Goalies, as a leadership group, overcome hardship by persevering in doing “whatever it takes to win.”
Edmonton Against the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place on Wednesday, the Boston Bruins showed an amazing capacity to remain composed in the face of difficulty.
The Boston Bruins showed great mental toughness by rallying to win 6-5 in overtime despite blowing a three-goal lead.
Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman stated, “I think that’s an identity of ours.” “It was not exactly how we drew it up, but it was really special to get those two points and the way we did it through adversity and their push, I think that’s really something special for our group moving forward.”
The victory moved the Bruins (34-12-11) back to the top of the Eastern Conference, where they are now two games clear of the New York Rangers and one point ahead of the Florida Panthers. Boston, which sets NHL records for wins (65) and points (135), is hoping to make up for losing to the Calgary Flames in the Stanley Cup Playoffs First Round last season. The team plays at home against them on Thursday (9 p.m. ET; SN1, SNW, NESN).
Despite the retirement of forward David Krejci and captain Patrice Bergeron, Boston is still one of the best teams in the League and is hoping to improve on last year’s playoff loss.
The culture here, in my opinion, is the most important factor, Bruins defenseman Mason Lohrei stated. “[Brad Marchand] is our captain and these guys just know how to win; they’ve done it so much that you’re never out of it, no matter what’s going on.”
Charlie McAvoy, a defenseman who scored against the Oilers in OT, and forwards Marchand, David Pastrnak, and Charlie Coyle lead the Bruins’ still formidable leadership group. Leading a diligent blue line, McAvoy had to rely on five defenseman in the early going against Edmonton due to Matt Grzelcyk’s injury 65 seconds into the game
Boston dominated the first half of their game against Edmonton, which has had a comeback since coach Kris Knoblauch replaced Jay Woodcroft on November 12, even though they were playing a defensemen short. A 30-9-1 team, under Knoblauch, is the Oilers.
Before the game, Oilers captain Connor McDavid remarked, “[The Bruins have] done such a good job year after year just building a culture, a winning culture, and it shows”. “They bring in men and keep winning even though they lose a significant portion of their team in those two center players (Krejci and Bergeron). It’s quite stunning.
With one of the league’s best goalie tandems at their back, the Bruins will once again be a tough opponent in the postseason. With the victory over Edmonton, Swayman’s record increased to 18-6-7. In 32 games (31 starts), he has a 2.47 goals-against-average and a.920 save percentage. Linus Ullmark is 16-6-4 with a 2.72 gaa and.914 saving percentage in 27 games (26 starts), and he won the Vezina Trophy as the best goalie in the NHL last season.
Following a difficult period during which Edmonton rallied on Wednesday, Swayman kept the game close until McAvoy won it with two incredible saves against Leon Draisaitl on the penalty kill in OT.
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