Bruins Win Game 4 in Decisive Fashion, Peverley Scores Twice

Peter Chiarelli never looked so good

From the moment forward Nathan Horton was taken off the ice via stretcher in Game 3, the Boston Bruins have played with, in a word, purpose.  Until Horton went down, they had played with passion and intensity, but still kept falling short.  With the hit, Aaron Rome delivered the Bruins a purpose.  “Win it for Horty,” they said.  I’m not suggesting you go through 82 games in the regular season, then 18 more in the playoffs, just to play for the Stanley Cup with no purpose. 

And neither do you just become a different team when you get there, because you’ll probably get smoked.  But when you’re down by two after playing your game, and playing your heart out, you look to something else for inspiration.  For the Bruins, it was losing one of their top forwards, and not just that, but a guy who scored two overtime goals against Montreal, including Game 7, and who scored the lone goal against Tampa Bay in that Game 7.

A topic of conversation after the Bruins 8-1 shellacking of the Canucks in Game 3 was who would replace Horton in the lineup, as well as his spot on the first line. (By the way, Dictionary.com lists two definitions for shellacking: an utter defeat, a sound thrashing.  I like the second one.  It sounds like a British dude describing a lopsided cricket match.)  Just about everyone wearing a black sweater looked good in Game 3, but I could not help noticing that Rich Peverley meshed well with David Krejci and Milan Lucic.  Peverley played up with the Atlanta Thrashers’ first line at times, and had time on their powerplay.  He’s definitely talented, but more so, some guys just play better when they have talent around them.  For example, I don’t see Lucic having a 30 goal season without a Krejci playing center with him.

By no means whatsoever did I think that meant Peverley would score in Game 4, much less twice, but I did think he had fit well up there.  I’m sure he’s playing for Horty too, just like everyone else, but I’m also sure that he got extra fired up knowing he’d be skating with the first line.  I also figured the likely replacement for Horton’s lineup spot would be Tyler Seguin, who had his coming out party against the Lightning.  I thought Seguin and Michael Ryder played well on the same line in that series, and sure enough, he set up Ryder for the Bruins second goal last night. 

Two important points there though.  Seguin’s assisting cross-ice through the neutral zone pass was incredibly dangerous.  My dad always taught me not to do that.  I never really learned my lesson, to the delight of my former opponents, although there were about 100 other reasons why I was never destined to play hockey for a living.  It could have easily been picked off for a Vancouver scoring chance.  Secondly, although Ryder has a wicked wrister, and it was well placed, it was still a shot Roberto Luongo normally stops.  Rich Peverley made a great move on his first goal, drawing Luongo down before sniping the five hole, but that too was shaky.  The Ryder goal was even worse…if you’re a Vancouver fan, that is.

I have to give an immense amount of credit to the General Manager of the Bruins, Peter Chiarelli.  My general viewpoint when he traded for Chris Kelly and Rich Peverley (separate deals) was basically…who are these guys?  Thanks to the internet, I was able to find out quickly.  After watching them in a dozen or so games, I could tell that they fit in.  During the Montreal series, I started to sense there was something more than that.  Peverley scored in Game 3 of that series, and the two combined for five points in Game 4, with Kelly scoring twice.   In Game 5, Kelly scored again. 

Last night, it was Peverley’s turn to get two goals.  His second was the fourth goal of the game, so essentially meaningless given that Tim Thomas was pitching a shutout.  But it was all hustle.  It was a hustle goal all around – Lucic blew past a Canuck defender, threw the puck at Luongo and it deflected, legally, off a crashing Peverley into the net.  Credit Claude Julien for sensing the right replacement for Horton on the first line, but credit Chiarelli for making two great moves at the trade deadline to bolster the Boston Bruins offense.

The B’s head back to Vancouver with a re-established sense of purpose.  There’s no doubt that Canucks fans will be ready to cheer their team on, but for now, Boston has regained and held the momentum in this series.  Thomas has allowed one goal in the last two games, whereas Luongo has allowed 12.  Will Alain Vigneault make the gutsy move to put in back-up goaltender Cory Schneider?  Or will he gamble on Luongo finding himself again back in familiar confines?  Either way, Game 5 is a must see.