Two reasons why Bruins’ OT win vs. Canadiens was very encouraging
Two reasons why Bruins’ OT win vs. Canadiens was very encouraging originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Thursday night’s road win over the Montreal Canadiens was pretty encouraging for the Boston Bruins on a few fronts.
For starters, they won an overtime game, which has been difficult for this team in 2023-24. The Bruins have an NHL-leading 15 losses after regulation. Jake DeBrusk scored just 25 seconds into the 3-on-3 overtime, making it the sixth-fastest regular season overtime goal in team history.
But the real reason why this game was so encouraging for the B’s was the performances of defenseman Andrew Peeke and center John Beecher.
Peeke was acquired from the Columbus Blue Jackets a few hours before last Friday’s trade deadline. He played alongside Parker Wotherspoon on the right side of the third defense pairing Thursday and performed pretty well. He played 17:01 overall, including 0:45 for the penalty kill, a unit that went a perfect 3-of-3 in the game.
The Bruins had an 18-8 edge in shot attempts, a 6-2 edge in shots on net and an 11-1 scoring chance advantage during the Wotherspoon-Peeke pairing’s 14:24 of 5-on-5 ice time, which is a really strong advantage. Peeke also blocked two shots and played with the physicality that made him an intriguing player for Columbus.
The fine folks at Hockey Stat Cards actually rated Peeke as the best player on the ice for the Bruins in their victory over the Canadiens, with the bulk of his high score coming from on-ice defense.
“I thought his gaps were good,” Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery told reporters postgame, per the team. “I thought he was aggressive. I thought he was physical, separating people. I thought he did a good job on the 4-on-4 when we put him out there. Played aggressive, which is what we’re looking for, using his feet.”
The Peeke trade was a bit of a controversial one because both his regular and advanced stats this season aren’t very good. He was a healthy scratch several times this year, too….
