Riley Nash's Big Night Leads The Bruins Over Ottawa
The Boston Bruins entered tonight's game on a six-game losing streak to the Ottawa Senators, but that streak was snapped as both of these teams continue to head in opposite directions.
An unlikely source provided the Bruins with the opening goal of the night 5:22 into the first period.� Craig Anderson gave up a juicy rebound off a shot by David Backes that made it to the top of the right circle where Kevan Miller fired a shot that beat the Ottawa goaltender to the short side. Riley Nash was credited with the secondary assist on Miller's first goal of the year.
Just over three minutes later, Danton Heinen doubled the Bruins lead.� Matt Grzelcyk jumped on a loose puck in the neutral zone and fed the puck to Ryan Spooner who gained speed down the right boards.� Just before getting to the goal line, Spooner made a backhand pass to the front of the net, through the legs of Erik Karlsson, where Heinen tapped the puck in past Anderson for his ninth goal on the season.
Late in the first period, Fredrik Claesson caught Noel Acciari up high with a hit that left him a bloody nose.� Tim Schaller immediately jumped in for a relatively one-sided fight in his favor.� The scrap earned the appreciation of his teammates on the bench and the fans in the seats.� Schaller was given a five-minute major for fighting plus a minor for instigation and the automatic 10-minute misconduct that comes with it.� Meanwhile, Claesson was given a major penalty for both fighting and an illegal check to the head as well as a game misconduct which ended his night.
Nash extended the Bruins lead to 3-0 with a great individual effort on a shorthanded goal at 1:25 of the second period.� Nash blocked an Erik Karlsson shot from the right point then won the foot race to the loose puck and then beat Anderson the glove side with a wrist shot for his third goal.
The Senators got on the board with a power play goal about two and a half minutes later.� Thomas Chabot found some space at the top of the right circle and blasted a one-timer off a feed from Mark Stone that beat Tukka Rask to the blocker side for his second goal on the campaign.
Nash picked up his second goal and third point of the night at 14:43 to give the Bruins a 4-1 lead.� Anders Bjork started the play by hounding Dion Phaneuf into a turnover at the blue line before getting the puck to Nash, who used his speed to beat Nick Paul and then powered the puck past Anderson to double his goal total on the season.
David Backes added a fifth goal with just 80 seconds remaining the game as Matt Grzelcyk's pass from the point rebounded off the end boards to Backes out in front for a relatively easy score. �Danton Heinen had the secondary assist on Backes' fifth goal of the season.
The Bruins 14th win in the last 18 games now has them tied with the Toronto Maple Leafs for second place in the Atlantic Division.� Both teams will be in action Thursday night as the Bruins will travel to the Washington Capitals, who are playing the New York Rangers tonight, while the Leafs will be in Arizona to take on the Coyotes.�
