Bruins Take Down Rangers for 10th Straight Victory

BOSTON - Charlie Coyle, Tomas Nosek, Patrice Bergeron, and David Pastrnak all scored as the Bruins took down the New York Rangers, 4-2, on Saturday afternoon at TD Garden for the club's 10th consecutive victory. It is Boston's first winning streak of 10 or more games since a 12-gamer in 2013-14.
"We got to it, yeah," coach Jim Montgomery said of playing "Bruins hockey" during the victory. "I thought we played really intelligently in the third. The first two periods for whatever reason our mental execution, us reading plays and making plays with or without the puck was really slow.
"It's a little understandable, it's our sixth game in nine and a half days with a lot of travel and it wears on you. And you could tell, the early start, we didn't mentally really start with the one o'clock start time today."

Bertuzzi's on the Board

Tyler Bertuzzi made his Black & Gold debut and wasted no time getting acclimated to his new team. The winger skated with Coyle and Trent Frederic as the third-line left wing and connected with the duo on Boston's first goal of the afternoon.
After Frederic won a foot race for a loose puck in the corner, he quickly cycled it down to Bertuzzi behind the New York net. Bertuzzi then delivered a feed to Coyle, who one-timed it home from the slot off one knee for his 12th goal of the season and a 1-0 Boston lead with 2:53 left in the first.
"I know Coyle's pretty quick and Frederic on the forecheck, I think that's just me trying to keep it a little bit simple in my first game and kind of figure it out a little bit. Just trying to keep it simple," said Bertuzzi. "I knew two guys were kind of coming to me, I saw Coyle coming down the pipe there and if it got through you know he's gonna have good luck. It worked out well.
"I thought we played simple and pretty good. I'll do whatever. I'm here to just try and win hockey games. Wherever I play, that's where I play."
Coach Jim Montgomery thought that Bertuzzi, who played 16:31 in his debut, was exactly as advertised and called his trio the Bruins "best offensive line" on the day.
"Just like we had anticipated. He's a hockey player and he made a lot of plays. He set [David Krejci] up for an open net in the second and it popped or rolled on his stick or else that's in the back of the net. He's really smart with his game management too, like he didn't force plays at all. You put him in knowing that he likes to forecheck and his linemates like to forecheck."
Bertuzzi was pleased to get his first point - and first win - out of the way in his debut, especially with them coming in front of the home crowd.
"It was awesome. Starts with the anthem, it's a pretty cool anthem," Bertuzzi said of Todd Angilly's performance. "All the guys were awesome. It just feels good to get this one out of the way and now I'm just moving forward."
"Not quite like my first NHL game [as far as nerves], but once that anthem came and it was done and the puck was dropped it was just full go from there…it was good just to kind of get my feet wet and do it, hear the crowd and just kind of celebrate with the guys and be in the mix a little bit."

A Hard-Nosed Effort

Tomas Nosek doubled the Bruins' lead just 30 seconds into the middle frame when he took a feed from Coyle and, while all alone in front of Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin, dangled around the New York netminder and buried a backhander for his fifth goal of the season.
"It's very comforting for us as a team, to know that they are out there and are going to get the job done," Montgomery said of the Coyle-Nosek penalty-killing tandem. "Not only that, but they read off each other really well with their pressure in zone, but also especially down ice. Charlie Coyle knew that Nose would go to the middle of the ice and he picks that puck off, he doesn't just throw it back behind the net, he makes a poised, calm play and then he finds Nosek at the net front."
Nosek's tally was his second shorthanded marker of the year, becoming the third Bruin with multiple shorties along with Derek Forbort and Bergeron, who also have two apiece. The centerman also became one of four active Czech-born players with at least five career shorthanded goals, joining Ondrej Palat (7), Radek Faksa (6), Tomas Hertl (5), and teammate Pavel Zacha (5).
"Charlie made a pretty good play, I was there alone and I thought I was going to forehand. I saw him going down, and I just made a backhand move and put it in. It was good, it felt good," said Nosek.
"It's a pretty good team here and I'm happy to be part of this. It's a special group, never been part of this special group before. It's a great locker room and we're having fun, and I keep enjoying it, and it's been a blessing for us to be here."
Following his goal - which came on Hockey Day in Czechia back in his native country - Nosek turned and waved to the stands to his wife Eliska and two children.
"It's not easy, especially for my wife, sometimes with the kids at home and alone. She gave up all of it for me when we came here nine years ago, so it's kind of my thank you to my wife," said Nosek.
"I've been doing this since we were in Grand Rapids [in the AHL}. It's like a thank you to my wife because she gave up everything for me to chase my dream with me…a special game, so I'm happy that they were there and that they could see that."
Nosek finished the afternoon with three shots on goal and a hit, while winning 71 percent of his faceoffs in 10:30 of ice time.
"Really what he does is as a coach, trying to match lines or put your teams in favorable positions," said Montgomery. "He's so good at winning draws…it allows us to hold the Bergeron and [David] Krejci lines for offensive situations and it allows me to use him on that dot and Charlie Coyle on the other one for defensive situations, if need be."

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