Bruins First Line Finds Chemistry with Griffith’s First Goal

Boston fans are notorious for hitting the panic button and quickly. With the season skating into full swing, the Bruins have lost four games since opening night, but a statistic that seems to be overlooked is the fact that they’ve won three. Of course that statistic is meaningless in an already frustrating landscape for fans of the black and gold. The Bruins looked to carry over the energy from Saturday’s 4-0 win against the Sabres and they did just that, with Tuukka Rask manning the pipes.

The San Jose Sharks skated into TD Garden for their final game of a 5-game road trip, which began on the 14th in Washington and left them with a 2-2 record in the books, by games end they would find themselves 2-3. Finding repeated success between the pipes against the Bruins, Rasks’ fellow Finnish goaltender Antti Niemi took the ice, however allowing 4 goals on 32 shots, goal number 5 for Boston was an empty netter.

For the team and fans, it was just the type of win they were looking for on home ice. Chemistry for the Krejci-Lucic-Griffith line helped propel the Bruins into the win column, with Lucic recording three assists on the evening, and Krejci earning two-points with a goal and assist, it was 20-year-old newcomer Seth Griffith who tallied his first NHL goal at 4:50 of the third that had everyone talking. Ask any player their most memorable hockey moment and the responses remain consistent among them, first NHL game, first NHL goal.

“Yeah, sure did,” said Bruins Lucic on celebrating his first goal enthusiastically. “I remember getting my first goal and how much it meant and how special it was. It was great to see him finally get it.”

Seth Griffith

Griffith has been haunted by opportunity in terms of scoring, most recently clinking the post in a 6-4 loss to Montreal last week, his first goal couldn’t have come at a better time, with Boston down 3-2, Griffith’s goal not only lit the lamp, but a fire under the team.

“It was great,” said Griffith on his first NHL goal. “I’ve had a couple chances the past few games so it’s great to get the first one out of the way.”

The sentiments around the room post game mirrored one another, excitement for the win, desire to keep it going and a genuine thrill for their teammate’s first goal.

“You get goose bumps,” said Kelly on Griffith’s goal. “It never gets old seeing someone score their first goal and how excited they are. I think it brings a lot of us back to when we scored our first goal, so well deserved, and it couldn’t come at a better time. It was a big goal.”

It was consistent play and visible hard work that earned the young forward a slot on the first line, and ultimately kept him there throughout the entire game.

“Because he played well,” said Head Coach Julien on what he saw in Griffith. “When he was playing well I thought he made some great plays. Again, this isn’t because he scored, I think he scored because he played well. I just thought he was pretty good. That’s a big team and I thought he handled himself well along the walls and making good plays.”

The team, and Griffith will look to ride their two game win streak, when former teammate Johnny Boychuck and the New York Islanders skate into town on Thursday.