Big Second Period Lifts Bruins to Win Over Ottawa

BOSTON -Perhaps, it's no coincidence that when the intensity ramped up on Tuesday night, so too did the Bruins' play. The Black & Gold, admittedly, did not get off to the grandest of starts against the Senators and found themselves trailing by a goal after one period.
But when the physicality and feistiness started to elevate in the second period, Boston began to perk up, outshooting Ottawa by a nearly 3-to-1 margin during the middle frame. The lopsided shot totals translated to the scoreboard, too, as the Bruins struck for their only three goals of the night, one each from Brad Marchand, Derek Forbort, and Patrice Bergeron en route to a 3-2 victory over the Senators at TD Garden.

"I think that's the way we had to play," said Bergeron, whose tally with 1:20 left in the second proved to be the winner. "It's not always about blowing guys up, but at least being physical and finishing checks, and getting some momentum, and make it hard to play. I think that's what teams have done in the past, and you have to respond, and I think that was a good way of responding. I think we need more of that if you want to be successful and if you want to be consistent and create some energy and find ways in tied games like that."
In addition to Connor Clifton dropping the gloves with Alex Formenton and Marchand tangling with Thomas Chabot late in the second, the Bruins also delivered a number of heavy hits, including two huge smacks from Charlie McAvoy on Zach Sanford and Nikita Zaitsev and another thunderous thump by Curtis Lazar on Erik Brannstrom.
"Those are the types of games we're better in," said Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy. "You have to be able to play in them, be comfortable in them…the temperature of the game went up; they had a good hit, and Charlie McAvoy responded well. He does a lot for us. We need a few other guys back there to sort of bring some of that too.
"It doesn't have to be every night, but what we talk about in the room is when it's your turn and there's a hit in front of you, don't turn it down, and I think Charlie did a good job kind of evening things up in that regard."

Here's some other news and notes from the B's win over Ottawa:

Killer Instinct

The Bruins' penalty kill was immense, putting forth a perfect 6-for-6 performance that included a lengthy, minute-plus 5-on-3 with Ottawa up a goal late in the first period. Boston also killed off two Senators power plays in the third period as they pushed for the tying tally.
"I thought tonight was really good," said Bergeron, who saw 3:39 of shorthanded time. "Lots of good reads, communication. I thought we were pretty aggressive tonight, and when you do that - talking about myself when you're on the power play - if you get pressured hard and often, it's hard to really get the looks that you want. I thought tonight that we denied that, but also, we were compact at times that they had full control, and we got the saves that we needed."
Cassidy noted a marked improvement on the PK, particularly when it came to clearing the puck, from Saturday night in Toronto when the Bruins allowed two power-play goals to Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews.
"Clears were a little better tonight than they were the other night, what hurt us in Toronto," said Cassidy. "Timely save at the end [from Jeremy Swayman] on [Brady] Tkachuk at the front of the net. All in all, I liked our compete level on the puck; we didn't allow them easy set up time, and for the most part, limited the danger shots. Some of that was a better job on the entries at the blue line; we had addressed that in Toronto.
"It usually comes down to you get the clear when you're tired, and you stick to the structure when you're fatigued, and I thought we did a good job with that."

Finding Some Fortune

The Bruins were the beneficiaries of some fortunate bounces during their three-goal second period. On their first goal of the frame, David Pastrnak's wicked wrister from the top of the left-wing circle appeared to be headed wide until it clanked off the chest of Marchand, who was camped out at the left post, to tie the game at 1.
"The one off Marchy, I mean, yeah it's a fortunate goal, but we're going to the net, so we're at the right place," said Cassidy. "When you shoot the puck, those things happen, so good for us for sticking with that."
And on Boston's third goal, Pastrnak's feed deflected off a broken Ottawa stick and Bergeron's skate before the Bruins captain was able to corral it and quickly whack the puck by Ottawa goalie Matt Murray to put the B's up, 3-2, with 1:20 remaining in the second.
"I was hoping that [the pass] wasn't going to touch [the stick], but when it did, I was trying to make sure I was able to control it right away and try to surprise the goalie and put in on net as quickly as possible," said Bergeron. "I think he was thinking pass on that when the guy is going backdoor, and that's kind of what I was seeing as well, so I was trying to put it short side."

Taking Up Space

Boston's second goal was also hardly routine. Forbort took a drop pass from Charlie Coyle high in the Ottawa zone and turned towards the net, at which point a massive lane opened, allowing the burly blue liner to cruise in on Murray.
Forbort got all the way to the bottom of the left-wing circle before he let a wrister fly far-side, beating Murray under his glove for his second goal of the season to put the Bruins up, 2-1, with 9:02 left in the second.
"Yeah, I mean, once I got over the shock of no one coming at me, it was pretty natural, I guess," Forbort said with a grin. "Coyle did a good job moving up top, made a good little drop pass to me, and just a little mix up in coverage. I don't know, somehow ended up all alone."
The 6-foot-4, 219-pounder is hardly known for his offensive acumen but noted that Cassidy encourages his defensemen to be active at the blue line, which is a bit easier when playing alongside McAvoy and Boston's top line.
"I'm never really gonna be a real offensive guy, but when you're out there with those guys you've got to be good at keeping the puck moving, getting open when it's your turn," said Forbort. "It's something I work on at practice every day is trying to get better offensively. When you're out there with those guys you're going to get those chances."

No Place Like Home

The Bruins remained perfect at TD Garden, upping their record to 5-0-0 on Causeway Street, which is tied for the third-longest home win streak to begin a season in franchise history, per NHL Stats. The record is eight from 1983-84.
Swayman also kept up his dominance on home ice, improving to 7-0-0 with a .947 save percentage and 1.13 goals against average at TD Garden.
"I love playing at home," said Swayman. "It's the best arena in the NHL. It's the best atmosphere you could ask for, so it's fun coming home and winning in front of these fans."

Wait, There's More

• Cassidy picked up his 200th career win as head coach of the Bruins, becoming just the sixth coach in team history to reach that mark, joining Claude Julien, Art Ross, Milt Schmidt, Don Cherry, and Gerry Cheevers.
• Trent Frederic left the game in the second period after taking a monster open-ice hit from Ottawa's Josh Brown in the neutral zone. The forward did not return due to an upper-body injury.