The Bruins failed to score on that power play (which carried over from regulation) and then found themselves scrambling in the first two minutes of the extra frame. Tim Thomas came up huge, though, with his trademark acrobatics. The Bruins got the puck going the other way and Patrice Bergeron found Sturm for the winner.
The Bruins will be the first ones to tell you that they probably didn't deserve this game, as they really found themselves chasing the Flyers for most of the afternoon. But they scored when it counted and capped off a memorable day in Boston sports history with a dramatic 2-1 overtime win.
Thanks for joining us here and Happy New Year! Something tells me that anyone who watched this game at Fenway Park or on TV will never forget this day.
End of regulation, 1-1: Mark Recchi has sent this game to overtime with a huge goal against his former team, and Fenway is rocking out to the Dropkick Murphys' "Tessie". Buckle up, we're in for a good ending!
Third period, 2:18, 1-1: Fenway Park is rocking right now as "The Wrecking Ball" Mark Recchi just scored a power-play goal to tie the game. Derek Morris and David Krejci get the helpers. On top of that, the Bruins will go on another power play and have a chance to complete the comeback in regulation.
Third period, 3:52, Flyers 1-0: Kimmo Timonen is in the penalty box as the Bruins go on their second power play. They're 0-for-1.
Third period, 5:26, Flyers 1-0: Injured Bruins Mark Stuart and Milan Lucic — as well as healthy scratch Adam McQuaid — are now watching the game from the Bruins bench.
Third period, 8:00, Flyers 1-0: Dennis Leary, Lenny Clark and Boston and Worcester firemen are singing "Sweet Caroline"!
Third period, 10:23, Flyers 1-0: The Bruins didn't muster much pressure on their lone power play and they still trail by one. They need to get going here.
Third period, 15:32, Flyers 1-0: The Bruins had a good penalty kill once again and the Flyers are 0-for-2 now. They will get rewarded as they are about to embark on their first power play with Daniel Carcillo headed to the sin bin.
Third period, 18:30, Flyers 1-0: Johnny Boychuk is in the sin bin and the Flyers are on their second power play. They're 0-for-1.
Third period, 19:37, Flyers 1-0: Underway in the third period at Fenway Park. The Bruins have gotten two quick chances so far and appear to have a better jump in their game.
End of second period, Flyers 1-0: Well, apparently we were wrong about both teams waking up after that first period fight between Shawn Thornton and Daniel Carcillo. The Bruins fell asleep in that period and the Flyers came out flying, taking the first lead of the game.
The Bruins were out-shot 12-9 in the period and allowed the Flyers plenty of odd-man rushes. Luckily they killed off a Zdeno Chara tripping call but they can ill-afford any more bad penalties.
Second period, 3:19, Flyers 1-0: There are plenty of "Yankees Suck" chants going on, but the best is when the Flyers and Bruins fans go back and forth with "Let's go, Flyers" and "Let's go, Bruins".
Second period, 4:24, Flyers 1-0: Arron Asham stole the puck away from Zdeno Chara on the blue line and broke in one-on-one the other way but Tim Thomas stopped Asham.
Chara is not having the best of games as he tried to break into the play too early there and paid the price. He also took a dumb penalty as well. The Big Z needs to get it going.
Second period, 9:44, Flyers 1-0: Zdeno Chara is headed to the sin bin for tripping Scott Hartnell and we have our first power play of the 2010 Winter Classic.
Hartnell is doing a great job of getting under the Bruins' skin and it pays off here as he goads Chara into a penalty.
Second period, 15:18, Flyers 1-0: Underway in the second period and the Flyers have gotten on the board early on a controversial goal by Danny Syvret.
Tim Thomas and Scott Hartnell were entangled in front of the net and there should've been a penalty on Hartnell for goalie interference and then on Thomas on a cross-check.
That goal by Syvret was his first NHL goal but he has yet to score indoors.
End of first period, 0-0: No score here at Fenway Park after one period of play in the 2010 Winter Classic.
This by far is the coolest experience this eight-year veteran of covering the game of hockey has seen! What an environment. Love the way the place is set up, from the mini-rink for the kids in center field to the Bruins' retired numbers next to those of the Red Sox. A great job by everyone involved. Only complaint I'd have would be that the press box doesn't have the sound from the park outside piped into here. Instead we have NBC coverage on major delay. Want to have a better feel of the game and may campaign to open the windows here!
As for the game, like we said, it picked up after the fight and we should be in for a great second period. Both Michael Leighton and Tim Thomas look to be on their game as well, so every little inch and break will count for each team.
First period, 4:38: David Krejci and Oskars Bartulis just roughed it up a bit and are in the sin bin for two minutes each. This game is getting real physical.
First period, 5:29: That fight seemed to have finally loosened the players up as the game has picked up it's pace again.
First period, 7:59: Well, the big question has been answered as Shawn Thornton and Daniel Carcillo just did the tango in the first fight ever in the history of the Winter Classic. Carcillo gets the KO and then gives the Texas Longhorns sign in victory? Something tells me we haven't seen the last of those two as Thornton will want revenge!
Both benches, by the way, were giving their teammates standing ovations with the Fedora-wearing Claude Julien loving it.
First period, 9:51: The big chatter in the press box seems to be of whether we will see the first fight in Winter Classic history with this physical Flyers-Bruins rivalry. My bet is on Marc Savard-Daniel Briere. Random, but a fight would be as well.
First period, 12:38: Lots of Flyers fans here and even some Habs fans (oh-oh) but the Bruins fans are the majority.
First period, 13:02: No score here as the teams get a feel for each other and the atmosphere. Some good physical play, though. Going to have to push the staff here in the press box to crank the window open so we can get a real feel of the environment.
First period, 18:39: Underway at the 2010 Winter Classic at Fenway Park and what an atmosphere. 39.6 degrees at game time. Perfect. This place is amped up!
1:32 p.m.: What a pregame ceremony here at Fenway Park! The Dropkick Murphys played "Shipping Up To Boston"; Bobby Clarke and Bobby Orr led their respective teams on the ice and now the National Anthems are playing. Temperature and weather are perfect by the way. Game On!
1:10 p.m.: Pierre McGuire just informed me that he will not be between the benches for NBC today. He unfortunately missed his flight from the World Junior Championships in Saskatoon and there were no more flights. No word on who replaces him but he said to tell all "Happy New Year and Game On!"
1:08 p.m.: Lineups are as they are below. Dropkick Murphys about to take the stage.
1 p.m.: Tim Thomas will be in net for the Bruins and Michael Leighton (a great story) will man the pipes for the Flyers. No sign of Ty Conklin who has started every Winter Classic so far and the Commonwealth Classic in 2003. Working on lines now. Stay tuned.
12:47 p.m.: Getting closer to game time here as the teams just took the ice for warmups and you need to checkout our main page as we have loads of great video from here!
The atmosphere here is great. Bagpipes can be heard and the crowd has broke out into a "Ole Ole Ole Ole Ole". Are we at the Bell Centre? Or maybe an Irish futbol game?
My suggestion is the Bruins come out to this.
11:30 a.m.: Here at Fenway Park and the environment is amazing! Think college bowl games except hockey — and folks, this should be called "The Grand Daddy Of Them All"! Going to check out the scene on Yawkey Way and then to the field. I'll be back with more. Happy New Year!
8:07 a.m.: The big day is finally here, and we will have live coverage of the 2010 Winter Classic from Fenway Park right here on the live blog of the Bruins-Flyers tilt on Fenway ice. The Flyers (19-18-2, 40 points) are riding a four-game win streak into the Winter Classic, while the Bruins (20-12-7, 47 points) are 3-1-0 in their last four games. Thursday, the two teams got used to the elements in a winter wonderland, and now they're ready to go in what is a pivotal midseason Eastern Conference matchup.
Here's what the Bruins lineup should look like:
Bruins
Forwards
Steve Begin–Marc Savard–Marco Sturm
Daniel Paielle–Patrice Bergeron–Mark Recchi
Blake Wheeler–David Krejci–Michael Ryder
Shawn Thornton–Vladimir Sobotka–Byron Bitz
Defensemen
Zdeno Chara–Dennis Wideman
Andrew Ference–Johnny Boychuck
Matt Hunwick–Derek Morris
Goaltenders
Tim Thomas
Tuukka Rask
