Seth Griffith Scores First NHL Goal, Sparks Bruins' Comeback Win Against Sharks
BOSTON (CBS) - Through two periods Tuesday, Bruins forward Seth Griffith made his case to coach Claude Julien to keep the right winger on a line with center David Krejci and left winger Milan Lucic for the third period.
Julien obliged and the move paid off.
Griffith scored his first NHL goal at the 4:50 mark of the third period to start a comeback that resulted in a 5-3 win against the San Jose Sharks at TD Garden.
Griffith's goal tied the game 3-3 after defenseman Torey Krug's shot was knocked down in front and the puck squirted out from a battle between Lucic and a few Sharks out to Griffith at the right hash mark. Griffith jumped into the glass like he was either excited that he scored or he saw Kate Upton on the other side of the glass and wanted a hug.
"It was just my first one, so I had to do something a little crazy I guess," he said.
In the past couple games that Griffith played, he started on Krejci's line but wound up being swapped for Simon Gagne in the third periods. In the first 40 minutes against the Sharks, Griffith had two shots on goal, was on the ice for a power-play goal by teammate Brad Marchand and wasn't on the ice for any goals against. Griffith still wasn't sure where he'd be playing in the third period.
"You never know, right? Because it wasn't like that in the past couple games," he said. "So you know, I'm obviously happy that I got a chance to play in the third and we didn't give up too many chances in our own end, so it was good to see as well."
Julien said that Griffith earned the right to stay with the Bruins' big guns.
"Because he played well. You know he was playing well," Julien said about his decision to not make any changes with his team down 3-2 after two periods. "I thought he made some great plays. Again, this isn't because he scored. I think he scored because he played well. I think he's pretty good. That's a big team and I thought he handled himself well along the walls and making good plays. And the thing is I thought we had four lines going fairly well."
Finding the right combination for two of the Bruins' four lines has been a quest for the Holy Grail. Against San Jose, Gagne seemed to blend well with Daniel Paille and Gregory Campbell, who scored the go-ahead goal at 10:42. And Griffith found a home for the full game for the first time.
At 5-foot-9, 192 pounds, Griffith doesn't have the look of someone that can be the full-time replacement for Jarome Iginla on Krejci's right side. And one has to figure that if the Bruins' are going to make a legitimate run at turning their Stanley Cup championship dreams into reality, they're going to need someone bigger, more experienced and just all-around better to come in and play that role in the near future.
Heck just a couple days ago it looked like his time in the NHL might be over. He was a healthy scratch in Buffalo on Saturday and then was assigned to Providence of the American Hockey League, where he played center Sunday. Griffith had a clue the Bruins were giving him just one game to shake off some rust before calling him back up, but he also knew he had to not screw up. He played well, scored an empty-net goal and was back with Boston the next day.
At the very least, he's now earned another chance to start the Bruins' game on Thursday against the New York Islanders with Krejci and Lucic. Whether he finishes in that spot will be up to him.
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