The Boston Bruins have been part of the NHL for nearly 90 years now, but in the lockout-shortened 2013 season, they have now put up their best 10-game start in their team's entire history. Their 3-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Feb. 10 sealed this record.
The well-rested Bruins, who did not play last night against the Tampa Bay Lightning because of weather-related postponement, traveled to meet a team that was on the second half of back-to-back games. Boston also had Brad Marchand, Daniel Paille and Shawn Thornton back in the lineup. Thornton's return is especially good news, considering he was forced to miss quite some time due to a concussion from a member of the Sabres.
However, Thornton did not engage in a fight with anyone in this rematch. Gregory Campbell did take on Patrick Kaleta in the first period, earning an instigator penalty, a fighting major and a 10-minute misconduct. The teams remained scoreless through 20 minutes, though not for lack of trying on Boston's part.
In the second period, though, Marchand scored the first goal of the night in his first game back from injury. He actually leads the team in goals right now and just extended his lead with his sixth of the year. Tyler Ennis evened the game later in the period to create a tie before the second intermission.
The third period saw something happen that hasn't happened too much for the Bruins lately: a power play goal. Boston still has one of the worst power plays in the league, but now that percentage has improved slightly with the man-advantage goal from Patrice Bergeron.
At the end of the game, David Krejci allowed Milan Lucic to score on the empty net instead of doing it himself, even though he could have. The game was Boston's and the team sealed its best start in its history.
Next for the Bruins is their last meeting of the season with the New York Rangers on Feb. 12. This game will be shown on NESN inside New England and on NBC Sports Network in the rest of the country.
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