Boston Bruins: Why Saturday's Non-Conference Win Is Particularly Important

The Boston Bruins can consider Saturday’s 4-3 shootout triumph over Pekka Rinne and the Nashville Predators a well-done warm-up for Tuesday’s bout with Henrik Lundqvist and the New York Rangers.

A one-point—and certainly a no-point—upshot would have stung more than a game like this should by nature. The Bruins were as few as 67 seconds away from drumming their sticks in a goodwill salute to Rinne and his skating mates, who were on the cusp of rewarding themselves for repelling the bulk of 41 shots on net and 83 attempts with a 3-2 win.

But given the state of this team over the last month-plus, and especially in the aftermath of an acrid 6-0 meltdown in Buffalo, the Bruins could not afford another winless skid. Nor could they afford to let up on the Predators even if they were warming up for a virtual four-point stake with the Rangers next game.

That was almost what they did, though, for about a 10-minute stretch in the heart of the third period. After raising a decisive upper hand in every puck-possession category, they lost eight of 11 face-offs between the 6:17 and 16:28 mark.

In that time, Nashville went on a 6-3 run in the shooting gallery and the Bruins’ 2-1 lead devolved into a 3-2 deficit. Depending on any observer’s rooting interest, this was on a steady track to becoming a bona fide steal or waste.

But Boston passed the spontaneous test of its resilience when Milan Lucic drew a late tripping penalty on the Predators’ Sergei Kostitsyn, then spooned Rich Peverley’s feed over a poorly-positioned Rinne for a power-play equalizer.

Another six minutes and seven seconds of straight-up, end-to-end hockey passed before Tim Thomas was left to simply outduel Rinne in the shootout.

The Bruins’ inter-conference card with the Predators did not have nearly the same bearing on the standings as the bulk of their games will. The contesting parties’ split of the two regulation points was nothing but a mutual plus.

Nonetheless, Nashville comes from the most competitive sector of the Western Conference and entered Saturday’s contest vying to snap a two-game losing streak and make up ground on two divisional rivals from Detroit and St. Louis. The Predators thus brandished a fastidious desperation that Boston needed to match and surmount in order to fulfill its own agenda.

Similarly, the Rangers hail from the Eastern Conference’s single-most competitive division. Their chief difference from the trailing Predators is that they are trying not to grant any makeup opportunities to the likes of Philadelphia, Pittsburgh or New Jersey.

Still, there is no real distinction in an opponent’s need for two points, only in how their fate affects your own team’s endeavors.

And there is one other team the Blueshirts want to have their head on a swivel for: Boston, which still trails them by five points for tops in the conference.

Come Tuesday, the Bruins will have a game in hand on the Rangers, but by the end of their bout could be trailing by as few as three points or as many as nine.

Nashville, which remains a few points short of home ice for the first round of the playoffs, has its own derby to worry about. The Bruins just happened to be their obstacle of the day.

Conversely, when the Bruins and Rangers lock twigs next week and twice more in New York, what they whittle off one another and what they concede to one another could decide where they start a playoff meeting. In all likelihood, if it happens, that will be in the Eastern Conference finals.

And not unlike the Predators, the Rangers will bank heavily on Lundqvist’s sharpness to neutralize any short or prolonged instance of Boston domination. A similar inclination to pepper the opposing stopper might not hurt the Bruins’ cause on Tuesday, but sniffing out seams in a manner similar to Lucic’s goal, as well as Daniel Paille’s, will be their top offensive order.

Fatigue may have been a deciding factor in Saturday’s shootout as Rinne’s 65-minute workload nearly doubled that of Thomas, who only needed to stone two Predators to secure the two-point package for Boston.

But the Bruins cannot juggle with torches like that again on Tuesday. They will need to put the Rangers away within the conventional, 60-minute time frame.

If Saturday was a pretest for the next clash of the Eastern Conference titans, Boston garnered an irreproachable report card. It has momentum to build upon as well as an outstanding area to improve upon for Tuesday’s slightly more pivotal matchup.

They have shown they can sufficiently muzzle one of the wild wonders of the West. Can they do the same to the beast of the East?