In Vegas Wednesday night, the Boston Bruins needed a six-round skills competition to get a 3-2 win over the Golden Knights.
The Bruins are 9-0-3 in their 12 games.
“When a team wins a lot of games in a row it’s because everyone is pulling their own weight,” Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy said. “As long as your leaders lead and your followers follow, good things happen.”
Jake DeBrusk had a goal in Bruins’ win in Vegas – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
Jake DeBrusk and Brad Marchand scored for the Bruins.
“It feels good,” DeBrusk said of the winning streak, which includes four straight on the road. “It’s lots of teambuilding right now, and guys are feeling good about themselves. It’s always nice to win.”
Jaroslav Halak made 31 saves in the victory.
“We’re playing a gritty style. It’s not the prettiest of games,” DeBrusk said. “The San Jose game [on Monday], lots of different things were going on. I think it just shows our resiliency, missing [forward David Pastrnak]. Certain guys are just trying to play different roles and we’re just trying to do the best we can.”
Reilly Smith and Nate Schmidt had the Vegas goals as they rallied from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits in regulation.
Vegas dropped to 32-25-5.
“We got one point, we played a great game,” Vegas head coach Gerard Gallant said. ” I think that if we played the game over again, we’d win it. Are we disappointed we didn’t get two points? Definitely, but I’m not going to fault our group for that effort. They did exactly what I wanted them to do.”
David Backes was credited with the game-winner in the skills competition.
“Truthfully, I was still in shock that [Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy] called my name with some of the guys who hadn’t gone yet,” Backes said. “So I thought there was, at least, maybe a handful before me. But I got the call, went out there. I’m a shooter by nature.
“[Bruins forward Brad Marchand] said, ‘You got low glove all day if you come in from the six side.’ I went in there and I thought the glove was a little high, I went low, and it worked out.”
[WATCH: All Bruins vs. Golden Knights highlights]
Marc-Andre Fleury made 25 saves in the loss, his foruth straight.
“It was a close game, start to finish,” Fleury said. “They’re a good team, obviously. I thought it was good pace. With how close the game was offensively and defensively, it felt a bit [like a playoff game].”
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