For the second time in two weeks, the Black and Gold pulled off a stunning third-period comeback to steal points in the Eastern Conference standings. After shocking the Islanders on Oct. 10, the B's had a repeat performance against the Senators to earn five of a possible six points in their last three games.
Bruins 4, Senators 3 (Shootout)
Oct. 24, 2009
Scotiabank Place, Ottawa, Ontario
Headliner: Tim Thomas made the save of the season against the Senators before allowing a five-hole goal and a short-side goal. But the reigning Vezina winner didn't get down and held the Sens at three goals, giving the B's enough time to come back and tie the game in regulation. Thomas kept the Bruins alive in overtime and came up big in the shootout. Thomas turned away all three shooters in the shootout to make Patrice Bergeron's nifty deke stand as the difference in the game. He saved 27 of the 30 shots he faced to improve to 4-3-0 on the season.
Grinder: In his 1,500th career NHL game, Mark Recchi didn't let the milestone go without making his mark on the unbelievable achievement. Recchi picked up his second goal of the season on a tip-in with 1:28 left in the third period to bring the Bruins within a goal of the Senators. Reechi's goal cut the Ottawa lead to 3-2, setting the stage for the David Krejci's tying tip-in just over a minute later. Recchi now sits 13th all-time on the NHL's list of games played, and he has a chacne to move up as far as ninth this season.
Weak Link: The Senators came into the game tied for first in the Northeast with a new look to their team after a disappointing 2008-09 campaign. The Senators looked like they would separate themselves from the Bruins by another two points in the standings on Saturday before their defense let up with less than two minutes left in the game. The Senators were unable to clear the front of their net late in the third period, and the Bruins capitalized on two redirections to tie the game up in stunning fashion. The Senators had played the superior game for the first 58:32 of the game, but over the 1:28, they came up short.
Key moment: With just under two minutes left, Claude Julien pulled the goalie down 3-1
and with nothing to lose. The Bruins were able to find the back of the
net twice in the final 1:28 with the extra attacker after only scoring once the rest of the game despite numerous power plays. After Mark Recchi's goal cut the
Senators' lead to 3-2, the sense of urgency set in for the Bruins, as
their offensive attack stepped it up a notch, to produce the
game-tying goal from David Krejci.
What's next: The Bruins have four days off before they host the Devils at the TD
Garden on Thursday. The Devils will play in New Jersey the night before
against the Sabres, and while the travel might present a problem for
the Devils, playing on the road certainly won't. The Devils knocked off the Penguins on Saturday to improve to a perfect 5-0-0 on the road this
season. And even though the Garden presented a strong home-ice
advantage for the Bruins last season, that has not been the case this
year. The Bruins are just 3-3-0 in Boston and will have their work cut
out for them against the always-solid Devils.
