When it was over, four Bruins, David Krejci, Patrice Bergeron, Seguin, and Lucic, finished with 3 points apiece. Bergeron pocketed three assists, while Krejci, off to a horrid offensive start, finished 1-2-3 and placed three shots on net. It was Boston’s second win this season over the Leafs. The Bruins pasted them, 6-2, Oct. 20 on Garden ice.
It was by far Seguin’s most impressive game as a pro, one that added further context to the question whether he might blossom into one of the game’s rare elite talents. The speedy Toronto homeboy, selected No. 2 in the 2010 draft, connected for Boston’s first goal in the first period, then added two more in the second, boosting his team-high total to seven (7-7-14 through 12 games).
Seguin’s first strike was a one-time rip job out of the Mike Bossy school of quick-release sniping. On No. 2, for the 2-0 lead, he batted a chest-high puck into the net with a backhander. No. 3 was another Bossy knockoff, picking the top righthand corner, short side, and sending netminder Ben Scrivens to the bench for the night. Scrivens, from Cornell, was in Big Red form - the big red light behind him never stopped flashing.
Tim Thomas, who stopped 25 creampuff shots for his first shutout this season, figures Seguin is much stronger and confident this season. What took the kid a season-plus to get it going?
“Well,’’ offered Thomas, “he’s an 18-year-old kid with size 13 feet. It takes a while to get used to it.’’
It has taken the entire Boston squad the better part of five weeks to grow accustomed to the workaday world of the 82-game NHL schedule. The Bruins have won two straight for the first time this season and stand 5-7-0 through 12 games, far closer resembling the team that won its first Cup in 39 years this past June.
Rarely able to manage leads most nights this season, the Bruins went ahead on Seguin’s first pop at 6:23 and kept the game clock in their pockets for the rest of the 53:37. It’s a much easier game when you’re not chasing the scoreboard like it was ’ol Swifty at Wonderland Park.
