David Krejci started the shootout but didn't get a shot off. Phil Kessel, who skated in underneath a chorus of boos, was turned aside by a Tim Thomas glove save. Michael Ryder followed, but Jean-Sebastien Giguere made a nice glove save of his own. Jamie Lundmark was next up, but Thomas got his blocker on Lundmark's backhanded bid. Satan followed up with his goal, and Thomas sealed the deal by knocking aside Tyler Bozak's attempt.
End of overtime, 2-2: Tim Thomas has been outstanding since letting up that first goal. The defense has hung him out to dry so many times in this game, and Thomas has held steady time and again. He's got 24 saves, but they've been some tough ones. It's time for a shootout.
Overtime, 4:41, 2-2: The Leafs have never won when trailing after the second period, and they have just one overtime victory this season.
End of third period, 2-2: The Bruins, tried, tried and tried some more but couldn't lose to the Leafs in regulation. Toronto had a few really good scoring chances in the latter half of the third period, but Tim Thomas has been on his game. When the horn sounded to signal the end of regulation, a good chunk of this crowd booed the home squad for failing to dispose of Toronto after taking a 2-1 lead into the third period.
Third period, 7:34, 2-2: So, the Leafs haven't won a game all season when trailing after two periods. Insert whatever one-liner you'd like right here.
Third period, 10:46, 2-2: Well, it's one of those seasons. Marc Savard was standing just outside the crease and had a chance to bury the puck into an open net, but his shot went wide. Chances don't get any easier than that.
Third period, 13:48, 2-2: That looked like about 90 percent of my goals in NHL 10: Nikolai Kulemin sent the puck from the corner to the low slot, and Tyler Bozak redirected it past Tim Thomas' left pad. The Bruins are trying to end their 10-game home losing streak and have an easy opportunity against the woeful Leafs, but this isn't going according to plan.
Third period, 16:02, Bruins 2-1: It's fight night at the Garden, and Steve Begin just slayed the dragon that is Colton Orr. Begin quickly recovered from getting knocked down and then drove his shoulder into Orr's gut and sent the big guy to the ground. Begin tried to get a few shots in before the officials broke it up, too. Orr received a double-minor for roughing, and Begin got two minutes for roughing. The Bruins are on the power play for two minutes.
Third period, 19:42, Bruins 2-1: The Bruins and Leafs are back at it in front of a sold-out Garden crowd.
End of second period, Bruins 2-1: Boston controlled the second period and retook the lead with Johnny Boychuk's goal at 15:24: The B's outshot the Leafs 11-5 and have a 20-14 advantage in the game.
Second period, 4:36, Bruins 2-1: Wow, that was rocket. Johnny Boychuk unleashes a bomb from above the right circle, and it's amazing the net didn't rip. It was Boychuk's third goal of the season, and it's some validation for the Bruins, who have really started to take this game over.
Second period, 4:58, 1-1: There is now a small section of the crowd that is booing Dennis Wideman every time he touches the puck.
Second period, 6:43, 1-1: Milan Lucic just misses putting the Bruins back on top when his hard shot rings loudly off the pipe. Other than that, the second period has less going on than Don Cherry's jacket.
Second period, 11:43, 1-1: There's the Dennis Wideman we know. After an extended possession in the Toronto zone, Wideman turns the puck over, and Nikolai Kuleman skates past him on a breakaway. Tim Thomas is forced to make a nice save to keep the score tied, but the Leafs are heading back onto the power play after Wideman's holding penalty.
Second period, 14:33, 1-1: Nothing doing on that power play, and the teams are back at even strength. The Bruins have some fight in them in this one. Time will tell if they've got any more goals in them, as well.
Second period, 17:13, 1-1: Matt Hunwick receives a mandatory two-minute break for tripping, and the Leafs are back on the power play.
Second period, 19:55, 1-1: And they're playing hockey at the Garden again.
End of first period, 1-1: It was a fairly even opening frame, and the Bruins outshot the Leafs, 9-8. Phil Kessel nearly gave Toronto the lead when he skated free on a breakaway with 50 seconds remaining in the period. Kessel made a nice move to the backhand and seemed to have Tim Thomas beat, but Thomas kicked out his right pad and knocked away the shot at the last second.
First period, 4:33, 1-1: Viktor Stalberg scores on a wrister from the left point that beats Tim Thomas blocker side, and it wasn't an effort Thomas was particularly proud of. The four-on-four goal was the third of Stalberg's career. One Catamount scoring on another.
First period, 5:16, Bruins 1-0: So much for that power play. Marco Sturm gets called for hooking seven seconds after the Bruins went on the power play, and there are six players in the two penalty boxes.
First period, 5:23, Bruins 1-0: The Toronto penalty box is starting to look like a clown car. Dion Phaneuf gets two minutes for slashing, and he joins teammates Colton Orr and Wayne Primeau.
First period, 6:14, Bruins 1-0: Got to love a pair fights in a matter of seconds. First, a pair of heavyweights in Milan Lucic and Colton Orr square off at the blue line in the Boston zone, and they gave each other a real good beating. The officials eventually stop it after they are torn away from one another, but that scrap went on for about a minute. Immediately after the next whistle, Shawn Thornton quickly takes down Wayne Primeau in front of the Boston net. Good stuff. Let's see a few more.
First period, 8:10, Bruins 1-0: The Garden crowd is showering Phil Kessel with boos every time he touches the puck, and the fans get real excited when Dennis Wideman shoves Kessel after the last whistle. That was the first time in a while Wideman has been cheered here.
First period, 8:50, Bruins 1-0: That's not a good way to win over the new home crowd. Dennis Seidenberg gets two minutes for delay of game.
First period, 10:24, Bruins 1-0: The other 81, Miroslav Satan, gives the Bruins the lead with a low wrister that gets past Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who would probably like that one back. Shawn Thornton makes a nice play along the boards to scoop the puck out and get it to Satan, and his shot from the slot finds the back of the net.
First period, 11:50, 0-0: That was a pretty harmless power play for the Bruins. By the way, Viktor Stalberg has two goals and one assist in 19 games this season.
First period, 13:57, 0-0: Viktor Stalberg gets two minutes for holding, and the Bruins have the first power play of the game. This time last year, Stalberg was a Hobey Baker candidate at Vermont, and he was a dominant force in the college game, helping bring the Catamounts to the Frozen Four in Washington D.C. It was their best year since entering Hockey East, and Stalberg was a rare scoring force in Burlington. It wasn't too surprising to see him leave after his junior year, although he did tell me he was looking forward to playing with his younger brother, Sebastian, who is a freshman at UVM this season.
First period, 18:57, 0-0: Michael Ryder thought he gave the Bruins an early lead, but the officials determined he kicked the puck into the net, and they disallowed the goal. Steve Begin curled around the back of the net and sent the puck into the slot, where it deflected off of Ryder's skate and into an open net. Jean-Sebastien Giguere was banked on the post and was out of position, which allowed the puck to easily glide past him. These next couple of minutes will be important for the Bruins to continue their early control against the wilted Leafs.
First period, 19:55, 0-0: And they're underway at the Garden.
7:08 p.m.: Don Cherry was at center ice for a ceremonial puck drop, which made for an interesting moment.
6:50 p.m.: This building is dead right now. If they're not careful, a Beanpot consolation game might break out.
6:46 p.m.: The league announced Thursday the March 21 game between the Bruins and Rangers has been flexed to 12:30 p.m., and it will be nationally aired on NBC. The game is at the Garden, so the teams better hope the previous night's Hockey East championship doesn't go to 20 overtimes. Sounds crazy, yes, but I've covered enough endless Hockey East games to realize crazy things like that are a little too possible.
6:30 p.m.: The Bruins and Leafs just jumped onto the ice and are getting in their last-minute stretching before faceoff, which is in about a half hour.
4:17 p.m.: It's been more than two months since the Bruins won a game at the TD Garden, and their quest for a home victory continues Thursday night against Phil Kessel and the Maple Leafs. The B's will also unveil Dennis Seidenberg, their lone prize from the NHL trading deadline.
Patrice Bergeron will miss his second consecutive game due to a groin injury he suffered during Canada's gold-medal run in the Olympics, and Tim Thomas will start in net for the first time since Groundhog Day.
