Every group is defeated. The Boston Bruins’ 4-1 loss to the Calgary Flames on Tuesday had nothing to do with that. It was a one-sided, low-effort, zero-pushback flatline kind of drubbing.
Therefore, it was pretty much expected that a 180-degree showing against the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday was necessary.
“I was only concerned with our mental toughness and aggression,” head coach Jim Montgomery remarked following the Bruins’ 4-0 demolition. “Go forth and attempt to press the matter. I believed we had already done that. I believed that was how our penalty kill lead us.
During the first shift of the evening, everything could have gone south for the Bruins. Parker Wotherspoon and Derek Forbort strayed far enough up the ice to give Dakota Joshua an open path to the net. Joshua was forced to be grabbed from behind by Jakub Lauko, who was then given a holding penalty.
Brad Marchand made a break for the front of the net on the penalty kick, though, following Thatcher Demko’s thoughtless pass around the glass. Marchand expected that Demko’s clear would be pulled off the boards by Charlie Coyle, the second forechecker in the short-handed formation. Marchand was thus in the ideal position to slip a puck past Demko at the net-front when Coyle executed that exact move. Marchand now ranks ninth in league history after recording his 35th career short-handed strike.