BSJ Game Report: Bruins 4, Golden Knights 3 - Top line keys comeback victory over Vegas, Rask has dehydration scare

Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 4-3 victory over the Golden Knights in quickie form, with BSJ insight and analysis…

Box Score

HEADLINES 

Top line, power play right the ship: Alright, alright — it was pretty much inevitable that Boston’s big guns up front were going to start firing sooner rather than later. But given how rusty Boston’s top line and power-play unit looked through the first two games of the 2019-20 season, Tuesday’s showing at T-Mobile Arena was a stark 180° showing. During a win in which Boston overcame a 2-0 deficit by way of a salvo of four unanswered goals, Boston’s usual trio of Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak once again did the heavy lifting — combining for three goals and seven total points in the 4-3 victory. 

Along with a pair of strikes during 5v5 play, a slumping PP1 unit that had only managed to land one shot on goal in its first five minutes of action this year also erupted. Before Marchand lit the lamp on the man advantage at 18:58 in the opening stanza, Boston had already managed to surpass its season total with three shots on goal against Marc-André Fleury during the 5v4 sequence.

As always, there’s plenty for Boston to clean up, especially in terms of D-zone coverage and secondary scoring, but the Bruins shouldn’t have too many complaints about a win over a quality opponent in Vegas. With another two points locked up, Boston has opened the year with a 3-0-0 record for the first time since the 2001-02 campaign. 

Bruins dodge bullet with Matt Grzelcyk 

While Boston will leave the Vegas desert with plenty of positive takeaways, Tuesday very well could have been a pyrrhic victory — especially if the B’s were to lose Matt Grzelcyk to a serious injury. 

The 25-year-old blueliner suffered a major injury scare in the opening minutes of the contest, dropping to the ice in pain after getting in front of a quick shot from Golden Knights forward Valentin Zykov. He managed to get back to the bench, but immediately went down the tunnel — failing to return from the remainder of the first period after logging 35 seconds of ice time. 

https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1181756517009235969

Boston managed to avoid having to play with 5 D for the remainder of the contest, thankfully, as Grzelcyk eventually returned to game action at the start of the middle stanza and finished the game with 11:44 of ice time.

Even if Boston has plenty of bodies waiting in the wings if Grzelcyk was to go down, it'd be a huge hit for the B's D corps. While only 36.84% of his faceoffs have come in the offensive zone, the Bruins have only been edged by one in high-danger scoring chances, 7-6, when Grzelcyk has been out on the ice this season during 5v5 play.

And might have with Tuukka Rask as well

This wasn't a great sight to see after an encouraging win on the road.

https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1181792285664665600

Despite the less than ideal optics of Tuukka Rask needing help off the ice, Bruce Cassidy didn't seem too concerned postgame.

https://twitter.com/NHLBruins/status/1181794802045636608

Some extra rest will do Rask some good if Jaroslav Halak is called upon to start on Thursday, but Boston has to be feeling very, very lucky that this wasn't a more severe ailment.

THREE UP:

Top Line: It’s tough to single out just one of these three in Tuesday’s victory, as they all worked in tandem to jump-start what had been a slumping offense through two games. While Boston’s power play seems to be back on track, it’s a pair of 5v5 tallies from this unit that will have Cassidy very encouraged going forward. 

https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1181759159852847106

Charlie Coyle: The third-line center very well could have earned a spot on this list just off of this sequence alone — in which he flat out refused to let go of the puck. 

https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1181775245855875074

But the Weymouth native was a force throughout the night, especially when Cassidy opted to slot Karson Kuhlman down on his line with Danton Heinen — with Boston holding an 8-1 edge in shots on goal during the 6:24 in which that new combination skated together. It will be interesting to see if Cassidy opts to roll out that trio for an entire game — as they often suffocated the Golden Knights whenever they managed to get the puck in deep. 

Tuukka Rask: Rask might have been hung out to dry early in the contest due to some defensive lapses, but the netminder didn't fold during Vegas' expected push, stopping 31 of the 34 shots that came his way for the win. It might not have been his best showing, but it was enough for a hard-fought victory against a very, very strong Vegas club.

TWO DOWN

Krejci Line: While Kuhlman thrived with Coyle and Heinen after getting bumped down to the third line, the same can't be said when Cassidy slotted up Brett Ritchie on a top-six unit with David Krejci and Jake DeBrusk. Krejci is still likely shaking off some rust after missing a week-plus with a lower-body injury, but his line was often on the ropes Tuesday — as Boston was outshot, 7-0, during the 5:25 of 5v5 TOI in which the 74-46-18 line was out skating.

Brandon Carlo: Bit of a rough night for Carlo, who was caught in no-man's land on Reilly Smith's tally in the first period.

https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1181757770279903232

PLAY OF THE GAME

What a thing of beauty this second tally from Marchand was — starting with that slick, indirect feed from Pastrnak.

https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1181768858186735616

PARTING THOUGHT

I knew that this was the season that Zach Senyshyn finally breaks out! Wait … uh..

https://twitter.com/PeteBlackburn/status/1181757449344360448

LOOKING AHEAD

The Bruins will close out their four-game road trip on Thursday, with Boston traveling to Colorado to take on the Avalanche. Puck drop is set for 9:00 p.m. The Avs, who are 2-0-0 on the year, are averaging 4.50 goals per game behind a high-powered offense led by Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen.