By: Jeff Playdon | Follow me on Twitter @PlaydonJeff
Leading the series 2-0, the series shifted to Madison Square Garden for game three as the Bruins looked to take a commanding 3-0 series lead. Boston was coming off a dominant 5-2 game two win and looked to carry momentum into New York. This was the second straight series where New York fell behind 2-0; however, they rallied in the first round against Washington and won the series in seven games.
For Boston, youngster Torey Krug looked to extend his scoring streak to three games. At the time, Krug was the fourth player in Bruins history to score goals in his first two playoff games. Tuukka Rask would get the start between the pipes, and on the other side of the ice, it would be Henrik Lundqvist.
Scoreless After 20
Game three was underway, and just four minutes into the action, New York had a powerplay opportunity. Jaromir Jagr was heading off for holding, and New York looked to take an early lead. Despite committing an early penalty, Boston successfully killed off the penalty, and just one minute later, it was going to be 4-on-4 for two minutes. An exchange in front of the Rangers bench led to Brad Marchand and Derek Dorsett receiving minor penalties for roughing. Twenty-five seconds into the 4-on-4, Chris Kelly found himself on a breakaway but was stuffed by Henrik Lundqvist on a nice pad save.
Just over a minute past the halfway mark of the period, it looked like we were going to see our first goal of the game off the stick of Tyler Seguin. Seguin had a pristine breakaway opportunity and tried to go backhand over King Henrik, but Henrik made another incredible blocker save. For the next eight minutes of the first period, both Tuukka and Henrik would make fantastic saves to keep their teams alive, and after 20 minutes, it was 0-0.
Bruins Fall Behind
The Second period was upon us, and both teams looked to get on the board. The question was, who would score first? The answer New York. After not being able to score on the powerplay, forward Tyler Pyatt deflected Ryan McDonagh’s slapshot, and the puck snuck past Rask to make it 1-0 New York. After New York’s early period goal, the Bruins continued to pummel Lundqvist with shots. Still, Lundqvist was a brick wall, not allowing anything by him.
However, the best save by Lundqvist in the period came at the 8:24 mark. Campbell received the puck on a 3-on-2 breakaway at the left faceoff circle, fired a slapshot, and Lundqvist snapped the glove to make an outstanding save. The Bruins continued to control much of the offensive zone time for the rest of the period but couldn’t get one by Lundqvist, and after two periods played, New York led 1-0.
Boston Prevails and Comes Back to Win Game 3
The final 20 minutes were here, and Boston was right on New York’s tail to try and tie the game. Finally, 3:10 into the third period, the Bruins got on the board. The Bruins were able to keep the play alive after Lundqvist’s pass behind the net was intercepted by Gregory Campbell. The play then continued, and Daniel Paille found Johnny Boychuk at the blue line, and Boychuk wristed one by Lundqvist to tie the game at one. The Bruins fourth line once again showing how tough they are to skate against. Just three minutes later, Johnny Boychuk almost scored his second goal of the game but rang it off the pipe.
The game entered its final ten minutes of action, and the game was still tied one apiece. Both Rask and Lundqvist were playing impeccable games, but who would let in the next goal? The answer is Henrik Lundqvist, thanks to some Bruins luck and tremendous forechecking. Gregory Campbell fired a shot towards the net, the puck bounced off of Lundqvist’s pads and shot straight up in the air ending up just in front of the goal line, and Paille picked up the scraps and netted the go-ahead goal.
There were still three minutes to play, though, and New York wouldn’t go down easy. With 1:10 left, New York pulled Lundqvist for the extra man as they desperately needed to tie this game in hopes of not falling behind 3-0 in the series. New York was letting the shots fly, and with 12 seconds left, Krejci finally iced the puck to let the defense recuperate and allow Claude Julien to call a timeout. After the faceoff, Boston cleared the puck, and game three was a wrap. Boston now had a commanding 3-0 series lead and looked to sweep the Rangers in game four.
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