Photo Credit: Maddie Meyer (Getty Images)
By: KG Follow me on Twitter: @kgbngblog and on FanCred at K G
PREGAME NOTES
David Krejci was out for warmups but was taken out for the game. Tim Schaller replaced him on the second line with DeBrusk and Pastrnak. The third d-line is also new, with Rob O’Gara and Paul Postma replacing Kevan Miller and Adam McQuaid, who were both injured. The line up feels a lot like the first couple of games, but now with different players injured. A real rag-tag group. The B’s are coming off one of their best games of the season, while the Sabers are playing their second game in two nights after falling to the Canucks yesterday. There have been a lot of comments from Buffalo players about their recent struggles, so they would love to have a bounce back game.
What I Am Looking Forward To
Tim Schaller has played really well in the last couple of games. Very gritty and determined games. It’ll be interesting to see what kind of role he plays with his new line and if they can find a good rhythm tonight.
PERIOD ONE
The game started off pretty quick for both teams. Fast skating and quick puck movements were key for both sides. But once the game started to move along, there was some bad turnovers/puck luck for the Bruins. Charlie McAvoy had a bad turn over early on in the period, and puck hopped over Anton Khudobin’s stick on a dump in and would have ended up in the back of the net if the Buffalo player had shot it accurately. Not an ideal way to give confidence to the rest of the team, but he has kept the puck out so far. The 74-59-88 line has been working well. They have gotten many chances, converted once, and should continue to do so the rest of the night. Boston’s powerplay unit converted again tonight, improving on their 4th in the league percentage of 30%. Marchand scored the goal seconds into the man advantage by grabbing the puck off the faceoff and popped it in. A pretty good period overall.
Scoring
BOS – Pastrnak (Schaller, McAvoy), Marchand PPG
BUF – N/A
PERIOD TWO
The Bruins kept the theme of speed and domination from the first period and translated it to the second. The Bruins came out and made solid passes and offensive minded plays. Marchand opened the 2nd period scoring with a bullet of a shot that went bar down very aggressively. After that great goal, the Bruins started to play less aggressive, and it ended up with a Pominville goal. The Bruins made a bit of a resurgence when Pastrnak scored his second of the night off of a Buffalo d-man’s skate, making it 4-1. Then Massachusetts native Jack Eichel scored off of a rebound to close Boston’s lead to two. Jake DeBrusk was in and out of his usual line with Schaller and Pastrnak. As of the end of the second, there was no explanation for the absence. An ok period for the B’s, but not as good as the first.
Scoring
BOS – Marchand (Bjork, McAvoy), Pastrnak (Nash, Krug)
BUF – Pominville (O’Reilly), Eichel (Scandella, Bailey)
PERIOD THREE
Jake DeBrusk was back to start the third period. The Bruins were being outplayed in the first couple of minutes, so Bruce Cassidey sent out the bread and butter of the Bruins. The Bergeron/Marchand/Bjork line. They went to work in the Sabers’ zone, cycling like they were in the Tour de France. The Bruins weren’t able to do much when that line wasn’t on in the first ten minutes. The Bruins gave up the 4-3 goal seven minutes into the period. The B’s gave up chance after chance, just daring the Sabers’ to tie the game. And that they did. 4-4 after Evander Kane’s tying goal late in the third. We’re going to Overtime.
Scoring
BOS – N/A
BUF – Pouliot (Reinhart, McCabe), Kane (McCabe, Pominville)
OT/SHOOTOUT
The Bruins got the first chance, but couldn’t control the puck and ended up playing most of the overtime period in their own end. Not what you want when there is that much space. And as for the call, it was the right one. Krug pushed him into Khudobin, even if it was slightly embellished.
Scoring
BOS – N/A
BUF – O’Reilly
POSTGAME
Krug was the defence in the hot seat after the tying goal. This is the type of reaction you want from a player. They acknoldge that they were responsible and learn from it.
KG’s Three Stars Of The Game
1st: Brad Marchand – Brad lit up Robin Lehner tonight. He was also all over the ice, cycling the puck, backchecking and making the hard plays that needed to be made.
2nd: David Pastrnak – Pastrnak, like Marchand, was buzzing offensivly tonight. He made an incredible move on the first goal. The only thing that I would have liked to see from him was that OT hat-trick.
3rd: Charlie McAvoy – McAvoy had a pretty good game overall. There were some visable rookie mistakes, but then again, he IS a rookie. He played the second most minutes on the team while recording 2 assists and a plus one +/- rating.
MUP (Most Under-Appreciated Player): Tim Schaller – Schaller was thrown into the second line of the Bruins within minutes of puck drop. He held his own, including assisting and doing a lot of work on the first goal. He ended with a -2 +/- rating, but even with that rating he played a good game.
BIRDHOUSE – Round-up of the best Tweets during the game
And an extra because there was OT
NEXT GAME
Thursday, October 26th, 2017 in Boston VS San Jose
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