BSJ Game Report: Bruins 3, Blues 1 - Special teams push B’s back in win column

Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 3-1 win over the Blues, with BSJ insight and analysis:

BOX SCORE

HEADLINES

B’s special teams, dominant third leads to bounce-back showing: On a night in which the Bruins unveiled their latest line of Reverse Retro jerseys, the B’s got back in the win column by way of a familiar script from the last few seasons — stout defense, clutch goaltending and a dominant showing on special teams.

Behind a pair of power-play tallies from Jake DeBrusk and Patrice Bergeron, the B’s did enough damage against Jordan Binnington to come away with a 3-1 win over the St. Louis Blues on Monday — a much-needed response after Saturday’s lackluster showing up in Toronto.

Linus Ullmark finished with 25 saves in the victory for the Bruins, who improve to 11-2-0 on the season.

While Boston built its lead for good off of those two strikes on the power play, things still got dicey for the B’s due to a lazy second period, with St. Louis tying the game at the time via a Brayden Schenn tally and outshooting Boston, 9-8, in the frame.

But in the third, the Bruins took control of the game and didn’t let up — outshooting St. Louis 15-5 at one point, and taking the lead for good off of goals from Bergeron and Trent Frederic.

Boston is now 7-0-0 at TD Garden this season, and has only trailed a whopping 1:17 in those seven contests. 

Bruins honor McNab ahead of puck drop: The Bruins lost a key member of their fabled "Lunch Pail A.C." era on Sunday — as Peter McNab passed away at the age of 70. 

McNab, who played eight seasons with the Bruins from 1976-84, was one of the most consistent scorers of his era, burying at least 35 goals and 75 points in six consecutive seasons in a B’s sweater. 

McNab — known as “Maxy” by his teammates and fans —  played 595 regular-season games for Boston and ranks 11th in Bruins history in goals (263), 13th in points (575), and 16th in assists (324). On Boston's all-time postseason lists, he ranks eighth in goals (38), 13th in points (74), and 18th in assists (36).

McNab, who was inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 2021, was honored ahead of puck drop with a moment of cheers and appreciation — instead of a moment of silence. 

THREE UP

Linus Ullmark: With Jeremy Swayman still out, Ullmark has now started in five straight games, but the veteran netminder hasn’t seen his game slow down despite the heftier workload. Even with the Blues not necessarily peppering the net for most of the game, Ullmark turned aside some Grade-A chances, including a pad save on Robert Thomas. 

Penalty kill: Another strong showing from the top-ranked PK unit in the league, with Boston snuffing out all three of the Blues’ 5v4 bids on Monday. In total, St. Louis earned three trips to the power play in the first 13:17 of regulation, and only landed three shots on goal. 

Power play: While Boston limited St. Louis’ man advantage, they executed on their own power play, with DeBrusk scoring just 17 seconds into Boston’s first bid and a five-forward unit later cashing in with Bergeron’s shot from the bumper at 12:45 in the third. 

TWO DOWN

Reilly-Zboril pairing: I think we’re starting to see the effects of Boston’s lengthy list of injuries on the blue line, because this Reilly-Zboril duo is getting exposed on a regular basis these days. After some poor rush defense led to Schenn’s equalizer in the second period, Zboril spent most of the game stapled to the bench, finishing with just 10:49 of ice time. 

Second period: In what has been a bit of a concerning trend this season, Boston once again let its details slip in the second period — with Boston outshot and relinquishing a goal to the Blues. While Boston has usually finished strong this season with a plus-13 goal differential in the third, the team currently boasts a -2 goal differential in the middle frame. 

PLAY OF THE GAME

QUOTE OF NOTE

“We’ve got a lot of 2s on our team, but they’re looking like 10s tonight.” - Brad Marchand on the Bruins’ Reverse Retro jerseys. 

LOOKING AHEAD

The Bruins will continue their homestand on Thursday night with a matchup against the Calgary Flames. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.