Remember when the Bruins were down 4-1 in the third period against the Maple Leafs in Game 7? Since Boston rallied for a once-in-a-lifetime 5-4 overtime win, they haven't looked back and continue to gain momentum. Tonight, they put the Rangers on the brink of elimination in the Eastern Conference semifinals with a 2-1 win at a funereal Madison Square Garden. The Bruins took a 3-0 lead in the series with a chance to sweep New York on Thursday (7 p.m., CNBC).
Daniel Paille had the game-winner on a classic Paille goal at 16:29 of third period. Shawn Thornton tipped Gregory Campbell's shot and it went over Henrik Lundqvist (32 saves) but then somehow took a U-Turn when it was about to cross the goal-line like a putt by Tiger Woods. No worries though as Paille was alert the whole time and was able to knock it in for his second goal of the playoffs.
This was a game that showed all of New York's warts, why they are going to get bounced from the playoffs and in all likelihood, burned out head coach John Tortorella will lose his job this summer. Lundqvist was amazing, a different guy than the one in Game 1 and especially Game 2. He stopped two breakaways in the first period then stood on his head in the second period as Boston blitzed New York (outshooting them 14-5).
The Rangers scored first (for the first time this series) as Taylor Pyatt tipped Ryan McDonagh's shot from the point at 3:53 of second period for his second goal of the postseason. I never got that worried though because the B's were creating so many chances. Eventually, if they kept getting them I felt like it was inevitable that Lundqvist would crack.
Nathan Horton hit the post in the second period but Johnny Boychuk finally solved the code and wristed a shot by Lundqvist 3:10 into the third period. It was the 11th goal for Bruins defensemen this postseason which leads the NHL and Boychuk's fourth goal of the playoffs which is also tops for defensemen. Daniel Paille and Thornton assisted on it with the latter winning a rare faceoff then screening Lundqvist. Boychuk almost added another later in the frame but he hit the post.
Tuukka Rask (23 saves) was victimized by Pyatt's tip in, which I felt like he still should have stopped, but he stepped up to make a big save on Rick Nash late in regulation when the Rangers decided to press for the tying goal. In the series, Rask has allowed half the amount of goals (5) that Lundqvist has given up which I believe speaks to his performance level and also New York's hopeless offense/power play.
The Rangers had the only two power plays of the game but obviously they did nothing with them. That makes them 0 for 10 in the series and 2 for 38 in the playoffs, haha how is that even possible?
Tyler Seguin and Jaromir Jagr once again had great opportunities to get off the schneid but they couldn't do it. That likely won't matter in this round but the Bruins need at least one of those guys to wake up and find their scoring touch if they want to continue winning in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Only three NHL teams have successfully rallied from an 0-3 deficit so what's the worst that could happen? Oh right, the most recent victim of that Scarlet Letter list was the Bruins in 2010 vs. Flyers in Eastern Conference semifinals. This is the same round with the same goaltender but I'm confident Boston will close it out on in four games since New York appears to have checked out on Torts and his dumb ultra-defensive system.
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