BOSTON – It might not end up being the first thing to put on Matt Beleskey’s list of accomplishments this season, but the B’s left winger has been noticeable in the way he shows up for work every single night. It’s true even in the toughest of losses this season for the Black and Gold, and it proved true again on Monday night in the 6-4 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets at TD Garden.
Beleskey had a pair of goals while paying the price to redirect point shots past Columbus goaltender Joonas Korpisalo, and has now cracked double-digit goals with his 10th and 11th goals of the season. It’s only the third time in seven NHL seasons that the 27-year-old has posted double-digit goal totals, but it’s also the second straight season he’s done it after posting a career-high 22 goals for the Anaheim Ducks last season.
With three goals and four points in the last two games, it’s abundantly clear Beleskey is picking up his game and feeling some positive momentum.
“I think confidence … Mr. Selanne always said it’s like ketchup, once it starts coming they keep coming. So that’s hopefully something that keeps working for me,” said Beleskey. “When you haven’t been scoring for a while it’s good to just get in front of the net and try to get your stick on your ice. That seemed to work tonight.”
Beleskey is now on pace for 15 goals and 41 points on the season, which would be just about exactly what they hoped to get out of the rugged left winger after signing him last summer as a big name free agent. But Monday night’s postgame wasn’t a time for backslapping and feeling good about himself for Beleskey, and instead both Beleskey and Loui Eriksson were lamenting their team’s collective defensive inadequacies after both of their two-goal performances were wasted in defeat.
“I just think we had some lapses that killed us. We had four goals that were four-on-twos, and just kind of some mental errors and they capitalized,” said Beleskey. “It is hard to understand why it’s happening. I don’t know. I think we’re playing hard in front of the fans here. Maybe we’re not as focused or something. It’s no excuse; we need to be better at home for our fans.”
It’s unclear how much better Beleskey needs to be, though. Most night he’s giving everything he has on the ice for the Black and Gold, and that perhaps can’t always be said for everybody on the same Bruins roster.