BOSTON -- In the sports world, there are plenty of examples of athletes doing the extraordinary to at least in part pay tribute the loss of a loved one.
Bruins energy forward Chris Wagner provided another of those moments on Saturday night when he scored a goal and played one of his best games of the season in honor of his maternal grandfather, Jim Phelan, who passed away on Friday morning. The first period goal from Wagner helped pace the Bruins to a big 2-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night at TD Garden, and also aided in making up for another Wagner goal that was called back on the very first shift of the game.
“Chris Wagner’s effort tonight, in the rears of his grandfather passing is -- that’s a pretty special night, you couldn’t be more happy for the guy. You kind of clench your teeth a little bit when the first one gets called back but you know, almost an identical shot on the second one and those are the things you can rally around,” said David Backes. “Good for him and well deserved and hopefully he can have a day off, more family time, and bid farewell to his grandfather.”
The first Wagner score was called back due to goalie interference when Sean Kuraly brushed into Linus Ullmark after leveling a shot at the Buffalo net. It was also probably a great source of amusement to Wagner’s grandfather watching Chris from up in the heavens.
"My grandfather passed away yesterday morning. This was a special game for me,” said Wagner, who finished with six shots on net and probably could have had a hat trick if that first goal had ultimately counted. “Maybe he was watching out for me and making the puck follow me around. Who knows? But he was probably laughing after that first goal was disallowed."
BRUINS 2, SABRES 1
Good thing for Wagner that things came around again later in the first period when Sabres D-man Rasmus Dahlin coughed up a puck in the high slot, and Noel Acciari poked the puck to a wide open Wagner for a strike from the slot. That got the B’s up and running, and helped powered them to the one-goal win.
Boston Bruins
It obviously wasn’t just Wagner that was rolling for the Bruins in the win over the Sabres, though. He teamed with Sean Kuraly and Noel Acciari to have an extremely effective night as a fourth line where they started the game with great energy, and kept the pedal to the metal for the entire night in a pivotal win over the Sabres. They were so good, in fact, that Bruce Cassidy might even opt to start the fourth line in home games moving forward given the energy and aggressiveness they showed opening up the game.
“They were our best line. I don’t think there’s any doubt. They’ve been real good together. I think Chris Wagner’s game has really been coming and [Sean] Kuraly’s as well. Noel’s [Acciari] a good fit in there. He hasn’t found the offense, unfortunately, as maybe they have, but I assume he will if he keeps getting it and keeps creating chances,” said Cassidy. “I think we talked a little bit about whether it was this morning or two days ago about trying to establish a little more consistency in the second half. Maybe that’s a line that starts games at home to establish puck possession early and tilt the territorial advantage.
“They did that. That’s something we’re looking for a line. A lot of times it’s Bergy’s [Patrice Bergeron] line that gets the start but maybe that’s something we can look at [to change] going forward, and they certainly earned their keep tonight.”
The fourth line earned their keep, and Wagner earned a remarkable farewell to his grandfather that truly loved watching him play hockey.
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