PITTSBURGH - As the player separated from Marc Savard and Phil Kessel in response to the threesome's struggles, Milan Lucic, dropped to the third line, appeared to be the most culpable for the unit's troubles.
But as Bruins coach Claude Julien was quick to point out, it wasn't just Lucic's underwhelming play that led to his displeasure. Savard and Kessel, so good and so dynamic for most of the season, were part of the team's dropoff in work ethic - the characteristic that has defined the club.
Last night, against the defending Eastern Conference champions, Savard (goal, two assists) and Kessel (eight shots, game-winning goal) showed that they got the hint.
The pair of top-liners, showing a ferocious will to compete, led the Bruins to a dominant 5-2 victory over the Penguins before 17,132 at Mellon Arena that was about as thorough a thumping as they have administered all year.
The Bruins have rolled off nine straight wins. They are running away with the East. They swept their five-game road trip and will return to TD Banknorth Garden tomorrow for a rematch with the Penguins, who were so concerned about last night's dud that they called a team meeting afterward.
"It's about time they had a meeting," said Pittsburgh coach Michel Therrien. "You have to show some leadership."
The Bruins, with 40 shots on goal, accomplished their most recent achievement by sweeping aside any remnants of lifelessness from a pair of so-so matches against Carolina and Atlanta.
"We keep saying that over the course of 82 games, you're going to have some tougher games than others," said Julien. "The fact that we still managed to win those games was a good sign.
"We didn't want to get complacent and stay in that mode. For us to play against what I consider a real good team and play the way we did tonight was certainly encouraging."
Naturally, Savard and Kessel connected for the winning goal. Late in the second period, with the score tied at 2-2, the reconfigured top line of Savard, Kessel, and P.J. Axelsson (two assists) was on the forecheck in the Pittsburgh zone. Axelsson closed down on Hal Gill. Kessel was lurking around the net. Savard got in the face of Evgeni Malkin, the puck carrier along the wall.
Because of the pressure, Malkin lost the puck, which glanced off Savard's skate onto the stick of Kessel. Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury challenged Kessel and got a piece of the winger's shot with his glove. But the puck dropped to Savard at the side of the net. With a quick glance, Savard saw that Kessel was open at the other side. He fed to Kessel, who banged the puck home at 16:43.
"We were ready tonight, that's for sure," said Savard. "I thought we played a full 60 minutes. It feels nice, because even though we got wins, we got away from that. I think as a whole tonight, we're really happy."
