Final, Bruins 3-2: What a dicey finish for the Bruins, but they do come away with the win.
The Jets are able to get one final rush, and the puck was shoveled on net from the right wing, where it fluttered through the air. The puck actually hit Tuukka Rask and then looked to roll down his back. Luckily for the Bruins, however, the puck didn’t cross the goal line, as both Johnny Boychuk and Daniel Paille were able to close what looked like a small opening. The clock then expired, and the Bruins escape with a 3-2 win.
Third period, 19:13, Bruins 3-2: Boston is clinging to the one-goal lead, as we just had our first stoppage in what seemed like forever.
The Winnipeg net is empty.
Third period, 16:16, Bruins 3-2: The Bruins are once again able to kill off the penalty, as they cling to the 3-2 lead late in the period.
Jay Pandolfo, making his Bruins debut, got some penalty-kill time in on that PK, and he looked pretty good. He was able to slow Blake Wheeler coming across the blue line, throwing the Winnipeg forward enough to put him offside. Pandolfo then hustled to a loose puck, taking it out of the Boston zone down the left wing into the Winnipeg zone. There, he just narrowly missed setting up Gregory Campbell for a shorthanded bid.
Third period, 13:41, Bruins 3-2: As they have all year, the Bruins must lean on the penalty kill in winning time.
Rich Peverley just took a seat in the penalty box after he was called for tripping Blake Wheeler. The Jets forward came bolting up the ice through the neutral zone on the left wing, and Peverley tried to slow him down, apparently doing so with a trip. The Bruins forward didn’t look to agree, though, as he tossed his hands in the air after the whistle as to say, “I disagree with that call.”
Third period, 11:46, Bruins 3-2; Winnipeg is really starting to up the offensive pressure, and they almost tied it up just a few seconds ago.
Blake Wheeler made a nice centering pass to Andrew Ladd in the Boston slot, and he was able to tip it by Tuukka Rask, but the Bruins are bailed out when the puck hits the post.
The posts played a big role the last time these two met as well, if you recall.
Third period, 7:00, Bruins 3-2: The Jets have started to fight back a little bit, and they got a good chance when Dustin Byfuglien was able to walk in on Tuukka Rask and unleashed a wicked wrist shot from the left wing.
Luckily for the Bruins, Rask was able to get a shoulder on it and deflect it up over the net.
Third period, 0:36, Bruins 3-2: Brad Marchand and the Bruins didn’t need the penalty shot after all.
The B’s need just 27 seconds of the power play to take their first lead of the game, when it’s Marchand who scores the goal to put Boston up one.
The power-play success is encouraging, as is the way the Bruins scored the goal. There was some terrific transitional puck movement that started with Chris Bourque finding Patrice Bergeron who fed Marchand streaking in, and the forward flipped a backhander over Ondrej Pavelec’s glove.
Third period, 0:09, 2-2: Ron Hainsey trips Brad Marchand, who got loose following the opening faceoff, and Hainsey gets two minutes for tripping.
It could have been a penalty shot, but the call is the trip instead.
Second period reaction: The first half of the second period was a little bit too much like the first period, but the Bruins did rebound nicely in the second, despite what could have been a disastrous end to the period.
The Bruins started to get more people to the front of the net in the middle period, and it paid off in a big way. Both goals — one from Tyler Seguin and the other from Daniel Paille — came when both went to the front of the net and deflected pucks past Ondrej Pavelec. Give credit to Zdeno Chara and Johnny Boychuk as well, with both making smart plays to just put the puck at the net to let the forwards do their thing.
The Bruins probably need Tuukka Rask to be a little bit better in the third period if they’re going to win this game. Both Winnipeg goals in the second where shots that we’ve seen Rask stop before, and he’ll need to do so in the final 20 minutes to ensure Boston leaves with two points.
End second period, 2-2: No one scored in the final two seconds of the second period. Just so you know.
Second period, 19:58, 2-2: So much for that Jets goal being “crushing.”
Just a few seconds later, the Bruins respond, with just 1.6 seconds left to play in the second period.
Johnny Boychuk was patient with the puck at the right point before finally taking a low shot at the net, which was right at Daniel Paille, who was set up in front. Paille tipped it by Ondrej Pavelec and improbably ties the game 2-2 after two.
Second period, 19:34, Jets 2-1: The Jets deal what could be a crushing blow with just a few seconds to play in the period.
Nik Antropov was below the goal line pinned up against the glass, and Antropov must have sensed a player in front of the net. Antropov delivered a perfect no-look pass to Evander Kane, who was camped in front of the net. Kane put a shot on Tuukka Rask from point-blank range, and the first attempt was stopped, but Kane jammed home the rebound for the go-ahead goal.
Second period, 15:00, 1-1: The Bruins just had another solid chance, as Daniel Paille gets behind the defense following a line change.
Dennis Seidenberg sent one the length of the rink, and Paille raced after it all by himself to retrieve it off the end-board. Paille brought it back toward the net and tried a backhanded attempt on Pavelec, but the Jets goalie got to the post and stuff the attempt.
Paille then got dropped by Zach Redmond who delivered a big, heavy check just after Paille let the shot go.
Second period, 14:02, 1-1: Just like that, the Bruins look to have a little more jump in their step in each zone.
They just got another scoring chance as Nathan Horton was freed coming into the Winnipeg zone, where he took a pass while moving toward the middle of the ice. The big winger fired it on net, but Ondrej Pavelec made the save to keep it a 1-1 game.
At the very least, though, Boston looks a little bit more confident with the puck in the few minutes since scoring the goal.
Second period, 11:57, 1-1: The Bruins have to be extremely happy with what just happened.
First, they scored a goal and tied the game. That’s the most important thing.
Secondly, it was Tyler Seguin who scored the goal. He obviously needs to get going.
Perhaps the most encouraging thing, however, is how they scored the goal. Seguin went to the front of the net (where Brad Marchand was already parked in front of the net), and simultaneously, Zdeno Chara took a wrist shot about crossbar-high from the left point. Seguin did a great job of deflecting the puck past Ondrej Pavelec.
All in all, that’s exactly what the Bruins needed. Now, they need to capitalize on it and sustain the momentum moving forward.
Second period, 10:12, Jets 1-0: The Bruins have five shots so far in the second, and they have 14 for the game, but that almost feels a little tough to believe.
Maybe that stems from the issues that they’ve been having moving the puck from their own zone, into the neutral zone and into the attacking zone. The passing through the neutral zone has been a little choppy to say the least. Boston hasn’t been able to orchestrate any sort of breakouts to this point, and that’s just another thing to add to the list of offensive issues.
The Patrice Bergeron line did just turn in a pretty nice shift, though, with movement through the neutral zone. That ended with Bergeron flipping a backhander on goal that was deflected by Ondrej Pavelec over the net. Maybe that’s something that can get that line and the B’s going.
Second period, 5:35, Jets 1-0: The Jets seem to have gotten a little bit of a jump from the Burmistrov goal, and they’re starting to up their pressure a little bit.
Evander Kane just outworked a Bruins defenseman in the corner, beating him to the puck, and then walking it back toward the net before putting a close-range shot right into Tuukka Rask’s chest.
Second period, 1:43, Jets 1-0: The Jets get on the board early in the second, with a little thanks to the Bruins’ defense.
Zach Bogosian took a shot into some traffic in front of the net and Tuukka Rask initially kept the puck out of the net. However, Alex Burmistrov was coming over the top of the crease, and he was able to corral the loose puck in front of Dougie Hamilton before putting it by Rask. It was a shot that if you ask Rask after the game, he’ll probably say he should have had.
Nonetheless, the Jets have the game’s first goal, and the Bruins have to get on the comeback trail.
Second period, 1:00, 0-0: The second period is under way in Winnipeg, with the Bruins looking to get something going offensively.
First period reaction: Bruins forward Chris Bourque, who has moved across his line to help make up for Milan Lucic’s absence, talked to Naoko Funayama after the period, and he talked about the Bruins needing to cash in on their chances.
It’s true, too. The Bruins got a handful of scoring chances, but they really never came close to putting anything home. That’s becoming a developing pattern for Boston. But under Claude Julien, it’s all about the defense, which the Bruins continue to excel at. The B’s limited the Jets to just five shots in the first period, and the “defensive highlight” so to speak was when Seguin came flying back down the ice and broke up the play. Actually, that was the highlight of the period for the Bruins overall.
Bourque had a nice period, though. He was skating hard and he had that one shot from the slot. David Krejci also looked active as well, anchoring the Bruins’ best shift of the period when they were able to generate some chances by keeping the pressure on.
All in all, however, there hasn’t been enough of the little things on offense for the Bruins. They aren’t going to the net enough, and they almost seem a little bit “lazy” (for lack of a better word) offensively.
End first period, 0-0: Candidly speaking, that was a pretty boring first period.
It comes to a scoreless end with not a whole lot going on. Tyler Seguin remains in an offensive slump, but it was nice to see some great hustle out of him toward the end of the first. The forward flew down the ice as the Jets transitioned back toward the Boston zone and made a diving play in the Bruins’ slot to break up the rush.
First period, 14:50, 0-0: The Bruins get something of a jump from the penalty kill, and they’re back to putting the pressure on the Jets in the Winnipeg zone.
Nathan Horton continues to go to the front of the net, and it almost paid off just before the break, as he redirected a Zdeno Chara shot, but the puck came to rest in Ondrej Pavelec’s glove and pads.
Dennis Seidenberg also had a nice chance, as he jumped into a play starting in his own zone, and ended up carrying the puck all the way down the ice on the left wing before blasting a slap shot from the dot to Pavelec’s right, but the shot went wide and caromed all the way back down the ice.
The Jets did have a chance when James Wright narrowly missed the net. A few moments later, Wright continued a strong shift by dumping Chara in the corner to the left of the Boston net.
First period, 11:52, 0-0: Boston was able to kill off the cross-checking penalty to Shawn Thornton.
It was more good penalty killing from the B’s PK forwards, and Adam McQuaid made a nice play on the back end to break up a pass that might have sprung the Jets into the Boston zone.
There was one frantic rush toward the end of the power play from the Jets, with a rolling puck around the crease, but the Bruins were able to clean out the trash and ensure this game remains scoreless.
First period, 9:41, 0-0: The Bruins’ penalty kill has to go to work, but it’s a questionable call.
Shawn Thornton ran over Kyle Wellwood in the neutral zone, but the Bruins’ enforcer was called for a somewhat phantom cross-checking call.
First period, 6:24, 0-0: Getting off to a quick start in an arena like Winnipeg is crucial, and the Bruins have come out and done a nice job in the game’s opening minutes.
They’ve been able to sustain some pretty strong pressure early on, with a couple of good scoring chances. The best may have come when Chris Bourque — who is playing the off-wing in this one — jumped on a puck in the middle of the slot and put a wrist shot on net. It was turned away, however, by Ondrej Pavelec who was able to get his right pad on it and kick it to the side.
The Jets just finally got their first shot of the game — a whole 6:24 into the game.
First period, 0:01, 0-0: The Bruins and Jets are under way at a loud MTS Centre.
6:03 p.m.: The Bruins and Jets are moments away from getting things going in Winnipeg.
The B’s will start with Patrice Bergeron centering Tyler Seguin and Brad Marchand, with Zdeno Chara and Johnny Boychuk. Ondrej Pavelec gets the start in goal for the Jets.
5:30 p.m.: We’re a half-hour away from hockey at the MTS Centre, where the Bruins look to get their first win in Winnipeg since Dec. 31, 1995.
A lot has happened since in that time. Gas cost $1.20 back then. It no longer costs $1.20.
Anyway, let’s get to hockey. It sounds like Tuukka Rask will be the Bruins’ goalie. No surprise there, either. Anton Khudobin got the start Friday, so now the B’s lean on Rask to get them back on the winning track.
Jay Pandolfo is expected to make his Bruins debut, and he’ll be wearing No. 29. He’ll likely skate on the B’s fourth line, while Claude Julien is forced to shuffle things up in Milan Lucic’s absence. Rich Peverley will move up to the first line in Horton’s place, while Daniel Paille will take Peverley’s spot on the third line.
Boston will be looking to avoid losing three straight (although one of those was a shootout loss) for the first time this season. They only endured a losing streak of three games or more twice last season.
8 a.m. ET: The Bruins continue their five-game road trip on Sunday, and they will have to do so without arguably their best player in this young season.
The B’s are in Winnipeg for the second of five on this roadie, and they’ll be going at it without Milan Lucic. The bruising winger made the trip back to Boston for personal reasons, and the Bruins will be without his services for its matchup with the Jets. Lucic’s absence likely means Jay Pandolfo will make his Bruins debut.
Boston is looking to bounce back following a crushing loss to the Sabres on Friday night. The Bruins held a 2-1 lead and were dominating through two periods in Buffalo, but they fell apart in the third en route to a 4-2 loss.
They’ll try to get back on the winning track against the Jets, but winning in Winnipeg isn’t easy. The Jets were 23-13-5 at home last season, and they were able to win both meetings against the Bruins at the MTS Centre.
The Bruins earned a shootout win over Winnipeg on Jan. 21.
Puck drop from the Peg is set for 6 p.m.
