The Bruins continued their impressive start to the season on Tuesday as they beat the Vegas Golden Knights 4-3 behind a pair of goals from Brad Marchand to move to 3-0 on the year. It was their third-straight road win and perhaps their most impressive in this young campaign as it came against a very good team that many expect to contend for a Stanley Cup.
Aside from the opening period against Dallas in the season opener, the Bruins have struggled to sustain any sort of pressure in the offensive zone. Through the first 10 minutes against Vegas, it looked like much of the same as they fell behind 2-0. However, momentum swung quickly in the Bruins favor after a pretty connection from Brad Marchand to David Pastrnak to cut the Golden Knights lead in half. The Bruins kept the foot on the gas, scoring four unanswered goals giving them a 4-2 lead entering the final period.
A late third-period power-play goal from Max Pacioretty brought the Knights to within one but Tuukka Rask withstood a flurry of shots late and picked up his second win of the year.
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Top Line Returns in a Big Way
One of the key storylines surrounding the Bruins in their loss to the Blues in the Stanley Cup Final was the production of the ‘Perfection Line’, or lack thereof. For a team that finished as close as they did to a championship, it was an incredibly disappointing end for the trio of Patrice Bergeron, Marchand, and Pastrnak. With that said, their struggles were naturally going to be a topic heading into this year and through the first two games, it seemed to have some merit.
Not any more. The trio was key in the Bruins come from behind victory as they totalled seven points. Three each from Marchand and Pastrnak. Marchand had a pair of goals and nearly finished off the hat trick in the third. In addition, Pastrnak was a few inches from burying what would be a ‘Goal of the Season’ nominee at the year-end awards. The point is, they were all over the ice and the results showed on both the standard scoresheet and the “intangibles” one.
Bruins Power Play Heats Up
They only had three opportunities and scored on just one of them, however, the Bruins power play looked like the unit that was a strength last year. They could have certainly capitalized a few more times if not for a few timely saves from Marc-Andre Fleury. With that said, the puck movement and sustained pressure inside the attacking zone was superb from both power play units. Torey Krug led all Bruins defensemen with 3:59 of power play time. Bergeron, Marchand, Pastrnak, and Jake DeBrusk led the way for the forwards with just under four minutes.
Tuukka Rask
Despite allowing two quick goals, Tuukka Rask was stellar between the pipes for the Bruins. Vegas was able to pull to within one late in the third on their second power play goal but Rask shut the door on a late Golden Knights surge in the final minutes. With the said, the biggest development may have been after the final whistle when Rask needed help off the ice with a mystery ailment. An initial look at the replay indicated that contact with another player didn’t cause the injury.
“He either had a little bit of a muscle pull or some dehydration or both,” Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said following the game. “I don’t think there’s anything structurally wrong.”
Needless to say (so I’ll say it anyway), it will be worth monitoring moving forward. In the event Rask misses any time, the Bruins are fortunate to be able to turn to Jaroslav Halak in the interim. Halak would have likely been between the pipes on Thursday with Rask getting the nod in the home opener.
– Ian Glendon is the Editor-In-Chief of Full Press Coverage and the Managing Editor of FPC NHL. He covers the National Hockey League. Like and follow on Follow @iglen31 Follow @FPC_NHL and Facebook
