Not only did Seth Griffith's goal dominate the highlight reel Monday, his extra effort that led to the goal sparked the Boston Bruins to a win against the New Jersey Devils at TD Garden.
The play started late in the second period of a 2-2 game when Griffith took a knee to block a shot from Devils defenseman Bryce Salvador, got up immediately and powered through Salvador and Marek Zidlicky on an end-to-end rush. Defended by Zidlicky in front of the Devils net, Griffith spun, turned his back to the goal and slapped a backhander between his legs and the pads of goalie Cory Schneider at 18:01.
The Bruins added an insurance goal 1:20 later en route to their fifth straight win that boosted their record to 10-6-0, and Griffith's grit on defense and flair for offense was the talk of the locker room. What impressed coach Claude Julien was Griffith's desire that put the game's turning point in motion.
"I think that that whole effort, from the time he blocked it, to picking up some speed and really battling hard between the two Ds, and then staying on it -- that last effort there, of using his stick between his legs there to bank that puck in, it was a great effort," Julien told the Bruins website.
Griffith, who scored his fourth goal and first point in four games, agreed.
"Just my strength on the puck," Griffith said, according to the Bruins website. "It wasn't going my way a little bit in the first so I was happy to just stay strong on the puck and lucky enough the bounce went my way. Just work in all three zones. I was obviously happy with the blocked shot. It just goes to show you do stuff like that and it pays off."
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