"You don't just come out the next night and everything is fixed," Julien said after the Bruins turned in an improved effort but still fell 2-1 to the Penguins.
Apparently, it just takes two days.
The Bruins got right back to work on Sunday in Washington, and there didn't look like much still needed to be fixed after a solid all-around effort produced a 4-1 win over the Capitals.
Tim Thomas, who has been very shaky in recent weeks, was back to his old self with 35 saves in a vintage performance for the reigning Vezina winner. Zdeno Chara (plus-3 in a game-high 25:49) looked very Norris-worthy as he frustrated Alex Ovechkin (0 points, minus-2) all afternoon, shutting down the Washington star as Julien got Chara out opposite Ovechkin as much as possible. And the Bruins offense produced four goals after managing just one in the previous two games combined.
It all added up to an end of Boston's two-game losing streak. Those two setbacks were the first back-to-back losses for the Bruins in nearly two months, but they made sure it didn't become the club's first three-game losing streak since October.
Julien deserves a lot of credit for this one. Not only did he manage to get Chara and defense partner Johnny Boychuk out opposite Ovechkin's line for most of the game despite not having the last change on the road, but he also went against convention by starting Thomas again for the second straight day. It was the first time this season that Julien hasn't split up the goaltending duties when the Bruins played on back-to-back days, but Thomas rose to the challenge with the extra workload.
Julien also made some key moves up front. It started with the insertion of Jordan Caron back into the lineup for Zach Hamill, who had been scoreless over his last 13 games. Hamill has been largely invisible of late, but Caron made his presence felt right away in this one. He finished with four shots and a hit in 11:25, with three of those shots coming in the first period as the Bruins set the tone early by jumping out to a 2-0 lead.
Julien also tweaked the combinations for the players remaining in the lineup, moving David Krejci down to the third line with Caron and Benoit Pouliot and moving hard-working Chris Kelly up with Milan Lucic and Rich Peverley.
Kelly doesn't have Krejci's high-end skill, but he brought a needed spark to that top unit, which produced a pair of goals. That included the first score when Peverley found Lucic open down low behind the defense for a 1-0 lead 10:45 into the first. Peverley also finished off the scoring with an empty-netter from Kelly.
That line combined for nine shots after Lucic, Krejci and Peverley didn't have a single shot between them against Pittsburgh. In the Penguins game, 20 of Boston's 29 shots came from defensemen, with just four of the team's 12 forwards managing even a single shot on net.
On Sunday, the forwards did their part, accounting for 23 of Boston's 30 shots and all four goals. In addition to that reconfigured top line, Patrice Bergeron's line remained the most consistent unit on the club and provided the other two goals.
Brad Marchand factored in both, banging in a puck at the left point after Bergeron won a battle for possession behind the net to stretch the lead to 2-0 late in the first, then setting up Tyler Seguin to make it 3-0 in the third.
It was the 20th goal of the season for Seguin, who turned 20 on Tuesday. Just as Lucic had for his goal, Seguin got behind the defense for a goal in front. But Marchand made that play with a nifty move around Marcus Johansson before dishing it down low to Seguin.
All together, it was an important statement game from the Bruins, who had slipped into mediocrity with a 4-5-1 record in their previous 10 games. Now they just have to prove that their game really is back. One game won't mean much if the Bruins don't show they can go out with this kind of effort and execution again on a consistent basis.
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