Bounces Finally Go Bruins’ Way in 3-0 Win Over Penguins

The young Bruins season has followed the same up-and-down pattern throughout the first month: Win one, lose one. But on Tuesday night, the B's were finally able to win back-to-back games, though not without the help of a fortunate bounce or two.

The Bruins' 2-0 lead was nearly cut in half late in the third period, when a routine dump-in by Alex Goligoski caught the glass just in between the Zamboni doors. Tim Thomas, who went behind the net to play the puck, darted toward the crease as the puck was headed directly for the net. The puck hit the post, and Thomas discarded the rebound.

Had it been just an inch to the left, it would have been a goal, but this time, the Bruins were on the right side of the bounce.

"Sometimes, it takes a little bit of a break, which you saw," head coach Claude Julien said after the game. "[The puck went] off the glass and took a bad bounce, but still it hit the post instead of going in. When you stick with certain things that you're doing well and you tell your players not to hang their heads, eventually it turns around.

"It's nice to see that those breaks are starting to go our way a little bit."

The Bruins didn't necessarily need their next bounce — which came on Patrice Bergeron's shorthanded, empty-net goal with 3.5 seconds left in the game — but for Bergeron, it was one that Julien said was "well-deserved."

"It's probably rewarding for a guy who I think has really worked hard for our hockey club throughout all of this," Julien said. "I've talked about him every time I [address the media] as far as how good … how competitive and focused [he's been]. He's really taken the responsibility of leading our team up front."

Without Marc Savard and Milan Lucic for an extended period of time, the offensive burden had to rest somewhere. Though Bergeron's recent play has indicated he's taken that task upon his shoulders (he has five points in the last three games and leads the team with 10 points overall), the 24-year-old center said he hasn't altered his game plan.

"I maybe have a bigger role offensively with Savvy out, but it's not just me," Bergeron said after Tuesday's win. "The whole team needs to bring something more and step up as a team, because you're not going to replace Savvy. I'm just trying to play my game, I'm feeling good."

Bergeron's role has clearly changed from last year, a season in which he spent much of the time regaining his comfort level on the ice after suffering a Grade 3 concussion in 2007.

"It was a year where my role was as a checker, it was a defensive role," Bergeron said. "But at the same time, I felt like my timing and rhythm wasn't quite where I would have liked it to be. It took me a while, maybe longer than I wanted to, but I'm feeling good now. It's behind me, and I'm looking forward."

With Lucic's return on the horizon and Savard's following shortly thereafter, looking forward looks pretty good for a B's offense that may have officially climbed out of its scoring slump.