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The Boston Bruins hoped for a spark when they fired Claude Julien and replaced him with interim head coach Bruce Cassidy. But wins in seven of eight games was not a reasonable expectation. It’s just what the Bruins have, though, thanks to a 4-1 win over the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday night.
“You want to have positive energy, right, and positive thoughts,” Cassidy said when asked if he expected his second jump behind an NHL bench and his first since 2003 going this well right away. “So, you never know how it’s going to play out. I think we have a very good group in there that are capable of putting up – making plays offensively, creating their chances. Right now, they’re going in. I’m sure at some point, we’re going to run up against it where they don’t. We’re going to have to be able to win 2-1 games, and we have. We did it in San Jose. So, I just want the guys to make sure that they play confident, solid hockey and believe in themselves. And play to a standard. We’re trying to set a standard where we’re one of the better teams in the National Hockey League. They’ve been there before, the leadership group here. That’s where we’re striving to get through in the end.”
Back in Boston after a bye week and four-game West Coast road swing, the hapless Coyotes presented the Bruins with a classic trap game, but countered that idea with a Colin Miller goal scored just three minutes into the first period, and 1-0 lead through the first 20 minutes of action.
And when the Coyotes tied things up in the second period behind a Peter Holland power-play goal, the Bruins not only failed to let the Coyotes do anything with a five-minute power-play opportunity, but instead made them pay with a Riley Nash shorthanded goal. Before the period was finished, the Bruins had another two goals against Arizona’s Mike Smith, and chased him with four goals on just 14 shots.
“It’s our resiliency,” Cassidy noted when asked of the positives in this game. “There’s situations where – trap games they’ll call them, where you come back off the road, that first game at home, can you keep and sustain the energy level? I know it was sloppy out there at times, but we pushed through it.”
“I think having that lead was key for us whether we were up one-nothing or two-one,” Nash said of their second period response. “That was big, we’ve been playing pretty good defensively through the neutral zone and the d-zone lately. And we always feel like obviously with our top two lines, top three lines, the way they’ve been playing lately whenever we get turnovers we can capitalize, so just being sound in the neutral zone and d-zone and capitalize when you have the chance.”
It all allowed the Bruins to focus on their own-zone defense in an easygoing third period.
“Even though we had a three-goal lead, we didn’t give them a chance to get back into it,” Cassidy said. “Then, we had chances to extend it. So, that’s kind of the situation whether you have a one-goal lead or three, you want to make them earn everything, go 200 feet, and then, if you can, extend the lead. So, I think it was a good third period in that regard.”
Tuukka Rask made 22 saves in the win.
With the win, the B’s have four straight home wins for the first time since Nov. 2014.
This and that
- The big topic in this game? Colin Miller’s hit on Alex Burmistrov. What do we think? I don’t think this is something we’ll see on a Don Cherry VHS, which I guess is my way of saying that I personally fall into the category of calling it an unfortunate outcome to what should have been a rather routine hit.
First, what a horrible pass from the rookie Jacob Chychrun. Call it a buddy pass, a suicide pass, whatever. But he did not do his teammate any favors on that attempt. And Burmistrov’s leaning extension did not help No. 91 much, as it lowered his body into a primetime slot for a massive hit.
“It looked like it was a clean hit, even though [Alexander] Burmistrov’s in a vulnerable position. Again, we want to see him – [Burmistrov]’s health is first and foremost. But, I thought it was a clean hit from my vantage point,” Cassidy said after the game. “We had a quick discussion with the officials. It’s a bang-bang call, so we’re not going to beat it up. That’s what I saw, and I guess down the road, they’ll look at it or they won’t, I don’t know what will happen there. But, like I said, we’re glad he’s okay.”
Miller noted that he reached out to Burmistrov after the game via text, and that Burmistrov acknowledged the incident as a ‘hockey play’ and that he ‘understood’ Miller meant no real harm.
- With two assists in this win, Bruins center Patrice Bergeron moved into sole possession of the seventh-most assists in Bruins history, with 404. He entered the game tied at 402 with Terry O’Reilly.
- Before the game, Bruins general manager Don Sweeney noted that while Anton Khudobin has played better of late the club has had discussions regarding a potential trade for a backup goaltender by the deadline. A source has indicated that the B’s have an interest in Jaroslav Halak, so that’s something worth noting before Wednesday’s 3 p.m. deadline. The Islanders would have to retain some of Halak’s $4.5 million cap-hit next season for the Bruins to have legitimate interest in such a trade.
Up next
Well, the trade deadline. But after that, the Bruins return for a Thursday night head-to-head against the Rangers. The Bruins have been blown out by the Rangers in both prior meetings this season.
Ty Anderson is the Boston Bruins beat writer for WEEI.com, and has been covering the National Hockey League for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010. He can be heard on the Saturday Skate program on 93.7 WEEI (Boston), can also be found in the New England Hockey Journal magazine, and has been part of the Boston Chapter of the PHWA since 2013. Contact him on Twitter or send him an email at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com.
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