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Photo Courtesy Of NHL.com


By: Garrett Haydon | Follow Me On Twitter @thesportsguy97

Pre-Game Notes

Arena: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Home: Boston Bruins (20-3-5)
Away: Chicago Blackhawks (10-12-5)

Boston’s Lineup

Forwards

DeBrusk-Krejci-Pastrnak
Marchand-Coyle-Heinen
Bjork-Kuraly-Wagner
Nordstrom-Lindholm-Backes

Defense

Chara-McAvoy
Krug-Carlo
Moore-Grzelcyk

Goalies

Rask
Halak

Chicago’s Lineup

Forwards

Saad-Toews-Nylander
DeBrincat-Strome-Kane
Smith-Dach-Carpenter
Kubalik-Kampf-Wedin

Defense

Koekkoek-Murphy
de Haan-Seabrook
Gustafsson-Gilbert

Goalies

Lehner
Crawford

First Period

Early in the first minute of the game, Patrick Kane was called for hooking and the Bruins got a great chance to take an early lead. The B’s were unable to get muster much offense on the man advantage as they looked a bit slow to open the game. The Bruins seemed to get their legs moving toward the midway point of the period but couldn’t find many scoring opportunities. On the positive side, the Bruins were able to keep Chicago in check in the offensive zone as they didn’t manage many scoring chances. Toward the closing minutes of the period, the Blackhawks finally put together some solid shifts to attempt to take the lead.
The Bruins would get their second power play late in the period as Charlie Coyle was tripped up in the defensive zone. Late in the man advantage, Ryan Carpenter stashed a rebound past Tuukka Rask to give Chicago a lead.

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Soon after the goal, David Pastrnak was sent to the penalty box for interference as Chicago looked to double their lead. The Hawks did just that as Dylan Strome tipped a shot past Rask in front of the net with just over a minute to go in the period.

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Score: 2-0 Blackhawks

Second Period

The Bruins picked up another early period power play as the Blackhawks were called for too many men. Chicago killed off the penalty despite the B’s being able to move the puck pretty efficiently in the offensive zone. After the man advantage, the Bruins were buzzing around the net and appeared to be very hungry to get back in the game. Chicago then responded with a great shift that nearly resulted in another goal but Rask came up with a few key stops.
About midway through the period, Charlie McAvoy took a stick up high and the Bruins returned to the power play in hopes of cutting the deficit in half. Chicago killed off the penalty as the Bruins again were unable to find the back of net and get back in the game. After a scrum in front of the net, Pastrnak was called for roughing and the Blackhawks went back to power play to try to take a stranglehold on the game. The B’s killed it off as Rask made a number of key saves.
Score: 2-0 Blackhawks

Third Period

Just 17 seconds into the third, Alex DeBrincat ripped a wrist shot past Rask to give the Blackhawks a three goal advantage to seemingly take the wind out of the B’s sails.

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About a minute and a half later, Joakim Nordstrom potted a rebound off of a David Backes shot to pull the Bruins within two goals.

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The Bruins continued to push for another goal with a few intense shifts in the attacking zone. Robin Lehner was pretty busy in the early moments of the period and made a few solid saves to keep the Bruins at bay. After a questionable hit by Zack Smith on Pastrnak, John Moore dropped the gloves with Smith but seemed to hurt himself during the fight. The B’s would take a penalty soon after as Coyle went to the box and Chicago looked to put the game away. Chris Wagner took an opportunity and scored on the penalty kill as the Bruins cut the lead to one with five minutes to go.

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Two and a half minutes later, Torey Krug tied it up after a great play behind the net by Jake DeBrusk to send the Boston crowd into a frenzy.

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Score: Tied 3-3

Overtime

After a mysterious non penalty call on Pastrnak, Jonathan Toews scored on a breakaway to win it for Chicago.

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Final Score: 4-3 Blackhawks

Three Stars Of The Game

First Star: Lehner. Despite allowing three goals in the third period, the Chicago goaltender was the reason the game wasn’t decided in regulation.
Second Star: Wagner. The Bruins winger was very solid in this game, driving to the net and even added a shorthanded goal in the third period.
Third Star: Backes. The veteran winger had another solid game with an assist on Nordstrom’s goal that got the B’s back in the game.