Boston Bruins Win 6th Straight in Tight 3rd Period

With the way the Boston Bruins have been playing in the month of "Movember," the Mo seems to have brought some mystical power to their offense.

After last night's game, the Bruins have outscored their opponents 34-13 in six games.

They have won all six games this month.  The only other team to match or better the Bruins' win streak is the New York Rangers with seven games and counting.

The New Jersey Devils, a team that traditionally plays a hard defensive-style hockey game, came into town looking to snap the Bruins' five-game streak going into the night.  The game was by no means disappointing.

The first frame of the contest proved nothing on the scoreboard.

The second frame proved to be somewhat sloppy for both teams, but it was the Bruins that went back to their undisciplined ways, earning five of the seven penalties on the night.

One shorthanded situation landed Brad Marchand in the box for roughing—the play itself was unnecessary.  But the Bruins are good at killing off penalties, as they are in the lower part of the top half in penalty killing.

Then there was a lot of pressure generated by the Devils on their power play, and that caused Johnny Boychuk to make a knee-jerk reaction to the puck in front of the net with a possible scrum about to ensue.  That reaction caused the puck to sail over the glass, giving the Devils a two-man advantage.

This was much welcomed by New Jersey, as the Devils have not scored a power play goal since November 2.  All that changed with a nice pass from Petr Sykora to David Clarkson, who somehow got it past Tim Thomas.  

1-0, Devils.

Marchand rode the pine for the rest of the period.

Just over four minutes later, Devils goalie Johan Hedberg made a sloppy play with the puck behind the net to find Greg Campbell.  Campbell centered it to go off Hedberg, and it would trickle in front of a wide open net only to be popped in by an alertly charging Chris Kelly.  

All tied at one.

The third and final frame proved to be...eventful.

Just six seconds into the period, Bruins captain Zdeno Chara made a stretch pass to Brad Marchand, who went off to the races and beat Hedberg stick side to give the Bruins the 2-1 lead.

The lead was short-lived.  Just over two minutes later, Nick Palimeri was left all alone next to Thomas, redirecting the puck in to tie it up at two.

Just a minute and 32 seconds later, Shawn Thornton started and ended the play.

Thornton stole the puck at the blue line to shoot at the net.  Hedberg redirected the puck to find Campbell.  Campbell passed it to Jordan Caron, who redirected to Thornton, who snuck to Hedberg's left side and quickly backhanded it in to retake the lead.

3-2, Bruins.

A few minutes later, Adam Henrique was denied by Thomas, but Boychuk  inadvertently took Thomas out of the net.  During that time, the puck squirted out to the low slot, and Palimeri got his first NHL multi-goal game to knot it up at three.

With 3:01 left in the game, Joe Corvo made a shot from the point to go off Benoit Pouliot.  Pouliot saw the puck drop right in front of him, and he alertly popped the puck just enough to beat Hedberg to his low right side to retake the lead.  

4-3, Bruins.

In the final minute, the Devils applied all kinds of pressure, but they couldn't get the equalizer, and the Bruins, taking their last six games, stay in the middle of the conference standings.

The Devils proved to be a huge challenge to the Bruins, although I could see two, if not three, goals that could have been avoided on the Bruins and two goals that the Devils should have had back.  

That's the way the puck bounces.

This is Cory Ducey saying, "Hit Hard, But Keep It Clean."