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  • Riley Nash quietly becoming a reliable scorer

    Post Game

    Riley Nash quietly becoming a reliable scorer

    Jake Kerin December 28, 2017
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    A stat line that reads 4-11-15 in 34 games may not be eye-popping to most, but when a vast majority of those points (10 to be exact) have come in the last 14 games, that might get some people’s attention. Such as the case with Bruins’ forward Riley Nash.

    Coupled with his two-goal, three-point night against the Ottawa Senators Wednesday night, Nash has now recorded 10 of his 14 points on the season over a span of his last 14 contests. Nash now has 2-2-4 totals in his last three games, quickly and quietly making him one of the hotter Bruins during their run of 14 wins in 18 games.

    Nash grabbed his first of the night – and first since November 29 – on a breakaway after blocking a shot in the Ottawa zone. His beautiful wrist shot past Anderson gave the Bruins a 3-0 lead early in the second period.

    Fast forward to 14:43 of the same period where Nash added his second of the game on a highlight reel goal. Anders Bjork set the play up after pickpocketing Dion Phaneuf in the attacking end, and Nash did the rest to tally his fourth of the season.

    “I saw someone coming backdoor, so I was waiting for that d-man to come across and I could slide it over to him,” Nash said of his second goal, “But that d-man kind of committed to me so I started to run out of room…eventually here was ust a nice little gap.”

    Nash also added a secondary assist on Kevan Miller’s first of the season – the Bruins first goal of the game – tying his career high with three points to go along with his fourth career multi-goal game, an effort that earned him the game’s first star.

    “I think I’ve actually been a bit snake-bit this year,” Nash said, somewhat surprisingly. “This area (scoring) kind of comes in bunches. But with two tonight I hope to keep that rolling. Maybe I need to shoot the puck more.”

    But what has helped Nash on his run has been the play of his linemates, David Backes and Danton Heinen.

    “I think my linemates played well. They’re both tremendous, they were getting shots through,” Nash said about playing with Heinen and Backes. “It’s just a give and take for our line and contributing tonight, I think that’s the most important.”

    “He has it in him,” head coach Bruce Cassidy said about Nash. “[He’s] been a little streaky for us, so hopefully this pushes him in the right direction. When he has scored, it has been very timely for us-it’s not like he’s going out and getting the sixth goal in a game that’s out of reach or the other way. Remember last year in New York when he got going there-big goals for us in Brooklyn. Tonight, it was very timely as well, so good for him for stepping up at the right time.”

    Ironically, a fire alarm was set off during postgame interviews. Did Nash set the alarm off after his hot night?

    “I hope it happens more often,” Nash joked.

    Lately, it’s been happening quite a bit for Nash. His name has been seen very frequently on the score sheet as of late, something Nash hopes to keep up.

    Time will tell if he can, but one thing is for certain, Riley Nash is having his best stretch in a Bruins’ uniform.

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