Scary scene as Sabourin injured in Bruins win over Senators

After leading twice and surrendering the lead, the Bruins scored three times in the third period and held that lead for their fifth straight win with a 5-2 victory over the Senators at TD Garden.

It was partially overshadowed, though, by a scary scene in the opening minutes.

Senators forward Scott Sabourin hit David Backes near the penalty boxes early in the first period and went straight down to the ice. Players on both teams called over trainers immediately, and after 10-plus minutes with EMTs on the ice, Sabourin was wheeled off through the zamboni entrance. He gave a thumbs up on his way out, with both benches fully emptied and on the ice.

Backes, visibly shaken after the collision, didn’t return to the game with an upper body injury.

The Senators later announced Sabourin was at a local hospital and he was conscious and speaking.

Before the scary scene, the Bruins had gone ahead in the game.

Torey Krug dumped a puck off the endboards 30 seconds into the power play, and a charging David Pastrnak picked it up and scooted it past Craig Anderson for the 1-0 lead 1:17 into the game, his 13th tally of the season.

Anthony Duclair had two looks from the bottom of the right circle, and lifted the puck under the crossbar with 7:56 left in the first to knot the game at 1-1.

Pastrnak found Patrice Bergeron 1:51 into the second. The B’s winger flipped it to Bergeron from the other side of the crease, and the latter buried his sixth goal of the season to go back ahead.

Like in the first, Ottawa answered quickly.

Connor Brown put the puck on net from no angle along the goal line a touch over a minute later, and it squeezed past Tuukka Rask to make it a 2-2 contest.

Right after, the Bruins took a too many men penalty, but the ensuing 5-on-3, and then five-minute penalty kill, came from some shenanigans on behalf of Brad Marchand. The winger earned two penalty minutes for hooking and four more for spearing, while the Bruins were already shorthanded, and without three of their best penalty killers, or with injury.

The Senators, entering Saturday’s contest with a league-low 5.4 percent on the power play, didn’t get many solid looks and didn’t cash in on the golden chance.

The Bruins had two late-second period power play chances of their own they squandered, sending the game to the third frame still tied.

It didn’t matter, as they struck with 14:17 left in the third.

Danton Heinen won a puck at the red line and pushed it into the Bruins offensive zone himself, banking it off the boards and collecting it in front of Anderson before wheeling around the Sens goalie and potting his third tally of the year to give the Bruins a 3-2 lead.

Jake DeBrusk forechecked hard to tie up Thomas Chabot and give Heinen space to crash the net.

A minute later, the power play made up for lost time from the second. Once again 30 seconds into the advantage, Pastrnak slipped a puck through almost no space from behind the goal line to Marchand at the front of the crease, who buried his eighth goal and gave the Bruins their first two-goal lead.

Bergeron notched an assist on the play, the 500th in his career. He’s the sixth Bruin to achieve that milestone.

Jake DeBrusk iced the game with a heavy shot from the slot through Anderson with 3:44 left in the contest, on a pass from Heinen along the boards.

The Bruins face Pittsburgh on Monday night before heading to Montreal the next night.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/34mSZyT