Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid came as advertised Monday night against the Boston Bruins.
The high-flying talent and clear Hart Trophy favorite gave the Bruins all they could handle, scoring twice to give him 50 goals on the season.
While McDavid was the best player on the ice, Boston’s collective effort ended up outshining him as the Bruins’ depth played a pivotal factor in a 3-2 victory at Rogers Place.
“It has (been) and it’s been the difference for most of the year,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery told NESN’s Jack Edwards and Andy Brickley as seen on the network’s postgame coverage. “We got six D-man, seven D-man that can really play hockey and then we got four lines that can play hockey. We really liked our five-on-five game tonight.”
The Bruins’ top line was held off the scoresheet, but that wasn’t a problem. Boston got three goals from three different lines as Tomas Nosek, Nick Foligno, who was moved up to the third line with Taylor Hall out due to injury, and Pavel Zacha each found the back of the net.
It also wasn’t on any one player to try to stick with McDavid. The Bruins defensemen drew a bulk of that incredibly challenging assignment, but they weren’t alone in making sure McDavid didn’t get anyone else on the Oilers’ dynamic offense going.
“Starts with the forwards. They did a good job in the neutral zone,” Bruins newcomer Dmitry Orlov said as seen on NESN postgame coverage. “He’s a great player and he was our focus today. Like I said, it was a team effort.”
Here are more notes from Monday’s Bruins-Oilers game:
— In just their second game with the Bruins since getting traded from the Washington Capitals, Orlov and Garnet Hathaway recorded their first points with their new club. Orlov and Hathaway both notched assists on Nosek’s first-period goal. Orlov registered another helper setting up Foligno’s tally in the second period.
— David Krejci came through with the unsung play of the night. He broke up a two-on-one opportunity between McDavid and fellow Oilers star Leon Draisaitl with just under two minutes left in regulation as the Oilers pushed for the equalizer.
— Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman improved his record to 15-4-4 as he made 22 saves. He’s 8-1-1 in his last 11 games with a 1.90 goals-against average and a .936 save percentage.
“It couldn’t be possible (without) the guys in front of me making my job easy,” Swayman told NESN’s Sophia Jurksztowicz as seen on the network’s postgame coverage. “I got to work on scoring goals I guess because I got to keep up with my partner.”
— The Bruins came out of the win with some more key players battered and bruised. Brad Marchand left the game for nearly 10 minutes in the first period due to a lower-body injury before returning. The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa reported Marchand had a skate cut above his ankle which required stitches.
Krejci then got a cut on his face in the final frame after he was checked into the boards and his own stick hit him up high. Later on, in the third period, Patrice Bergeron took a high stick near his eye that drew blood.
— The Bruins play the second leg of a back-to-back Tuesday night against the Calgary Flames to wrap up their West Coast road trip. Puck drop from Scotiabank Saddledome is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET, and you can watch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.
