As the Boston Bruins continue playing at an exceptionally high level, there has been one commonality: they are receiving contributions up and down the lineup.
When Boston stumbled early in the season, a big part of the problem was trouble garnering offensive production from any group but the top line. Over the two weeks, the scoring has been spread out, all while the depth players continue to also impact games in non-scoring ways.
It was for that reason that Brad Marchand, who had a hat trick Wednesday against the Montreal Canadiens, was so quick to shout out Anton Blidh.
"Bleeder changed the game for our group tonight," Marchand told reporters over Zoom. "He went out and hit a couple guys hard and drew a penalty and changed the whole momentum of the game.
"That's what good teams have, and we're finding that guys are buying into their roles and really taking control of them. We're relying on different lines every night to create momentum for our group or take over a game, and their line did that tonight. Like I said, Bleeder had that big shift for us, then (Tomas Nosek) and (Curtis Lazar) made a huge play on that first goal, then Lazer got another one later on. They were just great all night."
Blidh assisted on the fifth and final goal of the game, which was credited to Curtis Lazar after originally being called Urho Vaakanainen's first tally. But shortly before the midway point of the first period, Blidh hit Jeff Petry hard, causing him to lose his helmet. After the defenseman kept playing without his bucket, he was penalized.
All told, Blidh finished with five hits.
This has been a breakout season for Blidh, who has been in the organization for years but is just now having the chance to become a full-time NHL player. So long as he keeps impacting the game, he'll keep receiving opportunities in the lineup.
