By: Jeff Playdon | Follow me on Twitter @PlaydonJeff
After dropping a 3-2 shootout loss to the Detroit Red Wings on November 25th, the Bruins looked to start a new winning streak against the Winnipeg Jets. If Boston had won their last game, the win streak would’ve been at eleven; however, that was not the case. Speaking of winning streaks, Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas had won in his last seven starts and looked to make it eight tonight. This would be Milan Lucic’s 300th career game and Benoit Pouliot’s 200th. Also, another note to add, this was Winnipeg’s first visit to Boston since they relocated from Atlanta.
Bruins Fall Behind Early
The game was on, and once again, the Bruins were making mistakes early on. Just 4:26 into the first period, the Bruins were called for too many men on the ice, and Tyler Seguin was off to the box to serve the penalty. Boston’s penalty kill unit was able to kill off the penalty and only allowed two shots. Five minutes later, though, Winnipeg found the back of the net and took a 1-0 lead.
Evander Kane potted a backhander off Dustin Byfuglien’s centering pass to give the Jets a 1-0 lead. Blake Wheeler was credited with the secondary helper. Thirty-nine seconds after being credited with the primary assist on Kane’s game-opening goal, Dustin Byfuglien let rip of a hard slap shot that beat Tim Thomas top shelf to give the Jets a 2-0 lead. Byfuglien picked up his second point of the night. The Bruins called timeout to gather themselves. A timely move by Claude Julien.
With exactly four minutes to go in the first, Dustin Byfuglien was called for interference. The Bruins had their first powerplay opportunity of the night. Thirty-eight seconds after Dustin Byfuglien was sent off for interference, Zdeno Chara made the Jets pay with his powerplay tally. Chara’s hard slap shot from the right point was redirected by Mark Stuart’s stick, which sent it sailing past Winnipeg goaltender Ondrej Pavelec. The remaining 3:22 ticked off in the first period, and after 20 minutes played, the Jets held a 2-1 lead.
Bruins Take the Lead in 2nd Period
The second period was underway, and the Bruins looked to carry their late first-period momentum into the second period. But, a tripping penalty committed by Nathan Horton at the 5:52 mark wasn’t a good start. However, during the penalty kill, Boston was able to find the back of the net thanks to Chris Kelly. Chris Kelly tied the game on a shorthanded tally when he stuffed home a loose puck in the crease left there for him by Rich Peverley, who recorded the 100th assist of his NHL career. Peverley broke into the zone, outracing Zach Bogosian for a loose puck and then tangling with Dustin Byfuglien as he swooped in from the right point. Peverley left the puck in the crease for Kelly, who swatted it home for the tying goal.
After nine more minutes of hockey was played and the Bruins couldn’t convert on a 5-on-3 powerplay, Chris Kelly once again found the back of the net with 3:34 remaining. Chris Kelly, who was tallied the tying goal at 7:28, gave the Bruins the go-ahead score on a pretty goal from the right point off a pretty point-to-point feed from Benoit Pouliot, who threaded a pass through heavy traffic in the slot to Kelly, who beat Pavelec with a hard slapper. 105 seconds later in the action, Eric Fehr was hit with a double minor for hooking and unsportsmanlike conduct behavior towards Brad Marchand at 18:11, which put the Bruins on the power play for the remainder of the second period and guaranteed them the man advantage for the first 2:11 of the third. With that being said, the second period quickly ended, and Boston held a 3-2 lead thanks to two goals by Chris Kelly.
Bruins Hold On
The final 20 minutes of hockey were upon us. The Bruins had 2:11 remaining from the double-minor penalty from Eric Fehr’s double minor. Winnipeg managed to erase the remainder of Boston’s powerplay and looked to tie things up with 17:49 remaining. Winnipeg was tightening things up on Boston throughout most of the third period, limiting their scoring chances. With 5:20 left on the clock, Winnipeg called a timeout and led the shots on goal 36-31. With just under two minutes to play, Winnipeg pulled its goalie for the extra man. Despite having the extra man, Winnipeg was unable to do anything, and Brad Marchand was able to put the nail in the coffin and score to make it 4-2. Okay, Boston faithful, you can exhale now.
Tim Thomas, who gave up a pair of first-period goals by Evander Kane and Dustin Byfuglien 39 seconds apart, preserved that lead, making 40 saves before Brad Marchand’s unassisted empty-netter at 18:51. Chris Kelly was also able to score two goals: his eighth and ninth goals of the season. Boston would look to extend their point streak to 13 games on November 30th when they would visit the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Leave a Reply