As Jim Montgomery accurately described after it was all over, Thursday night’s overtime effort against the Canadiens wasn’t “a Picasso” for the Boston Bruins.
But the 2-1 overtime win didn’t need to be a work of exquisite art when it was a game where the Bruins didn’t bend or break in a tightly contested third period, held another team defensively to a single goal scored in 60 plus minutes and finally found a way to win in overtime when Brad Marchand connected with Jake DeBrusk just 25 seconds into overtime at the Bell Centre.
The Bruins have had plenty of practice with an NHL-leading 24 overtime games this season and perhaps they are now getting the hang of it.
“We weren’t a Picasso by any means, but we found a way to win,” admitted Montgomery to NESN following the game. “It didn’t seem like there was a lot of life or energy by either team.
“It is important [to find a way]. I didn’t think we had our normal legs for whatever reason. But our guys dug down and found a way to win. Montreal’s playing really good, sound hockey right now.”
The game-winner came after Hampus Lindholm made a strong play in the corner winning a simple puck battle, and then getting the puck out to Brad Marchand speeding up the ice and making something happen with Jake DeBrusk for the sixth-fastest overtime goal in B’s history.
It finished up a series of strong games for DeBrusk (2 goals, 5 points in the last four games) since getting past the NHL trade deadline where all the trade rumors involving the looming free agent were put to bed.
“That’s kind of what you build towards. You want to be perfect, you want to build your game,” said DeBrusk. “You want to dominate as much as you can, but it’s the NHL and I think they responded from the last time we played against them. I think they changed some things up.
“I thought they played a hard game. It was one of those things where give them credit as well…I was told [it was the] 24th overtime [for the Bruins this season], so anytime you can win those this time of year is nice.”
One of the more encouraging developments was Johnny Beecher’s play in his return to the Bruins lineup while winning 8-of-11 faceoffs, with the Bruins coaching staff thinking highly enough of him that it was Beecher taking the opening draw in overtime. Beecher was consistently Boston’s best faceoff center during his earlier stint with the Black and Gold this season, and his ability to take draws on the left side is something that the B’s will sorely need headed into the postseason.
A faceoff specialist was something the Bruins might have kicked around at the NHL trade deadline, but it really isn’t necessary if Beecher can play consistently strong enough to reclaim that fourth-line center spot in the lineup.
It was Beecher’s all-around game, however, that the Bruins were pleased with after the tight victory over Montreal where Beecher logged 11:39 and had a shot on net, a couple of hits and a couple blocked shots.
“He was our best face-off guy, so you want to try to start with possession,” said Montgomery. “What I liked is even though he maybe didn’t win that draw, he pressured it and got a good change and allowed us to get Marchy out there.
“Johnny Beecher had a great back check, he was excellent in the face-off dot, did a great job on the PK. And I loved how hard he went to the net front.”
One other area where the Bruins impressed was a good, strong start over the game’s opening five minutes where Danton Heinen eventually scored in the opening five minutes of the game by hanging in and scoring from the top of the crease as he was being hauled by Juraj Slafkovsky. Heinen has been entrusted with top-6 winger assignments over the last month and responded again on Thursday night while playing with David Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha.
It was Heinen’s 12th goal of the season and 26th point of the season in 60 games, which is pretty good production for a training camp invite on a contract paying under $800,000 for the season.
“I think it’s getting better as we get a little more time together,” said Heinen, of playing with a couple of high-skill guys in Pastrnak and Zacha. “I think we had a few good shifts there, O-zone. Those guys are so good with the puck. Want to get it in their hands and try to be at the net.
“But I think we’re just trying to build and try to listen to those guys and see what they want because those are two high-end guys. Hopefully we just keep building.”
The other bright spot: The Bruins finally got two points and put forth a serviceable defensive effort against a Montreal team that isn’t residing anywhere close to the playoff structure at this late point of the season. The Bruins had lost games to the Flames, Kraken, Capitals and Blues in similar situations since the NHL All Star break, but this time they focused in on a consistent, simple effort even as the Bruins/Canadiens rivalry hasn’t been anything special for at least a decade now.
With 14 games remaining on the NHL schedule, it’s about building to the Stanley Cup playoffs, staying healthy and rounding out their game for hockey clubs like the Boston Bruins. The Black and Gold did just that on Thursday night in a loud, unfriendly atmosphere in Montreal that felt like a nice, little warmup for the much more intense things to come for this team about a month from now.
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