The Boston Bruins notched their third straight win on Tuesday night in a win over the Chicago Blackhawks. The Blackhawks have some sweet memories from TD Garden, and they were scorching hot, on a seven-game winning streak heading into Tuesday. However, the Bruins beat the heat and ended Chicago’s win streak. One of the most important things for the Bruins was to find secondary scoring, mainly in absence of David Pastrnak.
Secondary scoring showed up as they scored six past Colin Delia, who just recently signed a three-year contract extension in Chicago. Head coach Bruce Cassidy hoped to spark the offense with Jake Debrusk. DeBrusk was demoted to the third line for the Bruins’ game against the Avalanche. With Pastrnak being sidelined, DeBrusk was inserted back to his regular spot on David Krejci’s second line.
The last time DeBrusk scored a goal, it came on Jan. 8 when the Bruins steamed past the Minnesota Wild. That night, DeBrusk scored off his belly and it appeared like the goals just keep coming in all kind of situations and manners for him. But for more than a month, DeBrusk had been in a slump. A 13-game skid for the 22-year-old winger saw him collect just two assists over that span.
Nevertheless, DeBrusk bounced back against the Blackhawks as he not only finally scored a goal but also added two assists. He had more points during one game than the previous 13 outings. There were a lot of rumor chatters about the Bruins being interested in Artemi Panarin. One part of the asking price, per sources, is DeBrusk. Has all that affected him, who went from red-hot to pretty much ice-cold in a heartbeat?
“Not at all to be honest with you,” said DeBrusk in his post-game interview with NESN. “I’ve heard about trade rumors since I’ve been with the Bruins. That comes with the territory. It doesn’t really affect me too, too much to be honest with you. Whatever happens, you can’t really control, to be honest, so I don’t really think about that, to be honest. Just a matter of me actually going out there and scoring.”
Jake DeBrusk has 15 goals and seven assists for 22 points in 48 games this season. It’s worth mentioning that DeBrusk missed nine games with a concussion prior to Christmas break. Whether it has been about sophomore struggles, trade chatter, or anything else, DeBrusk tried to remain upbeat and not admit any sort of problem. After all, he is a tough guy as you would expect based on his father´s play.
“I was just missing that feeling a lot, so it was just nice to see it go in and obviously see Krejci get two goals tonight and Heinen get on the board as well. It’s all good signs, especially with Pasta out right now. Hopefully, we can just keep it going,” said DeBrusk.
He’s hopeful that the Bruins will continue to deliver in their upcoming games. And with him being a huge part of that success.
