Bruins Notes: Boston Treats Wacky Win Over Kraken As ‘Playoff Game’

The Boston Bruins won’t soon forget Feb. 23, 2023.

Not only did the Bruins swing a trade for former Washington Capitals defenseman Dmitry Orlov and forward Garnet Hathaway on Thursday afternoon, but they capped off a late night with one of their best wins of the season.

Boston outpaced a scrappy Seattle Kraken squad, 6-5, scoring two goals in the final five minutes to notch yet another come-from-behind victory. It was a wacky game no doubt, but Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery had another word to describe it.

“It was very much like a playoff game,” Montgomery said, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “We treated it like a playoff game coming in. The momentum swings were drastic, but I loved their composure on the bench and our willingness to go right back after them even when things didn’t go our way.”

The win was just the latest in a long line of impressive victories for Boston, and apparently represented that of one much bigger for the team itself. The Bruins undoubtedly don’t mind playing in a playoff setting, as they hope to make a deep run into June.

Bruins Wrap: Boston Outlasts Kraken In Instant East-West Classic

Feb 24, 2023

Here are more notes from Thursday’s Bruins-Kraken game:

— The Bruins are outscoring opponents 33-11 with Patrice Bergeron on the ice at even strength this season, per Dimitri Filipovic of EP Rinkside. That is across 666:04 minutes, which computes to 0.99 goals against per hour of play.

— Jake DeBrusk scored the game-winner for Boston, his third in just three games since returning from injury.

DeBrusk spoke about the goal postgame.

“It was a good shift by us as a line there at the end,” DeBrusk told NESN’s Sophia Jurksztowicz, as seen on the network’s postgame coverage. “We made a couple of bang-bang plays. I knew Charlie (McAvoy) was going to the net, I just tried to get body positioning but I got out-bodied by (Jamie) Oleksiak. He pushed me in the way and I heard the ting.”

— The Bruins will stay out west to take on the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET. You can watch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.