The Boston Bruins met the New York Islanders on Tuesday night at Nassau Coliseum and played their best game of the season as they took the Islanders down 5-0. The win came in a very important moment for the Bruins, as they were sorely in need of a convincing win.
The Bruins have lost four straight on the road, all to quality opponents such as the Winnipeg Jets or St. Louis Blues. Going to the playoffs knowing that the Bruins won’t have the home-ice advantage against the Tampa Bay Lightning, not winning on the road can pose a problem. The Islanders featured the league’s best defense, allowing just five goals in four games played last week.
But the Bruins didn’t want to hear anything about how great the Islanders were as they smashed them 5-0. Not only that, they outshot them 39-13. “Nearly a perfect game for the Bruins,” said Jack Edwards right after the final horn. No, it wasn’t nearly a perfect game. It was just perfect.
Captain Zdeno Chara said before the game, that with 10 games left to play in the regular season, the playoffs start now. And his teammates responded on that call. Even Big Zee himself responded the bell right at the start of the second period when he dropped Matt Martin in a fight.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLn4iTAHDCA]
The last time the Bruins won a game by more than just one goal, it was on Feb. 28 against the Tampa Bay Lightning when the B’s won 4-1 at TD Garden. Their last victory by at least five goals came on Oct. 13, when they crushed the Detroit Red Wings 8-2 at TD Garden. A win by a six-goal margin was the only of its kind this season. It came early in the season against a struggling team like Detroit. This time around, late in the season, on the road against one of the best teams in the NHL, it was much better. It was the best game of the Bruins season so far.
Other things to get happy about from that huge win: Jake DeBrusk, playing in just his second game since his return, scored a goal. David Pastrnak returned back to action after a lengthy absence. His game was definitely rusty a lot, but there are still nine more games left to play to shake that rust off for sure. All of the other injured players like Marcus Johansson, Torey Krug or Matt Grzelcyk are nearing the return.
As the battle for the second spot in the Atlantic Division draws to a close, the Toronto Maple Leafs lost 3-0 in Nashville to increase the Bruins’ lead in the standings to six points. In their remaining nine games in the season, the B’s have to gain 13 points in order to clinch the second spot in the Atlantic Division if the Leafs win out.
Before clinching the second spot in the Division, the Bruins need to clinch a playoff spot first. They can come close to clinching the playoff berth with a win on Thursday night in New Jersey combined with a loss for the Montreal Canadiens against the Islanders at Bell Centre. More realistically, the B’s will officially clinch beyond Thursday, but it would take impossible things to happen for Boston to miss the playoffs.
