Lee Stempniak’s overtime goal Monday night was huge on several levels.
First off, it saved the Boston Bruins from the embarrassment that comes along with blowing a three-goal lead. Boston led the Florida Panthers four goals to one at first intermission but conceded the next three before ultimately locking down a 5-4 win.
The goal also was Stempniak’s first since the veteran winger joined the Bruins at last week’s trade deadline. Defenseman John-Michael Liles, another deadline pickup, picked up an assist on the play.
And, most importantly, Stempniak’s game-winner gave the Bruins a victory over an Atlantic Division foe against whom the B’s are furiously battling for playoff seeding. Boston and Florida each sit one point out of the Atlantic’s top spot, and the Bruins can vault into first place for the first time all season with a win Tuesday over the division-leading Tampa Bay Lightning.
“That one feels good,” Stempniak told NESN rinkside reporter Sarah Davis after the game. “We were up 3-0 and let them come back and tie the game. We were on our heels a little bit too much, but it was nice to pull through and get the win.”
Acquired with little fanfare from the New Jersey Devils, Stempniak has proven to be an excellent addition to the Bruins’ lineup. The 33-year-old journeyman has tallied six points over his first four games with Boston, and he’s the best right wing first-liners Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron have had all season.
Marchand has a goal and four assists since Stempniak came aboard, and Bergeron has five goals and a helper, giving the newly formed trio 17 points in all.
“It’s nice to have that luxury, I guess, on the right side now,” Bruins coach Claude Julien said in a postgame interview with NESN’s Jack Edwards and Andy Brickley. “(Stempniak) has really settled things down and balanced things out, I should say, on the right side. His experience, his speed, and you saw that shot there at the end. I don’t think the goaltender had a chance on that.”
The Bruins as a team have been similarly successful since the deadline. They’ve gone 3-0-1, scoring wins over two playoff-bound teams in the Panthers and Chicago Blackhawks and falling to another, the Eastern Conference-leading Washington Capitals, in overtime.
Nobody is catching Washington before the end of the regular season, but a win over Tampa Bay, which won nine in a row before losing Monday night and beat the Bruins 4-1 just a week ago, would put Boston all alone in first place in its division with just 14 games left to play.
Thumbnail photo via Robert Mayer/USA TODAY Sports Images
