By: Julia Simone | Follow me on Twitter / X @j_simone40
The Boston Bruins arrived in Florida last Saturday on the heels of a six-game losing streak. The club had not won a game since the new year. Their power play was dismal, clicking at only 12.6%. Both fans and players were frustrated with how the season was panning out until the team faced the defending Stanley Cup Champions down in Sunrise.
The Bruins got off to a great start, with Morgan Geekie scoring a power play goal at 6:02 of the first period, giving the Bruins the early lead. This was Geekie’s tenth goal of the season. The 6’3″ center has been finding his game as of late. It was the first time in weeks that fans saw the power play connect. Geekie continued to contribute offensively after he added a helper to David Pastrnak’s goal at the beginning of the second period to give the Bruins a 2-1 lead.
Oliver Wahlstrom netted his first goal as a Bruin at 2:06 of the third period after he collected a loose puck from Charlie McAvoy. This was his third goal of the season. Wahlstrom’s goal not only regained the lead for the B’s, but it also gave them momentum at the start of the third. The game between the two teams continued to be back and forth. As the clock wound down on the 3rd period, the Bruins looked like they’d be coming away with the win. Then Sam Reinhart scored for the Panthers with three seconds left in regulation, tying the game and sending it into overtime.
The game was both a physical and mental battle for the B’s. The club was so close to ending this hard-fought game in regulation, but once it went into overtime the club dug deep. Pastrnak scored a game-winning power play goal with two seconds left in overtime to win it for the Bruins. He tallied his second goal of the game and 19th of the season. This was also the B’s second power play goal of the game, something that was a key missing piece to the Bruin’s recent play.
The Bruins won the game with a score of 4-3 and snapped a six-game skid. After the win, David Pastrnak told the media, “what a big win for us, we needed it…good win…hell of a win for us and we’re moving forward now.” Jeremy Swayman made 40 saves and easily had his best performance of the season. Head coach Joe Sacco had this to say about the netminder, “he was the difference in the game he played very well and that’s what you need sometimes when you are going through the situation we are. We had outstanding goaltending today”.
The Bruins headed home to face the Tampa Bay Lightning this past Tuesday night. The club defeated the Lightning 6-2 with Swayman making 43 saves. This was his second consecutive 40-save game. This was also only the second time in the last 15 years that a Bruins goalie has had back-to-back 40-plus save games. Parker Wotherspoon scored his first NHL goal and Franklin Mass native, defenseman Michael Callahan, made his NHL debut. Trent Frederic got on the board early in the game, scoring his seventh goal of the season. The Bruins also registered two short-handed empty-net goals in the third period.
This game, along with the overtime win against the Panthers, was a big confidence booster for the Bruins. The club was able to snap their losing streak and finally click on the power play. The game against the Panthers will be deemed a turning point in the season if the Bruins can continue to perform well and carry this momentum into their next games. The B’s will look ahead to Saturday afternoon when they take on the Ottawa Senators.
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