Tonight Should Serve As A Strong Reminder to Bruins Fans Why You Never Leave a Game Early

Look I get it. When I was younger, I could never understand why anyone would leave an expensive professional sporting event early. Now, adult Richard has thankfully grown from child Richard (in at least some ways, I hope) and I understand that life can come calling at times and you simply cannot spend all day/night at a particular game. However, I still think there are certain situations like tonight (Saturday night!) where there is no reasonable excuse (minus a medical emergency, awful weather, etc). For that alone, it did feel like some sort of poetic justice for all the Bruins (15-3-5) fans who bounced in the third period with their team down 4-2 that they pulled a miracle out of their sweaty hockey pants with an unreal 5-4 overtime victory against the Wild (9-11-3).

David Krejci scored twice with an extra skater on with under two minutes left to tie it up at four then Torey Krug broke in on a breakaway and finished a backhander through Alex Stalock's (34 saves, 5-3-1) five-hole to send the TD Garden into a drunken frenzy. It was Boston's first overtime win of the season and Minnesota fell to 0-3 in the extra session. In many ways, these two points felt stolen by the B's since they committed seven penalties which were basically all easy calls by the referees for utterly lazy mistakes (hooking, slashing, tripping, etc.). Much like their club, the Wild's power play is normally mediocre at best (ranked #18 in the NHL) but they did go 2-for-7. Conversely, Boston's power-play is ranked #2 in the league and while they only got three chances, they converted on the most crucial one with Krejci's tying goal.

With this final score that is straight out of the 80s or early 90s NHL, it seems odd to talk about the goaltenders but Stalock and Tuukka Rask (32 saves, 11-2-2) were both better than you would think. Rask saved his two best saves for crunch time too as he stopped Jason Zucker's breakaway late in the third with the Wild up 4-2 then he made an incredible toe save (in a full butterfly position) on defenseman Brad Hunt's slap shot in overtime. Did I mention that Boston is still unbeaten in regulation (9-0-4) at the Garden this season?

The Black and Gold weren't themselves from the start as Zucker gave Minnesota a 1-0 lead with a power play goal at 8:53 of the first period. He put in a rebound for his eighth goal of the season (tied with Zach Parise for the team lead) with assists to Hunt (who took the original shot) and Mats Zuccarello. Brad Marchand wrestled with Wild defenseman Matt Dumba to try to get his club emotionally charged. Boston actually had a super rare 3-on-0 but somehow they didn't score as Charlie McAvoy's shot was robbed by Stalock after Marchand unselfishly passed it to him. Note to Brad, McAvoy has zero goals this season so next time keep it for yourself! The fact that Boston only trailed 1-0 after the first period despite being outshot 15-10 and taking four penalties (leading to 3 power plays) was a pleasant surprise.

The B's appeared to find their balance in the second period as Jake DeBrusk tied it at 4:14 by tipping in Zdeno Chara's shot from the point. Brett Ritchie had the second assist on DeBrusk's fourth goal of the season. It remained knotted at one for exactly two minutes as Victor Rask (no relation as far as I know) had the good fortunate of having the puck go off his skate and past Tuukka. It was quickly reviewed but stood up since he didn't make a distinct kicking motion. Jared Spurgeon and Ryan Suter (who played a game-high 29:40!) had the assists on Victor's second goal of the season. Chara was called for a high-sticking double minor after he caught Zucker in the face and drew blood. Minnesota cashed in with a power play goal by Eric Staal at 14:26. He chopped in a loose puck by Tuukka for his seventh goal of the season, assisted by Suter and Zuccarello.

If the Wild led 3-1 after two periods, it might have been game over but they left the door open due to Marchand's ultra timely goal with 3.1 seconds left in the frame. Krug had taken a shot that went wide of everything but rimmed around to Marchand on the other side of the net. His 16th goal of the season was also assisted by Bergeron. That good fortune for the home team evaporated early in the third period as Kevin Fiala's shot/pass was deflected past Rask by none other than Krug. Yikes, Fiala's fifth goal of the season was unassisted and made it 4-2 Minnesota at 5:19. This all set the stage for a Toronto-like collapse by Minnesota in crunch time: Krejci's first goal at 18:05 was from the doorstep where he was assisted by Bergeron and DeBrusk. The next one 48 seconds later took a bit more skill as he cranked a one-timer from Bergeron and Krug for his fourth goal of the season. Krejci has been back on the second line since Bergeron returned on Thursday but he still has 13 points (4 goals, 9 assists) in his last 12 games.

The seas parted for Krug to go from one end of the rink to another on the game-winning goal at 2:41. Bergeron (6 goals and 10 assists in his last 11 games) and Marchand (6 goals & 5 assists in his last 7 games) obviously had the assists on his third goal of the season and undoubtedly one of the most memorable of his career/life. Jaroslav Halak was originally slated to start this game for the Bruins but he showed up sick this afternoon so Rask got the start at the last-minute.

This is a really busy stretch for the B's with four games in seven days. No practice tomorrow so they'll be back on the ice Monday morning before traveling to Montreal (11-7-5) for Tuesday's game (7, NESN) followed by Wednesday's (7, NESN) contest in Ottawa (11-11-1). The NHL must have forgotten how many Americans are on the Bruins these days since they are right back to work on Friday (1, NBC)-the day after Thanksgiving-against the Rangers (10-9-2). Rest up guys, you are going to need it to survive until December.

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B's Win Their Season-High Fifth Straight Game, 4-0 vs. Dog-Tired Wild As Rask Picks Up 1st Shutout

In the sports business (I feel like a complete tool saying that), this was a perfect example of what is known as a scheduled loss for the Wild (21-18-3) who arrived late last night after a 1-0 victory in Montreal (23-16-5). Every team has to go through these brutal stretches so Boston (25-14-4) showed no mercy as they jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period and coasted to an easy 4-0 win. With that result, the Bruins have won five games in a row-their longest stretch since last season's six-gamer (Feb. 27-March 10).

B's goaltender Tuukka Rask (12-8-2) has returned from his personal abyss earlier this campaign as he posted his first shutout with 24 mostly routine saves. This seems to follow his usual routine of early-season struggles followed by returning to form in the middle of the calendar. Now, the B's hope that he can play better down the stretch than he normally does. It was another big game for Boston's special teams unit as their power-play (currently ranked 4th in the NHL) continues to dominate. They scored two power-play goals and the penalty kill unit went a perfect 3-for-3. They are 12th in the league but continue to show signs of improvement.

Hockey players always talk about bounces and for this game, they all went Boston's way as they scored what many would call a trio of fluky tallies. Danton Heinen decided to appear for once and he scored his first goal in nearly a month (Dec. 11 vs. Arizona). He tipped in John Moore's shot at 5:23 for his fifth goal of the season with Torey Krug picking up the second assist. Brad Marchand made it 2-0 Bruins at 11:29 as Patrice Bergeron's shot caromed off the back boards right to him. You also must give Marchand credit for getting the shot off while multiple Wild swarmed him. Moore had the second assist (his 1st career multi-point game as a Bruin) on Marchand's 16th goal of the season. Boston had an abbreviated power play late in the first and they cashed in as Bergy's shot that was going wide of the net once again went off Jake DeBrusk's chest (think of a soccer player) and by the immortal Alex Stalock (23 saves). DeBrusk's 14th goal of the season was also assisted by Marchand-his 30th of the season.

There was one last weird goal that went the black and gold's way as Marchand's pass to Bergeron during a second period power play went in off his skate. It wasn't on purpose so Minnesota head coach Bruce Boudreau didn't even see a reason to challenge it. This was the 14th multi-point game of the season for Marchand, 12th for Bergeron and seventh for Krug. Rask's shutout was the 42nd of his long NHL career plus it was also his 250th win. It took 23 games but Boston finally notched a goose egg vs. Minnesota, leaving Nashville and Vegas as the only other active clubs that they have not shut out yet.

This win-streak and all the good feelings around the team gets put to the test on Thursday (7, NESN) as the defending champs-the Capitals (26-12-4)-are here for what looks like a huge tilt. Washington has completely owned Boston for years and who could forget the embarrassing 7-0 beating that they threw the B's back on Opening Night (Oct. 3)? Thus far there has been no Stanley Cup hangover for the Caps who lead the Metropolitan Division and are tied with Toronto (27-13-2) for the second most points in the Eastern Conference.

It's a fitting way to close out what has been a wildly successful homestand for the Bruins (3-0). Head coach Bruce Cassidy wouldn't commit to a starter vs. Washington but he sounded like he was leaning towards Jaroslav Halak (13-6-2) who last played on Thursday and hasn't started against the Capitals as a Bruin. Defenseman Charlie McAvoy is expected to skate with the team instead of on his own tomorrow, another step closer to his eventual return to action. He and Joakim Nordstrom (broken leg) are the only Bruins regulars that are out at the moment, therefore they are mercifully close to that elusive full lineup that we all dream about.

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