started in a nervous, gutty win last weekend against the Islanders and continued Tuesday with a fearless 25 blocked shots from Adam McQuaid and company while protecting the house in front of Tuukka Rask.
Boston Bruins
That’s the kind of thing that personifies paying the price for tough wins and has effectively pulled the Bruins out of their tailspin.
“It’s that time of year. At times there’s that desperation to do whatever you can to stop those scoring chances,” said McQuaid. “It’s easy when everybody is on board and they’re all doing those things. You can build that confidence that everyone is in it, and we’re seeing it right now.
“Sometimes you feel [blocked shots] a little more than others and maybe it hurts at the time, but when you get the results, it’s all worth it. If you wake up the next morning and feel like you’d played a game the night before, that’s probably how you should feel.”
The tight defensive zone coverage and the steely willingness to step in front of shots continued against Dallas. Rask was there with his 27 saves to catch the B’s defense when they did fall. On a night when Tampa Bay, Toronto and Carolina all came up with wins, that’s exactly what the Bruins needed to keep pace with everybody else in the playoff push.
“This time of the year you got to win hockey games because the rest of the league is playing their best hockey,” said Torey Krug. “It’s tough to do when you show up to the rink and you’re playing a team that’s out of the playoffs, you got to make sure you’re coming because they have a lot of young guys who are trying to impress people and make plays. It was good to get this win [against Dallas], and we’ve got to keep it rolling Saturday.”
The bottom line is that the Bruins have allowed just two goals in their past three games and are shaping back into the team that ranks 11th overall defensively, giving up just 2.6 goals per game, despite the offensive surge since Cassidy took over a couple of months ago. It doesn’t guarantee that the Bruins are going to get into the playoffs with five games left and a wild-card spot firmly in their possession right now, but it makes for a much more optimistic view that the B’s aren’t going to fall this season like they did in their two previous tries.