If there was going to be a sign that the Bruins are truly out of their holiday doldrums, it would be in Detroit of all places.
The Red Wings had gotten the drop on the Black and Gold in each of their two previous regular season meetings while the B’s had handed out 14 power plays in those two meetings, leading to a whopping 10 goals allowed to the Winged Wheels. The Bruins still gave Detroit six power plays on their New Year’s Eve meeting and a late power-play goal that proved meaningless in Boston’s 5-3 win at Little Caesars Arena, but Boston played well in a spirited divisional showdown between combatants that seemed to be preparing to see each other in the postseason.
In the end, the Bruins once again used the same formula for victory that’s seen them now win three games in a row coming out of the holiday break after four straight losses headed into Christmas.
It’s also the same tried-and-true hockey cocktail that built them a gaudy 14-1-3 record to start the year: Opportunistic scoring from guys like Jake DeBrusk and Trent Frederic, superior goaltending and superb special teams play behind a solid defense against a Detroit team that seemed to have Boston’s number. The image of Frederic going top shelf back hand and then immediately challenging Ben Chiarot to a fight was classing Boston Bruins hockey.
Trent Frederic goes backhand shelf and immediately asks Chiarot to drop the gloves. What a flip pass by Pastrnak pic.twitter.com/2RNmWv9IqC
— Spoked Z (@SpokedZ) December 31, 2023
“This was probably our most complete 60 minutes from start to finish in a while, but it came against a team where there is a very slim margin of error to be successful,” admitted Detroit coach Derek Lalonde.
Perhaps the best sign was the way the Bruins bounced back from a controversial second-period sequence when the team challenged a Ben Chiarot goal for what appeared to be clear goalie interference by big Wings forward Michael Rasmussen. Rasmussen hooked Jeremy Swayman’s glove hand prior to the puck passing by him in clear goalie interference action, but the NHL ruled that Brandon Carlo lifted Rasmussen’s stick into Swayman while the goalie was outside the blue paint of the crease after a five plus minute delay due to video review.
Chiarot beats Swayman up high and we are tied in Detroit. 🚨
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) December 31, 2023
The Bruins challenged the goal for goaltender interference but it was ruled a good goal. pic.twitter.com/P93wKKfHKb
That explanation had many hockey people scratching their heads after what looked like clear-cut goalie interference and an interpretation that gives attackers the green light to mess with goaltenders tracking the puck, but the intrepid B’s followed with four fourth-period goals to pull away from Detroit.
That included a pair of empty net goals late in the third period which was another weak spot area for the Black and Gold in the first three months of the season.
“This was a little bit of a gutsy win,” said Frederic, who scored twice early in the contest to get the Bruins going with some good skating legs. “We had tough travel with playing last night and playing a 5:00 game tonight, but I thought we came out with great energy. It was nice to pull that one off.”
So all in all, a feel-good win for Boston.
The question now becomes whether or not the B’s can maintain this level of effort and execution as the NHL heads into the dog days of January and February where there won’t be as many breaks in the schedule. It will be 14 games in 24 days during the New Year starting with their Jan. 2 road date against the Columbus Blue Jackets, and then 12 games in 24 days during the month of February after a “bye week” that stretches from the end of January into the beginning of February in a leap year. The good news: Eight of the B's 12 games in February will be at home including a two-week stretch coming out of their bye week before they head out for a Western Canada road trip.
It will come down to the Bruins players finding ways to manufacture energy and emotion that came easily to them in the Detroit win but will be tougher to do on a February weeknight in Calgary. The Bruins will need to find ways to deploy their fourth line more with Johnny Beecher managing just eight shifts and 4:51 of ice time while Kevin Shattenkirk finished with just 13:23 of ice time on the bottom defensemen pair.
That led to Brad Marchand, Charlie Coyle and David Pastrnak logging a shade under 20 minutes of ice time and both Hampus Lindholm and Charlie McAvoy clocking in with over 23 minutes of ice time as well.
It was a gritty showing for Boston’s best players in the second night of a back-to-back with travel coming off a Saturday night win over the New Jersey Devils, but it’s the kind of heavy lifting that the Bruins will need to avoid over the next few months if they want to maintain a certain level of performance.
“The grind keeps going. I think it’s important that our depth is going to shine in that way,” said Coyle. “You have all four lines rolling and playing good minutes, and you don’t have your first or second line playing 23 or 24 minutes a night where you can kind of save the juice that way. Everybody is rolling, everybody is playing and everybody is involved growing their confidence individually and as a team.
“By the end, you don’t have burnt out guys. You have a well-oiled machine of four lines that can play and of course we have guys in our lineup that can easily play and be in there with injuries and etc. But I think the more we play solid as a team and we have our lines playing the way we want, it’s only going to help us moving forward…so we’re not burnt out.”
Jim Montgomery even alluded to the stark imbalance of minutes while discussing the level of quality win for their third in a row after a four-game losing streak ahead of the Christmas break.
“I think we’re absolutely past that,” said Montgomery of the losing stretch. “I like the way we are competing for each other and the energy on the bench. Even though some guys might not be getting the minutes they want right now, they are being incredible teammates.”
That is well and good and obviously the bottom line is banking points and getting wins in the NHL. But the calendar turning toward January and a new hockey year in 2024 should also be a reminder to the Boston Bruins that more long term challenges lie ahead even as they seem to be finding their game once again.