Bruins Live Blog: B’s Hold On for Hard-Fought 3-2 Victory Over Oilers in Edmonton

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Feb 27, 2011

Bruins Live Blog: B's Hold On for Hard-Fought 3-2 Victory Over Oilers in Edmonton Final, Bruins 3-2: The Bruins hold on for the one-goal win, staying perfect on the road trip and extending their win streak to a season-best five games.

Michael Ryder picked up a pair of points to pace the offense, while first-liners Nathan Horton and Milan Lucic each had two-thirds of a Gordie Howe hat trick. Horton had the goal and the fight, but lacked an assist, while Lucic contributed an assist and a fight but didn't have a goal. For that matter, Ryder was just missing the fight as he had a goal and an assist.

The Bruins will now see what changes may come Monday at the NHL trading deadline, then look to complete the road trip in style at Ottawa on Tuesday.

Third Period, 19:35, Bruins 3-2: Big-time cheap shot by Gilbert Brule on Johnny Boychuk, cross-checking the Bruins defenseman in the back as he was on his knees facing the boards after the whistle. Lots of jawing afterward, but it doesn't appear there will be any penalties. Boston uses its timeout now.

Third Period, 18:30, Bruins 3-2: Big icing call there, giving the Oilers a faceoff in the Boston zone. Edmonton calls timeout to set up a play. Dubnyk has been pulled for the extra attacker.

Third Period, 17:10, Bruins 3-2: The Bruins are doing their best to keep the play in the Edmonton zone as they try to hold on to this one-goal lead.

Third Period, 13:35, Bruins 3-2: Peverley takes a big hit from Smid, and Kelly responds with a shot on Smid. No penalties to either side as the intensity is increasing in this one.

Third Period, 11:26, Bruins 3-2: All sorts of unfamiliar line combinations were being thrown out there by the Bruins with Marchand and Lucic serving their fighting majors, but they are both out of the box now.

Third Period, 8:20, Bruins 3-2: Sam Gagner with a shot between Rask's pads and through the crease after flying down the right wing. This one has gotten a little scary for the Bruins all of a sudden.

Third Period, 4:57, Bruins 3-2: More gloves hit the ice as Milan Lucic and Jim Vandermeer engage in a lengthy toe-to-toe scrap in front of the Edmonton net. Both men landed plenty, but Vandermeer appeared to land the better shots, especially early. Solid rally late by Lucic though.

Third Period, 3:38, Bruins 3-2: The gloves are off again, as Brad Marchand has his first NHL fight with Andrew Cogliano. Spirited exchange between a couple of flyweights.

Third Period, 3:14, Bruins 3-2: The Oilers pull within a goal as Gilbert Brule scores from the left circle with Jordan Eberle providing the screen in front.

That came seconds after Shawn Thornton just missed on a chance to make it 4-1 with a bid at the right post at the other end of the ice.

Third Period, 0:00, Bruins 3-1: The final frame is under way, with the Bruins looking to close out the win in Edmonton and stay perfect on the road trip.

Second Intermission Notes: The Bruins dominated the second, but didn't break through for another goal until the final minute.

Rich Peverley supplied that with his first point as a Bruin. Chris Kelly also collected his first point for Boston on the play, while Michael Ryder had the primary assist for his second point of the night.

It's been a balanced attack with eight Bruins with points. There would be more if not for Edmonton goalie Devan Dubnyk, who has kept the Oilers in the game. Boston holds a 32-12 edge in shots, including 17-7 in the second.

End Second Period, Bruins 3-1: The Bruins close out the second period with a huge insurance goal and will head to the third up by two.

Second Period, 19:08, Bruins 3-1: The Bruins finally extend the lead as Rich Peverley scores his first as a Bruin in the final minute.

Chris Kelly started the play by forcing a turnover at center ice and Michael Ryder gets the primary assist with the pass down low to Peverley in front for the score.

Second Period, 18:26, Bruins 2-1: Seguin gets his pocket picked by Hall trying to carry the puck out of the Bruins' zone, but the Oilers can't do anything with the chance.

Second Period, 15:31, Bruins 2-1: The Bruins have a 28-11 edge in shots right now, but still just a one-goal lead. They have to cash in on some of these chances and not let the Oilers hang around any longer.

Second Period, 13:28, Bruins 2-1: The Bruins having target practice on Dubnyk now, with Chara and Seidenberg teeing up blasts from the point, but Dubnyk is keeping the Oilers in the game.

Second Period, 10:01, Bruins 2-1: The Bruins had some good chances on that man-advantage, but they still can't convert.

Second Period, 8:01, Bruins 2-1: The Bruins get another power-play chance as Hall is sent off for roughing after popping both Kampfer and Seidenberg in a rush in deep.

Second Period, 4:26, Bruins 2-1: The Bruins do no better with their power-play chance as it remains a one-goal game with the sides back at even strength.

Second Period, 2:26, Bruins 2-1: The Oilers can't convert the power play, and the bodies are dropping fast with Hall hurt by a shot, then McQuaid going down from a leg-on-leg hit by Kurtis Foster after McQuaid came out of the box. Foster is called for tripping and now the Bruins go on the power play.

Second Period, 0:16, Bruins 2-1: The Bruins don't start the second the way they would have liked as McQuaid is called for tripping Hall to give Edmonton its first power play.

Second Period, 0:00, Bruins 2-1: The middle frame has begun, with the Bruins looking to build off their strong finish in the first.

First Intermission Notes: After a shaky start, the Bruins came on strong in the opening period to take a 2-1 lead into the break.

Nathan Horton delivered the wakeup call when he decked Theo Peckham in a fight after Peckham had roughed up David Krejci. Krejci later repaid Horton by setting him up for Boston's second goal. That line has been Boston's best once again in this one.

Adam McQuaid has also been a factor in this game. he only has one assist, but played a role in both goals with some slick passing. He's a plus-2 with two hits and two blocked shots in 6:31.

While Taylor Hall has had the much better rookie season, Tyler Seguin had the better first period in their first professional showdown. Seguin played just 6:16 all of Saturday, but skated 4:13 in the first in this one was was emotionally and physically involved much more than usual. he has a shot and blocked a shot and won his only faceoff, though he also was charged with two giveaways. Hall has no shots and no hits and is a minus-2 in 5:04.

End First Period, Bruins 2-1: The first frame is in the books, and a strong finish gives the Bruins a one-goal lead heading into the first intermission.

First Period, 18:39, Bruins 2-1: The Bruins take the lead as Nathan Horton finishes a pretty passing play with a shot from the left slot.

Krejci began the play with a pass back to McQuaid, who then went point to point to Dennis Seidenberg. Seidenberg found Krejci again in the right slot, and Krejci passed up the open shot to dish it over to Horton, who buried it to get two-thirds of the way to the Gordie Howe hat trick. 

First Period, 15:30, 1-1: The Bruins pull even as Michael Ryder strikes on a rebound in front.

McQuaid sent the initial shot in from the point, and Ryder collected the rebound and patiently outwaited Dubnyk as he fired it home at the right post. Kaberle picks up the secondary assist.

First Period, 13:28, Oilers 1-0: Bergeron drive hard to the net for a chance in front, but Dubnyk keeps it out.

First Period, 9:00, Oilers 1-0: Seguin is back out on the ice, so it appears there's no serious issues from the shot he blocked earlier in the period that had him struggling to get back to the bench in pain.

First Period, 8:27, Oilers 1-0: The gloves are dropped, and Edmonton defenseman Theo Peckham is also quickly dropped by a right hand from nathan Horton.

That scrap came after Peckham took a run at David Krejci and Horton took exception. It was a quick exchange along the boards before Horton landed the one big shot.

First Period, 7:44, Oilers 1-0: McQuaid with the big defensive play, breaking up a pass headed to Hall on a 2 on 1 deep in the Boston zone.

First Period, 7:08, Oilers 1-0: Seguin is slow getting back to the bench after going down to block a shot by Smid.

First Period, 5:46, Oilers 1-0: The Bruins with their first good chance, as Rich Peverley's speed helps set up Chris Kelly for a one-timer in the slot.

First Period, 4:30, Oilers 1-0: The Bruins are having trouble containing Edmonton's speed, which is especially evident on this excellent ice surface in Edmonton.

First Period, 1:05, Oilers 1-0: The Oilers waste no time jumping out to a quick lead in this one with Ales Hemsky opening the scoring.

Hemsky beat Rask with a rebound from the left slot after Jim Vandermeer's shot from the right point was blocked in front and went right to Hemsky. That's the first Edmonton goal against the Bruins since 2005.

First Period, 0:00, 0-0: This one is under way in Edmonton, with the Bruins looking to stay perfect on the road trip and win their fifth straight for the first time since late in the 2008-09 season.

8 p.m.: The Oilers will start No. 1 pick Taylor Hall up front with Andrew Cogliano and Jordan Eberle. Tom Gilbert and Ladislav Smid are on defense and Devan Dubnyk is in goal.

The Bruins won't counter with Tyler Seguin. Instead, Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and Mark Recchi start up front, with Tomas Kaberle and Adam McQuaid on the blue line and Tuukka Rask in net.

7:55 p.m.: No surprises in the scratches, with Andrew Ference out injured and Daniel Paille once again the odd man out up front. Also, Shane Hnidy officially listed among the scratches for the first time as he's been signed, but still not cleared to play with his shoulder injury.

For the Oilers, forwards J-F Jacques, Colin Fraser and Liam Reddox are out. That means former Providence heavyweight Steve MacIntyre will be in the lineup for just the second time in the last seven games and 19th time this season. He could be looking for a dance partner, so Shawn Thornton might have his work cut out for him in this one against the 6-foot-5, 250-pound monster.

7:35 p.m.: Despite their past success against Oilers, this is definitely a dangerous game for the Bruins. The start will be crucial, as the Bruins will need to replicate the energy they played with Saturday in Vancouver against an Edmonton team that was sitting at home waiting for the Bruins with Saturday off.

7:15 p.m.: The Bruins have won eight straight against Edmonton.

They last loss to the Oilers more than a decade ago, falling 6-1 in Edmonton on Oct. 17, 2000.

The Oilers haven't even scored a goal in the last three meetings, a shutout stretch of 204:02. Edmonton's last goal against Boston was scored by Fernado Pisani at 3:46 of the third period in the Bruins' 5-4 overtime win on Dec. 3, 2005.

7 p.m.: The Bruins will look to make it five straight wins to open their season-long six-game road trip as they take on Edmonton in about an hour.

Andrew Ference will miss the game with the lower-body injury he suffered Saturday in Vancouver, so Steven Kampfer will return to the lineup after being a healthy scratch the last two games.

Tuukka Rask will be in goal, giving Tim Thomas a break after he played Saturday against the Canucks. Rask will look to get three straight wins for the first time this season after opening the trip with back-to-back victories against the Islanders and Senators.

8 a.m.: The Bruins continued their stellar road trip with an impressive 3-1 win over Vancouver on Saturday, but they won't get to celebrate long as they get right back to work in Edmonton on Sunday.

The Bruins are now 4-0-0 on their season-high six-game road trip. The last two wins on their swing through Western Canada have been particularly noteworthy. They beat a red-hot Calgary team 3-1 on Tuesday, then handled the league-leading Canucks by an identical score on Saturday.

Those wins will lose a lot of their luster if Boston doesn't follow up by taking care of business against the Oilers and Senators in the final two games of the trip. While the Canucks lead the league with 87 points, Edmonton is dead last with just 48, and Ottawa isn't much better with 51.

But this could be a classic trap game, with Edmonton sitting at home with Saturday off while the Bruins engaged the Canucks in an emotional and intense clash between division leaders. Edmonton has been playing somewhat better of late too, winning four of five before falling 5-0 to St. Louis on Friday.

This game will also mark the first professional meeting between the top two picks in last June's draft. Edmonton's Taylor Hall and Boston's Tyler Seguin have had very different rookie campaigns however, with Hall in the mix for the Calder with 21-19-40 totals and Seguin battling for playing time. Seguin has 10-11-21 totals, but was a healthy scratch twice earlier this month and played just 6:16 Saturday in Vancouver.

It's a more reasonable start for this one with the puck dropping at 8 p.m., so check back here throughout the day for updates on all the action.

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