Anytime a team dresses four new players for the first time as the Boston Bruins did last night, it’s going to take time for players to get comfortable with their new linemates. In last night’s 3-2 win over the Nashville Predators, it took the Bruins exactly one period.
Trailing 1-0 after a first period in which they recorded just five shots and no quality scoring chances, the Bruins (4-4-0) took just 26 seconds to get on the board in the second. Boston ultimately scored three of the game’s final four goals as the new line combinations continually improved throughout the game.
‘In the first period, it was almost just trying to get a feel for each other and playing on our heels a little bit,’ Bruins coach Claude Julien said. ‘Obviously, it wasn’t a great period for us. But then we started playing to win and having confidence in our team. I thought, for the most part, our lines got better as the game went on.’
Less than half a minute into the second frame, rookie Brad Marchand, playing in his first NHL game, collected a loose puck at the Nashville (2-5-1) blue line after it got caught in the linesman’s skates. He slid the puck over to a wide-open Michael Ryder, who proceeded to roof a backhander over Dan Ellis’ (24 saves) left shoulder to tie the game at one.
Six minutes after Nashville recaptured the lead on former Terrier Colin Wilson’s first NHL goal, the Bruins’ second line of Patrice Bergeron, Marchand and Ryder struck again. Zdeno Chara ripped a slap shot from the point that Ellis made the initial save on, but the rebound squirted loose to the left side of the crease, where a waiting Bergeron slid it inside the post before Ellis could recover for his third goal of the season.
‘It took us a while to adjust to where everybody’s going to be on the ice and establish chemistry,’ Bergeron said of his new line. ‘In the second, as soon as we started to move our feet, it really paid off for us.’
Fourth-line center Steve Begin netted what proved to be the game winner 8:33 into the third. Daniel Paille, who was just acquired from the Buffalo Sabres yesterday, worked toward the front of the net from the right corner and tried to center a pass, but it deflected off a Predator defenseman. Fortunately for Boston, it ended up on the stick of Begin, who wasted no time firing it into a half-empty net.
Begin, for one, couldn’t say enough good things about Paille and what he brings to the Bruins’ checking line, which also features Byron Bitz on the other wing.
‘He’s a good skater,’ Begin said. ‘He’s fast. He’s strong on the puck, too. It took us a few minutes, probably the whole first period, to get comfortable. But I thought in the second and third period, we had good chemistry.’
Nashville had one final scoring chance in the game’s waning moments. Defenseman Ryan Suter ripped a slap shot from the top of the point, but Tim Thomas (28 saves) got a piece of it. The rebound bounced around the slot, resulting in another chance for Shea Weber, but Thomas closed his pads on the puck right at the buzzer.
‘They throw it at the net, so I just try and stop it,’ Thomas said. ‘I think I put the rebound toward the far boards. There was a mad scramble and it ended up in someone’s feet.
‘I poke-checked it out, and it went right to the guy in the slot. But I was able to get up. I’m not sure if that shot was before time ran out or after.’
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