Boston Bruins show resilience, Leafs continue to roll, takeaways from Original Six matchups

Wednesday was a good night for both the Boston Bruins and the Toronto Maple Leafs.

We only had two games to watch on Wednesday night in the NHL, but they were two compelling ones with the Boston Bruins taking on the New York Rangers and the Toronto Maple Leafs battling the Montreal Canadiens in what was two mouthwatering Original Six matchups.

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It turned out to be a productive evening for two of the top teams in the NHL as the Bruins beat the Rangers 3-2 at Madison Square Garden, with Brad Marchand scoring the game-winner in Overtime for the B’s. Julien Gauthier‘s first NHL goal had got the Blueshirts on the board first, before Chris Wagner and Anders Bjork scored back-to-back to put Boston back on top. Kevin Rooney’s third goal of the year did ensure that the Rangers got at least a point for their efforts, but Marchand came up with the goods to win a fourth straight for his team who improved to 9-1-2 on the year.

Auston Matthews was unable to make it nine straight games with a goal but he did tally an assist as the Toronto Maple Leafs kept rolling by beating rivals the Montreal Canadiens 4-2 at Centre Bell. Matthews made it 11 games with a point with a helper on Zach Hyman‘s goal in the third period on a night where the Leafs got contributions from up and down the lineup. It was a big, big win for Toronto who remain the best team in both the North Division and the NHL right now, and this victory could go a long way in deciding who takes the top seed in the all-Canadian Division.

It was a fun night in the National Hockey League with four Original Six franchises slugging it out against each other, and we have division realignment and the shortened schedule to thank for what unfolded on Wednesday. And, although just two games, there’s plenty to break down and we’re going to take a look at the main talking points from across the two showdowns…

Main Storylines from Wednesday’s Original Six feast as Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs continue to roll

Depth comes up clutch for B’s

While it was a usual suspect in Brad Marchand who came up with the game-winner in Overtime for the Boston Bruins, they had their depth to thank for beating the New York Rangers in their first meeting of the 2020-21 season at Madison Square Garden.

After all, the B’s have been carried by The Perfection Line for much of this year with Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak all off to elite starts, while their secondary scoring has once again been largely missing. However, when they needed it most, the Bruins got depth scoring in abundance on Wednesday night.

It started in the second period when, after Julien Gauthier had scored his first-ever career goal in the NHL to give the Rangers the lead, gritty forward Chris Wagner forced a turnover before racing down the ice and ripping the puck in off the post for a shorthanded goal to make it a tied game.

Then, at 9:00 in the third period, the Bruins got another big goal from winger Anders Bjork who got to the front of the net before slipping the puck under the pads of Rangers goalie Alexandar Georgiev for what was a beautiful goal. It was Bjork’s first goal of the season and it certainly got the monkey off his back, while proving to be a big goal in the game. There is no doubt that the Boston Bruins are a legitimate contender this year but, if they want to embark on a deep postseason run, they will need big contributions from up and down the lineup so it was encouraging to see both Chris Wagner and Anders Bjork come up with huge goals on Wednesday.

Rangers perhaps unlucky

While the final standings will ultimately tell the full story, this was always going to be another development year for the rebuilding New York Rangers and, despite losing on Wednesday night, they are showing tangible signs of progress. And, let’s not forget, the Boston Bruins are an absolute juggernaut so this was never going to be easy.

However, since placing troubled defenseman Tony DeAngelo in exile, this Rangers team is seemingly playing with more freedom given that there are no more distractions inside the locker room for this young group, and they actually played a good game of hockey against the Bruins.

They outshot the B’s 35-32 and could have easily won the game were it not for the heroics of Boston goaltender Tuukka Rask, who stopped 33 of the 35 shots he faced, including pulling off this absolutely sublime glove save to rob Mika Zibanejad in what was no doubt the save of the game.

But, despite the loss, which dropped the Blueshirts to 4-5-3 on the year, there were plenty of positives to take from the game including the fact that Zibanejad looks to slowly be getting back to his best following a slow start to the 2020-21 season due to a bout of COVID-19 during the offseason. Zibanejad looked a lot more lively and he could have had at least a hat trick were it not for the brilliance of Rask.

The Rangers also got stellar goaltending from Alexandar Georgiev who stopped 29 of the 32 shots he faced, rebounding from what had been a tough start to the year. Also, the Blueshirts got some depth scoring as Julien Gauthier recorded his first-ever career goal in the National Hockey League, while power forward Kevin Rooney scored his third goal of the year and the fact that they are getting contributions from up and down the lineup can be a source of encouragement for the coaching staff. So, while this was another tough loss, the New York Rangers showed some more maturity and if they play like that again then they could gain revenge on the Boston Bruins when these two teams meet again tonight.

The Comeback Kings

By beating the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night, the Boston Bruins achieved a slice of history by recording four straight comeback wins for the first time in franchise history. And, to make it even better, all four came on the road.

One of the hallmarks of any great team is being able to overcome adversity and respond to it, and the Bruins have done that plenty this year. They lost two franchise cornerstones and two huge pieces of their defense during the offseason in Zdeno Chara and Torey Krug, while they also had to open the 2020-21 season without their most potent weapon in David Pastrnak.

However, Charlie McAvoy has elevated his game and has really stepped up on the backend, Pastrnak has returned and hasn’t missed a beat and this team seems to be playing with a chip on their shoulder when it comes to proving that their window is far from closed.

And the fact that they are able to consistently and repeatedly come back from being down, no matter how big the deficit, is a hugely encouraging sign for this team when it comes to their Stanley Cup prospects in 2020-21. They went a goal down midway through the first period against the Rangers but were patient,  bided their time and then struck at just the right time, before getting the job done in Overtime.

Now, you don’t want to always be chasing games and being forced to come from behind in every single game, but the Boston Bruins have proved that they have character and tenacity in abundance and that will only serve them well this year, especially given the fact that they are stuck in what is a loaded and hugely competitive East Division, where there will probably be a lot more close games than in any other division.