BOSTON — The Bruins are victorious once again, but it took a little feistiness to get there.
Boston found itself in a 1-0 hole early in Thursday’s contest against the Dallas Stars thanks to a quick-thinking Joe Pavelski, who tipped one past Jaroslav Halak late in the first period. The Bruins would get one back before the end of the period, but Pavelski continued to be a thorn in Boston’s side heading into the second period.
So, David Krejci took matters into his own hands — literally — and dropped his gloves.
(You can check out the fight here.)
This is the first time Krejci has fought in a game since fighting Benoit Pouliot in 2011, per NESN’s Jack Edwards.
1st fight for Krejci since he took on Benoit Pouliot in 2011
— Jack Edwards (@RealJackEdwards) February 28, 2020
B’s captain Zdeno Chara deemed it one of the most important moments of the game.
“Yeah, definitely that was obviously a key moment,” Chara said. “A guy like that who’s not known for dropping gloves, had a great physical game and (stood) up for himself and did a great job.”
Head coach Bruce Cassidy agreed.
“It certainly woke us up,” Cassidy said. “Not that I felt we didn’t have it early on, but it gave us a little extra juice.”
Krejci, on the other hand, called it “just one of those things.” But he’s glad his fight gave the team a much-needed boost.
“Yeah, it’s nice to see the guys respond,” he said. “That was a big win, good bounce-back win from the last game. … Pretty happy about those two points.”
Here are some more notes from Thursday’s Bruins-Stars game:
— Ondrej Kase’s debut with the Bruins wasn’t super flashy.
The 24-year-old recorded two shots on net in 15:16. Kase began playing alongside Krejci and Nick Ritchie on the second line, but also saw time with Charlie Coyle and Jake DeBrusk, as well.
— Speaking of Ritchie, the 24-year-old scored his first goal as a Bruin on Thursday.
The goal, his ninth of the year, extended the Bruins’ second period lead to 3-1. Check it out:
Skipping it home for goal No. 1.#NR21 | #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/yjrb2cpWUS
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) February 28, 2020
Ritchie said he felt much more comfortable on the ice Thursday night than he did in his debut.
“It was good. Nice to score, nice to win. It was a good night tonight,” Ritchie said. “Energy levels were a little higher and felt better on my legs. … It was big that we kind of blew it open there, and that was quite the difference in the game. … We capitalized there and (the Stars) couldn’t get back in it.”
— Chris Wagner exited the game in the second period with an upper-body injury.
— The Bruins are off to New York for a Saturday matineé against the Islanders at Nassau Collesium, with the game slated for 1 p.m. ET.
