The Boston Bruins pulled out an exciting 2-1 overtime win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night despite having a horrendous second period.
David Pastrnak, fighting a stomach bug and all, scored the OT winner to bring his goal total to 57 on the season.
It was an exciting game that very well could be a playoff preview. Here are four takeaways from the win.
History on the horizon
The win marked the 61st on the season for the Bruins, making them one away from tying the 2018-19 Tampa Bay Lightning and 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings’ record for regular season victories. Head coach Jim Montgomery has said chasing history will help the Black and Gold mentally prepare for the playoffs rather than just mailing in the rest of the season.
While getting the wins and points record isn’t the priority for the Bruins, it still gives the team something to fight for and something to look forward to each game.
The Bruins can reach win No. 62 on Saturday when they host the New Jersey Devils for an 8 p.m. ET puck drop.
Charlie Coyle continues underrated season
Coyle scored the game-tying goal in the third — with some help from Brandon Carlo — for his 14th of the season. The third-line center has been quietly having a strong season for Boston. And even though he doesn’t show up on the stat sheet every night, 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Ty Anderson pointed out where he’s been the most effective all season.
“There’s little details of the game that you don’t necessarily notice if you only look at the big picture or stats or whatnot, and I think the impact that he has on his line also on this team is undeniable and we’re extremely happy to have him,” Patrice Bergeron told reporters after the game, per the Bruins. “He just keeps getting better and (Thursday) is one of those things where he gets that opportunity in the slot and takes advantage of that.”
Coyle led Bruins forwards with 21:06 of ice time in Thursday’s win and amassed two points with a plus-2 rating. His three blocks and three hits also played a role for Boston in its win, and he looked like the player the Bruins had during their 2019 Stanley Cup run — which only spells bad news for opponents.
Injury scares avoided
The second period was messy for a number of reasons for Boston, including injury scares to Charlie McAvoy and Garnet Hathaway. McAvoy collided with Bergeron before going hard into the boards. He remained down for a few minutes, clearly shaken up, before going down the tunnel. Hathaway returned to the bench, but McAvoy didn’t. Fans’ minds were put at ease after Montgomery revealed keeping the defenseman out was precautionary.
“We held him back just for precautionary reasons,” Montgomery told reporters. “We don’t think it’s anything serious.”
The Bruins have four games left in the season before the Stanley Cup playoffs begin, so making sure everyone is as close to 100% healthy as possible is a priority for Boston.
Ugly second period undone in OT
If the Bruins ended up losing Thursday, many would point to the second period as where things began to unravel. After coming out of the gate hot, the Maple Leafs began to find a groove of their own and dominated the middle frame. But, as we’ve seen so many times this season, the Bruins found a way to get things done in the final 20 minutes of the game. Carlo made a really nice offensive play that kept the puck in the zone to set up Coyle’s game-tying goal to force overtime before Pastrnak called game.
“He’s got a pretty good (vertical leap), that guy,” Coyle told reporters. “He kept it in … I think he kicked it right on my stick. I had a bunch of room to work with. I think (Trent Frederic) and (Oskar) Steen were both driving the net, so that gave me time and I was lucky it found a way in.”
Even with Pastrnak not feeling 100%, he still helped the team to victory and it didn’t go unnoticed by Montgomery.
“I can’t give him enough credit for how he willed himself to help us (Thursday),” Montgomery told reporters. “He was not at his 100% level, he was battling a stomach virus, and I give him full credit for helping us win this hockey game.”
