The game could be broken down into three chewable segments: 1) where Chicago jumped out to a 3-0 lead early in the third period; 2) Boston rallied for an epic comeback with three goals in the third; 3) the no-call and wet fart of a way to end what turned out to be a pretty entertaining contest between two teams going in completely different directions. Fear not, for even though the Bruins' win streak is over, they still managed to breath more life into their overall point streak (9-0-4) and they remain unbeaten at home in regulation this season (12-0-5)-only four games back from their best home start ever (19-0-2 in 1973).
Looking back, this probably served as a classic trap game for the Black and Gold both because of the weak opponent on the schedule this evening and the true Stanley Cup contender coming to visit on Saturday night (7, NESN)-Colorado (18-8-2) to close out their season-high five game homestand. Regardless of the excuse that you choose, they should have been better against the ghost of those great Blackhawks teams from earlier this decade with only Patrick Kane, Toews, Duncan Keith (out with a groin injury), Brent Seabrook, Brandon Saad and Corey Crawford (backup goalie tonight) left over from those powerhouse clubs that won Cups in 2010, 2013 (no Bruins fan sadly will ever forget that one) and 2015.
Rask was also outplayed by Robin Lehner (37 saves, 6-5-3) which should never happen in 2019 or really any year for that matter. Chicago struggles to put the puck in the net (among many other issues) but they somehow scored twice 37 seconds apart late in the first period thanks to their special teams units. Ryan Carpenter put in a rebound at 18:14 off of a save by Rask on Murphy's initial shot. Carpenter's first goal of the season was the third career shorthanded goal of his NHL career and first shorthanded goal allowed by the Bruins this season. After missing the last four games with an injury, the Blackhawks' promising young center Dylan Strome doubled their lead by tipping in a shot by Erik Gustafsson on the power play. Strome's sixth goal of the season was also assisted by Kane who has 11 goals and 14 assists in his last 17 games which is all the more impressive considering the nobodies that dot Chicago's current roster.
Boston's number two ranked power play in the NHL had plenty of chances but they ultimately finished 0 for 4 which is never going to get it done, particularly when you allow a power play tally to the 27th ranked man advantage in the league. Ugh. When Alex DeBrincat (6th goal of the season from Strome and Calvin de Haan) sniped a shot past Rask 17 seconds into the third period for a 3-0 Blackhawks lead, I wouldn't blame you if you decided to change the channel or turned your TV off altogether (who cares about Bears-Cowboys anyway?). It just didn't feel like the Bruins' night, that is until Joakim Nordstrom of all people gave everybody at the Garden something to cheer about with a goal at 1:49 of the third period. Nordstrom's third goal of the season was his first since Nov. 12 vs. Florida but who's counting? David Backes had the primary assist after Lehner stopped his shot but kicked the rebound right to Nordy to put in with Charlie McAvoy getting the other helper.
At that point, it only looked like the Bruins would avoid the embarrassment of a shutout. Pasta got drilled by a possibly suspendable hit from Zack Smith that led to John Moore (making his 2019-20 Bruins debut after off-season shoulder surgery) dropping the gloves in his defense and getting knocked down in the first round. He went right to Boston's dressing room but thankfully returned shortly after that. It would have been pretty depressing if he got a fresh injury that soon, after all he was just doing the right thing by standing up for his star teammate.
Chicago finally looked like one of the worst teams in the NHL when the Bruins applied a little game pressure to them. The Blackhawks were on the power play after a roughing penalty on Charlie Coyle but Chris Wagner broke out for a shorthanded chance that turned into a breakaway when Gustafsson comically blew a tire (lost his footing And-1 mixtape style). Wagner skipped his usual backhand move for a strong forehand into the top corner, his second goal of the season (1st since Oct. 29 vs. San Jose) was assisted by Sean Kuraly and Matt Grzelcyk at 15:01. It almost feels routine but at that point, you pretty much knew that Boston would at the very least tie it up. Lo and behold, Torey Krug did the honors as he smashed in a one-timer into the corner of the net after a sweet behind the net feed by Jake DeBrusk. Krug's fourth goal of the season came at 17:27 and it ended up giving Boston that precious point.
It was inevitable that Boston would lose again sometime soon and truth be told, they would always prefer to have that happen against a Western Conference team rather than an Atlantic Division or even Eastern Conference foe. The Bruins currently have the fewest losses in regulation this season and you have to go back nearly two months (Oct. 10 in Denver) for when the Avalanche tagged them with one of those rare defeats (4-2). Colorado has battled through a ton of injuries to some of their better players (Mikko Rantanen, Gabriel Landeskog and Andre Burakovsky to name a few) but they should have close to a full lineup for Saturday's showdown with the Bruins. It is the end of a three-game road trip for the Avs but they should have plenty of juice since they have won five straight games (3-2 tonight in Montreal) and they are 7-3-0 in their last 10 games with a 10-5-1 record on the road. Center Nathan MacKinnon (18 goals, 26 assists) is one of the best players in the NHL pushing for a Hart Trophy (regular season MVP) while UMass Amherst product defenseman Cale Makar (8 goals, 20 assists) has to be a front-runner for the Calder Trophy (rookie of the year). In other words, you don't want to miss this game even if you have to DVR it cause you have other plans on a Saturday night-what a concept!
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