Bruins Diehard: Tyler Seguin Makes His Old Team Pay
By Ric Duarte
BOSTON (CBS) -- I wanted to write about how the Boston Bruins -- fresh off an October that saw an 0-3 start, losers of their first four home games and their $7 million dollar goaltender sporting a save percentage somewhere near mine -- how they battled back to win six of seven. I wanted to write about how they had won four in a row, including a weekend sweep of the Florida Panthers and the Tampa Bay Lightning down in the Sunshine State. I wanted to write about how they finished October with a respectable 6-4 record and how they were playing better overall.
I wanted to write about how, except for a shootout goal in last season's meeting with the Dallas Stars, Tyler Seguin had not scored against his former team!
But instead I will write about how you never know what you are going to get with the 2015-2016 edition of the Boston Bruins.
In Tuesday night's game the Bruins faced off against the Stars, Seguin flat-out put Dallas on his back and carried them to a 5-3 win. The former Bruin fired six shots on goal, and three found the back of the net for his seventh career hat trick -- his sixth since being traded to Dallas.
Now tied for the NHL scoring lead with teammate Jamie Benn, Seguin says he liked beating the team that sent him packing two years ago.
"Feels good to win in here, it's a tough building to win," Seguin said. "Always feels good to score. When you're playing your old team, it's special."
It was a special kind of night for the No. 1 star of the contest, for sure. Two of his goals were on the power play from the top of the left circle, including a one-time blast that left Tuukka Rask with no chance to make a save.
Speaking about playing his former teammates, Seguin said, "There's a fine line between them being your friend and them being your enemy for the night."
Nevertheless, he made his former club pay, and he is happy about that.
He's also happy to be in Dallas now. His time in Boston was special but he has moved on and has tried to be show maturity -- something the Bruins thought he was lacking when in Boston as a fresh-faced youngster.
"It's a young team here and right when I stepped in I had the opportunity to be a leader. First-line center, I've tried to grasp that and run with it since Day 1," Seguin said.
Seguin has 82 goals with the Stars in two-plus seasons and could be headed for a scoring title while his former team seems to not know which way they are headed right now. It will be interesting to see the results of both when April rolls around.
Ric Duarte has covered hockey and the Bruins for various media outlets since 1986. You can follow Ric on Twitter @bruins_diehard.
