Connect with us

Boston Bruins

Rask, Marchand And Chara Steal Win: Bruins Report Card vs. Senators

Published

4 years ago

on

After absolutely throttling the Montreal Canadiens in an 8-1 win at the Bell Centre in Montreal Tuesday night, the Boston Bruins went old school and rode the train from Montreal to Ottawa. Well, apparently it was a fun ride because the Bruins came out against the Ottawa Senators looking like maybe they needed some 5-Hour Energy or the hair of the dog. Whatever they found in the second intermission worked and but that would never have mattered as goalie Tuukka Rask made 33 saves to help them sneak out Ottawa with a 2-1 win.

The Bruins were outshot 9-3 through the first period and then 15-7 in the second. They finally found their legs a bit in the third, getting goals from Brad Marchand and captain Zdeno Chara 3:30 apart after a snipe from Senators defenseman Thomas Chabot 41 tick into the third period, but they don’t even sniff a chance at winning if not for goalie Tuukka Rask. Rask held the fort down for the first two periods and finished with ten saves en route to his and the team’s fifth straight win.

Rask Took One For The Team

Coming off the franchise’s most lopsided victory ever against their archrivals in Montreal the night before and making their way via train to Ottawa late Tuesday night, there’s a solid chance the Bruins did some “team bonding” (wink-wink) and well deserved if they did. The Bruins have overcome constantly being minus regulars like Patrice Bergeron and Torey Krug in their lineup so far and yet still carried a eight-game point streak (5-0-3) into this tail end of a back-to-back against the Senators. Rask made it known from the get-go he had his teammates’ backs and would steady the ship until they found their sails. Rask has now allowed just two or fewer goals in ten of 16 games this season.

Marchand Seizes The Moment

Marchand leads the Bruins with 43 points now and has 18 goals through 25 games. He’s on a four-game goal streak with five lamplighters during that span and he’s got a five-game point streak with 11 points in that stretch. There’s no doubt he’s proven himself as an elite scorer and player in this league. However, what makes him an early Hart Trophy candidate at this point is when he gets his goal and assists. Marchand didn’t pad his team-leading four game-winning goals Wednesday night but he did tie a game the Bruins really had no business being in just 4:34 after Sens defenseman Thomas Chabot broke a scoreless tie 41 ticks into the first period. That gave the listless Bruins some wind and helped lead to the game-winner by Chara.

Big Zee Honored And Then Delivers

Prior to signing with the Bruins back on July 1, 2006, Chara played five seasons maturing into the marquee stay at home defenseman and leader he became with the Bruins. Chara hit the 1500-game plateau back on November 5 and in his first visit of the season to the Canadian Tire Centre, his former team paid homage to the Bruins captain for his recent milestone. Whether they wanted it or not, Chara continued his recent offensive surge scoring the eventual game-winner 8:45 into the third period. Chara has now matched his season goal total from last year with five lamplighters in just 25 games after five in 64 last season. He has a four-game point streak going with a goal and three assists and looks like a man on a mission rather than a guy pushing 43.

 

 

 

Related Topics:

Copyright ©2023 National Hockey Now and Boston Hockey Now. Not affiliated with the Boston Bruins or the NHL.