David Pastrnak lifts Bruins over Kings in OT, 2-1
After Bruins’ management landed a massive defenseman in Nikita Zadorov, a proven two-way centerman in Elias Lindholm and reeled in big, fast bottom-six workers, the mandate for coach Jim Montgomery was to grind out more 2-1 wins.
Now, after a pair of presumably anomalous 10-goal games, the Bruins have their first 2-1 victory.
David Pastrnak scored with 1:53 left in overtime, taking a nice Mason Lohrei pass to beat Darcy Kuemper and lift the Bruins over the Los Angeles Kings at the Garden on Saturday.
Matt Poitras, playing his first game since undergoing shoulder surgery last winter, triggered the play by making a nice spin move and delivering a backhand pass to Lohrei.
The second-year defenseman, coming off a scratch in the second game of the year, hit Pastrnak with a pass to create a mano-a-mano situation with Kuemper. Pastrnak won the battle, beating the goaltender with a low shot for his third goal in as many games. In a rarity, it was the first shot of Pastrnak’s that hit the net all day.
“Those kids are special young players who are learning to be real good players in this league. Love the response from Lohrei after not playing the last game. And Matty Poitras, for his first game back in in let’s all it eight months, special. I thought that was his best game as an NHL player, including some two-goal games,” Montgomery said.
Jeremy Swayman, meanwhile, looked like the goalie that management wanted to shower $66 million on. In his second start of the season and less than a week out from signing his lucrative eight-year deal, Swayman stopped 32 of 33 LA shots, including three in overtime.
It may not have been aesthetically pleasing, but it was a hard game for heavy bodies in which the B’s prevailed. They outhit the Kings, 29-24. And while two top-six players were the ones who got on the scoreboard, the bottom six led the way in the grinding game, from the crash-bang style of the fourth line of Johnny Beecher-Mark Kastelic-Cole Koepke to Poitras’ creativity playing with big boys Trent Frederic and Justin Brazeau.
“I thought what people would determine to be our bottom six carried us and gave us the opportunity, beside Swayman in net. They gave us the opportunity to stay in the game and then we were able to cash in and get it to overtime,” said Montgomery.
In a scoreless first period, the Bruins had an opportunity to strike first when they drew two LA penalties in the period, but both advantages were marred by turnovers and Swayman was called on to make at least one high danger stop on the Kings PK.
The Kings got their first power play early in the second when Zadorov boarded Tanner Jeannot. Though LA didn’t technically score on the PP, the B’s were still in scramble mode when a loose puck squirted out from the slot to Trevor Moore on the right side and he buried into an empty net at 5:22.
The Garden grumbles turned into boos when the B’s squandered another PP late in the second. The next time the B’s got a power play, they immediately forfeited by taking a penalty of their own. The strategy, unintentional or not, paid off.
On the 4-on-4, Brad Marchand stole the puck from Jordan Spence in the neutral zone and moved in on a 2-on-1. He fired a low shot that produced a good rebound for Elias Lindholm and, from deep in the right circle, Lindholm’s one-timer beat a sliding Kuemper to even the game at 16:50 of the second.
“Pucks, they hop here. The ice is pretty bad. So you’ve got to pressure the D. I got a lucky bounce, got a shot on net and (Lindholm) did a great job following up and finishing it off,” said Marchand.
The third period was scoreless, though each team had power plays in the final 6:16 of regulation that went for naught.
In OT, Lohrei thwarted what looked like a promising attack for the Kings, backhanding a pass from his side of the red line to Poitras near the offensive blue line. Though at the end of his shift, he won a puck battle and got it back to Lohrei, who rushed back up ice to support the attack. Lohrei got it to Pastrnak, and the superstar did his thing.
“They’re all very gifted,” said Marchand of the kids. “Incredible effort on the goal. Mase did a great job stepping up. That easily could have been a 3-on-1 or 2-0 the other way, but he did a great job reading that and killing it. Those guys were really tired, so the fact that they made that play when they did shows their talent level.”
Other than the finishing play, the game was not pretty. Expect more games like that. But if the B’s can keep coming out on top, B’s fans will be able to live with it.
from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/ZcKa8V3
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