Kalman: Bruins Didn't Squander Favorable Break In Win Over Rangers
BOSTON (CBS) - Now we know why the Bruins love video review so much.
Two days after lamenting the lack of the ability to get a potential goaltender interference penalty against Anaheim forward Corey Perry review, the Bruins got a lift from the boys in the NHL Situation Room on Saturday. And Boston took the momentum from the overrule and ran with it to snap a six-game losing streak with a 4-2 win against the New York Rangers at TD Garden.
The Bruins had been 0-3-3. With the win they took a two-point lead on Ottawa for the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference pending the Senators' result against Toronto Saturday night.
Desperate for offense after scoring 11 goals in those six games, the Bruins needed an early spark against the Rangers, who lead the NHL in goal differential. At 1:41 forward Milan Lucic deflected a rebound of a Patrice Bergeron shot past Henrik Lundqvist with his right skate.
Anyone with a hockey IQ greater than a flea could tell Lucic's intention was to stop the puck or kick it to his stick. However, the goal was disallowed on the ice and then review by the NHL Situation Room. That's when the Bruins got the break they needed, as the ruling was overturned and Boston had a 1-0 lead. By the end of the period, Lucic had scored one more goal and the Bruins had a 3-0 lead.
"It seemed like everything just kind of kept rolling after we got that first break on the first goal," Lucic said. "And it was good to see us step up and play the way that we can play and right now it's just continuing to recapture what we had here tonight. So seven games left, and it's important for us to take it one game at a time and bring this type of emotion into every game from start to finish.
"Obviously it helps when you get out to a 3-0 lead in the first period and every start from here on in is going to be important."
It was ironic that the Bruins were lobbying for video review Thursday. They lost in overtime after Perry scored his controversial game-tying goal after contact with goaltender Tuukka Rask with 30 seconds left. Goaltender interference is not a reviewable play.
But this season the Bruins have definitely (unofficially) lost many more video reviews of goals and disallowed goals than they've won. There have definitely been disallowed goals, involving the Bruins and other teams, that involved less of a kicking motion than Lucic's. So although coach Claude Julien refused to call the overturned play a "break" in the Bruins' favor, that's exactly what it was. When you're relying on a judgement being made from Toronto, anything can happen.
Regardless of your opinion of the call, it clearly relaxed the Bruins in a crucial game against one of the elite teams in the NHL.
"Sitting on the bench thinking maybe it's time we get one to go the other way. And I think that was a momentum boost for our team. Mentally I think it's a good thing to get those to go your way. You get that one to go in and then we just start rolling from there and it was nice," Krug said.
The Bruins this season, though, have had a knack of ruining things. A lot of this season has been dominated by blown leads, lackluster offensive performances against subpar goaltenders and untimely penalties. No mistake was seemingly too small to ruin how the team was playing.
That's why the Bruins are where they are in the standings.
For once though, the black cloud that's hovered over the Bruins all year gave way to sunshine. The video review went their way and they didn't get complacent with a 1-0 lead. They stayed on the attack. And they didn't let down when goaltender Tuukka Rask mysteriously left the game 10 seconds into the second period.
After the game coach Claude Julien said Rask was suffering from "dehydration" and was fine. Backup goaltender Niklas Svedberg, who's taken his share of the blame for Boston's struggles, finished with 16 saves, including a big spot on Rick Nash for his first save of the game.
"Sveddy made a couple great saves that kept the momentum in our favor," Krug said. "I think if they score a goal there right when we switched goalies, I think it's a different type of game. So we're lucky to have him tonight. It speaks to the way the team plays. It doesn't matter what guys are playing. If we play the same way then we're going to get results."
If the Bruins play the way they did against the Rangers, they might not even need the help of the situation room or any video reviews in their quest to earn a playoff spot.
Matt Kalman covers the Bruins for CBSBoston.com and also contributes to NHL.com and several other media outlets. Follow him on Twitter @TheBruinsBlog.
