B's show Prague-ress;Shutout win ends Euro trip
BRUINS 3, COYOTES 0
PRAGUE, Czech Republic - The Bruins' long flight home from Europe got a whole lot more pleasant thanks to the B's performance yesterday at the O2 Arena.
After being widely outworked and outplayed by the Phoenix Coyotes in the season opener Saturday, the Bruins turned the tables, giving a textbook showing of aggressive, physical, high-speed and cohesive play, as they ground out a dominant 3-0 victory behind the 29-save goaltending of Tim Thomas.
''It feels great,'' said Thomas. ''We needed these two points to make this a successful trip and leave a good taste in our mouths. The whole trip has been so fantastic, up until the loss (Saturday). It sure feels good to get these two points in the bank, and now we can go home with our chins up, feeling good about ourselves.''
From the net out, the Bruins did everything right in this game. They got pucks deep, forechecked like crazy, pressured the puck all over the ice. They played much better in the defensive zone, they shot the puck, and they hit.
Goals came from Milan Lucic (No. 1), Nathan Horton (3) and 18-year-old rookie Tyler Seguin, who scored his first in the NHL with a third-period breakaway and backhander.
And Thomas got a shutout in his first game back after offseason hip surgery.
''Obviously, it feels great,'' said Thomas. ''It's been a long road. To get a shutout right off the bat, have the team play that well in front of you, and get all the bounces and feel pretty comfortable myself, it couldn't have gone much better.''
The best part of that was how hard the team played in front of Thomas.
The B's were in control from the outset, with a 11-1 edge in shots in the first 9 minutes. Phoenix goalie Ilya Bryzgalov was again tremendous.
But the B's finally put one by him at 12:11 of the second. The play began with Horton intercepting a Phoenix pass in neutral ice. He then fed a quick pass to Lucic busting up the middle, one-on-one against defenseman Sami Lepisto. Lucic used the Coyote as a screen, as he ripped a slapper from the high slot that beat Bryzgalov.
The Bruins were much more tenacious and effective forecheckers in this one, and in the final minute of Period 2, their top line of David Krejci, Horton and Mark Recchi had a great, grinding shift, battling like crazy for puck possession deep in the Phoenix end. Recchi finally got control in the left circle and moved the puck a few feet to Horton, who swept a quick forehander past Bryzgalov's glove.
Then midway through the third, winger Michael Ryder flipped a long, high pass from deep in his zone, the puck dropping on the stick of Seguin in neutral ice and sending him on a breakaway. He finished with a lovely feint and backhand inside the left post, as he was being dragged down from behind.
''It's always fun to see guys score their first, and that was a real nice goal, a great move,'' said coach Claude Julien. ''It was great play by Ryder to get that puck over the (defensemen's) heads, and (Seguin) was ready to go. ''This is something we've been looking for: guys who can produce on a consistent basis. Horton so far hasn't disappointed us.''
And yesterday, the entire team did not disappoint.
''We want to go after the other teams physically and wear them down,'' said Thomas. ''We have a team that has the ability to wear teams down this year. We want to throw things at the net and make it hard on them. Be disciplined, don't take a lot of penalties. The way we played, if we can copy that for the rest of the year, we're going to be in pretty good shape.''
And it made for a much better flight home.
