Boston Bruins Restore Their Identity in Regulation Tie/Shootout Victory

On Saturday afternoon, the Boston Bruins simultaneously cut off their worst winless skid in 12 months and halted Philadelphia Flyers’ goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov’s month-long seven-game winning streak.

Need anything more be said? For a Bruins buff, that fleeting news might suffice for the immediate future, but the importance of this game’s finer points stems from what they can and should do to build upon it.

Saturday’s 3-2 shootout decision was only the second time in the last two weeks that the Bruins dressed a full roster of bona fide NHL caliber players. And yes, that now includes Jordan Caron, who coincidentally started proving himself two weeks ago with a multi-point outing against the Rangers.

On Saturday, the professional sophomore tied three teammates for a game-leading four shots on goal and led all participants, including each of the physical Flyers, with five body-checks.

Saturday’s 2-0 jumpstart was the first time Boston raised the initial upper hand since a 3-2 loss to the Islanders two weeks ago. Coincidentally, that was their last twirl with the injured Tuukka Rask in net and with no AHL players working in front of any Bruins’ goalie.

Tyler Seguin’s goal at 17:07 of the opening frame marked the first time the Bruins garnered a 2-0 advantage since they did so in a 4-3 win against New Jersey on Mar. 1. In the eight-game, 16-day interim, they yielded five 2-0 deficits, including each of their four regulation losses leading up to Saturday’s tilt.

Although he spilled the lead to force overtime and subsequent one-on-ones, goaltender Tim Thomas’ poise matched his performance and his data for the day. A breakaway stop on Jaromir Jagr in the first period and a sliding stop on Danny Briere in the bottom of the third round of the shootout highlighted a .931 save percentage over 65 minutes of play.

All debates over shootout legitimacy aside, Thomas reached the bottom line when he, unlike Bryzgalov, refused to blink in the one-on-ones after each stopper was beat on their first two challenges. And he reaped and returned a reward from his teammates when they answered Jakub Voracek’s equalizer with 4:17 left in regulation by throwing three unanswered hits and four unanswered shots on goal.

That sequence occurred within a relatively short 2:09 of clock time. But the breather was enough for Thomas to reestablish his composure and then repel three unanswered bids by the Flyers within the last 2:08 of the period, salvaging a regulation point.

That outcome was quite the contrast from the previous Boston-Philadelphia bout, another shootout triumph that saw Thomas authorize Scott Hartnell’s natural hat trick to turn a 3-1 edge into a 4-3 deficit, spill two other leads and finish the day with five goals against and a .868 save percentage.

This time, the inevitably overworked 37-year-old was less lenient against the NHL’s most explosive strike force, granting them an equalizer but no go-aheads. It made for the first time since a Feb. 22 win at St. Louis that the Bruins never trailed in a game.

Thomas penned a similar story in the shootout, averting an extra round when he stoned Briere.

In terms of being substantially tested and giving the correct answers, Saturday afternoon was a better winning effort than last week’s back-to-back triumphs over Toronto and Buffalo. That goes for Thomas and his skating mates alike.

With the exception of Rask and depth forward Rich Peverley, the Bruins have had their projected playoff lineup intact for three days now. In their first game back together on Thursday, they were plainly reeling from negative energy that had followed them from the ice to Tampa Bay, onto their plane and into Florida.

But after two six-goal spankings at the hands of two Southeast Division welterweights, they converted their energy with a refreshing dogfight against one of the Atlantic Division’s monster heads.

Physically speaking, the schedule will get no less merciless between now and the conclusion of the regular season. The best they could have asked was to percolate a new batch of mental toughness to paddle upon through the next three weeks and 11 games.

A properly set and decently carried tone en route to a two-point package against a streaking, fellow Eastern Conference powerhouse ought to signal just that.

Enough said.