By: Tom Calautti | Follow me on Twitter @TCalauttis
The Boston Bruins trailed one of the best teams in the NHL by two goals with 12 minutes remaining in last night’s game. Earlier in the season, that would’ve been a death sentence for this team. Last night, it galvanized them into scoring three straight goals and stealing a victory from the Florida Panthers. Here’s how it went down.
Powerplay Provides Push
The Bruins trailed by one goal through two periods, an almost incredible feat given how outgunned and outmanned they are compared to the stacked Florida Panthers. Things seemed bleak for Boston when the Panthers capitalized on a five-on-three and increased their lead to two goals. That’s when the Black and gold decided to flip the script.
The Bruins found themselves on the powerplay after a solid shift from the Geekie-Zacha -Pastrnak line led to a penalty from Florida defender Seth Jones. On the ensuing powerplay, newcomer Casey Mittlestadt found David Pastrnak alone in front of the net where he cut the lead to one.
“I thought that our powerplay gave us a boost tonight,” said interim head coach Joe Sacco after the game. “Even the first powerplay that we had, we got some chances off and it gave us momentum.”
Boston would dominate the remaining ten minutes of the third period. At even strength in the final frame, shot attempts were 16-2, shots were 8-1, and scoring chances were 9-0.
“I think maybe we came out a little slow but we ramped it up throughout the game,” said Mittlestadt. “We just kept competing. Obviously they’re a really good team, really good defensively especially. So it’s gonna take time, you gotta chip away and keep doing the right things, and I thought we did that and eventually stuck with it and got rewarded.”
Comeback Complete
Despite scoring a powerplay goal to breathe life into the TD Garden, the Bruins still trailed with less than ten minutes in the third. The new-look second line of Marat Khusnutdinov, Elias Lindholm, and Jakub Lauko got after it on the forecheck.
Eventually, Lauko forced a turnover onto Mason Lohrei’s stick in the high slot. He pulled off one of his signature toe drags around a defender and fired a wrister past Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky to tie the game.
“It’s all on that (Lindholm) line,” said Lohrei about his goal. “Just relentless forecheck from those guys, especially (Lauko). That puts pressure on their (defense), and the puck pops out. I’m just down on it, and I’ll try to make a play.”
The Bruins still had to overcome the daunting final five minutes of the third to salvage a point in this game. Earlier in the season, this is a time in the game where we’ve seen the Bruins crumble, but tonight they rose to the occasion.
David Pastrnak took a Nikita Zadorov feed at the hashmarks, pivoted away from a defender, and found Pavel Zacha who snuck into the slot and one-timed the past Bobrovsky.
The Punch Seen ‘Round the World
I don’t think it’s an understatement to call Nikita Zadorov’s early tenure with the Boston Bruins a bit tumultuous. Despite all his past trials and tribulations, tonight will be the night Bruins fans remember as the Zadorov game.
The hulking defenseman logged a team-high 22:48, added an assist, and was a +1 in a contest against the team’s arch rival. That alone would’ve been worthy of praise, but what happened during the game will live with fans forever.
Agitator (and Bruin terrorize Sam Bennett) has gotten away with all kinds of cheap shots in his time as a player, and he’s rarely had to answer the bell. That changed tonight when he cross-checked Zadorov in the face with three seconds remaining. The defenseman then dropped the gloves and hammered Bennett with several right hooks before toppling him.
“Yeah, I haven’t been that fired up in a long time. That was unbelievable,” said Lohrei of his teammate’s scrap. “I mean he does so much for us, right before (the fight) he saved a goal, the puck went out of play, and we all know what happened after that. I love watching him play as I’m sure all you guys do too.”
The Boston Bruins beat their heated division rival and get their pound of flesh for last year’s playoff series. That’s not something I had on my bingo card following Friday’s dramatic trade deadline.
Boston is now just two points out of the final wild card spot and will play the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday.
Game Notes
- Zadorov and defensive partner Henri Jokiharju played 14:18 together at five-on-five. In that time, shot attempts were 19-12, shots were 9-5, scoring chances were 9-6, and goals were 1-0.
- Casey Mittlestadt now has two assists in his first two games as a Bruin. In my opinion, he should’ve gotten an assist on the opening goal against Tampa on Saturday, so in my book he has three.
- Despite it being his first game back in Boston, the Bruins opted not to do their video tribute to Brad Marchand tonight. Marchand didn’t leave the Florida locker room, so they couldn’t show him on the jumbotron to receive his flowers from Bruins fans.
- I’ve covered plenty of Bruins games this season, and that was by far the loudest and rowdiest TD Garden crowd I’ve heard all season.
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