As for the game, what an unmitigated disaster. For 58 minutes it looked like the Bruins were cruising for their seventh straight victory, leading 3-1 with just over two minutes left in the game against the Anaheim Ducks. The Ducks scored first when Radko Gudas took advantage of a distracted Ullmark to put one past him to put Anaheim up 1-0 going into the second. The second period was all Bruins as Charlie Coyle, Matt Grzelcyk and David Pastrnak all scored to put the Bruins up two going into the third. The Bruins had three big chances to score but failed on all three. Then after the Bruins took a late penalty, the Ducks pulled the goalie and scored twice to tie the game, the tying goal coming with just 14 seconds left. Mason McTavish did the honors in overtime and the Ducks upset the Bruins 4-3 in overtime at TD Garden.
The game began evenly matched through the first four minutes until Troy Terry of the Ducks set up Cam Fowler in front of the net but Bruins goalie Linus Ullmark made the save. The Bruins took the first penalty of the game when Brandon Carlo held Mason McTavish to put Anaheim on the powerplay with 8:27 left in the period. Ullmark made some key stops to prevent Anaheim from scoring. With 5 minutes left in the period Ryan Strome shot on Ullmark, old friend Urho Vaakanainen jabbed at it but it was Radko Gudas that put it in the net with Hampus Lindholm wrestling with Mason McTavish behind Ullmark. No further penalties or big saves was needed and the first period ended with the Ducks up 1-0.
The Bruins took control in the second period although Ducks goalie John Gibson robbed Charlie McAvoy of a goal 33 seconds into it. The Bruins went on the powerplay when Jackson LaCombe cross-checked Matthew Poitras 49 seconds into the period. The Bruins got a fortuitous bounce on the powerplay when McAvoy dished it to David Pastrnak but fanned on the shot. The puck wobbled toward the goal and Charlie Coyle stuffed it in to tie the game 1:41 into the period. A minute later old friend Frank Vatrano and Coyle got into a chinwag with both getting sent off for cross-checking. While it was 4 on 4, Matthew Poitras passed it to McAvoy who dished it to Matt Grzelcyk who scored on a one-timer to put the Bruins on top. Literally seconds after the Grzelcyk goal, Pastrnak damn near had a goal but Gibson made a great save to rob David. Six minutes into the period Derek Forbort got sent to the penalty box for cross-checking Sam Carrick but the Bruins missed a HUGE shorthanded chance. Tape to tape passing had the puck on John Beecher's stick but he hit the post with his shot. The Bruins got a goal anyway when Pastrnak blasted a shot off Gibson and Zacha also hit Gibson in the chest with a shot. The puck rebounded right to Pastrnak who buried it to put the Bruins up by two goals with 3:20 left in the second period. The Bruins caught a break when Gudas interfered with Coyle with 33 seconds left in the period which had the Bruins going into intermission on the powerplay and up 3-1.
The key to the game it turns out was the Bruins failed to score on the powerplay to open the third period. Had the Bruins scored, the game would have been over for sure. 5:14 into the period, Lindholm got called for roughing Trevor Zegras. The Bruins killed off the penalty and damn near made it 4-1 but Gibson stoned Coyle in front of the net 9 minutes into the period. Then Gibson made a huge save on a Trent Frederic one-timer but Vatrano got bagged for cross-checking Lindholm. Again the Bruins would have iced the game with a goal and finally the Ducks started their comeback with 3:59 remaining in the game. Patrick Brown held Jason Silfverberg. The Ducks pulled Gibson to make it 6 on 4 and with 1:55 left just after the powerplay ended, Leo Carlsson took a feed from Terry and Sam Carrick to score a goal. The Ducks pulled the goalie again when play shifted to the Bruins zone and Lindholm failed to clear the puck with 25 seconds left. Strome passed it to Pavel Mintyukov who found Terry in front of the net to score with just 14 seconds left. The Bruins were that close to winning the game but now we're going to overtime tied 3-3.
The Ducks didn't need long in Overtime to end it. With 2 minutes gone LaCombe passed it to Carlsson on a rush. He passed it to McTavish who scored on the one timer to win it for Anaheim. The Ducks stunned the Bruins 4-3 in Overtime.
Reaction:
That game was a sucker punch to the gonads. The Bruins had the game won in the third period if they capitalized on either powerplay or if Frederic punched it home on his chance. Even then if they played just 14 more seconds of defense, but they didn't. That was a collapse and coach Jim Montgomery is NOT going to be happy. If he went off on them for lollygagging through a morning skate and benched Jake DeBrusk for being late to a meeting, what do you think he's going to do to them tomorrow? Its clear that Montgomery doesn't want a repeat of the Florida series and cutting down on defensive lapses like this would be a good start. Ullmark deserved a better fate, that's for sure. The Bruins just about had this game won even with Pastrnak and Brad Marchand having a low key night. The Bruins better get it together because Saturday night they have a date with the Detroit Red Wings and their first Eastern Conference game of the season. The game begins at 8 PM at TD Garden.
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