Mark Recchi admitted that he made his comments about Max Pacioretty to take heat off captain Zdeno Chara, and Chara and the just about every other member of the Bruins all marveled at Recchi's leadership.
Yet, when it came time for Recchi to heap praise upon a teammate, it was bestowed upon Greg Campbell.
"He's the ultimate," Recchi said of Campbell, who stepped up to fight Paul Mara after the Montreal defenseman roughed up the veteran Recchi in the second period. "Everybody's been doing that all year for each other. We all got each other's backs, we all believe in each other and we all deeply care about each other."
The fight aside, Campbell had quite the memorable evening. He redirected a Zdeno Chara shot from the point past Carey Price to put the Bruins up 2-0 in the first, and he scored the B's seventh and final goal of the night while the Bruins had two men in the penalty box — a feat rarely seen by most folks.
"Not too often," Claude Julien said, when asked how often he sees a 3-on-5 goal. "He's a hard worker and he's a dedicated player and I thought he made a great play of cutting that pass off and using his speed to go in there."
The game was well in hand by the time Campbell potted his second goal, but the short-handed tally deflated the Canadiens and robbed them of a major opportunity to prevent Tim Thomas from earning his first ever shutout against Montreal.
For that, and for all of Campbell's contributions at both ends of the ice, his teammates were genuinely happy to see him have such a big night.
"He's such a key part of our team," Brad Marchand, who spent much of the first part of the year playing alongside Campbell, said. "He doesn't get the credit he deserves offensively and defensively, but it showed tonight with two big goals for us."
Nathan Horton, who was the centerpiece of the trade that brought Campbell to Boston, was one of the many Bruins happy to see him have a big night.
"Great game by him," Horton said. "He's been a lot of fun and I've really enjoyed playing with him."
Most people outside of the Bruins were likely surprised by the two-goal night from Campbell. It was, after all, his first of the season and just the third time of his career. He hadn't scored twice in one game since Nov. 12, 2008, and scored just two goals all season last year in 60 games for Florida.
Despite the statistics, Campbell's teammates weren't the least bit surprised.
"It's great to see [and] it's well-earned," Recchi said. "It's nice to see him get rewarded. He's been the ultimate for us all year."
