By: Tom Calautti | @TCalauttis
The Boston Bruins put up a five-spot on Jim Montgomery and the St. Louis Blues in his return to TD Garden. Here’s how it all went down:
Steeves Continues His Hot Streak
With David Pastrnak still on the shelf, head coach Marco Sturm has elected to deploy Alex Steeves on his top unit along with Morgan Geekie and Elias Lindholm. That decision has paid significant dividends.
The scoring opened six and a half minutes into the opening frame when Boston’s first line combined for a tic-tac-toe goal finished off by Steeves to take a one-goal lead. The tally was Steeves’ sixth goal of the season and his fifth in the last five games.
“(It’s) just the way he plays,” said Marco Sturm about the recent play of Alex Steeves. “He plays hard, plays the right way. I think he feels really good about his game overall, and now he finds the back of the net, so it’s good for him.”
The trio got back to work about five minutes later to increase the lead to 2-0. Steeves took on two St. Louis defenders below the goal line and helped force a puck to an uncovered Lindholm. He found a wide-open Geekie in front of the net who tucked one under the crossbar for his 21st goal of the season (good enough for 2nd in the NHL.
“I mean, it’s been fun,” said Steeves when asked about developing an NHL scoring touch. “It’s nice playing with world-class players up and down the lineup. To be honest, it’s a little bit of learning but also just trusting my abilities and having the confidence to get to the right areas.”
He continued, “Goal scoring is part of my identity. I love it, you can probably see it with my celebrations. It’s a big release for me, but credit goes to (my) linemates and coaching staff for putting me in really good positions.”
Second Line Owns the 2nd
The middle frame got off to a less-than-ideal start for the Black and Gold. St. Louis came out of the locker room strong and cut the lead to one just 1:59 into the second when Pavel Buchnevich one-timed a snapshot past Joonas Korpisalo.
The Bruins fell into a familiar lull after the Blues’ opening tally, spending most of the following four minutes treading water against a heightening St. Louis attack. That all changed when Viktor Arvidsson unleashed a wicked slap shot off a rolling puck, which beat Binnington, re-established the two-goal lead, and secured Arvidsson his 400th career point.
The second line’s onslaught continued approximately six minutes later when Pavel Zacha increased the lead to 4-1. Arvidsson found Zacha skating up the right wing boards before he cut to the middle of the ice and rifled a wrister over the shoulder of Binnington.
“It’s great to have them back,” said Zacha of his two linemates. “I think we see each other well on the ice…I think today, within the game, we started to look for each other and see where we are. It’s pretty natural with us, which is great to find.”
Boston’s second line finished their scoring at that point in the period, but the rest of the team wasn’t. The Bruins drew an interference penalty with just 15 seconds remaining in the frame. That was just enough time as Zacha buried a redirect feed from Elias Lindholm into a wide open net with .2 seconds remaining to extend the lead to 5-1.
Korpisalo Shuts the Door
It’s been a rough season for Joonas Korpisalo. Coming into tonight’s game, he was sporting a 4-6 record with a 3.52 goals against average and a save percentage of .880. But tonight, none of that mattered as the Finnish netminder turned away 37 of 39 shots and held St. Louis to one goal to help Boston to a victory.
Korpisalo came into this contest riding a three-game losing streak. He made timely saves at the tail end of the first period and held down the fort at the beginning of the second to maintain Boston’s lead. He was able to shut the door in the third and get the Bruins, and himself, back in the win column.
The Boston Bruins will be back on home ice Saturday when they take on the Jack Hughes-less New Jersey Devils.
If you are interested in catching any of Boston’s seven home games this month, or if you are looking for the perfect gift for the upcoming holiday season, please check out our StubHub-affiliated link HERE for the most competitive concert and sporting event tickets in North America.
Game Notes
- Elias Lindholm finished the night with three assists and now has 0-7-7 in his last six games since returning from injury.
- Victor Soderstrom got his assist with the Bruins on the Arvidsson goal.
- With a goal and an assist tonight, Morgan Geekie is now riding a four-game point streak with 4-3-7 over that span.
- Mason Lohrei broke an eight-game pointless streak with two assists in tonight’s contest. He was also a +2 on the night, bringing his season total to +3.
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