Bruins’ defensive masterclass vs. Canucks a huge step in right direction originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
BOSTON — The Vancouver Canucks entered Thursday night’s showdown at TD Garden atop the NHL standings and boasting the sport’s most prolific offense.
The Canucks ranked No. 1 in goals scored and No. 6 on the power play. Their lineup is incredibly deep, featuring nine players who have scored 10-plus goals. One of those players, star center Elias Lindholm, was acquired in a blockbuster trade last week. Quinn Hughes leads all defensemen with 64 points in 51 games in what could be a Norris Trophy-winning season for the American star.
So, yeah, these guys are pretty good.
But you wouldn’t have come to that conclusion by watching Thursday night’s matchup in Boston, where the Bruins won 4-0 in a game that had a lot of similarities to the 2011 Stanley Cup Final losses that will haunt Vancouver fans forever.
Put simply, the Bruins put on a masterclass defensively, completely dominating the Canucks right from the opening puck drop.
The B’s allowed a season-low 17 shots. The Canucks’ 19 scoring chances are the second-fewest they’ve had in a game this season. Boston’s penalty kill, which has only been slightly above average of late, was phenomenal, highlighted by two shorthanded goals, including one from Brad Marchand just 32 seconds into the game.
The best way to beat a high-scoring opponent is shutting down its best players, and the Canucks’ stars were noticeably silent throughout the night.
Elias Pettersson, who’s one of the best centers in the sport, was held without a point and didn’t tally a single shot. Lindholm also was scoreless without a shot. They were both on the ice for all four of the Bruins’ goals.
“These are big-time games,” Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet told reporters postgame. “(Brad) Marchand and (David) Pastrnak are great players, and they showed up. We got to have that kind of thing. Now, listen, it’s our first (regulation) loss in I don’t know how many games, 13 or 14 , so I can’t get too critical. But these are big games, so you’d like to see a little bit better from some guys. The shorthanded goals are really something you cannot do in big, critical games. You just can’t.”
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