This Thanksgiving, the Boston Bruins should be thankful for Jonas Gustavsson.
Boston’s backup goaltender played like a man possessed Wednesday night against the Detroit Red Wings, single-handedly keeping the Bruins within striking distance in an eventual 3-2 overtime win.
Gustavsson, facing his former team for the the first time since joining the Bruins, finished with 32 saves in the victory, which mirrored Tuukka Rask’s effort in Monday’s 4-3 overtime win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
“Our last two wins, they were in big part because of our goaltending,” head coach Claude Julien said in a postgame interview with NESN’s Jack Edwards and Andy Brickley.
“Tuukka was so good in that third period and the overtime the other night, and if you look at Gus, he was unbelievable there from start to finish. The number of shots they had on net and the zone time — he had a lot of work (Wednesday night). But the good part is he was fresh, and because he was fresh, he was able to do a good job for us.”
For a Bruins team that lacked a reliable backup goalie last season, Gustavsson has been a godsend. The 30-year-old has won five of his six starts and allowed two goals or fewer in four of them.
Some additional notes from Wednesday’s wild win:
— Frank Vatrano took a bad penalty late in the third period, but Julien said he did not consider cutting the rookie winger’s ice time as punishment. That strategy paid off: Vatrano went on to score the game-winner in overtime, his second goal of the game.
“You just have to look at the player,” Julien explained. “And at the end of the game with Detroit leading 2-1, I kind of rolled our lines to get a little bit of momentum. I thought for the first two periods that we just weren’t skating. So (we were) trying to get a little bit of momentum, and when you’re at the end, shorten the bench a little bit.
“And Frankie was skating well. He was shooting the puck well, and he’s a guy that can score you some goals. His penalty was certainly not because of laziness. He worked hard and got tangled there in front of our bench and took the penalty. But again, our penalty kill has been good. They did the job, and if we were going to win this game at some point, I felt we needed a little bit more of our bench. And Frankie came up big.”
— Wednesday night must have been a surreal experience for Bruins forward Landon Ferraro, who less than a week ago was a member of the Red Wings organization.
Detroit coach Jeff Blashill, who coached Ferraro in the American Hockey League before taking over for Mike Babcock this past offseason, was highly complimentary of the 24-year-old.
“Landon Ferraro did tons for me as a coach,” Blashill told reporters at morning skate, via BostonBruins.com. “He came and worked hard for three-and-a-half years — committed to everything we asked him to commit to, helped us win a championship in the American League. We knew the risk involved when we put him on waivers and certainly from an organization standpoint, you want to keep as many good players as you can and Landon’s a real good player and a real good person.
“From a personal standpoint, I was happy for him to have the opportunity. I watched him play there the other night and I thought it was great for him.”
Ferraro, whom the Bruins claimed off waivers Sunday, has been productive so far for the Bruins, assisting on a goal in each of his first two games.
— Speaking of homecomings, the trip to Detroit gave Livonia, Mich., native Torey Krug a chance to spend some time with his family ahead of Thanksgiving.
“It’s perfect,” the Bruins defenseman said, via BostonBruins.com. “You know, before Thanksgiving you always think about being with family and sharing what you’re thankful for. And I’m very thankful for the time that I’m able to spend with them and go out to dinner the night before.”
— Detroit’s first goal of the night was the 300th of Pavel Datsyuk’s Red Wings career, bringing him into a tie with teammate Henrik Zetterberg for eighth in franchise history. Next up: Brendan Shanahan, who racked up 309 goals for the Wings between 1996 and 2006.
Thumbnail photo via Rick Osentoski/USA TODAY Sports Images
