"I can’t wait to get out there, man," Savard told NESN.com. "I just want to help."
Well, that’s just what the Bruins' star center did in his first game back since suffering a Grade 2 concussion March 7. Savard scored the overtime winner with 6:08 left to propel the Bruins to a 5-4 win and a 1-0 series lead in their best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinals series with the Flyers. Savard played 15:16 over 23 shifts, but his last shift was his best, and it wasn’t even supposed to happen.
Savard was left out there for a double shift and found himself skating with Patrice Bergeron (goal and assist) and Mark Recchi (assist). Defenseman Dennis Wideman (three assists) did a great job pinching to keep the puck in the zone and found Savard who, instead of passing as he usually looks to do first, let one rip from the top of the faceoff circle and beat Flyers goaltender Brian Boucher (41 saves) short side.
"Wides [Wideman] made a nice pinch there and kept it alive. I was just thinking as soon as this thing lands, I’m shooting it, and it found a way in," Savard said describing the overtime winner. "I thought why not get a shot here, and it [the puck] just landed perfectly. I just clipped it perfect."
"Perfect" may have not been the word to describe the Bruins' performance in regulation as they blew a two-goal lead three times, the last time allowing the Flyers to tie the game on a Danny Briere goal with 3:22 left. But as they have throughout this playoff run, the Bruins found a way to win and the fact that the win came off the stick of Savard made this one all the more sweeter.
"Well, I don’t know if it went exactly as planned, but we’ll take it," said captain Zdeno Chara, who had the secondary assist on Savard’s winner. "We kept blowing the lead and allowed them to stick around, and then they finally tie it, so there’s work to be done for sure. But yeah, to see Savvy get the game-winner after all he’s been through was nice, and I’m happy for him."
Both Savard and coach Claude Julien said all week that when the team’s leading scorer for the last two seasons returned, he would be eased back into the lineup, allowing Savard to get back up to game speed.
The plan worked to perfection, as Savard was able to find his legs thanks to his teammates up front (despite Marco Sturm going down with an undisclosed injury on the first shift of the game). Savard found his groove just in time and had some of the fresher legs out there in overtime.
"Claude did a great job of playing me perfect minutes," Savard said. "I felt as the game went on, I got stronger, and in overtime, I guess that’s what coaches do when they feel something. He put me between, or on the wing with Bergy and Rex for the last three shifts in overtime there. We created a lot of chances and found a way to get the winner."
Julien felt the same way and saw Savard get stronger and more acclimated as the game went on which led to his overtime decisions.
"It was just the way we wanted it to be," Julien said of Savard’s ice time and progression throughout the game. "It was as simple as that, and I think, you know, when a player comes back for the first time, that first period is always the toughest one, and he got over that hump. Then we just kind of managed it, and I just threw him out there as I saw fit. When I watched him play, and then what he was able to do, as the game got into overtime, he felt that he was fresh enough. He hadn’t overplayed, and we tried to throw him in different situations."
One situation other than the game-winner that Savard will treasure forever was when he first stepped onto the ice in the first period. The TD Garden crowd erupted in a standing ovation for Savard, and after the game, he admitted that that moment brought him to tears.
"To be honest, when I got out there, there was a little water in my eyes," Savard acknowledged. "It was such a nice ovation. I've loved playing here, and that's why I wanted to stay here. The crowd has treated me great. My teammates were great with me all day.'"
He would return the favor in what turned out to be a storybook ending in what right now is shaping up to be a magical ride through the playoffs for this team and a player that so many wrote off after he suffered that concussion back in March.
"People are saying you couldn’t have scripted it any better, and I think it was nice to see him get that,"Julien said. "It’s a great way to come back in the lineup, and if somebody was going to score and it happened to be him, it makes for I guess some good writing, doesn’t it?"
It certainly does.
