Talking Points: DeBrusk, Krejci Off The Schneid; Boston Bruins Win 4-0

Here’s the Talking Points from a resounding 4-0 win for the Boston Bruins over the New York Rangers in the first game of a two-game set that concludes Saturday afternoon at TD Garden.

GOLD STAR: Brad Marchand – Truth be told, the Gold Star could’ve been Jake DeBrusk, David Krejci, David Pastrnak, Patrice Bergeron, or Jaro Halak. However, as I stated in the BHN Live Game Blog, Marchand keeps establishing himself as a Hart and Selke Trophy candidate, at least in this veteran puck scribe’s eyes. Marchand had three helpers and was really the catalyst for the offense early on. His assist on Bergeron’s shorthanded tally was a thing of penalty-killing beauty and just another example of how he continually puts the team on his shoulder when they need someone to lead. Marchand leads the team in assists with 19 and in points with 31.

Pure filth here from Marchand:

What an absurd play from Brad Marchand.

Patrice Bergeron finishes off the shorthanded goal.

2-0 Bruins. pic.twitter.com/TcRhUkknzH

— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) March 12, 2021

BLACK EYE: The New York Rangers team effort. If I’m Rangers head coach David Quinn right now, I’d have the team back on the TD Garden ice right now putting the Rangers through a bag skate reminiscent of the one the late great Herb Brooks did with the 1980 Olympic team prior to the Miracle On Ice. …’Again! Again! Again!’.

It’s hard to believe that this same Rangers squad beat the Bruins 6-2 only two weeks ago. The Rangers looked absolutely disinterested and one has to wonder even when Artemi Panarin comes back Saturday, is this team not far off from falling out of the playoff picture and becoming sellers? There were nine scouts at the game tonight and according to some of them, they were there to watch the Rangers.

TURNING POINT: Krejci and DeBrusk scoring 1:21 apart early in the second period seemed to be the straw that broke the collective backs of the Rangers in this one. Obviously, those were two huge goals for Krejci (his first of the season) and DeBrusk (his first in seven games) but that’s also where you could see the Rangers become deflated and the Boston Bruins go into lockdown mode.

HONORABLE MENTION: Jake DeBrusk. The embattled Boston Bruins winger answered the bell after being benched on Tuesday, scoring his first goal in seven games and his second of the season. What was more impressive though was the two-way game and hustle by DeBrusk who had been called out by head coach Bruce Cassidy for a lack of effort on Tuesday. The fact he wasn’t satisfied after his goal and kept that up is a good sign going forward.

BY THE NUMBERS: 35 – The number of regular season games between goals for David Krejci dating back to Feb. 4, 2020.

QUOTE TO NOTE: “I’m a pretty easy target at the moment. it’s warranted. But I took it personally.” – DeBrusk on using the recent criticism he’s faced as motivation to bounce back and score.