Plus/Minus: Marchand Heating Up, Helps Bruins Win Again In Overtime
BOSTON (CBS) - The Bruins won their third straight contest Tuesday night, a 2-1 overtime win over Shawn Thornton and the Florida Panthers.
The B's are now 4-1 since defenseman Zdeno Chara went down with a knee injury. There's still no timetable for his return.
The Patrice Bergeron line really carried the load against Florida. Between Bergeron, Reilly Smith and Brad Marchand, those three accounted for nearly half the total shots in the game. Marchand had the game winner in overtime, and Bergeron scored the B's other goal earlier in the game.
Following the game, 98.5 The Sports Hub's Adam Jones caught up with Dave Goucher and Bob Beers of the Bruins Radio Network to break it all down.
"Their quickness up front [gave Florida problems]. It seemed like they were a threat almost every time they touched the ice," said Goucher.
"You could feel it coming. They had their moments, and head coach Claude Julien broke them up here recently as well, but lately it's been much better. Marchand is starting to heat up now. He's had four goals in the last three games. His quickness tonight was evident. He scored the overtime winner, but he could have had a couple other goals. Bergeron scored. Reilly Smith was pretty effective on that line as well. It's good to see them get back to being effective as line, which kind of went away for awhile. But it came back tonight. They were dominant."
Check out Marchand's goal one more time:
https://vine.co/v/OezUAxg1qx1
Bob Beers also touched on the second line's chemistry coming back.
"They're working well as a unit. The ability to work well off of one another, they're each skilled in their own way with the quickness, the shot and the release. Reilly Smith is kind of elusive when he's around the puck. As long as he's winning battles along the boards he's going to be around the puck a lot. He has the abilities to make plays," said Beers. "Bergeron is good at pretty much whatever he does. Their ability to work off one another, as well as trying to find their own games there for a handful of games led to the break up of that line, but reuniting them quickly worked. They were put right back together again and certainly they responded in the right way."
Listen below for Dave and Bob's full analysis!
After his chat with Dave Goucher and Bob Beers, Adam Jones gave his three highlights and lowlights from the game in a segment he calls "Plus/Minus."
Plus
Brad Marchand
"His goal in overtime was his second OT-winner in a week and his fourth goal in three games. He also picked up an assist on the Patrice Bergeron goal. He was also a plus-2 and had 2 points."
Patrice Bergeron
"It was a big night for the team's alternate captain. His goal at the 7:29 mark in the second period even the score at one goal apiece and was his second goal of the season. He led the Bruins with six shots and was 10-for-19 in the faceoff circle."
Tuukka Rask
"He didn't see too many shots tonight, but he stopped nearly everything he saw, including a highlight-reel save on Rocco Grimaldi. Tuukka stopped 18 of the 19 shots he faced."
Minus
Dougie Hamilton & Dennis Seidenberg
"They were asked to play big minutes tonight for the Bruins. Over 26 minutes for Dougie and over 24 minutes for Seidenberg. They gave up way too much room in the slot on Florida's goal by Jussi Jokinen."
Lucic-Kelly-Griffith
"It's obvious they miss David Krejci. He's missed five games this season, and when he's out Milan Lucic has looked invisible. That line combined for zero shots on goal, four hits -- three of them from Lucic."
Simon Gagne
"It's tough to pick on a fourth liner, but he was one of only two Bruins who were in the minus, including Daniel Paille. He was the only player in single digits in terms of minutes. Only one shot on goal."
Listen below for the full segment!
Hear every game of the 2014-15 Boston Bruins season on 98.5 The Sports Hub — the flagship station of the Boston Bruins. Pregame coverage with Dave Goucher and Bob Beers begins 30 minutes prior to every game!
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