Final, Bruins 4-2: That’s it, and that’s all. The Bruins somehow come back and win it.
Third period, 19:30, Bruins 4-2: Jarome Iginla just added the empty-net goal, and the Bruins are going to make it 12 in a row.
Third period, 19:00, Bruins 3-2: The Phoenix net is empty.
Third period, 16:42, Bruins 3-2: Well, the work from the Bruins’ first line paid off, and the fourth line benefits.
Shawn Thornton just tipped in a shot from Daniel Paille, and the Bruins have wrestled back the lead.
Third period, 16:30, 2-2: The Bruins’ first line just had another monster shift with a lot of sustained offensive time. We’ll have to see if the Bruins can make that stand up.
Third period, 13:38, 2-2: After a couple of sluggish periods, the Bruins’ fourth line has been very effective here in the third.
Shawn Thornton just had a nifty little deflection that Mike Smith was able to stop. The Bruins controlled the puck and that allowed for Zdeno Chara to pinch down the left wing and get a shot off that Smith stopped as well.
Third period, 11:00, 2-2: The pace has really picked up in the last couple of minutes and whistles have been few and far between.
Shane Doan just had a good scoring chance for the Coyotes when he ripped a shot from the slot that Tuukka Rask was able to get a shoulder on. That produced a long rebound that the Bruins scooped up and went the other way with. Loui Eriksson carried the puck into the zone, and Carl Soderberg drove hard to the net. Mike Smith was able to stop Eriksson’s shot from the point, though, and there was no rebound for Soderberg to try and to put back on net.
Third period, 5:00, 2-2: Scoring change on the Bruins’ second goal. The puck got a piece of Jarome Iginla, and he gets the goal.
Third period, 3:48, 2-2: The Bruins have tied it up.
Zdeno Chara just blasted a shot from the point that beat Mike Smith. Chara ripped the slap shot from the blue line, and got great net-front traffic from Jarome Iginla who was screening Smith.
Third period, 2:44, Coyotes 2-1: The Bruins did some good work on the penalty kill, and they’ve already killed the penalty off.
That’s because Antoine Vermette was just called for hooking. There will be 1:20 of 4-on-4 before an abbreviated Boston power play.
Third period, 2:03, Coyotes 2-1: The Bruins had a couple of good shifts to start the period, but they’ll be shorthanded for the next two minutes.
Kevan Miller was just called for hooking.
Third period, 0:01, Coyotes 2-1: The third period is underway, and the Bruins are looking to come from behind and extend their winning streak.
End second period, Coyotes 2-1: The Bruins did a fine job of leveling the ice in the second period, but they weren’t able to find the game-tying goal, so they’ll head to the dressing room down a goal after two.
Second period, 18:27, Coyotes 2-1: Patrice Bergeron is having a great game, and he almost tied the game.
He had a chance in close, but his wrist shot from the right slot hash marks went wide.
Second period, 17:14, Coyotes 2-1: The Bruins couldn’t convert on the power play and were only able to get one shot on goal during the two minutes.
Second period, 14:39, Coyotes 2-1: The Bruins just spent almost two entire minutes in the Phoenix zone, and it results in a power-play opportunity.
The 1:59 of consecutive offensive zone time for the Bruins finally came to an end when the Coyotes touched up and Antoine Vermette was called for hooking.
Second period, 10:06, Coyotes 2-1: The Bruins weren’t able to convert on the power play, but we’ll have to see if they can get some momentum out of the man-advantage.
Boston put three shots on goal during the two minutes and possessed the puck deep in the Phoenix zone for the majority of the power-play time. Mike Smith was just too good for the Bruins to crack.
Second period, 8:02, Coyotes 2-1: All of a sudden, the Bruins have started to get some puck possession, and it leads to a power play.
Kyle Chipchura was just called for holding, and the Boston power play is going to get its first chance of the evening.
Second period, 6:39, Coyotes 2-1: For the first time in a long time, the Bruins look like a tired hockey team right now.
Boston is struggling to get the puck out of its own zone, and that’s leading to increased scoring chances for the Coyotes. They have pinned the Bruins in their own zone and are making it difficult for the B’s to find their game.
This is a good way to beat any team, of course, but it’s especially effective against the Bruins. They want to get the puck deep in the offensive zone, and if they can’t even get it to the neutral zone, they obviously can’t get it deep. Not terribly complicated.
Second period, 3:11, Coyotes 2-1: The Bruins haven’t been great in this one, but not everyone is to blame. The Patrice Bergeron line has been really good, and they almost found the back of the net again.
Bergeron worked the give-and-go with Marchand, and it left Bergeron with a chance in front that Mike Smith was able to stop by getting his shoulder on the puck.
Second period, 0:39, Coyotes 2-1: The Bruins are trailing in a game for the first time in almost 411 minutes of game time.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson just scored a power-play goal with an incredible effort, as he carried the puck into the Boston zone and made a beautiful stickhandling move to get around Loui Eriksson. He then got in on Tuukka Rask who stopped Ekman-Larsson’s first shot, but he OEL put the rebound by Rask for the go-ahead goal.
Second period, 0:01, 1-1 : The second period is underway with the Bruins looking to kill off what’s left of Matt Bartkowski’s penalty.
End first period, 1-1: The first period is over, and the Bruins survive the final 47 seconds on the penalty kill, but they will have to kill off a little more than a minute to open the second period.
First period, 19:13, 1-1: Once again, the Bruins are going to have to kill off a penalty that wraps around the end of the first and the beginning of the second.
Matt Bartkowski was just called for tripping, and the B’s will be on the PK for the rest of the period and to open the second.
First period, 17:25, 1-1: The Bruins have killed off the David Krejci holding penalty, and they’re back to even strength.
First period, 15:21, 1-1: The Coyotes came real close to taking the lead here in the first, but they will get a power play out of it.
David Krejci was called for holding, and Phoenix had plenty of possession during the delayed penalty period. They got the extra man on the ice and had two golden chances right in front, but Tuukka Rask was able to get his stick on the ice and deny both chances.
First period, 14:44, 1-1: It looked for a bit in the opening moments of the period that the Bruins might inexplicably run all over the Coyotes. That doesn’t appear it will be the case.
Phoenix has bounced back very nicely, and the Coyotes are starting to tilt the ice some here late in the first. They’re now outshooting the Bruins 9-7 and are starting to sustain offensive zone time. The Bruins, mind you, are playing their fourth game in six days.
One note on that Shane Doan goal: That’s the first-period goal the Bruins have allowed in 10 games.
First period, 11:46, 1-1: We’ve got a tie hockey game.
Shane Doan just buried a second-chance attempt as Andrej Meszaros lost track of the Phoenix captain. That allowed Doan to jump on a juicy rebound in the Boston slot and flip it up over the shoulder of Tuukka Rask to tie the game.
First period, 6:30, Bruins 1-0: The Bruins appeared to get a big lift out of the Patrice Bergeron goal, and they are turning up the pressure on the Coyotes.
The Bergeron line almost potted another when Brad Marchand got a puck in traffic in the slot and took a quick wrist shot. The puck whistled wide, however.
First period, 3:25, Bruins 1-0: The Bruins are on the board first yet again.
Patrice Bergeron does the honors for the second night in a row, and again, it’s a second-effort goal. Andrej Meszaros intercepted Mike Smith’s clearing attempt and passed the puck to Bergeron. His first effort from in front and to Smith’s right was stopped, but Bergeron jammed the puck over the line to give Boston the lead.
First period, 0:01, 0-0: The game is underway at the Jobing.com Arena in Glendale.
8:45 p.m.: It appears as if, according to pregame line rushes, that Torey Krug will be the odd man out on the Bruins’ blue line, as Johnny Boychuk returns.
8:34 p.m.: Warmups are underway in Arizona where Tuukka Rask led the Bruins out, and Mike Smith led the Coyotes onto the ice. Smith, who is celebrating his 32nd birthday, will also be making his 11th straight start.
8 p.m.: Johnny Boychuk will indeed be back in the Boston lineup for this one against the Coyotes, according to head coach Claude Julien.
The Boston coach just met with the media in Glendale and confirmed that Boychuk will be back in net. It will be Boychuk’s first game since suffering a lower-body injury against the Carolina Hurricanes a week ago.
Julien also confirmed that Tuukka Rask will get the start, but there’s no surprise there.
12:30 p.m.: It’s been exactly three weeks since the Boston Bruins lost a game, and they’re hoping that they can’t extend that a little bit longer.
The B’s will put their 11-game winning streak on the line Saturday night when they pay a visit to the Phoenix Coyotes. Boston, who extended its winning streak Friday in Colorado, is looking for its second win over the Coyotes in just over a week. The B’s beat Phoenix 2-1 on March 13 in Boston.
Boston has especially picked its game up away from TD Garden. The B’s enter Saturday’s game in Glendale on a borderline historic road run. They’ve won their last six road games and have gained at least a point in 13 straight on the road, a stretch in which they’ve gone 10-0-3. That 13-game point streak is the third-longest in team history and is the longest since the 1975-76 Bruins went 14 straight road tilts with at least a point.
The Bruins will certainly get another stiff test against the Coyotes on Saturday. Phoenix is now on a three-game winning streak that has propelled the club into the final wild card spot in the Western Conference, holding a four-point lead over ninth-place Dallas.
The Bruins are expected to turn to Tuukka Rask in net. Backup Chad Johnson got the start Friday in Colorado, his second in as many games, and pitched a 31-save shutout. Rask hasn’t played since since March 17 against Minnesota, so the Vezina Trophy contender should be well-rested. The Bruins may also have Johnny Boychuk back in the lineup. The veteran defenseman has been banged up with a lower-body injury that’s caused him to miss the club’s last three games. He was a gametime decision Friday night, so he could be ready to go against the Coyotes.
Puck drop from Jobing.com Arena in Glendale is set for 9 p.m. ET.
Then again, the Bruins have beat almost everyone they’ve faced in the month of March. After losing their first game of the month to the Washington Capitals, the Bruins have bounced back with 11 straight wins. They’ve been simply dominant, too, as they’ve outscored their opponents 26-8 in their last seven games.
