“I thought [Ryder] had a good game,’’ said coach Claude Julien. “That line was good for us tonight. Him and Savvy were coming back and working hard. When those guys come back and work out of our own end as a unit, they’re a lot more successful. I thought Michael was strong on the puck and made some good plays. Even without the puck, his puck pursuit was good. But that was basically the story of our whole team tonight. I don’t know that we had anybody that you could be really disappointed about.’’
The Bruins, coming off a 2-3 season-opening homestand, were hungry for a complete performance against a Dallas club that hadn’t lost in regulation. In the two practices leading up to the game, the Bruins were crisper in Julien’s view. But they also showed a sense of desperation and resolve last night that had been missing for most of their TD Garden appearances.
“I think we’ve already had the doubt earlier on,’’ said Tim Thomas, who earned the shutout with 27 saves. “We went into this game to turn it around and get back to playing the way we want to play.’’
In the first period, with Mike Ribeiro in the box for high-sticking, the Bruins netted a rare power-play goal. In the 7-2 win over Carolina Oct. 3, the Bruins went 4 for 8 on the power play. But in their other four games, the Bruins had gone 0 for 21 on the power play.
On last night’s opening goal, Marco Sturm, switched back to his natural position on the left side, chipped the puck into the offensive zone. Ryder, who had built speed in the neutral zone, sprinted after the dump-in and jostled Karlis Skrastins, preventing the defenseman from settling the puck. Sturm, who also had joined the forecheck, poked the puck away from Stephane Robidas to Savard. The center curled out from behind the net, into the slot, and sent a shot on goal that skimmed off Robidas’s stick and between Marty Turco’s pads at 13:32.
