By: Ryan Bosworth | Follow me on Twitter / X @RyanJBosworth
Earlier this afternoon, the Boston Bruins squared off against the visiting Colorado Avalanche at TD Garden. The Bruins came into today on a six-game losing streak, hoping to avoid making it seven games. Colorado came in undefeated in regulation, looking to improve to 6-0-3. The Bruins were able to will themselves into a win, snapping their skid and handing Colorado their first regulation loss.
First Period
The Bruins’ first period was anything but what they wanted. They didn’t register a shot on goal until after the halfway mark, they couldn’t get any momentum, they were losing every battle along the boards, and every race to the puck. Colorado opened the scoring, thanks to a goal by Artturi Lehkonen, off a feed from Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar. Colorado held all zone time, and they were skating circles around the Bruins.
At 14:16 of the first period, Viktor Arvidsson turned things around for Boston, when he threw a puck on net from behind the net, banking it off Wedgewood and officially registering his first goal as a Bruin.
Just 39 seconds later, Mikey Eyssimont added to the lead, making it 2-1 Boston with his second goal of the season. Tanner Jeannot picked a puck off Colorado’s Ross Colton to send him up the ice 2-on-1 with Eyssimont against Ilya Solovyov. Jeannot, with a slick pass around Solovyov, put it right to Eyssimont, who tucked it passed Wedgewood’s blocker. Adding some cushion to their lead, the Bruins went into the first intermission with newly gained momentum.
Second Period
The Bruins began the period on the power play, finishing off 15 seconds of Gabriel Landeskog’s holding-of-the-stick penalty. The Bruins had a much better start to the second period, continuing off the momentum from their back-to-back goals at the end of the first. The Bruins were able to hold on to the lead for the entire second period, generating a lot of chances and proving they’re able to hang with the Avalanche.
The Bruins’ second power play of the game came at 2:35 of the second. The Avalanche were able to shut them down, but the Bruins moved the puck well and, overall, had a strong power play. Shortly after, a questionable call on Pavel Zacha led to an Avalanche power play, and the Bruins successfully killed it off, putting them at one-for-one on the day.
Sean Kuraly took a holding penalty, and the Bruins were able to get the kill, putting them at a perfect 2-for-2 on the penalty kill. As the period was coming to a close, Morgan Geekie beat out an icing in the Avalanche zone, took the puck behind the net, and with just 4.5 seconds remaining, tucked it passed Scott Wedgewood’s skate, extending the Bruins’ lead to 3-1, just before the second intermission. Additionally, with his assist on Geekie’s goal, Mason Lohrei extended his points for the day to three, with an assist on all three Bruins’ goals.
Third Period
The Bruins came out for the third period in the same manner they did in the second. Unlike the first and second period, the third frame had a sense of chippiness that hadn’t been there before. Extra shots towards Swayman, scrums after the whistles, and a clear sense that Colorado wasn’t going down without a fight.
The Bruins saw two more power plays in the third period, but were unable to capitalize on them. They only had one penalty taken in the third, and killing it off put them at a perfect three-for-three on the day.
The biggest highlight during this period was the performance from Jeremy Swayman. Though he saw more shots in the second period (12), the quality of shots that he faced in the third (8) was much better, and required him to make bigger saves to maintain the Bruins lead. He was perfect for almost the entire period, before allowing Artturi Lehkonen’s second of the day.
With just 20 seconds left, the Bruins had a crucial center ice face-off. Able to stave the Avalanche off for another 20 seconds, they pick up their first win in seven games, snapping their skid and improving to 4-6-0. A very strong game from the Bruins today, and a good time for them to start building momentum towards stringing wins together.
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