Torey Krug Made Some Unbelievable History For Bruins In Game 3 Win Over Blues
By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- In Game 1, Torey Krug made his mark on the series with a memorable open-ice hit. In Game 3, Krug made some history that might have some more staying power.
With one goal and three assists, Krug became the first player in Bruins franchise history to record four points in a single game during the Stanley Cup Final.
Think about that -- in the 94-year history of the Bruins franchise, a team that's made the Stanley Cup Final 20 times, only Torey Krug has registered four points in a single game. In a franchise with the likes of Bobby Orr, Johnny Bucyk, Phil Esposito, Wayne Cashman, Cam Neely, Rick Middleton and Ray Bourque in their history, and players like Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci and Brad Marchand, only Torey Krug has ever put four points on the score sheet in the Stanley Cup Final.
It is, quite literally, unbelievable.
Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy, who labeled Krug as being underappreciated before the series began, said he does not believe that will be the case any longer.
"Well hopefully not in Boston. Certainly not in our locker room room. Never has been," Cassidy said of the underappreciated tag. "When I said that, it was in the context of, 'He's an offensive defenseman, he's a power play specialist.' And I think people don't realize how hard he is when he wants to play that physical game. He does play big minutes now lately against good players with [Brandon] Carlo. ... Torey's stepped up, and he wanted that responsibility to be a second-pair behind [Zdeno Chara], playing good lines. And he's met the challenge."
The 7-2 final score indicated that the Bruins blew out their opponent, which was a reality that was largely due to Krug's contributions. Krug recorded the primary assist just 21 seconds into Boston's first power play, sending a hard pass to Patrice Bergeron to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead.
In the opening minute of the second period, with a chance to eliminate any and all hope for the Blues, Krug looked up from the blue line to find a wide-open David Pastrnak at the goalmouth. Pastrnak took it from there, and Boston took a 4-0 lead.
And after the Blues scored a goal to inject some life into the building to cut Boston's lead to three goals with 29 minutes left in the game, Krug stifled that energy by potting a power-play goal. That goal came after Krug worked with Brad Marchand to keep a puck in the zone before firing a shot toward net on another power play. Krug's shot took a fortuitous bounce off Jay Bouwmeester's stick and past goaltender Jordan Binnington to give Boston a 5-1 lead, thus sending Binnington to the bench.
While the Bruins' seventh goal could be filed under the "mostly meaningless" category, it was once again Krug picking up the primary assist.
Krug now has 44 points in 58 playoff games played, ranking him sixth among defensemen in Bruins history despite playing significantly fewer games than the five D-men ahead of him.
Most Playoff Points
Defensemen, Bruins Franchise History
1. Ray Bourque, 161 points in 179 games
2. Bobby Orr, 92 points in 74 games
3. Brad Park, 78 points in 91 games
4. Zdeno Chara, 52 points in 132 games
5. Glen Wesley, 45 points in 104 games
6. Torey Krug, 44 points in 58 games
That is some Hall of Fame company for Krug, and with one goal and three primary assists in the biggest game of the year, Krug has earned himself a rather impressive place in Bruins history.
Back in Game 1, Krug drew some comparisons to Bobby Orr for the imagery of the two flying through the air. That comparison was made in jest. Now, though, Krug has done something in a Stanley Cup Final game that Orr never did. And that is no joke.
