Don't look now but the Boston Bruins have won six games in a row including tonight's come from behind win in a shootout against the Atlanta Thrashers. The Bruins jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first period when Glen Murray found the back of the net against Atlanta goalie Johan Hedberg. The joy didn't last as just 35 seconds later, Ilya Kovalchuk was hauled down for a penalty shot. Ilya sniped it past Tim Thomas to tie the game. Jim Slater scored with just over 2 minutes left in the second and things looked bleak in the third until David Krejci scored for the third game in a row with 8:07 left. The game went into overtime but that solved nothing so it was on to the shootout. Phil Kessel scored in the second round while Thomas stopped all 3 shots, including Kovalchuk to end it. The Bruins had won the game 3-2 in the shootout.
Things didn't start out so well when Vladimir Sobotka got bagged for hooking just 3:18 into the game but the Bruins were able to kill off the penalty. The Bruins struck first six minutes in when Marco Sturm collected the puck by the boards and kicked it over to Marc Savard. Savard spotted Glen Murray streaking to the net and Murray scored on the give and go to put Boston up 1-0. Unfortunately the lead didn't last as 35 seconds later, Ilya Kovalchuk was hauled down for a penalty shot. Naturally Kovalchuk sniped it to tie the game. Halfway through the period, Alexei Zhitnik got nabbed for hooking to put the Bruins on the power play. Nothing else of note happened and the Bruins went into the break tied 1-1.
The second period was penalty central as Kovalchuk was called for tripping 6:53 into the period. The Thrashers killed it off then Aaron Ward got sent off for slashing 9:04 into the period. Just eighty-two seconds later, Dennis Wideman was sent off for high sticking to give Atlanta 38 seconds of 5 on 3. Somehow the Thrashers didn't score as Thomas made a big save on a Kovalchuk rebound tap. With 6:28 left in the period, Jim Slater crushed Ward against the boards and Thomas had to make another save. Then it was Boston's turn on the power play as Garnet Exelby got tagged for tripping with 5:28 left in the period. Just 35 seconds later Bobby Holik got sent off hooking to give the Bruins a 5 on 3. Just like Atlanta, they completely failed to cash in too. Not only that, Ference got decked by Holik coming out of the box which gave Atlanta a 2 on 1. Slater sniped it past Thomas to give Atlanta the lead. Talk about wrong place at the wrong time. Colby Armstrong was whistled for hooking with 32 seconds left in the period but the Bruins failed to score. The Thrashers led 2-1 going into the break.
The Bruins failed to score to begin the third period and Atlanta began to dominate defensively. Johan Hedberg robbed Wideman of a goal 3:31 into the period and a few minutes later, Zdeno Chara blasted Mark Recchi against the boards but no penalty was called. Things looked bleak until just over 8 minutes remained in the game. Milan Lucic scooped the puck up and passed it over to Kessel, Kessel drove to the net and David Krejci banged in the rebound for his third goal in three games to tie the game. Things got uneasy when Murray got called for hooking with 4:57 left but Thomas made a big save to keep the game tied. With 30 seconds left in regulation, Chris Thorburn walked in alone but Thomas made another key stop. That was it for regulation with the game tied 2-2.
In overtime, Wideman had a chance to end it just over a minute in but Hedberg made the save. With 50 seconds left Thomas came a mile out of his crease to play the puck....right to the stick of Kovalchuk. Ilya then made a mistake by blasting it from 30 feet out rather than try to move in and luckily Thomas made the save. Nothing else happened and it was on to the shoot-out. Sturm went first but his shot was denied by Hedberg. Slava Koslov went second and his backhand shot was stopped by Thomas. Kessel went third and deeked Hedberg out before scoring on the backhand. Erik Christensen ran out of room on his attempt and Thomas got a pad save on him. Krejci had a chance to end it but was denied 15 feet in front of the crease. It was up to Thomas to stop Kovalchuk to end it. Thomas made the save to make up for the penalty shot earlier and the Bruins had won it 3-2.
Reaction:
The Bruins power play has been utter garbage lately but the defense and timely goals have been keeping them in games. Getting 12 straight points helps, especially with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Buffalo Sabres sputtering. The Bruins are just 5 points behind the Montreal Canadiens for the first seed and that's remarkable with Patrice Bergeron out for the season. The play of Tim Thomas was big in this one with 26 saves. This team is going to have to keep grinding out wins and today's game was one of them. David Krejci is coming on strong with his third straight goal, not bad for a 21 year old coming into his own. This is a young team with Krejci, Lucic, Sobotka and Kessel and could be a contender for years to come with some better talent. Murray is nowhere near where he was when the Bruins got him back 6 years ago but his goal is a big reason why they won. Just have to keep grinding and the playoffs will be in sight. The win improved the Bruins to 35-29, good for 76 points and 5 points behind Montreal for the first seed with 18 games left. The Bruins look to make it seven wins in a row when they travel to Washington to play Alex Ovechkin's Capitols. The game begins at 7:05 PM at Verizon Center.
