Nash makes ridiculous stick save, scores in home Bruins debut

Kyle Cantlon
·Writer
Rick Nash had a productive first period Tuesday, to say the least. (Twitter/NHL)
Rick Nash had a productive first period Tuesday, to say the least. (Twitter/NHL)

Newly acquired Boston Bruins forward Rick Nash will surely giveth — but first he must taketh away.

Following a fairly uneventful first game with Boston, the 33-year-old wasted no time making an impact during his second contest in black and yellow. He kicked off his home debut in style with this insane diving poke check to sweep a sure goal off the goal line behind Tuukka Rask:

Apparently making his save-of-the-year bid wasn’t enough of a first impression for Nash, who promptly deposited his first goal as a Bruin shortly thereafter:

It was Nash’s 19th tally of the season and it just so happened to be his 800th career point, too. The eight-time 30-goal scorer, who has so far been playing his off-wing alongside Jake DeBrusk and and David Krejci on the team’s second unit, will be relied upon heavily in the goal-scoring department and likely see an important role carved out for him on the Bruins’ powerplay as the team battles for positioning with Tampa Bay and Toronto at the top of the Atlantic Division.

Nash came over from the New York Rangers less than a week ago in a pre-deadline move that saw a package including a 2018 first-round pick, defenceman Ryan Lindgren, forwards Ryan Spooner and Matt Beleskey, and a 2019 seventh-rounder head to the Big Apple.

Can a change in scenery help slow the often unescapable age-related decline which already started to plague the 33-year-old well before his departure from New York? Who knows. But so far, so good.