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Bruins defenseman Andrew Peeke absorbed a heavy hit from the Senators’ Tyler Kleven in the second period Thursday night.Matthew J. Lee\/Globe Staff<\/p>\nIt was a heavy workload.<\/p>\n
\u201cA little whirlwind of a game, but [I] feel good,\u201d Peeke said. \u201cHappy to get the win, yeah. Good feeling in the room right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fellow blue liner Charlie McAvoy shined in overtime, setting up Pavel Zacha\u2019s late winner, but it was Peeke who was the star following Boston\u2019s sixth win in its last seven games.<\/p>\n
His teammates bestowed the \u201cGrinder Award\u201d on Peeke. The honor is just a puck right now, but coach Marco Sturm said plans are in the works for a unique postgame prize.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat [award] is not coming from me, it\u2019s coming from the players,\u201d said Sturm. \u201cAnd so, they realized, too, that even though he took a pretty big hit and had to get off quickly, he came back and was not shy at all. So that\u2019s why he\u2019s big for our team because he does the dirty work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Teams often hand out player of the game prizes, from crazy helmets to vintage jackets and everything in between. But a Grinder Award? That\u2019s a new one.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome teams don\u2019t do anything. Some teams just do the best player. This is actually the first team I\u2019ve seen that\u2019s got the Grinder Award, but that\u2019s actually pretty good,\u201d said Sturm. \u201cAnd the best part is it comes from the players, not from me. So, even a guy like [David Pastrnak], he said, \u2018I want it.\u2019 I said, \u2018OK, you\u2019ve got to work for it then.\u2019 But it\u2019s good. It just helps. And guys take a lot of pride in that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Peeke was on the receiving end of a heavy blast from Ottawa\u2019s Tyler Kleven, whose hit in front of the Boston bench bent Peeke backward over the boards. Peeke needed some time to get to a seat on the bench, before eventually heading down the tunnel.<\/p>\n
Bruins defenseman Andrew Peeke absorbed a heavy hit from the Senators’ Tyler Kleven in the second period Thursday night.Matthew J. Lee\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n
It appeared Hampus Lindholm\u2019s defense partner might be done for the night midway through the second period, but he was back in a jiff.<\/p>\n
Shortly after his return, Peeke went out on the penalty kill, stood in the slot, and got in the way of a stinging shot. The shot went off his right hand, but Peeke finished the kill and the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s been really good for us,\u201d said Sean Kuraly. \u201cI think we all kind of know what we want to do in our roles, and Peeker\u2019s killing penalties and that\u2019s how he finds himself on the scoresheet a couple times, which is awesome, and he deserves it. He\u2019s playing really well. He plays hard and I think we\u2019ve got a good group of players that kind of have that similar mentality.\u201d<\/p>\n
Peeke, whose two assists Thursday doubled his season total, has become an elite shot-blocker. The man Mason Lohrei has described as a \u201csecond goalie out there\u201d has a team-high 39 blocks, which heading into the weekend ranked third in the league behind only Vegas\u2019s Brayden McNabb (45) and Edmonton\u2019s Darnell Nurse (43).<\/p>\n
There is strategy involved in blocking shots, but more often than not courage is the top necessity when it comes to stepping in front of pucks driven off the sticks of the world\u2019s best players. Standing in front of an Alex Ovechkin 90-plus-mile-per-hour dart from the dot is not for the faint of heart.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think just getting in the lane, and I guess at the end of the day not really being afraid of the puck,\u201d Peeke said of his game plan. \u201cObviously, it\u2019s different if Ovie is winding up for a one-timer or not, but I think a lot, with our system, we\u2019re being encouraged to front the puck and not necessarily always have to box out. So, I think for us as defensemen, if you could block the shot near the hashmarks or above the crease, it could lead to transition really quickly. So, I think for me it benefits the way I like to block shots and just move the puck up right away.\u201d<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
Zacha\u2019s winner, with just 5.5 seconds left (officially six), was the fourth-latest OT goal in franchise history behind Pastrnak (4:58 on Jan. 11, 2025), Mike Knuble (4:56 on March 13, 2004), and McAvoy (4:55 on Feb. 28, 2023). Bobby Carpenter also connected at 4:54 on Nov. 29, 1991 … The Bruins got an unexpected day off from practice Friday and will start a home-and-home with the Maple Leafs Saturday night in Toronto. The clubs will face off in Boston Tuesday night.<\/p>\n
Jim McBride can be reached at james.mcbride@globe.com<\/a>. Follow him @globejimmcbride<\/a>.<\/p>\n