BOSTON — Elias Lindholm got the proverbial monkey off his back when he scored his third goal of the season on the power play in the Bruins’ shutout win over the Utah Hockey Club on Thursday night.
Lindholm broke a scoreless tie with 7:19 left in the second period after the Bruins had failed to capitalize on their first four power-play opportunities.
Interim head coach Joe Sacco told reporters after the game the bench was excited to see the struggling forward breakthrough and end his scoring drought – Lindholm hadn’t scored since Oct. 12 — but Brad Marchand showed his sense of humor when he met with the media.
“I said I tipped it in,” Marchand joked. “I was just happy. Just a huge goal for us. That’s one of those things, not just for the team, but for the power play. I think we really needed it.
“It was a big moment. It’s a great way for him to step up, and he’s done it for many years across the league. We’re lucky to have a very smart player all the way around the ice. That’s a big goal, not just for him, but for our group and our power play.”
Aside from cashing in on the power play, the Bruins showed Utah what it’s like when Boston plays to their identity — being a physical, hard team to play against.
“That’s kind of been a staple of our team and our system for a long time,” Marchand said. “We want to play a physical game; it’s something that we addressed when we have the team and the build that we do.
“(Management) brought guys in so that we could play a game like that. We haven’t done a good enough job of it, and we got back to it tonight. It’s a hard game to play for an entire season, but you have to — to build for a playoff team. We’ve seen it in the last couple of years in the playoffs. Teams that build that way; they have success. We have to continue to play like that.”
