Chara/By S. Bradley
The Bruins’ best defenseman (possibly the best blueliner in the NHL) and their top line were at their best tonight in Toronto, and that spelled inevitable doom for the homestanding Maple Leafs.
Milan Lucic scored twice, David Krejci registered three points and Zdeno Chara added a goal and an assist in the Bruins’ 6-3 victory over Toronto at the Air Canada Centre.
The Bruins took over first place in the Northeast Division. They finished the month of November without a regulation loss, the first time they’ve done that since January 1969. The rest of the numbers from the Bruins’ stats department are gaudy. It’s their first 25-point month since March 1978. The Bruins have outscored Toronto, 19-5, in the three games and they’ve outscored opponents 59-25 during their 13-game point streak.
Chara, who has been off to his best start offensively since pulling on a Bruins sweater, gave the Bruins a lead they wouldn’t relinquish the rest of the night at 15:30 of the second period. He didn’t neglect his defensive duties, though, as he helped limit NHL leading scorer Phil Kessel to just one assist and three shots on net. Kessel was minus-3.
Krejci scored his first goal in 10 games, while Lucic scored for the first time in nine games.
The Bruins and Leafs will re-engage Saturday night at the TD Garden.
Thanks for the heads up Sully.
I guess I completely forgot Corvo was dealt for. To be honest, I wasn’t a big fan of either of the offseason moves (not exactly upset with them, but just wasn’t too high on Corvo & didn’t really like Pouliot’s game or attitude, where he was coming from and because I thought we’d fill that spot with youth).
They’re really working out quite nicely right now.
I’m now reading it was a 5.25 mil cap hit by TSN Darren Dregors twitter feed — so Im not sure where the numbers are coming from here.
Article says 10.75 cap hit. Gotta be a mistake. should it read 15.75?
http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=381675
And indispensable to the cup run. Minus Krejci this team is a whole lot thinner and not a heck of a lot of guys they could bring in to replace him. A bit inconsistent at times, but so far has proven to play great when it matters.
Krejci reprotedly locked up three more years for just over 10 million… a steal in my opinion. This must be a guy who is willing to take a paycut to keep a teams core together. He could have easily made 5 million per season on the market, if not more were he to pick things up the way he played tonight. Humble. Character guy.
During the TSN coverage they mentioned that Krejci was included in the Bobby Ryan trade rumors…where did that come from? That’s the craziest rumor yet. As Ricknnh said he has ups and downs but lats years playoffs have got to mean something. He is a joy to watch play. He completely controls the tempo of the game when he is on the ice. Its like the entire game goes into slow-motion and these seams open up and he has another 3point night. Beautiful.
@Joburg94. I think it was Cormac or one of the regulars that mentioned the record they would need to equal last years point total.
My post Oct.31 said “I’m not panicking yet ’cause I still have some leaves on my trees. November is their easiest month. Time to make some hay”. I didn’t think they would be one point short of perfect but they showed why they are one of the best teams in the league.
Speaking of hangovers as my Irish friends say. They feel sorry for people who don’t drink because when they wake up that’s as good as they’re going to feel all day. The B’s feel better than anyone in the league right now after shaking off that October hangover.
Detroit and Toronto were great games to watch. Can’t wait for Saturday night.
agree with Rollie on Krejci, this guy needs to get locked in. like most of the guys, he’ll have ups and downs, but he is solid and rises to the occasion in the playoffs, when it counts most……..
also he is an estblished fit on this team, why go looking for an adventure?
November will be missed for the streak, the scoring, and the emergence of the 3rd line. It will not be missed for the moustaches. It made every player look like a 10th grade shop teacher…or worse. Hopefully the hot streak and the staches aren’t related…
Toronto really impressed me last night with their forecheck and neutral zone play. Unfortunately, for them, they didn’t bring it all game. They started out good and ended strong, but it wasn’t enough. Put that out there for 60 and that’s a though team to beat, with their speed/transition game.
Corvo had a rough one.
Good, hard fought W to close out a great month!
good game for the Krejci line.
maybe its time to layoff of Pouliot and give the guy a fair chance? he is a good shooter, eh?
Great win tonight
@Rollie
Corvo wasnt a FA. We traded a 2012 4th round pick to get him in the offseason.
Great win guys. This team is just so balanced and focused. We actually are looking to score short handed each and every time and that tells you a lot about speed and confidence. The playing of four lines each and every game is just not something that other teams in the league have the trust or ability to do.
Great effort tonight, Toronto was skating well. Good to see Pouliot hit the score sheet again.
Err… Joburg… Corvo was FA, and acquiring Kabby cost this team a bundle (though it doesn’t really matter now, considering the cup and remaining assets!), so that equation is not quite accurate. Agreed though – PC has done a great job.
I’d really like to see him get Krejci locked down, though.
“The Monster” looked like Cookie Monster. Thank you Kessel!
Dollar Phil with the minus 3. Fantastic. Also it must be the first time I noticed it, but he’s an Alternate Captain. What a leader. 32 points and essentially an even player (+1 on the year). No heart, No Hart.
What an amazing month! Someone, here I believe, noted at the end of October that the Bs needed to go 11-2 in November to keep pace with last season’s performance. I immediately thought, “Yeah, that’s going to happen”, but who thought the Bruins could do even better? Not me.
All the lines are clicking. PC is turning out to be a genius for getting Peverley, Kelly, and Corvo for Wheeler, Stuart and Kaberle (5 pts, -12).
Here’s hoping the B’s keep rolling into the New Year, just like 2008.
Good for Krejci, #1 Star, 3 points with his line going 3-4-7 and a plus 5.