Hall's Late Power-Play Tally Lifts Bruins in Winnipeg

WINNIPEG, Manitoba - The Bruins easily could have let two points slip away on Friday night.
They were, once again, without their captain as Patrice Bergeron missed his second straight game. They were closing out another lengthy road trip. They were coming off a grueling, physical setback to the Wild just two nights before. And they surrendered a two-goal lead in the opening minutes of the third period.
But Bruce Cassidy had an easy answer for why his club has routinely bounced back this season: the Bruins, simply, don't like to lose.

That was abundantly clear as they rebounded with a clutch power-play tally from Taylor Hall and a shorthanded empty-netter from Charlie McAvoy to seal a 4-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets at Canada Life Centre.
"We don't like losing," said Cassidy. "I think the guys the next night [after a loss] are usually ready to go. I thought our first period was OK coming off a day off. They had good jump. We kind of battled back after a few early chances and really found our footing in the second period.
"Obviously the third was not perfect to start, by any means. We wanted to win. And it showed. End of a road trip, desperate team at home with some momentum and we got the game back.
"That's a credit to the guys in the room for keeping their composure and upping their game when they needed to."
With the victory, the Bruins improved to an impressive 18-4-2 following a loss this season, a mark that Cassidy attributed to his club's commitment to playing to its structure, especially in tight games, as well as its strong goaltending duo of Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark, the latter of whom made 27 saves, including a stop of Nikolaj Ehlers' penalty shot attempt in the first period.
"You have to get back to your structure and your game and a mentality that, 'OK, it didn't go our way the other night but we're gonna stick with the plan. We're not gonna change everything,'" said Cassidy. "You're always tweaking for your opponent, but at the end of the day you're gonna get back to your game and what's been successful for you. I think our guys understand that, how we need to play to be in games and win games.
"A lot of close games for us. This whole trip was that way. It came down to some third periods and overtime in Chicago. You do have to stick with it. As a coach, you have to trust your guys. You might shift a few around here and there but trust your guys to play the right way. Remind them about those things and I think that's what happens with us through the year.
"I also think you have to have good goaltending because they have to make key stops as well, otherwise you get on those long stretches. I always felt teams that got onto long losing streak probably didn't have the goalie to bail them out at key times on those nights."

Boston also rode an impressive showing from its special teams units. The Bruins went a perfect 5-for-5 on the penalty kill, including one in the final two minutes after Erik Haula was whistled for a trip with 1:26 remaining. Boston made the kill and notched a shorthanded empty-netter when Charlie McAvoy finished off a pretty passing play with Charlie Coyle and Tomas Nosek.
"We pride ourselves on our special teams. That ended up being the difference after they tied it," said Cassidy, whose club surrendered goals to Adam Lowry and Ehlers just 1:25 apart in the early minutes of the third. "I think there was a few cracks in the kill early, they made some plays through the seam and into the bumper that we adjusted on and did a better job of taking those away.
"That's part of the chess match on special teams. I thought our coaches did a good job adjusting between periods and making sure we didn't give them those easy looks."
The Bruins' power play also came through late in the third period when Hall whacked home a loose puck from the top of the crease off a McAvoy point shot and subsequent Coyle attempt from the slot.
"They were disappointed in the previous power play," said Cassidy. "We came to the bench and talked about maybe [Brad Marchand] and David [Pastrnak] switching sides on the elbows there, it might open up some ice. They were engaged. Part of our meeting before the game was their D will play a little bit away from the net so getting a puck through to the net would be an option tonight.
"It took us a while to use that one, but Charlie McAvoy does a good job to get it through and Taylor Hall does the dirty work in front, Coyle pays the price to score a goal. A little bit like they did early on on the power play, we had to go to Plan B or C to get the best look. Eventually we go to it and good for us for getting rewarded."

Coyle Steps Up

With Bergeron missing for the second consecutive game, Coyle once again took on more responsibility and did not disappoint. The centerman played 19:18, second only to Brad Marchand's 20:41, and registered a season-high three assists.
"Everyone's got to do their part," said Coyle. "You want to take as much responsibility as you can and make sure you're kind of filling the gap. It's a tough gap to fill, no one can replace a guy of his caliber, but we do it together, it's a joint effort. Everyone's gonna do their part and I thought we did that for the most part."
On Boston's second goal, Coyle carried the puck into the Winnipeg end and shook off a hit from Lowry knocking the Jets forward to the ice. And although he lost the puck in the collision, Trent Frederic was there to pick it up and dangle around Winnipeg goalie Connor Hellebuyck to put the B's up, 2-0, at 7:12 of the second.
"He's probably our next highest-minute, highest-responsibility, throughout-the-game centerman," said Cassidy. "He's gonna play the most minutes. I think he understands that and relishes those opportunities and responsibility. I think he's doing a really good job of pulling that line along and playing the way they need to in the offensive zone.
"The goal Freddy scored, we had talked about getting to the interior against Winnipeg…even though he lost the puck, he was heavy in there and Freddy kind of cleaned it up. That kind of got us going for those types of goals…credit to Charlie for getting the ball rolling on that one.
"He did a lot of what Bergy would have done for us tonight. Good for Charlie, he takes a lot of pride in his work. Happy to see him get rewarded."

Studnicka Subs In

Part of the trickle-down effect of Bergeron's absence included the insertion of Jack Studnicka into the lineup as the top-line center between Marchand and Jake DeBrusk. The young pivot was solid in his first game with the big club in roughly a month, as he made a strong play to pick up a loose puck high in Boston's zone and start the Bruins' breakout, springing Marchand and DeBrusk for a 2-on-1.
DeBrusk made a nifty play to settle a bouncing puck on Marchand's feed, before dishing back across to Marchand, who deposited it into an open cage to give the Bruins a 1-0 advantage at 4:42 of the second.
"I thought he was good. He got hit a couple times, bounced back," Cassidy said of Studnicka, who played 13:28 with an assist and a shot on goal. "He started the breakout on March's goal by being in the right spot. He's underneath. He's not cheating and leaving the zone early. Some of his habits before, we would have had to remind him about that. Clearly, he's corrected that down in Providence and as a result is in the good spot, whether we win the puck back or not.
"I thought he was moving well through the middle of the ice, shot when he was supposed to, kicked it out to his wingers when he was supposed to. Good for him. We need that. With Bergy out, other guys have to step up. We're not gonna lean on Jack for everything. But he's gonna get his minutes.
"He was playing in different situations. Good for him, playing with good players, did his job well and should get another opportunity in Montreal [on Monday]. We'll see how Bergy's doing. But was happy for him."

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