Obviously relying on comebacks like this won't be sustainable in the postseason but with guys like David Pastrnak (thumb surgery), Jake DeBrusk (lower-body injury) and Marcus Johansson (lung contusion) currently sidelined with injuries, you take the victories however you can stack them up. Tuukka Rask (22 saves, 23-8-5) had his worst performance in a long time and yet he still managed to extend his own point-streak to 18 games (15-0-3). During that stretch, he has a goals against average of 1.93 and a .931 save percentage. Hi Tuukka haters, how are you all doing? (Crickets).
Fittingly for such a bottom of the barrel franchise, tonight's loss clinched another playoff-less season (for the 20th time in 25 seasons of existence) for the Panthers (28-27-12) not that anyone will likely notice or more importantly care one bit. After a scoreless first period, Florida's No. 3 power play in the NHL flexed its muscles with a pair of goals. First captain Aleksander Barkov (who I just found out tonight is Finnish, wouldn't you think that he's Russian?) tipped in Milton MA native Keith Yandle's wrister for his 29th goal of the season. Jonathan Huberdeau had the second assist on the game's opening goal at 2:48 of the second period. Things got worse for the Bruins and their penalty kill unit as Huberdeau batted a puck out of the air for another power play tally at 6:27. Barkov and Yandle (playing in his NHL-best 782nd consecutive game) had the helpers on Huberdeau's 19th goal of the season. Rask flailed at the slow motion shot with his glove and he got a piece of it but couldn't corral it completely.
Boston responded midway through that frame as David Krejci worked a pretty give-and-go with Danton Heinen for his 17th goal of the season at 10:29. David Backes had the second assist on Krejci's tight angle shot that he still managed to roof over a prone Luongo. At 39, you have to think that this could Luongo's last season in the NHL and when he finally retires, the Bruins and their fans will be sad to see that day since they have owned him for almost eight years now and counting. Bergeron tied it with a shorthanded goal for the second game in a row. Charlie McAvoy and Brad Marchand had the assists on his 24th goal of the season at 8:50 of the third period. It was a wrist shot from some distance but somehow Luongo couldn't stop it.
Huberdeau wouldn't let his team fold though at least at that point as he spun around to fire a shot past Zdeno Chara and Rask at 10:55. Evgeni Dadonov and Aaron Ekblad had the assists on that shot that seemed to catch Rask by surprise. Boston waited until the last minute to really build the suspense: it started with David Krejci drawing a tripping penalty on Mike Hoffman and eventually Rask came to the bench for an extra skater. Grzelcyk's goal came with one second left on the power play with Marchand and McAvoy registering the assists on his second goal of the season and undoubtedly the biggest of his brief Bruins career. I had complete confidence that the Black and Gold would find a way to win it in overtime but good old Luongo made sure that they wouldn't need to go beyond regulation. Marchand won a puck battle in the corner and fed Bergeron in the slot for his latest highlight reel unforgettable goal. Like any Bruins fan, I'm thankful every day that I get to watch those two fantastic hockey players on my favorite team.
This dream of a six-game homestand (5-0-0) comes to an end on Saturday night (7, NESN) as the Bruins have the honor of hosting the NHL's worst team-the Senators (23-39-6). Anything can happen in this league but I'd be shocked if the B's let up and this incredible points streak ends against that AHL-level club. Sean Kuraly returned this evening after missing the past two games with a concussion and head coach Bruce Cassidy said that DeBrusk could possibly play on Saturday since his latest injury didn't seem too serious. Most importantly, this result pushed Boston four points ahead of Toronto (41-21-5) while both teams have exactly 15 games remaining in the regular season with no head-to-head matchups left. It looks almost like a lock (barring a huge closing run by Montreal and/or an epic collapse by the Leafs) that it will be Boston vs. Toronto for the second year in a row in Round 1 of the playoffs.
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