Here are Joe Haggerty's Talking Points from the Bruins 5-2 win over the Senators Saturday night:
GOLD STAR: While the dazzling plays went to David Pastrnak, we’re giving this one to Patrice Bergeron in an incredibly steady performance from the Bruins top center. He scored the second goal of the game, he led the Bruins with five shots on net, finished with seven shot attempts overall and won 13-of-19 face-offs in 20:29 of ice time. Bergeron was the beneficiary of a great Pastrnak pass in the second period, but he also playing solid, 200-foot hockey at both ends of the ice in a game that was still deadlocked 2-2 after the opening 40 minutes. Bergeron has quietly been the steady hand on that top line throughout the first month-plus of the season and that deserves some recognition while Pastrnak and Brad Marchand earn plenty of the attention for the awesome numbers they are putting up.
BLACK EYE: One has to hope that Scott Sabourin and David Backes are both okay after a first-period collision led both to exit the game. Sabourin was knocked out on his skates after it appeared that he banged heads with Backes after aggressively trying to hit the Bruins forward against the side boards, and Backes left the game as well once the Sens forward was wheeled off the ice on a stretcher. It’s suspected concussions for both players. One, Sabourin, is a 27-year-old feel-good story of a player finally getting to the NHL this season after paying his dues in the minors and the other, Backes, is a 35-year-old with a concussion history that was desperately trying to avoid any more head injuries. One can only hope both players are going to be okay.
TURNING POINT: Brad Marchand was whistled for six minutes in penalties in the second period after a spearing incident behind the Boston net, and the Bruins were forced into penalty kill mode for the entire six minutes. The B’s energized the building when they successfully killed off the entire, elongated Senators power play in a tied hockey game, and that was the springboard that allowed them to eventually win the game in the third period. The B’s went into tonight with the 9th best penalty kill unit in the entire NHL and the top PP great in the league, and continue to be a special teams beast against just about every team that they play.
HONORABLE MENTION: Danton Heinen ending up notching the game-winner in the third period after winning a board battle, advancing the puck and then swooping in for the score after Jake DeBrusk tied up Thomas Chabot battling for the puck. Then Heinen fed DeBrusk for a goal later in the third period to add some insurance to the victory, and give Heinen his first multi-point game of the season. Heinen finished with a goal, two points and a plus-2 rating along with three shots on net and two takeaways in 14:08 of ice time. It could be a pretty big development for the Bruins if Heinen could develop into a useful right wing on the second line developing chemistry with DeBrusk and David Krejci.
BY THE NUMBERS: 13 – David Pastrnak has 13 goals and 13 assists in 13 games for the Bruins this season. And it’s not even October anymore. Spooky.
Boston Bruins
QUOTE TO NOTE: “He’s on another level right now.” –Brad Marchand, on David Pastrnak after scoring his NHL-leading 13 goals and posting three points in the B’s win over Ottawa.
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