Boston Bruins v Edmonton Oilers

Photo Courtesy Of NBC Sports Boston


By: Garrett Haydon | Follow Me On Twitter @thesportsguy97

Pre-Game Notes

Arena: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Home: Boston Bruins (24-7-11)
Away: Edmonton Oilers (21-17-5)

Boston’s Lineup

Forwards

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

Defense

Chara-McAvoy
Krug-Carlo
Moore-Kampfer

Goalies

Halak
Rask

Edmonton’s Lineup

Forwards

Neal-McDavid-Kassian
Nugent-Hopkins-Draisaitl-Yamamoto
Nygard-Haas-Chiasson
Khaira-Sheahan-Archibald

Defense

Klefbom-Larsson
Nurse-Bear
Russell-Jones

Goalies

Smith
Koskinen

First Period

Both teams started a bit slow as they seemed to be trying to feel each other out. The Bruins would get an early power play as Torey Krug was elbowed in the defensive zone. The B’s struck just seconds into the man advantage as David Pastrnak’s shot was deflected into the net off of an Edmonton stick, giving Boston the early lead.

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The B’s continued to get chances in the early going as the power play seemed to give them a spark. The Oilers started to get their legs moving toward the midway point of the period as they got a few chances on Jaroslav Halak. The Bruins responded with a couple of good shifts in the offensive zone to keep the pressure on the Edmonton defense. Boston would get a late period power play to try to double their lead. The Oilers killed off the man advantage despite the B’s moving the puck pretty well.
Edmonton closed out the period with a number of good scoring chances but Halak came up big each time including a monster save on Connor McDavid on a two on one.
Score: 1-0 Bruins

Second Period

The Oilers would pick up their first power play of the afternoon as Sean Kuraly was called for tripping early in the period. The B’s killed off the power play as they got a couple of shorthanded chances but more importantly, some big stops by Halak. Neither team seemed to have much of an offensive rhythm in the middle period but that changed immediately as Gaetan Haas buried a bad turnover in the offensive zone to tie the game.

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The Bruins responded with a great shift in the offensive zone to attempt to take the lead back midway through the period. Zdeno Chara went to the box with 7:57 left in the period for holding as Edmonton got an opportunity to take the lead. Boston killed off the man advantage as Edmonton failed to do much of anything in the offensive zone. The Bruins seemed to get moving in the offensive zone toward the end of the period as the game began to open up. Late in the period, Darnell Nurse found the back of the net on a bad angle shot to give Edmonton the lead.

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Score: 2-1 Oilers

Third Period

The Bruins opened the period with a couple of good shifts as they looked to tie the game. McDavid finally broke free and buried his 23rd goal of the season to double the Oilers advantage about two minutes into the period.

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The B’s continued to put pressure on the Oilers in the offensive zone as they shuffled their lines in an attempt to get back in the game. The B’s would get an opportunity as Ethan Bear was called for a high stick, giving Boston their third power play of the game. The Oilers were able to kill off the man advantage despite some solid scoring chances from the Bruins. Edmonton began to take the play to Boston past the midway point of the game, with a ton of possession in the offensive zone.
The B’s pulled Halak with about three minutes to go as they tried desperately to pull closer. Leon Draisaitl buried the empty net goal with nine seconds to go as the Oilers picked up the road victory.

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Final Score: 4-1 Oilers

Three Stars Of The Game

First Star: McDavid
Second Star: Smith
Third Star: Moore