The Much Needed Shot In The Arm

Saturday, January 8th, 8:55PM - The Bruins are clinging to a 1 point lead in the division over Montreal, and hold a 2-0 with 5 minutes remaining in the third period against the rival Habs on the road. In front of a packed Bell Centre, Scott Gomez nets a power play goal with 2:22 remaining in the period, and Bruins fans hold their breath as they know how the team performs in one-goal games. Unsurprisingly, Brian Gionta nets the tying goal with 41 seconds to go. It was safe to say the Bruins were completely deflated, and it was obvious that overtime was not favorable for them. After Blake Wheelers tripping penalty 10 seconds into overtime, the Canadians took total puck control, and Max Pacioretty netted the game winner at the 3:43 mark. The Bruins officially lost their third in a row to Montreal on the season, and fell into a tie for the division lead with the hated Habs.
Monday, January 10th, 9:03PM - Coming off one of the worst losses of the season, the Bruins needed a jolt, but it didn't look like it would come on this night. Facing an 0-2 deficit in Pittsburgh, the Bruins offense couldn't seem to generate anything, and found themselves losing against a Sydney Crosby-less Penguins team. After most fans had tuned out, Brian Orpik put the B's on a power play with a roughing penalty with 5:21 remaining in the game. With two seconds remaining on the power play, Zdeno Chara fired his 100+ MPH slapshot in to bring the B's within one. Amazing, only 12 seconds later Brad Marchand found the net to tie the game. The CONSOL Energy Center went silent, and the Bruins all of a sudden came to life. Jordan Staal was then called for holding Dennis Seidenberg only a minute later, and it took just 78 seconds for Mark Recchi to put the Bruins ahead, 3-2. With less than a minute remaining, the deflated Pens pulled Fleury, and Greg Campbell sealed the win with an empty netter at the 19:52 mark. The Bruins not only earned their 2 points in a must-win game, but they did it in spectacular fashion.

When the season ends, Bruins fans will look back on this game as a season changer. The Bruins have had quite a few periods of struggle, including 7 back-to-back losses already this season. During their late-December 5 game road trip, they managed to get 8 out of 10 possible points, which looked great coming into the new year. But when they finally returned home, they looked awful in a 3-1 loss to the Wild, and needed a spark as they went to Montreal and Pittsburgh before coming home to play the next 5 of 6 at the Garden. The Pittsburgh game was huge for not only this team in the standings, but also in terms of confidence. B's fans are notoriously cut-throat, and if they played poorly during their homestand they would surely hear about it. But coming off the Pitt game to play four in a row at home, the Bruins got the shot in the arm that they needed and should come out strong and rejuvenated against the Senators tonight at the Garden. The B's have split the season series with Ottawa so far, winning 4-0 on the road in October, but losing 2-0 at home November 13th. Starting off this homestand with a victory will be huge for this team, and it was all made possible by the thrilling victory against the Penguins on Monday night.