The Boston Bruins won in regulation for only the second time in February, defeating the St. Louis Blues 4-2 on Feb. 22. Feb. 22 also happens to be the anniversary of the Miracle on Ice, when the underdog Team USA beat the powerhouse USSR squad in a 4-3 victory. With this victory, the Bruins end a 21-game home point streak that the Blues had built up since the beginning of December.
The first period was by far the most hectic period of Bruins hockey in a long time. Brad Marchand opened the scoring at 2:29 in the first with an unassisted shot that eluded All-Star goalie Brian Elliott. Marchand nabbed the puck from Kevin Shattenkirk after he took it away, then held possession and snapped it into the net. The Bruins added to their first-period lead with a goal from Milan Lucic, assisted by Joe Corvo and Lucic’s new linemate Chris Kelly. (The top line was reshuffled to consist of Milan Lucic-Chris Kelly-David Krejci and this reshuffling seemed to work pretty well.)
However, the Bruins did let go of this two-goal lead when St. Louis’ Chris Stewart and Ryan Reaves both put one past Tim Thomas during the first period. Just when it looked like the Bruins would take a 2-2 tie to the dressing room after the first, Kelly scored with less than a minute left to play, helped out by Lucic and Johnny Boychuk.
Also in the first period, Adam McQuaid took on B.J. Crombeen only seconds after Marchand scored. In a fairly even-matched fight set to the Beastie Boys’ “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party),” McQuaid and Crombeen exchanged jab after jab before both taking to the ice.
The second period was markedly slower. The Bruins managed only four shots on goal to the Blues’ 14, but neither team added to the scoreboard. Boychuk tried with a shot that ended up hitting the iron and was reviewed, but declared a definitive no goal. There were also no penalties called on either side.
In the third period, Marchand added to the Bruins’ lead with a breakaway goal that began as a save by Tim Thomas. Thomas kicked the puck away and Tyler Seguin attempted to clear it. When the Blues’ Chris Stewart came in to try and grab possession, Patrice Bergeron took it away and passed it back to Seguin, who sent it cross-ice to a breaking Marchand, who deked and sent the puck past Elliott to broaden the score to 4-2. Before the game, Jack Edwards and Andy Brickley said that this line was going to be a key to a Bruins win. All three members contributed in their own ways and made their prediction correct.
Boston had only one power play chance at the end of the third when David Backes was called for goaltender interference. Nothing happened, but by then, nothing needed to happen. (St. Louis also had just one power play toward the end of the first period and did not capitalize on it.) They won 4-2, once again refusing to lose three times in a row. Beating a very good team in their famously tough-to-win-in home arena, breaking a streak that started last year, on the anniversary of the Miracle on Ice might very well restore some good feelings to Bruins fans. It remains to be seen if the team can ride this momentum into the Feb. 24 meeting with the Buffalo Sabres.
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