The forward scored in overtime to secure the Boston Bruins' 3-2 win over the Florida Panthers Saturday at TD Garden.
Jesper Boqvist streaked up the ice and sniped the puck past Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky to seal the Boston Bruins’ 3-2 overtime win Saturday at TD Garden.
The tally not only highlighted the B’s budding bottom-six depth, but Boqvist coming into form as a consistent, impact player in the second half of the season.
“I just took a chance and jumped there, and this time it worked. Just tried to hit the net,” Boqvist said Saturday. “To hear the crowd and that goal horn, too – it’s probably the best in the league. It’s awesome to score here for sure.”
The 25-year-old forward signed a one-year contract with Boston in July after the New Jersey Devils did not extend him a qualifying offer. Boqvist then started the year in AHL Providence as Johnny Beecher and Matt Poitras snatched the 3C and 4C positions out of training camp.
However, since being recalled in early January, Boqvist has elevated his game and earned stable slotting in the Bruins’ nightly lineup.
“He works incredibly hard, and he’s had a great story this year from up and then down,” Charlie McAvoy, who scored in Saturday’s win, said. “Working hard down there and then coming up and making the most of his opportunities and carving out himself a space on this team.”
After anchoring the fourth line for a majority of his time back up with the Bruins, Boqvist was promoted to third-line center last week alongside Jake DeBrusk and Trent Frederic while Morgan Geekie moved up to skate with Brad Marchand and Charlie Coyle.
“We like the speed of [DeBrusk] and Boqvist together. We think that can be an added weapon on our third line,” Boston coach Jim Montgomery said Saturday.
Boqvist has logged 14 points (six goals, eight assists) through 43 NHL games this season, and has found a steadiness to his play thanks to not many nights off since returning to Boston. Last year in New Jersey, Boqvist was in and out of the lineup in the second-half stretch, preventing him from stringing together consecutive strong performances.
This time around, the heightened opportunity and responsibility from the Bruins coaching staff has made all the difference.
“It’s a little bit easier to keep the momentum,” Boqvist said. “Even if you have a bad game, you want to bounce right back. If you’re out of the lineup for two or three games, you kind of lose that momentum a little bit.”
His role has been anything but given, though. Montgomery has preached earning playing time and rewarding those who are working hard, doing the little things and producing. Boqvist couldn’t hit that bar in the beginning of the season, but after going down to Providence, learning the systems and rediscovering some confidence, he’s been able to hang around just fine.
“The standards are so high here. Even just in practice I feel like you just get better,” Boqvist said. “All these guys work so hard, and you’ve got to bring it every day to keep up with these guys. Just being here every day makes you better.”
Boqvist didn’t miraculously turn into the perfect player – for one, he’s struggled at the dot with a 35.4 face-off percentage – but he has nonetheless been a fit for Boston’s bottom six, and will be an important piece come playoffs.
“It’s been a good week for sure, and we’ve just got to keep building,” Boqvist said. “I’m just trying to stay in the moment and take it day by day.”
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