Bruins break through and beat Flyers

We learned in the Bruins’ home opener that, yes, they can score some even-strength goals. But they do have trouble finishing their business in regulation.

After a wild third period that saw the B’s climb back from a two-goal hole, earn a lead and then lose it, they went to an extra session for the third time in four games this season. And after Tuukka Rask made several spectacular saves in overtime, he turned away all three Philadelphia Flyer offerings in the shootout and Jake DeBrusk scored the lone tally in the skills competition to give the B’s a 5-4 victory at the Garden.

The B’s went into the third period down 2-0 and their five-on-five goal drought stretching to 11 periods to start the season.

But in the first 2:07 of the third, they obliterated both the scoreless streak and the Flyers’ lead.

Jack Studnicka scored his first NHL goal 57 seconds into the period. Taking a feed from David Krejci off the rush, Studnicka was stopped by goalie Carter Hart off the rush but he tapped in his own rebound.

Two minutes later, Charlie Coyle beat Hart between the pads on a turnaround shot and it was all tied up.

But the Flyers forged ahead at 7:13. With Travis Sanheim applying the net drive down the middle of the ice, Jakub Voracek fired the puck toward the net. It deflected off Sanheim’s skate and changed direction ever so slightly, but it slipped through Rask’s pads.

The B’s tied it up again at 13:22 on the power play. With Scott Laughton in the box, Patrice Bergeron pushed a loose puck from the slot to Nick Ritchie on the right side and Ritchie lifted it over Hart for the equalizer.

Brandon Carlo gave the B’s their first lead of the game with 4:42 left when he beat Hart with a one-time slapper over the short-side shoulder.

But after Sean Kuraly took an ill-advised cross checking penalty, James van Riemsdyk scored his second goal of the game when he deflected a Vorecek pass past Rask.

In a scoreless first period — what else is new? — the Bruins kept two streaks alive, one they could be happy about, one not so much. While they killed off a Flyers penalty to become a perfect 14-for-14 on the year, they also posted an imperfect 10 — 10 periods of hockey without a five-on-five goal to start the season. Throw in a couple of scoreless three-on-three overtime periods, and it’s not a pretty picture.

And it’s not like they were playing poorly. As they did in a couple of periods on their three-game road trip, they dominated the opening 20 minutes, outshooting the Flyers 14-3, a count that was helped along by a couple of otherwise fruitless power plays.

Early in the second period, the B’s snapped one of their streaks, just not the one they wanted to.

Krejci went to the box for high-sticking, and near the end of the kill, Claude Giroux beat Rask with a sizzling wrist shot over the short-side shoulder at 6:17.

The Flyers stayed on the man-advantage when Kevan Miller took a holding penalty five seconds after the ensuing faceoff after the goal. Philly didn’t score on the penalty, and the B’s eventually started to get some high-quality scoring chances that added to their frustrations.

First, Hart snared with his glove a glittering chance from Krejci all alone in the slot. Moments later, Coyle set up Craig Smith at the top of the crease, but Smith skied it over the cage.

Shortly after that, it looked like Matt Grzelcyk dodged yet another bullet. The undersized defenseman was forced to leave Monday’s game in Long Island with what appeared to be a shoulder injury, but he was able to practice on Wednesday and suited up for the home opener. On Thursday, he crashed hard into the end board, got up slowly and hopped all the way to the Bruins’ bench, not putting any weight on his left foot. But after consultation with the trainers, he tested it out on the next TV timeout and eventually returned.

But not before the B’s found themselves down 2-0.

After Anders Bjork took a hooking minor in the defensive zone, the Flyers made the B’s pay. The time on the penalty had actually expired, but when Bjork was still trying to get in the play to defend, Voracek made a pretty pass to van Riemsdyk in the low slot for a redirect past Rask at 17:31.

There was a time not too long ago when a two-goal deficit going into the third period at the Garden would not have seemed like that big a deal. But with the way the B’s are going, it seemed nearly insurmountable. It didn’t help matters that the young netminder Hart appeared to be on his game.

That would change in a hurry.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3o88bJN