Bruins Offense Ends Hibernation - Beat The Leafs 6-2
Friday, October 21, 2011
Now that's more like it!
No one would debate the fact that the key to the Boston Bruins winning the Stanley Cup last season was the play of goaltender Tim Thomas. Thomas was spectacular and had a season for the ages. Still, the B's would not have been able to win The Cup without being able to put the puck in the net somewhat consistently which they did.
This season, however, that has been a problem. Until last night.
Four Bruins had 3-point nights led by Tyler Seguin (1 goal, 2 assists) who had the first 3-point game of his career. Andrew Ference (3 assists), Milan Lucic (1 goal, 2 assists) and Zdeno Chara (1 goal, 2 assists) were the others with 3-point performances. Nathan Horton (1 goal, 1 assist) and Chris Kelly (1 goal, 1 assist) also had multi-point nights.
Boston took control of the game early after Toronto grabbed a 1-0 lead on a goal by David Steckel (1st).
Horton (2nd) and Chara (1st) each scored on the power play while Kelly (2nd) added a score with just over 2 minutes to play in the first.
After a scoreless second period, the B's offense exploded again in the third. The top line of Kelly, Lucic and Seguin did most of the dammage. Just 2 minutes in, Seguin raced up the right wing boards and fed a beautiful centering pass to Lucic (1st) in the slot who burried it past Maple Leafs netminder Jonas Gustavsson to make it 4-1 Boston. After a Patrice Bergeron goal (1st), Lucic was behind the Toronto goal and fed Seguin (2nd) out front for a 6-1 Boston advantage.
The B's outshot the Maple Leafs 43-28.
With the win, Boston (6 points) pulls to within 3 points of the Northeast Division-leading Maple Leafs. Boston is also tied for 7th in the Eastern Conference.
Why do we bring up these numbers so early in the season? Because history has shown that teams who play poorly in October, often don't make it to the postseason.
Just last season, 7 of the top 8 teams in the Eastern Conference standings as of November 1st made it to the playoffs with Buffalo being the lone exception.
Boston returns to the ice Saturday night at the TD Garden against the San Jose Sharks.
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