The Boston Bruins had a golden opportunity to take a 2-0 lead in their first-round playoff series against the Ottawa Senators, but a late Game 2 collapse allowed the home team to win in overtime and even the series.
The Senators entered the third period Saturday down 3-1, but they fought back with two third-period goals and prevailed 4-3 in overtime on a tally by defenseman Dion Phaneuf, sending the crowd at Canadian Tire Centre into a frenzy.
Here’s how it all went down.
PLAYOFF DEBUT
Bruins defenseman Joe Morrow hadn’t played for the Bruins since Jan. 22, but he was forced into making his playoff debut in Game 2 after Colin Miller was unable to go. Miller left Game 1 after a knee-on-knee collision.
BORING BEGINNINGS
The first period was pretty forgettable.
The Bruins led 10-9 in shots on goal, but most of them came from outside of the high-danger areas. Ottawa’s neutral zone trap led to most of the 16 giveaways between the teams and also contributed to many of the dump-ins that didn’t produce much offense.
Each team had limited power-play time, as a penalty negated the Senators’ only man-advantage opportunity and gave Boston a short one.
BLUE LINE BLUES
The Bruins entered the game without regular defensemen Torey Krug, Brandon Carlo and Colin Miller because of injuries. B’s D-man Adam McQuaid left Game 2 in the first period and headed to the locker room. The Bruins later revealed he suffered an upper body injury. McQuaid never returned to the game, which left the Bruins with just five defensemEn for the remaining 40 minutes of action.
Senators defenseman Mark Borowiecki also exited in the first period after crashing feet-first into the boards. Ottawa announced early in the second period that he wouldn’t return to Game 2 because of a lower body injury.
BREAKTHROUGH
The Bruins finally opened the scoring at 9:47 of the second period when trade-deadline acquisition Drew Stafford beat Sens goalie Craig Anderson.
The Senators used a coach’s challenge to review the play for offsides, and even though it appeared Stafford was offside, the replays didn’t provide definitive proof, and the original good goal call was upheld.
QUICK RESPONSE
The Senators went on the power play just seconds after the Bruins’ goal, and they didn’t take long to even the score. Clarke MacArthur finished off a pretty passing sequence with his first goal in more than two years.
He beat Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask high glove side.
GIFT GOAL
The Bruins didn’t waste much time reclaiming the lead, either. Anderson tried to the play the puck in his own zone, and it backfired in a major way, leading to an open net for B’s forward Tim Schaller on the penalty kill. He buried it for his first career playoff goal, which gave Boston a 2-1 second-period lead. Schaller’s tally came just 1:42 after MacArthur’s tying goal.
SWEET TIP
Patrice Bergeron continued the Bruins’ offensive onslaught with an impressive deflection for a power-play goal to give Boston a 3-1 second-period lead. Bergeron tipped a David Pastrnak shot for the B’s largest lead of the series. Ryan Spooner also picked up an assist.
LIFE FOR OTTAWA
The Senators looked lifeless to start the third period, but they trimmed the deficit to one when Chris Weidman beat Rask with a shot from the point. Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy screened Rask a bit, as the B’s netminder was late to pick up the puck.
The Sens tied it up soon after when captain and No. 1 defenseman Erik Karlsson skated around the Bruins to set up Derick Brassard for the tying goal.
Ottawa’s two goals came in a span of just two minutes and 20 seconds.
COMEBACK COMPLETE
The Senators completed their comeback with a game-winning overtime goal from Phaneuf just 1:59 into the extra frame. It came just after Boston killed Zdeno Chara’s minor penalty for delay of game.
UP NEXT
The series shifts to Boston for Game 3 on Monday night at TD Garden. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.
Thumbnail photo via Marc DesRosiers/USA TODAY Sports Images
