FINAL, Chicago wins 3-2
Third Period, 18:10, 3-2 Chicago: Tuukka Rask has been pulled for an extra attacker.
Third Period, 17:12, 3-2 Chicago: The Bruins have an attacking zone faceoff with just under three minutes remaining in regulation.
Third Period, 12:17, 3-2 Chicago: The Bruins are within one. Milan Lucic used his strength and then made a pretty pass to set up Torey Krug for the goal.
GIF via Twitter/@PeteBlackburn
Immediately after the goal, Andrew Shaw and Chris Kelly threw some powerful punches in an entertaining fight. Torey Krug and Shaw also picked up roughing penalties.
GIF via Twitter/@MyRegularFace
Third Period, 9:50, 3-1 Chicago: Milan Lucic hits the post with a shot from the slot, the third the Bruins have hit tonight.
Third Period, 5:00, 3-1 Chicago: Milan Lucic now is skating with Craig Cunningham and Chris Kelly. Carl Soderberg is with Matt Fraser and Loui Eriksson. The Bruins are desperate for offense against this stingy Blackhawks defense and a goaltender in Scott Darling who’s made 25 saves.
Third Period, 0:01, 3-1 Chicago: Play has resumed. Jonathan Toews won’t return to tonight’s game, per the Blackhawks.
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End of Second Period, 3-1 Chicago
SOG: 24-19 Boston
Faceoffs: 32-15 Boston
Power Plays: CHI 0-for-4, BOS 0-for-2
Scoring Summary via NHL.com:
Second Period, 18:37, 3-0 Chicago: Reilly Smith has scored his seventh goal of the season to trim the Blackhawks’ lead to two.
GIF via Twitter/@PeteBlackburn
Second Period, 17:01, 3-0 Chicago: Jonathan Toews is missing from the Chicago bench. He took a nasty check and hit his head along the end boards earlier in the period. Ben Smith now is centering the Blackhawks’ top line between Marian Hossa and Brandon Saad.
Second Period, 15:01, 3-0 Chicago: Ben Smith’s slap shot from the left faceoff circle on a 2-on-1 scoring chance is stopped by Tuukka Rask. It was a tremendous right pad save.
Second Period, 13:19, 3-0 Chicago: Patrick Kane has scored his team-leading 13th goal of the season. Kris Versteeg is credited with an assist.
GIF via Twitter/@PeteBlackburn
Second Period, 10:54, 2-0 Chicago: Jonathan Toews is in the penalty box for hooking, and we’ll have 4-on-4 action for the next 1:11.
Second Period, 10:04, 2-0 Chicago: Dennis Seidenberg demolishes Jonathan Toews along the end boards, and Chicago will have another 5-on-3 power play, this one for 47 seconds. Toews skated to the bench and appears to be OK after a nasty collision between his head and the glass.
GIF via Twitter/@MyRegularFace
Second Period, 8:55, 2-0 Chicago: The Blackhawks will have a 5-on-3 power play for 1:07 after Zdeno Chara cleared the puck into the crowd from his own zone.
Second Period, 7:57, 2-0 Chicago: The Bruins take a too many men on the ice penalty and the Blackhawks will get their second power play of the night.
Second Period, 7:39, 2-0 Chicago: The Bruins have brought a lot more energy this period than they did in the first and also have a 6-1 SOG edge so far.
Second Period, 4:49, 2-0 Chicago: Patrice Bergeron and Reilly Smith both have shots from tw0 feet out saved by Scott Darling, who’s played great tonight with 17 saves.
GIF via Twitter/@MyRegularFace
Second Period, 0:01, 2-0 Chicago: Play has resumed.
End of First Period, 2-0 Chicago
SOG: 14-12 Boston
Faceoffs: 16-9 Boston
Power Plays: Both 0-for-1
Scoring summary via NHL.com:
First Period, 18:43, 2-0 Chicago: The Blackhawks have received another goal from their bottom six. Ben Smith capitalized on a rebound at the top of the crease to double Chicago’s lead. Smith now has a goal and an assist tonight. Daniel Carcillo and Marcus Kruger picked up assists.
GIF via Twitter/@PeteBlackburn
First Period, 16:04, 1-0 Chicago: The Bruins failed to score on the power play. We’re back to 5-on-5. The B’s had three defensemen (Chara in front of the net, Hamilton/Krug/Trotman rotating at the points) on the ice for most of the power play, which was an interesting decision to say the least.
First Period, 14:04, 1-0 Chicago: The Bruins are going on the power play for the first time tonight. Michal Rozsival took a minor penalty for holding.
Chicago has the best penalty kill in the NHL at 91.2 percent.
First Period, 13:32, 1-0 Chicago: The Bruins have killed the penalty and we’re back to even strenght.
First Period, 11:50, 1-0 Chicago: Hawks PP1 group — Kane, Toews, Versteeg, Keith, Sharp.
First Period, 11:32, 1-0 Chicago: Brandon Saad goes hard to the net and draws a hooking penalty on Zdeno Chara. The Blackhawks will go to the power play for the first time tonight.
First Period, 9:10, 1-0 Chicago: Klas Dahlbeck scores from the left faceoff circle to give the Hawks an early lead. It’s also his first career NHL goal/point. Ben Smith and Marcus Kruger picked up assists.
GIF via Twitter/@PeteBlackburn
First Period, 8:40, 0-0: Zdeno Chara is taken down in the low slot by Brandon Saad, but there’s no interference penalty. That allowed Marian Hossa a 1-on-1 chance in close, but Tuukka Rask made a phenomenal blocker save.
First Period, 7:38, 0-0: Patrick Kane nearly scored on an open net, but his backhand shot went wide. Seconds later, the Bruins had a 3-on-1 with Eriksson-Soderberg-Lucic. Soderberg waited too long to pass, and Lucic couldn’t handle his feed. It was a great scoring chance.
First Period, 6:00, 0-0: Claude Julien’s bottom two lines look a little different than they did in the pregame skate. The right wing spots are have changed.
Fraser-Kelly-Cunningham
Paille-Campbell-Griffith
First Period, 5:05, 0-0: A Seth Griffith shot from the slot that created a huge rebound from Scott Darling is the only good scoring chance of the first five minutes. Boston has a 3-2 SOG edge so far.
First Period, 0:01, 0-0: We’re underway!
7:05 pm: Starting lineups:
Bruins: Marchand-Bergeron-Smith, Chara-Hamilton and Rask
Blackhawks: Saad-Toews-Hossa, Keith-Seabrook and Darling
7:00 pm: Bruins captain Zdeno Chara will return to the lineup tonight after missing the last 19 games with a PCL tear in his left knee. David Krejci, Joe Morrow and Matt Bartkowski are the Boston scratches.
6:40 pm:
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[tweet https://twitter.com/NickGossNESN/status/543187975044362240 align=”center”]
6:30 pm: Zdeno Chara is on the ice for warmups. David Krejci is not. He has missed eight straight games.
5:50 pm: BOSTON — The Boston Bruins and Chicago Blackhawks will meet Thursday night at TD Garden for the third time since their historic 2013 Stanley Cup Final matchup.
The Blackhawks are on a season-high seven-game win streak, which includes impressive victories against such elite opponents as the Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Kings, St. Louis Blues and Montreal Canadiens. They lost 3-0 to the Bruins last season in the teams’ only meeting in Boston.
The Bruins might receive a boost on the blue line if top defenseman Zdeno Chara returns to the lineup. He hasn’t played since suffering a PCL tear in his left knee on Oct. 23, but he has practiced over the last two days and B’s head coach Claude Julien said Thursday that he’s “counting on” on his captain to return against the Blackhawks.
Veteran center David Krejci’s status is a bit unclear. He’s practiced for two straight days and skated Thursday morning, but Julien said “nobody’s told me anything yet so unless anybody tells me something after this morning’s skate — I’m not going to count on him and if they tell me he’s ready to go then he’ll be in.”
Tuukka Rask (Boston) versus Scott Darling (Chicago) is the expected goaltender matchup.
Stay tuned to NESN.com’s Bruins-Blackhawks live blog for score updates, injury news, analysis and highlights.
