Brett Connolly played a major factor in a winning outcome in his debut with the Boston Bruins.
The 22-year-old from Prince George assisted on two third-period goals, including rookie Zach Trotman's gamewinner with 2:09 left to play, to help the Bruins to a 3-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings Thursday in Detroit.
"It's a big win, down two goals with 15 minutes or so left in the game and we come back and win. It felt good to finally be out there and be a part of it," Connolly told NESN, the Bruins' network TV broadcaster. "It's good for the confidence, I haven't played that much in a long time. It feels really good to be out there a lot. It's nice to see (Bruins head coach Claude Julien) just throw me out there. I haven't had that luxury in a long time. I'm very happy with the way I started and it was good to get the win."
Connolly was traded to Boston by the Tampa Bay Lightning in a deadline deal a month ago but broke his index finger blocking a shot in his first practice with the Bruins. Wednesday's game marked his return to action.
The play which led to Trotman's first career NHL goal started with Connolly winning a battle for the puck behind the Detroit goal. Connolly maintained possession and passed to Ryan Spooner, who fed it over to Trotman. Connolly also picked up an assist on Carl Soderberg's power-play goal, 5:05 into the third period.
Connolly picked up 12:44 of ice time, spent mostly on the Bruins fourth line with Gregory Campbell and Chris Kelly. Connolly also drew 2:52 of power-play duty on a line with Milan Lucic and Ryan Spooner.
"Really impressed - for a guy who missed four or five weeks, whatever it was, with that injury, to come back in that first game and have that kind of an impact," said Julien, also on NESN.
"It was really physical, he was making plays, he's got good hands, got a quick release, too. You could see him getting better as the game went on, but at the end you could also see him getting a little tired. It was his first game and you could feel it."
Connolly, a former Prince George Cougars captain, was picked sixth overall by the Lightning in 2010. He had 12 goals and 15 points in 50 games with Tampa Bay this season before he was traded March 2 for the Bruins' second round picks in 2015 and 2016.
