Often players and coaches will speak out and say "a win's a win" no matter by how much or how little. But for the Bruins, Saturday night's win seemed like a bit more, considering where they got their contributions from, and how they got themselves on the board.
First and foremost their special teams created the energy they have been missing, but looking for since the beginning of the season. Though their power play is more than lacking, the penalty kill has been exceptional. The B's have only allowed two goals in 19 kills, and last night's first goal came from the penalty kill.
Bruins forward Chris Kelly found a precise pass from Rich Peverley through the neutral zone and into Chicago Blackhaws territory. Kelly lifted the puck over Corey Crawford's blocker to tie the game 1-1 early in the second period. Though Chicago came back immediately after that, the Bruins shifted gears just as quickly.
One player in particular.
Bruins forward Nathan Horton scored just his first goal of the season after being nearly invisible all game and all year. In the four games prior to Saturday night's game, he only had four shots on goal--and not a single shot in the Colorado game. While the numbers didn't show up on paper, the more discouraging part for Bruins fans was how he was playing. He was avoiding hits and hesitant to give any, and because of that, his puck movement and speed (as well as his production) was severely limited. But they are hoping that's all changed.
With 12 minutes left to go in the third period, Horton received a pass from behind Chicago's net courtesy of Johnny Boychuk and buried it past Crawford.
That tied the game 2-2, and Horton smiled on the ice for the first time in what seemed like forever.
Seguin followed soon after. Though it wasn't in the same period, or in overtime, Seguin continued to show just how much he has matured over the summer. Tim Thomas managed to shut out three of the top scorers in the league, but Seguin baffled Crawford enough to secure a win for his team and perhaps instill some confidence in the struggling unit.
David Krejci's injury status is still unknown, and there's a chance Seguin could still take the top center position for Tuesday night's game against Carolina. If that's the case, it will be interesting to see how Horton comes out for it. With the first goal monkey off his shoulder, maybe that's all Horton needed to kick start his year, especially if he has the young blood of Seguin centering his line.
There are no guarantees in sports, but there are reactions to changes, however slight they may be, and this could prove to be a good one for the Bruins. If Seguin continues to prove himself early in the season, and Horton starts to get on a roll, it's not out of the question to think the Bruins can turn the start of the season around and start earning some points.
It's true two players don't make up a team, but it only takes one to create the energy needed for the rest of the team to feed off and perform and recreate themselves. Yes, it was only one game and one goal, but in a time of frustration and anxiety, it doesn't take much for one small thing to become the thing that changed the course of a shift, game, month or season.