Bruins survive without Chara, Hamilton ties career high in points

October 26th, 2014

By Dakota Antelman

One day after learning that their captain Zdeno Chara had suffered a torn PCL and would be missing the next 4-6 weeks of games, the Bruins took to the ice in Toronto with a lot to prove.

Present Saturday night were new call-ups, Joe Morrow and Zach Trotman as well as several incumbent Bruins blue liners who were looking to make an impression in Chara’s absence. The Bruins were well aware of their need for those players to preform but prior to the puck drop there was certain fear that they simply would not be able to.

Needless to say, those Bruin defenders silenced the doubters against Toronto and proved that the sky was not yet falling.

"I think it's just a lot of focus and everybody knew without him, everyone had to step up,” said a cool headed Dougie Hamilton after the game. “So I don't think it's one guy - it's everyone as a team and our D corps and everything, and I thought we did well. Probably our best defensive game this year."

While the rest of the team may have played their best game of the year, Hamilton played one of his best games of his career Saturday.

He tied his career high in points with three. His assists on goals by Carl Soderberg and David Krejci helped put the game out of reach early while his stunning break-away goal in the 3^rd period earned the deserved praise of the Bruins fan base.

Such was a common theme Saturday as beyond Hamilton; the defense would fire off eight shots on goal sustaining the offensive minded presence that Chara would always bring to a game.

"I was just playing, and things happened, and wasn't really thinking about it. I just knew that we were facing a good line with Kessel and me and Seids had to play good defense and play solid,” said Hamilton. "And I think it's just a bonus that you get the offense."

Partially due to a stand out game by Rask but also due to a strong performance in the neutral zone, the Bruins allowed just one goal which was scored with only five minutes to go in the game.

"I thought defensively, we kept most of the shots to the outside. They did get some great chances, but Tuukka was up to the task,” said coach Claude Jullian.

All and all, the Bruins stood tall in a game that they could very well have lost. They silenced many who were in states of crazed panic after the Chara injury and played an all-out, leave-it-all-on-the-ice type of game.

"It should be that all the time, but when you lose a guy like Zdeno, you have to rely on it a lot more and it's got to be a total team effort,” Jullian said.