Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 2-1 win over the Islanders in quickie form, with BSJ insight and analysis:
BOX SCORE
HEADLINES
Rask comes up clutch: The final box score only credited Tuukka Rask with 29 saves, but the netminder made just about every stop count — especially in crunch time. With a shorthanded Bruins club once again struggling to cash in despite finishing with a 70-52 edge in attempts on Thursday against the Islanders, Rask was a rock past regulation play — stopping all 10 shots that came his way, including a perfect 4-for-4 during the shootout. As Boston attempts to sort out its issues up front with the loss of Patrice Bergeron, Rask and Jaroslav Halak both deserve plenty of credit for keeping this B’s club in the fight.
Bruins big guns showing signs of waking up: They obviously won’t be back to full strength until No. 37 is back at the pivot, but the signs are there that Boston’s go-to trio up front is showing signs of breaking out of its recent skid. Limited to just two points in the four games following Bergeron’s rib/clavicle injury, Boston’s top wingers in Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak have now found the back of the net three times in the past two games, with Marchand snapping a seven-game goalless skid off a one-time blast on the power play. Expect Cassidy to continue to shuffle up his lines going forward, but if both Marchand and Pastrnak can continue to pick apart defenses on the power play and generate bids during five-on-five play, the B’s stand a chance of staying afloat even with the loss of Bergeron.
B’s dodge another bullet on the injury front: Already without Bergeron for at least a month, Boston might have suffered a potential backbreaker in the closing minutes of the second stanza — with David Krejci taking a high hit from Thomas Hickey that dazed the centerman and dislodged a couple chiclets. Krejci headed down the tunnel ahead of his teammates at the start of the second intermission and was not present on the bench once the third period got underway. After a few panicked seconds, Krejci eventually returned to the contest just over two minutes in the frame. Had Krejci missed the rest of the contest due to injury (and for the foreseeable future), one would think that Boston’s roster would finally implode with the amount of injuries hitting this team at once. Thankfully that doomsday scenario is a thing of the past — well, for at least another game.
Lineup shuffling continues: Ahead of Thursday’s matchup, Bruce Cassidy was candid when asked about potentially putting Krejci up on a line with Marchand and Bergeron. Yes, it’d give his top wingers a dynamic, established player in the middle, but it could unravel a lineup already struggling with secondary scoring. Well, Boston’s bench boss did it anyway — putting Krejci between No. 63 and No. 88 in the closing minutes of the third with Boston in need of a go-ahead tally. Both Marchand and Pastrnak spent plenty of time apart during five-on-five play as the game progressed, with Marchand getting a couple looks with Colby Cave and Jake DeBrusk, while Pastrnak lined up with Krejci. Look for the lineup shuffling to continue on Saturday and for the foreseeable future.
FOUR UP
Brad Marchand: Marchand can breathe a little easier following Thursday’s tilt, with the winger lighting the lamp for his first goal since Nov. 11 against Vegas. The recipient of a fantastic feed from Pastrnak, Marchand was active throughout the night, logging 21:39 of ice time with four shots and a pair of takeaways.
Rick Middleton: “Nifty” finally had his moment in front of the TD Garden crowd, with the legendary winger becoming the 11th player to have his sweater immortalized by the Black and Gold — joining Lionel Hitchman (#3, 1934), Dit Clapper (#5, 1947), Eddie Shore (#2, 1949), Milt Schmidt (#15, 1957), Bobby Orr (#4, 1979), Johnny Bucyk (#9, 1980), Phil Esposito (#7, 1987), Ray Bourque (#77, 2001), Terry O’Reilly(#24, 2002) and Cam Neely (#8, 2004).
We’ll have more from Middleton’s jersey retirement ceremony later tonight.
No. 16 is immortalized up in the TD Garden rafters. pic.twitter.com/LVDMTA22z3
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) November 30, 2018
Rask will not be buying Krug a beer after the game. pic.twitter.com/dhrcO37bZ7
— Dan Ryan (@bruinshockeynow) November 30, 2018
Welcome back to the show, @DonatoRyan pic.twitter.com/WMjRt4Cu4M
— Marina Molnar (@mkmolnar) November 30, 2018
Johnny Boychuk picked up David Krejci’s lost teeth and hand-delivered them to the Bruins bench pic.twitter.com/b9f1B3jBoq
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) November 30, 2018