BOSTON — The Boston Bruins may never lose again.
It seemed all but certain the Bruins’ point streak was coming to an end Thursday night when they were chasing a goal with a minute left in the game. But that’s why you play until the final whistle blows.
Bruins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk knotted the score up 19:23 into the final frame, then Patrice Bergeron put the game away for Boston with seven seconds remaining to give his team a 4-3 victory at the TD Garden.
Thursday night’s victory extended Boston’s point streak to 18 games, and one of the biggest themes throughout the stretch has been its resiliency.
Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy talked about the team’s ability to scratch and claw until the very end after the game.
“Listen, our guys got a lot of resiliency, a lot of belief in themselves,” he said. “You know when there’s another player out of our lineup who’s really good for us scoring-wise, we managed to get four. (Matt Grzelcyk) is the guy tonight that you probably don’t suspect that gets on the score sheet”
Cassidy didn’t stop there.
“They wanted it. The guys want to win every night,” he added. “They don’t want to say ‘hey we had a good run, it’s not our night, let’s get on to the next one.’ I think that’s a good positive sign for us, we have a bunch of gamers in there.”
Bergeron also discussed the team’s ability to fight in games
“I think we’ve — in this, lately the last few weeks — the way that we’ve been playing is always finding ways and it’s not always going to be perfect, it’s not always going to be your best game, but you’re one shot away from being back in the game,” Bergeron said. “That’s what we talked about in the third. I thought we were better but then giving up that third goal, we could have crumbled but we stuck with it and found a way.”
The Bruins will hit the ice again Saturday when the Ottawa Senators come to town at 7 p.m. ET at TD Garden.
Here are some other notes from Thursday’s Bruins-Panthers game:
— Tuukka Rask made 17 saves in the Bruins’ win. The 31-year-old extended his personal point streak to 19 games, going 15-0-3 over that time.
— Bruins left winger Jake DeBrusk was a late-scratch from Thursday night’s contest with a lower-body injury and doesn’t have a clear timetable for a return.
— Bergeron netted a shorthanded goal for the second straight game to go along with his game-winner. He now is up to 25 goals on the season.
— Boston extended its sellout streak to 421 regular season and playoff games. The B’s began the streak Dec. 5. 2009 against the Senators.
