20-year-old Trent Frederic, Boston's first-round pick from 2016 (29th overall), made his NHL debut and it was a memorable one as he destroyed Brandon Tanev in a second period fight thus endearing himself to Bruins fans even if he never does a thing for the rest of his career (slight exaggeration but not really). Boston's first line was still dominant and they scored all three goals but it wasn't enough as the Jets rallied from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits before surviving a third-period tying goal and overtime to come out with the two points. UMass-Lowell's Connor Hellebuyck (36 saves, 22-14-1) showed why he's thought of as one of the best goaltenders in the NHL while young left wing Kyle Connor scored two goals for Winnipeg plus he bagged the only goal in the shootout.
Tuukka Rask is on IR (concussion) but it sounds like he could return later this week. They need him too since Jaroslav Halak (24 saves, 13-8-3) lost for the fourth straight game that he's appeared in (including the relief outing for Rask after he got hurt vs. Rangers). It didn't take long for Patrice Bergeron (2 goals) to make his presence felt as he one-timed a pass from Brad Marchand (3 assists; 5-game point streak) and David Pastrnak for a 1-0 Bruins lead at 9:49 of the first period. Hellebuyck had stopped a similar shot initially but he had no chance on Bergeron's 15th goal of the season. The teams traded power play goals later in the frame as Josh Morrissey blasted a shot through traffic at 13:53 to make it 1-1. The criminally underrated Mark Scheifele had the lone assist on Morrissey's sixth goal of the season. The B's went into the first intermission with a 2-1 lead though thanks to Pastrnak's one-timer from Marchand and Torey Krug. Pasta's team-leading 28th goal of the season wasn't that different than the snipes that helped him win the shooting accuracy contest at the All-Star Game.
It took a little while for Winnipeg to find their legs (they were outshot 20-8 in the first period) but they woke up in the second period thanks to a pair of bouts: Kevan Miller vs. Adam Lowry and Frederic vs. Tanev. The Jets outshot the Bruins 9-5 in the second and that shift in momentum carried over to the third thanks to Connor. He scored a pair of goals 34 seconds apart, a swift kick to the groin of the Black and Gold who had three chances to pick him in the first round of the 2015 NHL Draft but they passed each time, ugh. First he split the Bruins defense and finished a breakaway with a snap shot past Halak at 4:27. His 20th goal of the season was assisted by former Sabre Tyler Myers and Ben Chiarot. Next, he found himself alone and front where he was able to roof a shot in from Scheifele and old friend Blake Wheeler (who is 2nd in the NHL with 53 assists!).
Bergeron saved the day as usual with another goal, this time at 11:39 which tied it at three. Marchand and Pastrnak had the assists on his one-timer that he didn't get much wood on but it still somehow went in. Boston had been 4-5 in overtime while Winnipeg was 6-1 but neither team generated too many great chances. In the shootout for Boston, Jake DeBrusk (picked ahead of Connor), Pastrnak (Hellebuyck made a beautiful stop with the toe of his skate) and Marchand were all unable to find the back of the net. Connor went first for the Jets, scored and that's all that they needed.
The B's get a chance at revenge on Thursday (7, NESN) as they host the Flyers (21-23-6) who beat them 4-3 on Jan. 16 in the City of Brotherly Love. Philadelphia is still way behind Pittsburgh (26-17-6)-10 points to be exact-for the second Wild Card spot but they have won five games in a row after Tuesday's 1-0 victory at Madison Square Garden vs. Rangers (21-21-7). Hopefully, Rask is cleared to play and picks up where he left off. Halak isn't getting the job done right now and as we've seen for years, the team has less than zero confidence in Zane McIntyre (who was just called up from Providence on an emergency basis) to do anything at the NHL level.
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