Hall's OT Winner Lifts Bruins to Fifth Straight Win

BOSTON - Bruce Cassidy admits that coaches aren't always the most enjoyable people to be around. Even when things are going well, they can be demanding as they aim to push their club towards the closest thing to perfection.
"Fun is not usually equated with the word coach a lot. We're kind of crusty at times," Cassidy acknowledged.

Nevertheless, Boston's bench boss likes nothing more than to see his club riding high - as long as they're following a mantra that he's adopted from his time playing under longtime coach Darryl Sutter with the Indianapolis Ice in 1988-89.
"He wrote on the board one day…work, win, have fun - he put them in that order and he basically came in one day, we lost, and he said, 'Don't mess up the order. That's the way it goes, that's the way it needs to work,'" said Cassidy. "He's right. I believe that translates to this group right now. They're a hard-working team that's found their identity again. They're winning and then you have fun. It's nice combination"
Indeed, it is. And over the past two weeks, with the Bruins playing at a torrid pace, there hasn't been much reason for Cassidy's club to be anything but jubilant around the rink.
"Right now, when you're winning, it's always more enjoyable for everybody," said Cassidy. "That's what we take pride in is representing the Bruins' crest and playing good hockey."
The Bruins kept the good times rolling on Saturday afternoon as Taylor Hall notched the overtime winner at 1:41 of overtime to lift the Black & Gold to a 4-3 victory over the Nashville Predators at TD Garden. The win marked the B's fifth in a row and eighth in nine games since their extended Christmas break.
"It's great. You wish for that," Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron said of the Bruins' rounding into form. "I think early on there was a lot of work to do as far as getting to know everyone and meshing together and finding the chemistry and maybe it took longer than expected. But at the same time, I don't think it's a bad thing to go through adversity when it's early in the year and learn from it. And that reset, that time off around Christmas was good for a lot of guys and you can see that right now."

Boston appeared to thrive off what turned into a playoff-style showdown. The Predators, who entered the afternoon as the top team in the Western Conference, were not afraid to play a punishing brand of hockey from the jump, which helped pull the Bruins into a physical give and take that produced a combined 91 hits (46-45 in favor of Nashville).
"A lot of guys on our team are starting to feel comfortable, myself included, playing that type of game," said Hall, whose OT winner was his eighth goal of the season. "That's how you back teams off. They're an aggressive team. They're a team that wants to get going up the ice, especially with [Roman Josi] back there and their mobile D. If you can stop them from having their momentum coming up the ice, that's huge. Then when you get a chance to pop someone clean, shoulder-to-shoulder, whatever it is, shoulder-to-chest, it's a really good thing to do.
"It gets the crowd going. It gets our bench going…it doesn't need to be a fight every time. If the other team's mad at honest hits, clean hits, then that's their problem. We know what we have to do."
Hall experienced it firsthand on his winning tally. With David Pastrnak approaching the net from the right-wing circle early in the 3-on-3 overtime session, Hall charged down the slot and tried to get to the top of the crease. Nashville blue liner Alexandre Carrier was there in position to try to deny Hall, but the winger pushed through the defenseman to whack home Pastrnak's shot - which had trickled through the five-hole of Nashville goalie Jusse Saros - while he tumbled to the ice.
"I've played for [Nashville coach John Hynes] before, and he gets his guys ready to go," said Hall. "No matter who's in their lineup, they're gonna play hard. So, I think they kind of started off being physical, and we matched it as the game went on. Ultimately, that's the team you want to be. You want to be able to play different styles of games.
"Not every game's gonna be the same, but if we can be physical at the right times, especially on our home ice, that's gonna be something that is a real strength of ours as the season goes on. Once the playoffs start, you need to be able to have that game in your bag, so that was a fun one to play."

Urho Upping His Game

The winning tally began with a terrific defensive effort from Urho Vaakanainen as Nashville's Tanner Jeannot tried to sneak a pass through the slot to Mikael Granlund as the duo broke in on a 2-on-1. The B's rookie blue liner got his stick in the passing lane and corralled the puck to start the rush the other way, before dishing to Hall at the red line.
Vaakanainen also started the breakout on Boston's opening goal when he took a feed from Charlie McAvoy deep in the Bruins' end and charged through the neutral zone where he fed Brad Marchand. The B's leading scorer sent a feed across the slot that Bergeron tipped gracefully over to Craig Smith, who ripped a wrister over Saros' glove for 1-0 Boston lead at 3:20 of the first.
"It's really good to see a guy come in and play like he belongs right off the bat," said Hall. "That speaks to, probably, his offseason training, his development as a player throughout the last couple of years. A guy that comes into the lineup and plays to the best of his abilities, that's all you can really ask for, be the best version of you.
"He can see the ice, he's a really good penalty killer, he's physical when he needs to be it. It's really good to see guys like that, especially young guys coming into the lineup. Him and [Oskar Steen] have fit in seamlessly, and that's what you need as the season goes on. You need depth. You need guys that can come in and give you a jolt whenever they're in."
Cassidy has been equally impressed with the 23-year-old blue liner, who has filled in admirably as the Bruins have battled injuries and COVID-19-related absences on the back end. The Finland native has four points (all assists) in five games during his sixth career recall. The five-game stint with the big club matches the longest of his NHL career, tying a stretch in November 2019.
"He's a good player. He's just got to understand it's an everyday business at this level. We will certainly allow guys to make mistakes and understand their youth," said Cassidy, while referencing Charlie McAvoy, Matt Grzelcyk, and Brandon Carlo, among others. "He'll be another one where if he can outplay his competition, then he will get that opportunity. It's nice to see him step in and do well, because we are kind of at that point where you're wondering after a few years. He's not a kid-kid anymore where he's a first-year pro.
"He's seen it. Time to start doing it. Opportunity arose, and some guys kick the door down; other guys kind of gently step through it, and I think he's somewhere in between there. He's doing a good job. He's going to make it a difficult decision when we're 100 percent healthy. And that's what we want as an organization, and you need that circle of life for those young guys coming in. So, good for him. It's consistency, right? And so far, so good in that area."

Pretty Patience

Mike Reilly played, perhaps, his best game of the year as he landed four shots on goal and gave the Bruins a 2-0 lead with a beautiful backhanded finish at 7:37 of the first period. The blue liner, who had 21:10 of ice time, took a feed from Erik Haula, cut to the net, and held on just long enough to bury one by Saros.
"He had a lot of pop today offensively," said Cassidy. "He sure had his legs offensively. Nice play all around on the goal against a type of defense Nashville plays in the neutral zone. We got behind them, recovered a puck and then had a little time and space, and Mike sees an alley, and away he goes. He had another look there at the top of the circle in the second period, hit the goalie's knob I think, looked like it was going in.
"So, some good opportunities for him. He can bring some offense. We saw it last year; we're seeing more of it now. That has to connect with forwards finding him at the right time, so it kind of all works together, but with some guys out of the lineup, he stepped up, giving us some good quality minutes. Good problem to have when guys are pushing one another, and as we talked about Vaak before, that's what makes your team go."

Smitty Snipes

Smith opened the scoring with his fifth goal of the season and landed a team-high six shots on goal. The winger has four points (two goals, two assists) in his last four games.
"They've been playing well too," Smith said of Nashville, his former team. "We knew it was gonna be a hard-fought battle, so it's just great to get on the board first…that's the end of a really solid week for us. It's a tough game, physically and emotionally, you kind of pour everything into it. The fans were great tonight. They engaged with us, and I think both teams pushed hard. It was an energy blowout, you can say. I think everybody exerted what they needed to and brought it to the table. I thought it was a great team win."

March-ing Along

Marchand gave the Bruins the lead with a snipe of his own over Saros' glove to put Boston up, 3-2, at 3:50 of the third. The winger, whose tally came on the power play, secured his ninth straight 20-goal season (and the 11th of his career) with the marker.
He also extended his streak to five straight games with multi-point outings. Marchand has nine goals in his last six games and 16 points in nine games in 2022.