Here are my talking points from a dominant night for the Bruins at TD Garden:
GOLD STAR: Patrice Bergeron only played 12:13 of ice time in Tuesday night’s win over the Wild, but still managed to pile up a goal, three points and six shot attempts while winning 8-of-16 face-offs. Bergeron scored his goal in the second period, but he was at his best in the first when he fired a couple of long range shots that turned into goals for Brad Marchand and Jake DeBrusk. The Marchand goal was a Bergeron blast from the high point that bounced off the end boards, and No. 63 make a great play to cut back to the net and somehow get a shot off while changing direction on the fly. The DeBrusk goal was a Bergeron shot from just inside the blue line that bounced off the second-year winger’s chest and then ended up in the net. After making a few plays in the first, Bergeron and the Bruins were on cruise control for the rest of the game.
BLACK EYE: If Charlie Coyle is trying to audition for the Bruins, he’s not exactly lighting it up for Bruins management. A shot on net, a minus-1 and 5-of-12 in the face-off circle in 15:32 of ice time for the Weymouth hockey star, who has been mentioned pretty prominently on the trade block over the last few months. He’s a pretty good player, but nights like tonight seem a little too commonplace with the B’s in need of somebody that can come in and be a difference-maker. Maybe they end up with each other in the end because it makes the most sense of any deals out there, but I really think the B’s should be setting their sights a little higher.
TURNING POINT: It was the Bruins jumping on the board less than six minutes into the first period with Danton Heinen redirecting a John Moore point blast. The goal got the Bruins going while watching the struggling Heinen win a battle in front of the net, and it also deflated and disheartened a Wild bunch that was already looking for a reason to quit after playing in Montreal on Monday night. The Bruins followed with two more goals in a first period where they outshot the Wild 15-6 and that was pretty much it for a Minnesota team that looked like they wanted to hop on the jet and go home. Credit the B’s for sweeping the leg early and keeping the Wild from doing pretty much anything.
BRUINS 4, WILD 0
HONORABLE MENTION: Give it to Tuukka Rask for the 24-save shutout where he really wasn’t tested at all aside from an Eric Staal partial breakaway in the first period that he effectively snuffed out with his glove hand. It was the 42nd shutout of Rask’s career and the 250th victory of his career as well, as an otherwise nondescript victory over Minnesota in a Tuesday night in January will end up holding plenty of significance for the Bruins goaltender. Rask’s save percentage on the season is now all the way up to .920 and he’s once again going through a dominant stretch in the middle of the season. It will be interesting to see if he can keep this going a few months from now, but for now the B’s will gladly ride it while playing good defense in front of him.
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BY THE NUMBERS: 1 – the first Bruins shutout of the Wild in 23 games between the two NHL franchises. Nashville and Vegas remain the only two teams that the Bruins have never shut out in their franchise history.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “The past couple weeks -- it’s not about trading chances, you know. I think we’re just playing tight as a unit. Like defending and then attacking smart and the past few games I think we’ve been funneling pucks to the net more with some traffic, and today especially it paid off big time. That’s a great sign because that’s how you’ve got to play come the springtime.” –Tuukka Rask, on the play of the B’s over the last few weeks amidst a five-game win streak.
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