BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – JANUARY 14: Patrice Bergeron #37 of the Boston Bruins celebrates with Brad Marchand #63 after scoring against the Toronto Maple Leafs during the first period at TD Garden on January 14, 2023 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
From Todd Angilly setting the mood with a two-anthem intro to “Dirty Water” that served as the kickoff to Saturday’s showdown between the Bruins and Maple Leafs, everything about this latest epic between the Eastern Conference’s two top teams felt bigger than yours. regular competition on January 14.
But again, that is Bruins vs. Maple Leafs.
“I like how we all stuck together,” Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery he said after his team’s 4-3 win. “There are guys on their team that some guys on our team don’t like and I’m sure it’s the same for them.”
“I haven’t played in the playoffs in the NHL, but I can definitely feel it through the building [and] on the bench,” Bruins forward AJ Greer He said. “They pushed hard in the third, but we are such a talented team and we have such a tight group that we never get out of it. We have a resilient group, we have a tight group and it was a great win.
“That’s Bruins hockey. It’s electric.”
(Print t-shirts, to be honest.)
And this one contained a little bit of everything. You had a great heavyweight fight between Nick Foligno and Wayne Simmonds, Matt Murray and Linus Ullmark both came through with save of the year candidates and Michael Bunting even tried to kick the guy. Just a ridiculously fun night at the Garden, with two more points dropped by the Bruins, extending their lead over the Maple Leafs in the Atlantic Division to 11 points, with two games in hand.
Oh, and the Bruins improved to 9-0-0 after a loss this season.
“I think the game meant more to us than I imagined before the game,” Montgomery admitted. “I think that was my biggest takeaway. And I’m glad it did. We are proud that we didn’t lose twice in a row and what we did had a purpose. Not only because we played the second place team in Toronto, but we don’t want to lose two in a row. Because you’re entering the playoffs [series]lose two in a row, you’re in a bit of a hole.”
Here are 98.5 The Sports Hub (dot com) 3 stars of the game from the big win over the Maple Leafs…