This was a good win through and through for the Bruins--Shawn Thornton was sick, but managed to come out and play. Even without Nathan Horton, and after facing two losses in the games prior, they came out and beat the St. Louis Blues--a team that hadn't seen a regulation loss at home since the beginning of December.
After only putting up 10 shots on goal through the first two periods, the Bruins came back in the third and found nine more in that period alone, including a goal from Brad Marchand--his second of the game--to add assurance to the Bruins lead.
With 10:46 left to go, Marchand took a perfect feed from Tyler Seguin and skated on the breakaway and backhanded the shot past Brian Elliott to put the Bruins up 4-2. Seguin's pass was a head's up play after Patrice Bergeron tipped the puck back to him. Marchand broke on the left side and there was no one in front of him to stop him. He slid it through Elliott's five hole and immediately pointed to Seguin after he scored his 21st goal of the season, giving him all the credit.
Marchand also scored the first goal of the game, 2:29 into the first period. He stripped Blues defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk of the puck and stole a quick snap shot right in front of Elliott. Between the two goals, Marchand now has 21 goals this season, tying Milan Lucic's total number.
Lucic picked up that 21st goal, just minutes after Marchand's, giving the Bruins an early 2-0 lead less than halfway through the period.
However, the B's were quick to give up that lead, as Blues forwards Chris Stewart and Ryan Reaves scored five minutes apart to tie the game in the first period.
But it was Chris Kelly's goal late in the first period, with just 40 seconds left on the clock that allowed the Bruins to enter the first intermission with some confidence.
The B's preached about playing consistent in the second period and playing their system better. While I'm sure Claude Julien was a little uninspired by the four shots on net in the middle frame, it looked like the team came out in the third and were able to take two points from a very well put together team.
Tim Thomas made 30 saves on 32 shots and picked up his third win in five games.
Boston still hasn't lost three games in a row since October, and they now own a 2-2-0 record en route of their six game road trip. They will play the Sabres on Friday before heading out to Ottawa to finish on the road.
For more Boston Bruins coverage, visit our team page and blog, Stanley Cup of Chowder