Bruins Notes: Shootout Win Brings B's Within One Point Of First Place

BOSTON — Less than three weeks ago, the Bruins trailed the Montreal Canadiens by 13 points in the Atlantic Division standings.

Now, after Sunday’s shootout win over the New Jersey Devils, just one point separates the longtime rivals.

“You go from out of a playoff spot to where we are right now, it’s exciting,” forward Landon Ferraro said after Boston took down New Jersey 2-1 at TD Garden. “It’s where you want to be.”

Sunday’s victory was the Bruins’ fifth in their last six games and 10th in their last 14. Meanwhile, the first-place Canadiens, the clear-cut division favorites just a few short weeks ago, have been in free fall, losing seven of their last eight and managing more than two goals just once in that span.

The result: an incredibly tight division race as the NHL’s three-day Christmas break approaches.

atlantic division

“If you asked me (if the Bruins feel like a first-place team) probably a month-and-a-half ago, then I would probably say no,” center Ryan Spooner said. “But the way that we have been playing, yes.”

Some additional notes from Sunday’s action:

— Spooner was the lone goal-scorer in the shootout, beating Devils goalie Cory Schneider on his first attempt of the season. It was the first shootout goal of his career.

“(Coach Claude Julien) said to me actually, he said, ‘Have confidence when you’re shooting, just like you do in practice,’ ” Spooner said. “And I went out there, and that’s the move that I use. And it worked, so that’s good.”

— A unexpected shootout participant was Bruins fourth-liner Max Talbot, who has just one goal to his credit this season. But Talbot, who had his bid stopped by Schneider, said he wasn’t surprised Julien selected him.

“Not so much,” he said. “We practice it, and I’ve been feeling pretty confident in practice with it, and the guys they’ve been scouting. It’s frustrating that I didn’t score a goal, but it’s less frustrating when the team wins.”

— Winger Brett Connolly saw a season-low 9:25 of ice time after losing his first-line spot to Ferraro early in the second period.

“He just had a tough night,” Julien said. “That’s it. It happens. I just adjusted my bench and didn’t think he was helping that line after the first period.”

Connolly, who finished with zero shots on goal and four hits in the win, hasn’t recorded a point in his last eight games.

— Frank Vatrano had the best game of his young career Friday night in Pittsburgh, notching his first NHL hat trick as the Bruins blew out the Penguins. Vatrano had gone without a point in nine consecutive games heading into that contest, but he said the slump never shook his confidence.

“I wasn’t really concerned,” the 21-year-old winger said before Sunday’s game. “I knew the goals were going to eventually come. I was playing hard, I was getting opportunities, but the goals just weren’t going my way. That’s how it goes sometimes with goal-scoring — it comes in bunches. It was rewarding to get those goals the other night, and it was great to get a win out of it, too.”

Unsurprisingly, the three-goal night prompted an outpouring of support for the East Longmeadow, Mass., native.

“I just got so many texts from everyone, social media, Twitter, Facebook, messages,” Vatrano said. “There was a lot from a lot of people. I wasn’t able to respond to a lot of people, but just seeing the love from everybody back home and all that, it’s awesome to see the support.”

Vatrano didn’t find his way onto the scoresheet in Sunday’s win, but he came oh-so-close on this phenomenal individual effort in overtime: