Wheeler's big night takes Bruins past Sens
Their locker room shaken by coach Claude Julien's challenge, the
Boston Bruins wasted no time in demonstrating that his message was
heard loud and clear.
Blake Wheeler had two goals and an assist and Tim Thomas
extended his winning streak against Ottawa to 11 games and Boston
scored four times in the first en route to a 4-1 win over the
Senators on Tuesday night.
Wheeler earned points on the Bruins' first three goals and
David Krejci and Mark Recchi both had a goal and an assist as
Boston jumped out to a 4-0 lead 13:45 in to chase Brian Elliott,
who allowed all four goals.
"We came out hard,'' Bruins captain Zdeno Chara said. "We
took advantage of the chances and opportunities we had and the most
important thing is that we scored goals. Obviously, when you
capitalize on those chances it's a big advantage and we were
feeding off that momentum.''
Thomas stopped 28 shots as he improved to 16-5-2 overall
against the Senators, including each of Boston's four wins in as
many meetings this season.
"I thought we had good battle tonight,'' Julien said. "That's
something we've been looking for from our team for a while so
hopefully we can build on that and not go back to our old ways next
game.''
Filip Kuba scored in the second period for Ottawa, which had
won four of five.
The Senators were well aware that Julien had challenged his
players in the wake of a loss in New York the night before.
"We knew they were going to be coming,'' defenseman Matt
Carkner said.
Julien called out his team following a 3-2 loss to the
Rangers.
"There were times in the past that they had their dressing
room under control,'' Julien said following Monday night's game.
"Right now, you have to coach, you have to be a cheerleader, you've
got to wake them up. You've got to do too many things that a coach
shouldn't have to do at this level.''
Julien's message got through.
"Character's more than just coming back and tying games when
you're down by two,'' Wheeler said. "It's about coming to the rink
and playing every game like it's the most meaningful game of the
year and right now we're getting to that point where you've got to
be firing on all cylinders to get where you want to be and I think
that's the message, that we've got to bring it every night if we
want to get where we want to go.''
The Bruins appeared to be in a hurry to get there from the
get-go Tuesday night as Wheeler got credit for opening the scoring
1:46 in when Andrew Ference's backhand from a sharp angle went in
off his skate.
Krejci made it 2-0 at 6:05 when he put away the Bruins' sixth
shot of their first power play of the game to take an 11-0 lead in
shots.
Wheeler, who assisted on Krejci's power-play goal, got his
second of the period - his third in two games and 10th of the
season - when he deflected Krejci's wrist shot from the right point
past Elliott.
Recchi, who also set up Krejci's goal, converted Boston's
second power-play opportunity for his ninth goal at 13:45.
Pascal Leclaire replaced Elliott, who stopped 12 of 16 shots.
Leclaire, who was replaced by Elliott during Sunday's 7-4 win over
Philadelphia, made 19 saves the rest of the way.
Kuba scored his third goal 2:41 into the second. The puck
went in off a Senators defenseman's skate after he failed to make
contact with his stick and a video review upheld referee Don
VanMassenhoven's ruling that goal was good because the puck was
"not directed in with a distinct kicking motion.''
Ference left the game after he was checked by Ottawa's Chris
Phillips early in the second. He did not return.
The Bruins got relatively good news on the injury front
earlier in the day when they learned that leading scorer Patrice
Bergeron would only miss two weeks because of a broken thumb.
Bergeron, who did not accompany the team to Ottawa and was
initially feared lost for longer, broke the tip of his right thumb
in three places Monday night when he was struck by a slap shot by
teammate Dennis Wideman.
"I think losing him for four to six weeks would have been
pretty devastating for our team at this stage,'' Julien said.
Miroslav Satan made his Bruins debut playing on a line with
Wheeler and Krejci. Satan, who signed as a free agent on Sunday,
was on the ice for both of Wheeler's goals and finished plus-two.
"For a guy who hasn't played at all this year and he has only
had two practices with our hockey club, he's obviously in pretty
good shape and I thought he wasn't bad at all,'' Julien said.
Carkner and Chara got roughing minors after they exchanged
punches with 40.4 seconds left in the first.
Carkner fought in the second with Bruins enforcer Shawn
Thornton, who drew a pat on the back from Chara after he went to
the penalty box to serve his major.
Notes: Thomas has won 11 in a row against the
Senators since a 2-1 shootout loss in Boston on Nov. 4, 2007. ...
Chara went to the dressing room with a large tear in the back of
his jersey under his nameplate after his exchange with Carkner late
in the first. ... The Senators, who are missing Daniel Alfredsson
and Jason Spezza, closed out a 3-2 homestand.
