The Boston Bruins’ offense was nowhere to be found in both of the team’s losses in the home-and-home series with the Colorado Avalanche.
History did not repeat itself Saturday night at Gila River Arena, however.
The Bruins’ were firing on all cylinders against the Arizona Coyotes, handily defeating the Pacific Division club 6-2. It was a total team win for Boston, as 12 of the team’s 18 skaters finished the game with points, including six different goal scorers.
Here’s how it all went down:
THAT WAS QUICK
The Bruins could not afford another bad start after back-to-back convincing losses, but unfortunately for Boston, that’s exactly what happened. The Coyotes capitalized on a delayed penalty, skilfully weaving the puck around the zone before Mario Kempe found the back of the net to open the scoring.
Arizona’s momentum was short-lived, though, as the B’s answered just 36 seconds later with David Pastrnak’s second goal of the season and arguably the most painful of his career. Th 21-year-old had great positioning in front of the Coyotes’ net and took a Zdeno Chara slap shot off his side, resulting in a game-tying deflection goal.
The first period was evenly matched, as the Coyotes narrowly bested the Bruins in shots (10-8) and zone time (8:17-7:47).
YOUNG AND OLD
The Bruins’ offense stayed hot in the second period, as Boston took a 2-1 lead less than two minutes into the stanza. David Krejci fired a slap shot from the point, which caught the stick of Jake DeBrusk and deflected into the back of the net.
The go-ahead tally was the 20-year-old’s second of the season.
After watching a rookie light the lamp, Chara decided to show that the elder statesmen can still get it done, too. Less than four minutes after DeBrusk’s goal, the Bruins’ captain finished off a great offensive series to give Boston a 3-1 advantage.
But while DeBrusk and Chara’s scores were nice, the prettiest goal of the period came from Brad Marchand. With 3:39 remaining in the second, the crafty winger found himself on a breakaway and completed the play with a silky smooth backhand goal into the top shelf of the net.
The Bruins owned the shots advantage in the period by an 11-9 margin, and also minimized mistakes. Through two frames, Boston only committed two giveaways compared to Arizona’s five.
DEJA VU
Boston’s first goal of the game was demoralizing for Arizona, as it came less than a minute after the Coyotes took the first lead of the game. The Bruins’ fifth goal of the contest held a similar feeling for the home team.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson helped Arizona cut Boston’s lead to two with a powerplay goal with less than four minutes remaining in the game. Tim Schaller made sure there would be no comeback, though, as he responded with a score of his own 23 seconds later to push the Bruins’ lead back to three.
A little insurance never hurts, and Anders Bjork provided even more of that at the 18:36 mark when he potted his first career NHL goal to swell Boston’s advantage to four.
UP NEXT
The Bruins return to the ice Sunday night when they take on the Las Vegas Golden Knights. Puck drop from T-Mobile Arena is set for 7 p.m. ET.
Thumbnail photo via Matt Kartozian/USA TODAY Sports Images
