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    All-Centennial Team

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    Stanley Cup Champs

    Back to basics: Bruins rebound with 4-0 shutout vs Oilers

    One of the marks of a great team is the ability to put a bad game behind them and turn the page to the next one.

    The Bruins have been notorious for doing just that, and today proved it yet again.
    photo by S. Babineau/Getty Images

    After getting embarrassed on home ice versus Montreal, the Bruins skated with a purpose for 60 minutes versus the Oilers, shutting them out 4-0 behind goals from David Krejci, Doug Hamilton, Carl Soderberg and Torey Krug.

    The Bruins know how poorly they played versus Montreal, and they made sure to come out strong from the get go against Edmonton. Even though they didn't score a goal in the first period, the effort in the 20 minutes made up for the entire game on Thursday.

    David Krejci gave the Bruins all they needed on the day, scoring his 12th of the year on the powerplay at 2:06 of the second. With Jarome Iginla working the entire Oilers penalty-kill with his stick-handling, Krejci was able to sneak in between the circles unnoticed, where he rocketed the slap-shot one-timer from Iginla that beat Oilers goalie Ben Scrivens.

    The Bruins skated the rest of the period even, before breaking the game wide open late in the third.

    Dougie Hamilton scored his sixth of the year at 6:43 of the third when he broke out his own Bobby Orr impression, bursting through the neutral zone and the entire Oilers team, grabbing his own rebound off an initial shot before pulling off a ridiculous angle wrap-around that bounced off Ben Scrivens and into the net.

    It was an amazing individual effort from Hamilton, and the angle from which he was able to whip the puck around the net and past Scrivens was nothing short of top class.

    Carl Soderberg iced the game with his eighth of the year when he ripped a laser beam shot past Scrivens over his glove-side. Chris Kelly tried to dump the puck into the zone, but it ricocheted off the linesman as he tried to get out of the way, and the bounce found Soderberg in stride, who faked one way then came back across to cross up Scrivens.

    photo by J. Rogash/Getty Images
    And just for good measure, Torey Krug added his 12th of the year on the powerplay at 15:42. The whole unit was clicking on the sequence, with Krejci keeping the puck in the zone at the blueline, Jarome Iginla drawing two Oilers, which freed up Zdeno Chara down below the line, which in turn prompted Nick Shultz to dive out trying to stop him, opening up the passing lane for Big Z to loft the puck to the waiting Krug who rocketed it high past Scrivens. 

    After playing such a disappointing and frankly crappy game versus their biggest rivals, the Bruins wasted no time in getting back on track and not letting the stink of the loss linger.

    The win gives the B's 35 wins and 73 points on the season. They currently sit six points ahead of Tampa Bay in the Atlantic.

    The Bruins are off until Tuesday, when the Vancouver Canucks come to town for a much-anticipated matchup.


    • Chad Johnson got his first shutout of the season, stopping all 21 shots he faced. He's on a four game winning streak and now posts a 2.14 GAA and a .923SV% on the year.
    • Fan favorite Andrew Ference made his return to the Garden, and although he had a rough day going -2, one particular play in the third period reminded fans they loved him so; facing a one-timer off the stick of Reilly Smith, it was Ferrence who dove in front of his goalie to shut off the lane and block the shot. Always one to sacrifice himself for his teammates. 
    • The Bruins powerplay unit found the net twice, and they've done alright for themselves of late, scoring 8 times out of 32 tries in the last eight games.
    • Out of the 'Probably Would Not Have Guessed That' department, the Bruins are now 10th in the league in powerplay percentage (19.9).
    •  After setting the regular season record for saves in a game, Ben Scrivens was pulled back down from the stratosphere, giving up four goals on 41 shots faced.