It wasn’t pretty, but after fielding questions about their work ethic, maybe that’s half the point. The Boston Bruins gutted out a 2-1 win against the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday, washing away some of the distaste after getting blown out in back-to-back games.
The win may or may not have come at a cost, though, depending upon how injured (or not) Brad Marchand really is.
Head coach Claude Julien seemed quite vague about it, as CSNNE.com’s Joe Haggerty reports.
Claude Julien said Brad Marchand " wasn't injured per se" but sat out most of 3rd period because he was less than 100 percent #BruinsTalk
— Joe Haggerty (@HackswithHaggs) November 15, 2014
/Pictures a gloomy world in which teams shift from upper or lower-body descriptions to out two weeks with “being less than 100 percent.”
Again, it wasn’t the prettiest effort, as one could argue that the Hurricanes may have matched or exceeded Boston’s efforts:
(Even-strength graph via Natural Stat Trick)
However you spin it, the Bruins have now won seven of their last nine games, which makes for a friendlier narrative than “losing two straight games while being outscored 11-2.”
Maybe most promisingly, Tuukka Rask looked awfully sharp and Milan Lucic drew some strong reviews from Haggerty.
Perhaps this something to build on, even if it arguably wasn’t the all-out effort Boston would have most preferred?