Christmas Eve came early for Bruins fans around the World as the B's offense breaks out for the 1st time this season. Strong 1st and 3rd periods combined with scoring depth lead Boston to their highest win of the season.
Jarome Iginla (the teams +/- leader with 15) opened the scoring just a minute into the game, deflecting a shot from the blue-line by Captain Zdeno Chara.
Adam McQuaid, who made his comeback after beeing out injured for the last 9 games, set the tone for the rest of the 1st period as he paired off with Eric Nystrom in his first shift back in a Bruins jersey.
The Predators where overwhelmed by the B's offensive presence in the first 10 minutes as Matt Fraser
had time and space to score his 1st goal as a Bruin (2nd NHL goal) to make it 2 - 0 with about 6 minutes played.
Things got worse for a team that is miles away from reaching the playoffs if they continue to play like they've been this season.
Seth Jones to the box and the "new Bruins PP" goes to work. Tic Spooner, Tac Söderberg, Toe Smith and it's 3 - 0 Bruins with just 11 minutes played.
The rest of the period as for most of the 2nd the B's (as usual) dissapeared with what seemed to be a solid three goal lead.
Tuukka Rask was able to denie any Preds chances in the first, but had to give up two goals on Craig Smith in the 2nd and early in the 3rd, cutting the lead down to 1 goal.
With the game about to turn the other way, the B's were awarded a 5 - 3 PP on which they just HAD to score.
Krejci with great vision set's up Iginla in the crease to make it 4 - 2 on the PP. With Gaustad still in the box the B's scored another PPG in person of Carl Söderberg set up by this beautiful play from Ryan Spooner.
Spooner who was called up from Providence alongside line-mate Matt Fraser has now 7 assists in 10 games with "the big club", tied in points with Chris Kelly who's spot he's taken for now. Then again they're two WAY different players which one shouldn't compare just by how many points they've scored. Spooner's time will come, weather he stays up for now (should be aslong as Loui is injured) or starts next eason with the B's.
His first multiple-point game (3 assists) last night was trademarked by his tremendous speed and vision at a young age. Bruins management has always given their prospects plenty of time to learn on the P-Bruins roster and success has given them the right to do so. Tuukka Rask, Adam McQuaid, Johnny Boychuk and Torey Krug just to name a few.
Bruins went 3/3 on the PP and are ranked top 5 in the league now which leads to the question "Who's this team and what did they do to the Bruins ?" It seems as if the B's power-play has finally come back to live after years of draught. The young guys defenitely helped with that, Söderberg - Spooner - Smith seems like a deadly line on the PP for now. Chara and Krug provide the team with shooting power from the blue-line.
Back to the game where Reilly Smith assisted Brad Marchand's 6 - 2 goal on a breakaway late in the 3rd. Smith who's the teams 2nd point leader (4 points behind Krejci) is Mr. Efficiency up front as he's scored on team leading 20.7 % of the shots he took. Peter Chiarelli has made another great deal bringing in him and Fraser alongside injured Loui Eriksson to Boston for Seguin and Peverley.
Smith has chemistry with Bergeron/Marchand, Bergeron/Eriksson, Spooner/Söderberg, Söderberg/Kelly and so on ... It looks like you can put Smith with anyone on the team and he still finds a way to get on the board. One has to remember that he's listed as a 3rd liner and was nowhere near his numbers on a high-scoring Stars roster this spring (19 less points in the same number of games).
I'm still not the guy who's refering to things like "Thank you Seguin" but Matt Kalman sumed it up pretty much last night. Peter Chiarelli has made a great job once again, no matter how the season goes on.
One has also to give credit to Coach Claude Julien who recored his 400th NHL victory as a coach last night.
A team which has went to many injuries to key players in the first half of this season is 2nd in the East. The Bruins depth is as good as it ever was and the young guns show that they're ready for the next step. What more could you just ask for ?
I wish all of you a Merry Christmas with your loved ones ! Bruins will be back Friday night against the Sens.
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