Bruins’ trade deadline acquisitions provide key moments in win over Hurricanes
Rick Nash and Tommy Wingels made their most of their TD Garden debuts.
“When guys get traded, they always wanna get on the scoresheet as quick as they can,” head coach Bruce Cassidy said after the Bruins’ 4-3 overtime win over the Hurricanes. “…And good for them.”
Cassidy was praising two of the newest Bruins acquired during the NHL trade deadline. For them, “as quick as they can” meant their TD Garden debuts on Tuesday night.
While Charlie McAvoy stole the show and became the youngest-ever defenseman in the franchise to score an overtime goal with his game-winner, Rick Nash and Tommy Wingels also etched their names in Bruins history.
First, after a rough start for Boston including limited puck possession and a virtually defenseless Tuukka Rask, Nash decided he’d make his case for a spot in the Bruins’ goalie rotation:
Didn’t realize the Bruins traded for a goalie. pic.twitter.com/IJDC7pkn2H
— NHL GIFs (@NHLGIFs) February 28, 2018
Nash’s official Garden welcome would come at 8:19, though, when his backhanded equalizer — which just so happened to be his 800th career point — got a standing ovation and the loudest cheers of the night:
Rick Nash is pretty good at first impressions. #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/mHUGH25pJG
— x – Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) February 28, 2018
If Nash made it look easy, that wasn’t exactly the case.
“Whenever you start with a new team or a fresh season, you always want to get that first one out of the way,” the former Ranger said postgame. “It always seems like the hardest one to get.”
Big nights from Ryan Spooner’s replacement on David Krejci’s wing are more or less expected. Nash’s 16:47 TOI translated to a goal, five shots on goal, two hits and one takeaway.
Wingels, acquired from the Blackhawks for a fifth-round pick to provide puck pursuit and fill a bottom-six role, was just as impressive. His 15:06 TOI amounted to a goal, an assist, two shots on goal, two hits and a plus-two rating.
Perhaps the assist was the best part. Cassidy has been stressing a “pucks to the net, bodies to the net” mentality, and it was Wingels’s body and puck at the net that setup Riley Nash’s goal late in the first:
https://twitter.com/mkmolnar/status/968649574599614464
“If you get traded, this is the kind of team you want to go to,” Wingels said postgame. “A hungry team, a team that is capable of winning it all and a team with the skill and work ethic of the Bruins here.”
If that’s not enough to prove he’s pumped to wear the Black and Gold, how about his first goal in Boston — the 3-3 equalizer at 14:26 of the second?
Not a bad night for @tommywingels57 either. #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/I6fCYDii1w
— x – Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) February 28, 2018
The Bruins return to Causeway Street Thursday night — in Game 2 of their six-game homestand — as they welcome the red-hot Pittsburgh Penguins.
