The Boston Bruins entered Thursday having lost each of their previous two games in demoralizing fashion — one in a blowout and another in overtime to one of the NHL’s worst teams. They responded with what one Bruins player called one of the team’s best efforts of the season.
Boston surrendered the first two goals in its matchup with the Buffalo Sabres but scored the final three, including the game-winner in a shootout, to secure a 3-2 win at First Niagara Center in the first game of a home-and-home series.
“I thought for the most part, it was a pretty good game for us,” center Ryan Spooner, who scored once in regulation and again in the shootout, told reporters, as aired on “Bruins Overtime LIVE.” “In the second period, I thought that we actually played probably one of our best of the year. And in the third period, too, we attacked a lot, and that was good to see. So, I’m just happy that we won.”
The second period actually did not begin well at all for the Bruins, as Sabres winger Sam Reinhart deflected a shot past goalie Tuukka Rask just 47 seconds into the frame. Spooner responded with a goal of his own 58 seconds later, however, which triggered a noticeable shift in momentum.
The 23-year-old has been red-hot of late, totaling 15 points (three goals, 12 assists) over his last 15 games.
“I think to me, it was pretty obvious from the bench that we were a focused group, we were a determined group,” head coach Claude Julien said in a postgame interview with NESN’s Jack Edwards and Andy Brickley. “You saw a lot of physicality, you saw a lot of determination. And even though we were down 2-0 — there’s obviously some mistakes in the game that we’ve got to continue to work on — but our guys competed well, and it was nice to see them get ourselves back and get that first goal back very shortly after (the Sabres) scored their second.”
Neither team found the back of the net for the remainder of the second period, but Boston struck quickly again in the third. Brad Marchand scored one of the prettiest goals of this Bruins season — a phenomenal individual effort off a defensive-zone faceoff win by Patrice Bergeron — less than three minutes in to tie the game at 2-2.
Marchand is in the midst of a serious tear of his own, scoring eight goals over his last eight games to run his season total to a team-best 23. He needs just five to match his career high, and the Bruins have 31 games remaining on their schedule.
“I thought we had a pretty good 60 minutes,” the winger told NESN rinkside reporter Nikki Reyes. “We had a pretty good, intense game, and we stayed with it, and ultimately we got two points, which is what we need right now. I think we have to be happy with this win.”
The win was a crucial one, as each victory that follows it will be. The Bruins currently are one of more than a dozen teams locked in a furious push for the one of the eight Eastern Conference playoff spots. They’ll enter Friday in third place in the Atlantic Division and tied in points with the second-place Tampa Bay Lightning, who have one game in hand.
“I think it was one of our best 60-minute games of the entire year,” Spooner told reporters.
Thumbnail photo via Kevin Hoffman/USA TODAY Sports Images
