But after Monday night’s 2-1 win in Toronto, that’s exactly what the Bruins did.
“Nice trip, eight of 10 points,” said head coach Claude Julien after the win. “You want to be greedy and get 10, but nice trip.”
“Hey, eight out of 10 points on the road trip,” said winger Shawn Thornton, “Had you offered that before the trip, even the cheapest guy in the room would have paid for it.”
Maybe he did, whoever that might be, or maybe the Bruins have just found their game at the right time.
In their last game in Toronto, Tuukka Rask regained his form, making 36 saves and improving to 3-7-1 on the season. The Bruins’ top scoring line of Marc Savard, Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton finally came alive. Playing in its sixth game together as a unit, the trio had yet to score a goal in that stretch. That is until Monday night, when they accounted for all of the offense, tallying two goals and two assists, including Horton’s first two-point game since Dec. 7.
“It’s nice for us to contribute and for it to go in,” said Horton. “I think it was a huge relief. It felt on the ice like it was a little bit of pressure off, and we were just playing. That’s when you’re at your best — when you’re not thinking too much and just playing.”
All in all, a good night for the Bruins.
“A lot of good things,” said Julien. “I felt we were a little flat in the first period, but we found a way to get it going and were able to grind it out.”
And away they went after the game was over, back to their homes in Boston, finally. It’s been a long road trip for the B’s, but one that has allowed this unit to jell at the right time. With a three-point lead in the division with two games in hand on Montreal, the Bruins have put themselves in a solid position midway through the season. Starting 2011 the way they left off in 2010 is also a big positive.
The Bruins return home, but only for one game on Thursday night. The Minnesota Wild skate into the TD Garden as the middle-of-the-pack team in the Northwest Division. Consider this: The Bruins’ goal differential of plus-25 will take on a Wild team with a differential of minus-14, having allowed 112 goals to their 98 goals scored.
If the Bruins can beat the Wild on home ice, then it’s back on the road in Montreal on Saturday and Pittsburgh on Monday, a road on which that the Bruins own a 12-5-3 record. If history repeats, the Bruins are in good shape going forward in 2011.
