The overall results got decidedly better with the club responding with an intense, team-bonding 4-1 win over Atlanta, then earning points in each of the first four games of a five-game road trip. But the newly formed top line of Milan Lucic, Marc Savard and Nathan Horton had done little to contribute to that success outside of their roles in the late-game brawl with the Thrashers.
Lucic, the club's leading goal scorer, had no points and was a minus-2 in the first five games with his new linemates, pushing his pointless streak to seven games. Savard had two assists, but neither was on a goal by either of his linemates. He was a minus-4 in those five games, and just 1-4-5 and a minus-8 overall in the 14 games since his return from post-concussion syndrome. Horton had no goals and one assist and was a minus-3 in five games on the line, and his goal drought had reached nine games.
But things finally came together in Toronto on Monday, as the Bruins closed out the road trip with a 2-1 win over the Maple Leafs. That top line was responsible for all the offense, as Horton and Savard provided the only goals, with Lucic and Horton contributing assists.
"We had talked about it for the last little while that they were at least creating some chances," Julien said after the game. "All they had to start doing now was produce and they did that [Monday]. It was some much-needed production from that line."
It also showed some refreshing patience from Julien and his staff to give the new line some time to develop some chemistry rather than quickly discard the experiment and continue the endless shuffle of combinations.
The temptation to put David Krejci back between Lucic and Horton was great after the success they had together at the start of the season. But Krejci had already rekindled the spark he had with Blake Wheeler and Michael Ryder two seasons ago and had started to get those two players going again. The Bruins need to get production from multiple lines, and they need to get Savard going as well.
Savard and Lucic have produced together in the past playing with Phil Kessel two years ago, while Horton's acquisition this summer immediately elicited high expectations for what Savard could do with another talented finisher riding shotgun on his line. It took much longer than expected to bring the trio together as Savard missed the first 23 games of the season, and has been slowly getting back up to speed since returning last month. But the potential of that combination is too great to abandon too quickly, and Monday's performance could be the start of something special with that unit.
At the very least, it should lift the burden weighing on Horton, who finally ended his drought when he pulled Boston even at 7:56 of the second with a perfectly placed wrister from the high slot.
"We've been talking about it the last few games, how they've been getting opportunities," Julien said. "I mentioned after the Buffalo game that Horts had about six scoring chances. It was just a matter of time, a little bit of confidence and a quicker release. And [Monday] he actually took his time and picked the corners."
Horton has seemed hesitant at times to unleash that shot, as he's had five games this year with no shots on goal and eight with just one. The low point may have come at Tampa last Tuesday, when Horton had no shots on net and only attempted one before being benched along with Savard for much of the third period. Horton had just one shot in the next game in Atlanta but did attempt four others (two were blocked and two missed the net), then put five shots on goal against Buffalo.
On Monday, he continued to attack the net with four more shots (two others were blocked) and was finally rewarded with a goal.
"I felt really happy for him because he's been feeling the pressure, no doubt," Julien said of Horton. "He knows he has to score, and he's been working hard. When you see a guy working hard and pushing hard, you want to see him rewarded. And that's what happened [Monday], so I was really happy and pleased for him."
Horton also played a huge role in Savard's game-winner later in the second. His hustle to win a race and negate an icing call began the play, with defenseman Andrew Ference also coming up big with a stop at the point to keep the puck in the Toronto zone. After Lucic was stopped on a bid from the left side, Horton eventually got the puck back and fed it to Savard for another seeing-eye shot from just inside the blue line.
Seeing Savard take that shot was another encouraging sign. He's one of the game's elite set-up men, but there are times when he looks too hard for the perfect pass when he could have a better scoring chance by taking the shot himself.
"We've talked about that," Julien said. "I've talked to Savvy and I've talked to David Krejci about that. They're playmakers, but you want them to also be scoring threats. There's times that they should be shooting and they should shoot, and if they do that, now you're spreading your scoring around. We talk about scoring more goals and you need those guys to shoot it when they get an opportunity and Savvy did [Monday] and gets rewarded with the winning goal."
And the Bruins were rewarded by sticking with what could be a very effective top line going forward this season.
Will the line of Savard, Lucic and Horton emerge as an offensive force for the Bruins if they stay together? Share your thoughts below.
