Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 2-1 overtime win over the Pittsburgh Penguins in quickie form, with BSJ insight and analysis:
BOX SCORE
HEADLINES:
Jake DeBrusk continues to shoulder the scoring load
Even with Patrice Bergeron out of commission for the foreseeable future and Boston’s lineups turned upside down, Jake DeBrusk is continuing to emerge as a reliable source of offense on a club that was starved for secondary scoring.
On a line that posted a dominant 66.67 Corsi For Percentage, DeBrusk provided the offensive thump midway through the second period, one-timing a feed from David Krejci past Tristan Jarry for his sixth goal in his past eight games. Once without a point through the first four games of the season — and just three points through 13 games — DeBrusk is stepping up at a key time for the Black and Gold, especially with the usual suspects in Brad Marchand (0 G, 1 A in 5 games) and David Pastrnak (1 G, 1 A in 5 games) slowing down a bit at a rough time.
Bruins fail to capitalize in opening stanza
At the end of 20 minutes, neither team had managed to light the lamp, but the Bruins held an edge in both shots on goal (12-9) and overall attempts (23-14). And while the Black and Gold had plenty of good looks in the Penguins’ zone, Boston has to be kicking itself after a few tepid sequences squandered some major scoring bids.
It started when a give-and-go between Colby Cave and Joakim Nordstrom amounted to little following an extra pass from Cave that sailed into no-man’s land, while a strong showing from Danton Heinen (86.67 CF% in first period) was negated when the winger opted to fire a cross-ice pass after having a clear shooting lane against Jarry.
FOUR UP:
David Krejci: Along with anchoring the B’s most effective line in Friday’s matchup, Krejci also reached another significant milestone in his career. With his primary helper on DeBrusk’s tying goal, Krejci moved into a tie for 11th place on the Bruins’ all-time scoring list with Peter McNab with 587 points. Next up? Cam Neely with 590 points.
Jaroslav Halak: No surprise here. Halak makes his regular appearance as one of the top players on the ice for the Black and Gold. Whether it be turning aside a mini-breakaway by Evgeni Malkin or knocking down a flurry of Penguins shots in the closing seconds of the middle stanza after a number of lazy turnovers in the slot, Halak once again shined for a Bruins club that’s going to need its goalies to bail it out quite a bit over the next couple of weeks.
Grzelcyk/Miller pairing: While Boston’s D corps shuffled quite a bit as Bruce Cassidy moved up both Jeremy Lauzon and Connor Clifton, both Grzelcyk and Miller put together strong showings whenever their name was called on Friday. Miller, in particular, was called quite a bit, logging a team-high 27:01 TOI in just his second game back from injury following a 13-game absence. Grzelcyk (23:26 TOI) made his presence felt in the third period, contributing on a clutch penalty kill while breaking up a breakaway bid by Bryan Rust with a timely poke check.
Joakim Nordstrom: For the third time in four games, the Bruins went to overtime. And for the first time during that stretch, they clinched two points — with Nordstrom tipping home a fantastic slap pass from Torey Krug to give Boston some momentum ahead of Saturday’s game in Montreal.
TWO DOWN:
David Backes: After appearing to finally cash in on his first regular-season goal since April 8, Backes once again came up juuuuust short in the closing minutes of the second period. During a rush by the Kuraly line, it looked like Backes stuffed the puck past Jarry, with his linemates celebrating even if the initial play was waved off by the officials on the ice. Following an extended video review, the initial call was upheld, much to Backes’ chagrin. Another tough break for a fourth line that seems to be generating some momentum since adding Backes on the wing.
David Backes can't catch a break. pic.twitter.com/eAnaJyOHgC
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) November 24, 2018
Joakim Nordstrom OT winner. #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/KtBj4jGoPo
— Marina Molnar (@mkmolnar) November 24, 2018
Another day at the office for Chris Wagner. pic.twitter.com/v9OoSwpO8G
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) November 24, 2018