Bruins lay on a bruisin’

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 31/01/2020 (2046 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Think the Battle of Alberta generates fire and brimstone? How about the latest fiery chapter in the Battle of Manitoba and Massachusetts.

Huh? 

The Winnipeg Jets and Boston Bruins, a couple of NHL clubs that rarely see each other, have clearly carved out a long-distance revulsion. Absence, it seems, makes the heart grow hostile.

For the record, the visitors left Bell MTS Place with a 2-1 triumph Friday night, and the hosts came away empty-handed for the fifth straight game. 

Bruins forward Jake DeBrusk snapped home the winner at 3:07 of the third period, jamming in his 16th of the season on the power play after a terrific feed from David Pastrnak. Astonishingly, Andrew Copp’s skate lace got snagged on the heel of Anthony Bitetto’s skate, both Jets tumbled and DeBrusk found himself alone on the doorstep. 

Chalk up that aberration to the luck of the Jets lately, who deserved of a far better fate in their first test after an eight-day break, yet had to settle for their seventh loss in eight games.

“I had no idea what (the skate lace) caught on, then I looked down and saw it was that. Less than a one-in-a-million play,” said a clearly perturbed Copp. “Basically, are you f—ing kidding me?

“There’s nothing you can do. I don’t know if that’s the way it’s going, but that’s lotto-ticket-type odds there.”

Veteran goalie Tuukka Rask, playing his first game since returning from a concussion sustained Jan. 14, was brilliant, stopping 37 shots.

Back-up netminder Laurent Brossoit, a surprise starter for the Jets (25-23-4) considering the intense pressure on a squad to string wins together, was solid and had no chance on either puck that got past him, turning aside 23 Boston drives.

Winnipeg is four points below the playoff line in the Western Conference.

Boston capitalized on two of its four power-play chances, while the Jets were blanked on six opportunities with the man advantage, including two 5-on-3s. But they had their looks.

“I don’t think you can physically generate more chances on the power play than we did tonight. Obviously, we had 25 (chances), so their killers are going to be tired,” said Jets captain Blake Wheeler. “You’re going to back them in and get what you want. But there’s only five guys on the ice for us and I think each guy had at least one or two Grade-A chances, players that typically bury those. It just wasn’t our night.”

Playing rough-and-rugged hockey is simply a state of mind for the Bruins, now 30-10-12. But credit the Jets, who applied their own adage ‘Stay in the fight’ to its most literal sense — all with the NHL’s sheriff, department of player safety boss George Parros in the building.

The Jets and Bruins have no heated history this year. In their only previous meeting, the teams combined for six minor penalties Jan. 9 at TD Garden as the hosts edged Winnipeg 5-4.

The second period was, perhaps, the most entertaining scoreless 20-minute session in the history of the downtown arena. Legendary ring announcer Michael Buffer would have been a busy man, introducing the combatants for three separate fights.

Let’s get ready to rumble: Brad Marchand earned a TKO over Nikolaj Ehlers, Gabriel Bourque and Brandon Carlo battled to a draw, while Luca Sbisa beat Karson Kuhlman on points, just second after Kuhlman knocked Mathieu Perreault out of the game on a high hit.

“Yeah, no complaints with (the effort),” said head coach Paul Maurice. “I’ve seen it in the last three, but tonight was a different level, because we were well rested and they could push hard in the game. That’s well played, our offensive game was right, pucks to the net, a better mentality there.

“Good fight, good heart, good bench. I’m proud of the way our hockey team played tonight.”

Back from the break, the Jets showed no evidence of lethargy and were a worked-up group from the opening whistle. Early in the period, Patrik Laine tossed himself at the NHL’s tallest — and oldest — player, 6-9 defenceman Zdeno Chara, 42, who knocked down centre Mark Scheifele only seconds before.

Just hours after telling reporters he’s a shade disappointed with his goal production, the young Finn used his lightning release to open the scoring at 6:06.

Laine’s 18th was composed by Ehlers, who buzzed in on a clean zone entry, circled the net and then threaded a pass to a guy he’s rarely played with this season. They were only on the ice together because Kyle Connor changed on the fly and was replaced by a streaking Ehlers.

Late in the period, Charlie McAvoy caught Scheifele with a clean but thunderous open-ice hit. That prompted a response from Neal Pionk, somewhat miscast as the guy out for retribution for a teammate. And it came with a cost.

He and McAvoy jostled, and the Jets defenceman was assessed four minutes while the Bruins blue-liner received only a minor. Josh Morrissey then took a hooking penalty with his club shorthanded, and Boston centre Patrice Bergeron whipped in his 22nd goal of the season on the ensuing 5-on-3 advantage.

Winnipeg’s inability to score on the power play was a determining factor in the outcome. Laine dented the post on a second-period 5-on-3, and then ripped a shot off the crossbar in an early third-period man advantage.

“I think we had more than enough chances to bury, myself included. I had a couple crossbars, posts — a lot of good chances but couldn’t score. (Brossoit) kept us in the game the whole game and gave us a chance to win. It’s hard to win if you score one goal,” offered Laine.

The Jets have fewer than 24 hours to refuel before Saturday’s confrontation with the St. Louis Blues, who occupy the Western Conference penthouse.

The defending Stanley Cup champions faced the Edmonton Oilers late Friday night and wrap up a four-game swing through Western Canada in Winnipeg.

In a rather serendipitous twist, Blues winger Alex Steen, a familiar face around these parts, plays the 1,000th game of his NHL career today. The 35-year-old son of former Jets 1.0 star centre Thomas Steen has been elevated to the third line in recent weeks and had scored in three of his last five games, prior to the Blues-Oilers tilt.

The Jets will spend a considerable amount of time at home the next two weeks, as Friday kicked off nine of 10 at Bell MTS Place. 

 

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell