After Bruins management claimed Oliver Wahlstrom off waivers earlier in the day, every player on the team performed like the newcomer was coming for his job in Vancouver on Saturday night.
In a 5-1 romp over the Canucks, the B’s got contributions from up and down the lineup and ran away from their opponents, a welcome role reversal after being outscored 13-2 in their first two games of the road trip in Winnipeg and Seattle. David Pastrnak enjoyed a four-point night (a goal and three assists) and the B’s got goals from Brad Marchand, Morgan Geekie, Pavel Zacha, and Marc McLaughlin.
With their collective psyche having taken a beating in the first two games of the trip, this was as sound a win as the B’s have had against a quality opponent this season.
“This was massive. It kind of had the vibe in the room of almost like a do-or-die game,” Charlie McAvoy told NESN. “We certainly didn’t want to lose three in a row. Can’t do that in this league. Those are two (losses) that we wanted to flush and playing a good Vancouver team, we really needed this one.”
The desperation showed all game as players were diving into passes lanes to break up plays and they blocked 21 shots on the night. They are now 8-4 under Joe Sacco and it appears they’ve weathered their first tempest under Medford’s own, who was impressed by the totality of the win.
“We went through the whole game, start to finish, top to bottom across the board. Everybody contributed. And the best part of the game is we kept the puck out of our net,” said Sacco.
Jeremy Swayman, after surrendering a career-high eight goals in Winnipeg, was not particularly busy but he was good when he had to be to get back on the winning track with 19 saves. He stopped 12 shots in the second period when the Canucks made their one push.
“It’s nice to have a lead and see us keep pressing, not getting relaxed,” said Swayman. “That’s something we really tried to work on this year, not get lackadaisical when we have a lead and keep pushing and keep that puck going north. I think we did a great of that tonight and got rewarded.”
In their first two lopsided losses on this trip, the B’s had taken penalties within the first 25 seconds of the respective games. They avoided any similar self-inflicted wounds and, wouldn’t you know it, they had a very good first period, taking a 2-0 lead.
There was a determination noticeable from the get-go and it produced their first power play when Mark Kastelic, working the net front, took a crosscheck from Tyler Myers.
Marchand, who tortured Vancouver fans’ hearts and minds nearly 14 years ago, has not been forgotten. He was booed whenever he touched the puck in the early going, and the captain seemed to use it as fuel. On the advantage, Elias Lindholm received a Pastrnak pass at the left side of the net. Lindholm found Marchand on the right side and he lifted it over Thatcher Demko for his 13t of the year at 5:12.
Marchand skated to the bench for the obligatory high-fives but not before he cupped his hand his ear for the crowd’s benefit.
Geekie scored his fifth of the year at 8:08 off a nice Pastrnak pass from behind the net into the slot and the B’s all of a sudden looked like a completely different team from the one in Winnipeg and Seattle.
The B’s held a 16-4 shot advantage in the first.
They didn’t let up early in the second. Pastrnak picked up the assist hat trick when he jumped on a loose puck along the left boards in the neutral zone and sent Zacha on a partial break-in. With old friend Jake DeBrusk in hot pursuit and trying to force him into a backhander, Zacha still put it back on his forehand beat Demko at 1:12. It was Zacha’s eighth of the year (he also had two assists) and Pastrnak’s 400th helper of his career.
If not for Demko, the B’s would have run away with it. He made a great stop when Marchand followed up his own shorthanded bid with a backhander that appeared destined for the back of the net. Demko also had to come up with a good stop on Kastelic coming down the slot.
The Canucks started to apply some pressure and Swayman was finally forced to make some quality saves, which he did.
And then the B’s got a fourth line goal at 11:49 to burst the Vancouver bubble. When a Canuck clear-out was knocked down by Andrew Peeke, McLaughlin pounced on it out high and immediately snapped it toward the net. It deflected off a Canuck and got past Demko for McLaughlin’s first since being called up from Providence.
As time was winding down in the period, Quinn Hughes whistled a puck by Marchand’s ear for an unforced icing. Marchad questioned Hughes’ intent and was jawing at him before J.T. Miller jumped in. Both Marchand and Miller got two minutes apiece and the teams started the third with some 4-on-4 time.
With the extra ice, Pastrnak took a drop pass from Charlie McAvoy, carried the puck behind the net and scored on a wraparound, his 11th of the season for a 5-0 lead just 26 seconds into the third to all but end it.
The Canucks got on the board at 10:13 when the B’s turned over the puck at the blue line and Max Sasson’s shot dribbled through Swayman’s pads to break up the shutout.
That was the only blemish on an outstanding night.
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