Could Anything Else Have Happened in Boston's Thrilling 3-2 Over Pittsburgh?

Can we just fast forward to another Eastern Conference Finals between the Bruins and Penguins? You know it's going to come down to that again, right? Oh well, I guess we'll have to let tonight's chock-filled game tide us over until then since it was the third and final installment of the regular season meetings (B's won 2 of 3). Boston (19-8-2) beat Pittsburgh (20-10-1) 3-2 thanks to two goals in the final 1:29 but all anyone could talk about was Shawn Thornton knocking out Brooks Orpik.

It all started in the first period when Orpik went high on Loui Eriksson, a hit that wasn't deemed penalty worthy yet resulted a second concussion this season for the Swede. Later in the frame, Brad Marchand was tripped by Sidney Crosby and scummy James Neal happened to skate by him and knee Marchand in the head. Don't worry though, Neal said after the game that it was an accident. The next part was especially ugly as Thornton went after Orpik and punched him when he was on the ice and thus couldn't really defend himself. Orpik was knocked out cold and had to be carted off on a stretcher. The good news there is that he's flying back to Pittsburgh with his teammates after a trip to the hospital.

Thornton will be suspended, possibly for six games or more since he has an in-person (never a good sign) meeting with NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan. Neal has a phone meeting which means he could get a game or two (keep in mind he's a repeat offender while Thornton has never actually been suspended).

Oh yes, there was a hockey game too. Chris Kunitz was credited with a power play goal (it is the giving season) which was actually an intended pass that bounced in the net off Zdeno Chara's skate at 6:33 of the first period. Reilly Smith answered at 10:13 with his sixth goal of the season as Patrice Bergeron stole the puck and fed him for a slap shot that Marc-Andre Fleury (18 saves) had no chance to stop.

Speaking of that dirtbag Neal, he can certainly score goals on top of all his bush league tactics. He got another fluky power play goal when he popped out of the penalty box and found a hole in Tuukka Rask's (28 saves) pads at 13:13.

Boston looked out of it but then that's when they usually respond, especially at the Garden. David Krejci tied it at two at 18:31 of the third period with his fifth goal of the season after Rask had been pulled for an extra skater. Zdeno Chara was screening Rask while Milan Lucic and Jarome Iginla had the assists. 1:16 later (with 13 seconds left in regulation) captain Zdeno Chara took a pretty pass from Smith and put a snap shot in the corner. Marchand had the second assist on Chara's seventh goal of the season.

With all this craziness, the B's had to hop on a flight for Toronto since they are playing the Maple Leafs (16-11-3) tomorrow night (7, NESN). I think Rask will sit although maybe with Eriksson, Thornton and Chris Kelly (lower body injury that nobody saw) all out, Bruins head coach Claude Julien elects to go with his stability. We shall see, everyone get some sleep.

12/8: The hits keep coming, Kelly has a broken right fibula from Pascal Dupuis' slash. He was placed on long-term IR and is expected to be out for 4-6 weeks (this happened last season too). Adam McQuaid also went on IR so forwards Matt Fraser and Ryan Spooner were called up from Providence and will be in the lineup tonight in Toronto. Keep in mind Boychuk is out indefinitely, the Bruins say a week but I'll believe it when I see it with his back injury that looked pretty serious.

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Bruins Beat Penguins 4-3 in Overtime on Krug's Laser

The B's certainly have enjoyed not deciding things in regulation lately. Boston (16-6-2 overall, 10-3-2 home) went to overtime for the third game in a row at TD Garden and for the second consecutive game they skated off as winners as Torey Krug beat Marc-Andre Fleury 34 seconds into the extra session. The last couple minutes could best be described as bonkers since Pittsburgh (15-9-1 overall, 5-6-1 road) tied it with 0.3 seconds left on Sidney Crosby's (who else?) goal.

In past years, the Bruins would have never recovered from such a painful choke in regulation but this is a new team (we think). Tuukka Rask (28 saves) kept them in it when they were outshot 10-5 in the first period and 11-8 in the second period. Boston actually grabbed a 2-0 lead as Loui Eriksson scored on a breakaway and backhander at 12:27 of the first period and Reilly Smith added a power play goal a little over three minutes later. Eriksson's goal-his fifth of the season-was assisted by Carl Soderberg. Smith's fifth goal of the season was assisted by Soderberg and Eriksson, a beautiful passing sequence by three guys with serious chemistry.

James Neal came to play as he cut it to 2-1 37 seconds into the second period following a turnover by Boston in their own end. Similar to Smith's goal, he was alone in front and Jussi Jokinen found him. Rask had no chance to stop it. Once again, Neal was the culprit who tied it at 11:09 of the third period on a rocket of a one-timer from Jokinen. The puck handcuffed Johnny Boychuk and the Penguins were all too happy to take advantage.

Zdeno Chara didn't want to go to overtime as he put the B's back ahead 3-2 at 14:45. His shot from the point was tipped mistakenly by Crosby with Milan Lucic screening Fleury in front. You had the feeling something bad would happen to Boston in the final minute when they couldn't clear the puck out with Pittsburgh having the extra skater on the ice. It's not like Crosby will miss from a few feet away from the cage either.

The Bruins are 8-1-1 in their last 10 games, they will next play in Detroit on Wednesday (7:30, NESN). Where else would they prefer to spend Thanksgiving Eve? Boston gets rewarded (I guess?) with a back-to-back at the Garden: Friday afternoon vs. Rangers and Saturday night vs. Blue Jackets.

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Bruins Prove To Be No Match As The Penguins Roll To Their Ninth Straight Win

Let's get one thing straight, no matter if Tim Thomas or Marty Turco started in net this afternoon for the Boston Bruins, there was no way they were knocking off the freight train known as the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Pens (42-21-5) won their season-high ninth game in a row, 5-2 at the CONSOL Energy Center thanks to three assists from Evgeni Malkin, a goal and two assists from James Neal and a strong outing from goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury (34 saves).

Despite having played yesterday afternoon-and having lost to the Washington Capitals-Thomas (7 saves) got the puzzling start. He didn't last long, although that wasn't really his fault. Pittsburgh scored twice in the first 7:12, the third time in five games that the B's have been down 2-0 within the first nine minutes. Even worse, it was 3-0 Penguins by the end of the first period. Enter Turco (20 saves) to start the second. He actually played fine which makes you wonder why he didn't start in the first place since Thomas is dead but I digress.

Arron Asham (4th of the season at 3:24), Matt Niskanen (4th of the season at 7:12) and Neal (31st of the season at 18:48 on the power-play) made for a completely embarrassing first period by the Bruins, who couldn't do anything except get hurt and take penalties.

Adam McQuaid (upper body), Max Sauve (lower body, in his NHL debut) and Patrice Bergeron (blocked a shot) all exited the game with injuries but never returned. That left Boston with 10 skaters on the bench.

David Krejci (19th of the season) showed some pride for Boston when he cut it to 3-1 at 1:56 of the second period. Tyler Seguin and Milan Lucic assisted on Krejci's snap shot for a goal.

Chris Kunitz (20th of the season) answered for the Penguins at 4:27 as he one-timed a pass from Neal. Malkin had the second assist, on the first goal allowed by Turco in a Bruins uniform.

Krejci scored again at 10:01 on a wrist shot from Lucic and Seguin to trim it to 4-2. Boston never gave up but Pascal Dupuis (18th of the season) put an exclamation point on the nice win for the home team when he scored with 3:53 left in the game. He went in on a breakaway thanks to passes from Jordan Staal and Deryk Engelland.

Boston gets one more crack at what could be the Eastern Conference's top team-four points behind the Rangers-on April 3 at TD Garden. One thing is clear, the Bruins don't want any part of the Penguins in the playoffs, particularly if Sidney Crosby ever returns and is healthy.

The B's have two more games on the road and they are both in the Sunshine State: Tuesday in Tampa Bay and Thursday in Sunrise (against the Panthers). Boston split the first two games with the Lightning, who have been probably the biggest disappointment in the East this season since they took the Bruins to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals last spring.

All we can do right now is cross our fingers and toes that the B's can start to get more guys back in their lineup, otherwise there will be many more gongshow games like this one. Andrew Ference returned today but they still sorely miss Benoit Pouliot, Daniel Paille, Nathan Horton, Rich Peverley, Tuukka Rask, etc. Who knows if they'll all be back this season?

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