Bruins Live Blog: Patrice Bergeron Scores In Double Overtime To Give B's 2-1 Win, 3-0 Series Lead
Double overtime, 4:41, 2-1 Bruins: Patrice. Bergeron.
The man who sent the fans home happy and the Toronto Maple Leafs packing does it again with some overtime magic.
Jaromir Jagr won a puck battle with Malkin in the neutral zone, and Brad Marchand carried the puck down the left wing before sending it to Bergeron in the slot. He redirected it past Vokoun and into the net, and the Bruins lead this series 3-0.
Double overtime, 4:57, 1-1: You can't say Sidney Crosby doesn't want to win this game. With his helmet knocked off, Crosby just took over the game in the offensive end. Thanks to a couple of diving blocks by Boychuk, it doesn't cost the Bruins.
Double overtime, 5:51 1-1: A loooooong stretch of play without a whistle finally comes to an end, giving the ice guys time to come out and clean up the ice. They do that after the first whistle after the 10-minute mark, but due to the nonstop end-to-end action, this is their first chance. Tuukka Rask now has 52 saves, his best coming on a Jarome Iginla semi-breakaway. Outstanding work by Rask to step out and eliminate all angles for Iginla, who was coming in with speed.
And so, they play on.
Double overtime, 14:01, 1-1: The B's miraculously kill off another penalty, holding Pittsburgh to 0-for-6 tonight, after losing Campbell in the second period. Incredible stuff. Rask made a great save on a one-time slap shot by Malkin at the dot.
Double overtime, 16:13, 1-1: Two minutes for too many men on the ice. This doesn't end well for the Bruins usually.
Double overtime, 16:20, 1-1: A tricky Rask shoulder save on Crosby, a thundering hit by Lucic on Letang, and a Vokoun point-blank pad save of Krejci have all happened early on here. You'll notice goals are not present in that list.
Double overtime, 20:00, 1-1: Here we go. B's with 23 seconds of power play time to begin this double overtime period.
End of overtime, 1-1: That was not one of Boston's better power plays tonight (they're 0-for-3 already), and the Bruins generate nothing before the end of the first OT period. They'll have 23 seconds of power-play time to begin the second overtime, which isn't much time to do much of anything with a neutral-zone faceoff. At best, they can hope to win the draw and establish possession in the offensive end before the penalty time expires.
That was, without a doubt, the Bruins' best period of the night. They put nine shots on net, but it was the quality of their chances that stood out over the rest of the game. Nathan Horton also came as close as possible to ending it, ringing the post with a hard wrister from the top of the left faceoff circle.
Still, no goals, as Vokoun was excellent, especially on Horton's breakaway early on. In sudden-death OT in the playoffs, there's really no such thing as "momentum." One play, one bounce, one mistake, and it all ends in a flash.
Overtime, 1:37, 1-1: Brain fart, Evgeni Malkin. With nobody pressuring him, Malkin just launched a puck over the glass from his own zone. B's back to the power play.
Overtime, 3:03, 1-1: Other than Milan Lucic getting dumped into Vokoun by Engelland, not much to report here. Penguins have 45 shots, B's have 33.
Overtime, 6:19, 1-1: The Bruins generated solid chances on the power play, but nothing gets through.
After the power play ended, Marchand was on top of Letang as the two exchanged a series of punches, but for some reason, no penalty was called. Maybe the refs missed it? Hard to miss. Either way, play continues.
Overtime, 8:34, 1-1: Now, the B's get their chance. Brooks Orpik goes to the box for high-sticking.
Overtime, 8:41, 1-1: A great kill by the Bruins keeps this game going. Dennis Seidenberg got caught for an extended stretch without a stick, but he put his body down in a shooting lane and was able to help kill the penalty.
This OT period has had a fast and furious pace to it, and it's hard to believe we're already 11-plus minutes through. Both teams are playing well, so trying to pick a winner is impossible.
Overtime, 11:33, 1-1: Nathan Horton smoked a wrist shot off the post, inches from the game-winner. Less than a minute later, Chris Kelly gets called for tripping in the neutral zone now. (It looked like a good call, as Kelly stuck his leg out to make a hit.) The B's PK has been asked to be great already, and now they'll have to be their best (without Campbell).
Overtime, 16:47, 1-1: During the 4-on-4 stretch, Nathan Horton broke free for a breakaway. But with Letang on his back and Vokoun aggressively coming out, he wasn't able to score.
Overtime, 18:57, 1-1: Tuukka Rask makes a very tough save from close range, and a massive 5-on-5 scrum breaks out. Lucic and Cooke to the box for roughing. With the way the Krejci line is clicking, the Penguins are happy with that trade-off.
Overtime, 20:00, 1-1: Overtime is under way. Next goal wins.
End of regulation, 1-1: Sixty minutes were not enough for this one to be decided, and the teams head to their dressing rooms to prepare for sudden-death overtime.
The Bruins are 3-1 this postseason in overtime, while the Penguins are 2-1. History, of course, won't matter much when the two teams take the ice for overtime. What they choose to do out there is all that will matter.
Third period, 16.7 seconds, 1-1: Following a Boston icing, Claude Julien calls his tiemout with 16.7 ticks left on the clock. Things are tense here for some reason -- the crowd is making it seem like the Bruins are the ones down by two games here. It's definitely a lot quieter than it has been all night and all playoffs really.
Third period, 3:10, 1-1: Another terrible power play by Boston, with nothing at all to show for it. It's still anyone's game in the final minutes.
Evgeni Malkin just got his best chance of the night as he found space in the slot, but Rask was able to make an aggressive blocker save. He has 33 so far tonight.
Third period, 7:36, 1-1: The Bruins' power play was pitiful, with zero shots and zero puck possession. However, they get another chance here, thanks to Pascal Dupuis' decking of Johnny Boychuk long after the puck had been sent toward net. That's an example of the Penguins being too eager to be physical, and it cost them. How badly? Let's see in the coming two minutes.
Third period, 13:33, 1-1: It looks like the Bruins are going to get a power play after all, with Douglas Murray going off for slashing Nathan Horton in a scrum after Vokoun covered up. With the lack of offensive space the Bruins have had for some time now, this may be their best opportunity to pot the go-ahead goal.
Third period, 18:14, 1-1: After Crosby's backhand hits off the side of an open net, Chris Kunitz takes a heavy slash at Brad Marchand, who bumped him after the whistle. It was a very clear slash, but the refs -- who have made an impact on this game already -- call matching minors after a long debate. Marchand for kneeing, Kunitz for slashing. That's a bad job by the refs, who have done a fishy job all night.
Third period, 18:55, 1-1: The B's power play ends without any shots this period.
Third period, 20:00, 1-1: With Gregory Campbell not on the bench, the third period begins. The Bruins are going to have to play this one a man down, so keep that in mind if the Penguins go back to the power play.
End of second period, 1-1: The game remains tied going into second intermission, thanks to a very impressive toe save by Vokoun on a one-time slap shot from the blue line by Zdeno Chara. That very easily could have been a goal, but the netminder has responded well all night to his stinker in Game 2.
The Bruins will still have 42 seconds of power-play time when the third period begins. They did a good job of controlling the puck in the Pittsburgh end just now, and they'll be able to employ their top power play unit again after intermission.
Injury-wise, Gregory Campbell has not returned after his gutsy penalty-killing shift, and from the way it looked, I doubt he returns. That looked like a doozy of an injury. But then again this is the playoffs, so don't rule him out.
As far as the game goes, Pittsburgh did show they had some fight, and they got the equalizing goal because of it. Now, it's anyone's game heading into the final 20. So much is at stake for both teams, it's going to come down to whichever team has the focus to limit mistakes. All it will take is one bounce to sway this series.
Second period, 1:19, 1-1: The Bruins will get a power play chance before the end of the period, with Iginla going off for an obvious trip of Ference in the corner. It's going to take very obvious infractions for the Bruins to get power plays tonight.
Second period, 5:06, 1-1: Playoff hockey at its finest, as Gregory Campbell blocks a missile by Malkin and goes to the ice in tremendous pain. After about 10 seconds, he finally got to his feet but could hardly move. Still, he got his stick on a pass, and he held his ground enough to disrupt the power play and prevent the Penguins from scoring. The crowd appreciated his work with perhaps the first-ever "Camp-bell" chant in Boston. It really was a remarkable effort.
The Bruins fed off that emotion, with David Krejci rushing into the zone and creating a series of chances (most of which came after Orpik knocked off his helmet). Playoff intensity is alive in Boston.
Second period, 9:10, 1-1: A tough period gets tougher for the Bruins, who again have to go back on the penalty kill after a too-many-men penalty. That's a bad time for a bad penalty, as the Bruins are really playing with fire by letting the Penguins' power play get this much time here in the second.
Second period, 11:09, 1-1: A nifty little pass from Paul Martin to Chris Kunitz leads to the equalizer. Martin simply skated around the bodies to get behind the goal line before sending a beauty of a backhand feed to Kunitz, who flipped the puck over Rask's blocker and into the net. Tie game.
Second period, 11:16, 1-0 Bruins: The Penguins have a 20-12 lead in shots, but they still trail 1-0 after two straight power plays, thanks to the dogged work of the Bruins' penalty killers and Tuukka Rask.
You'll remember that Penguins' power play entered the series with a 30 percent success rate, but they're 0-for-3 tonight and are down to 23.6 percent.
Second period, 15:34, 1-0 Bruins: The B's killed off the penalty, though Rask may have been the best penalty killer on that one. Shortly after the kill, McQuaid gets called for boarding Matt Cooke. Right back to the penalty kill the Bruins go.
Second period, 18:16, 1-0 Bruins: David Krejci and Kris Letang exchange shoves in front of the Pittsburgh net, and curiously, David Krejci goes to the penalty box for roughing. Not exactly your rough-and-tumble kind of player, but he caught Letang up high. I thought it'd be matching minors, if anything at all.
Second period, 20:00, 1-0 Bruins: Second period under way. If the Penguins have any fight in them, this is the period when they'll show it.
End of first period, 1-0 Bruins: The period comes to a close with no further scoring, though the Bruins did get one final shot attempt after an icing with 5 seconds left. Milan Lucic's shot never made it through traffic, though.
Not a ton stood out that period. The Bruins caught the one lucky bounce, so to speak, with the Krejci goal. It wasn't all that lucky though, because when you leave David Krejci with that much time and space to operate, he's going to kill you at some point. The fact that he used a defenseman's shin to score that goal is just a detail.
Shots are tied 10-10, the Penguins have 13 hits to the Bruins' 10, and the Bruins have blocked seven shots compared to the Penguins' two.
Brenden Morrow is one angry man, but he's made sure to wait until striped shirts are between him and Boychuk before talking any sort of trash, so don't expect that to materialize into anything.
Neither team is unhappy with their position right now, but the Bruins definitely can't be satisfied. Vokoun looking satisfactory might be the only real difference between Game 2 and Game 3 right now.
First period, 1:51, 1-0 Bruins: The B's killed the penalty, thanks in large part to two big shot blocks by Gregory Campbell and Daniel Paille. Chris Kunitz would have had an open net opportunity at one point, as a Crosby pass was bouncing around skates like a pinball, but Kunitz never found the puck.
First period, 4:26, 1-0 Bruins: Nathan Horton to the box for holding, called after he hit Brooks Orpik. Didn't look like a hold from up here, but I'm not as close as the ref so I'll have to give him the benefit of the doubt.
First period, 5:30, 1-0 Bruins: Tomas Vokoun has stopped eight straight Boston shots, which is something that doesn't seem as though it happened at all in Game 2. The Penguins have eight shots of their own so far, the best a slap shot from the slot by James Neal, which Tuukka Rask kicked away with his left toe to keep the Penguins off the board.
The Penguins once again have the lead in hits, though at 12-9 it's not a tremendous edge. The Penguins certainly aren't letting the Bruins get comfortable with that one-goal lead.
First period, 10:29, 1-0 Bruins: It looked like the Penguins were heading to the power play on a questionable interference penalty on Boychuk, but apparently Joe Vitale did something in the ensuing scrum to earn himself a penalty too. So we have two minutes of 4-0n-4 upcoming. Perhaps the refs realized the call on Boychuk wasn't one for the Hall of Fame and tried to immediately even things out.
It's worth noting that Morrow, who got hit by Boychuk at the blue line, was furious after the play. We'll see if and when he seeks revenge.
First period, 12:49, 1-0 Bruins: When it gets this late in the playoffs, and ticket prices reach the levels they reach, you never know if you're going to get a hardcore crowd or more of a ... fancy crowd. Tonight, we have a hardcore crowd.
The fans have been into this thing all the way, going nuts when Krejci scored and booing in unison every time Jarome Iginla has touched the puck. It's been a good showing thus far, and with the way the Bruins have been playing and continue to play, that shouldn't be a surprise.
Penguins have just two shots so far, so that desperation we all expected to see hasn't started to kick in just yet.
First period, 18:18, 1-0 Bruins: The Bruins have an early lead, thanks to David Krejci. He took a pass behind the net from Milan Lucic and set up in Gretzky's office. With no Penguin applying any pressure, he skated out to the front of the net and looked to try to send a pass over to Lucic in front. His pass/shot deflected off Matt Niskanen's leg and into the net, and this crowd is going nuts in the opening minutes of Game 3.
First period, 19;41, 0-0: It took all of 19 seconds for the physicality to begin, with Shawn Thornton getting involved with any white jersey in his vicinity following a stoppage in play.
First period, 20:00: Claude Julien will start the Merlot line of Paille-Campbell-Thornton and Ference and Boychuk on defense tonight. Bylsma's going with Iginla-Sutter-Neal and Martin-Orpik. This one is under way.
8:07 p.m.: Dic Donohue, the transit officer who was wounded in the shootout with the Boston Marathon bombing suspects, was on the ice to wave the Bruins flag to kick off the pregame festivities. The fired-up crowd welcomed him as Foo Fighters blasted over the speakers, and the giant Bruins banner is making its way around the lower bowl. Puck drop is now just minutes away.
7:58 p.m.: The puck won't drop until 8:12 p.m. or so. Fourteen minutes remain on the clock, and while I'm not great at math, I think I have that addition correct.
7:47 p.m.: Here's a more interesting lineup note from the Penguins -- Dan Bylsma is dropping Jarome Iginla down. And he's moving Matt Cooke up.
Cooke took warmups on Evgeni Malkin's wing, with James Neal on the other. Jarome Iginla dropped down to the third line, with Beau Bennett on the other wing and Brandon Sutter at center. Interesting. We'll see how long it remains that way.
The Bruins had no lineup changes, as expected. You don't mix things up after you win 6-1 in Pittsburgh.
7:37 p.m.: At long last -- warmups!
Paul Martin is on the ice for the Penguins, so if he is indeed scratched, it's not apparent yet. Jussi Jokinen, however, is not out there. I remember the last time the Penguins were here, Jokinen got under the Bruins' skin in a big way. That's not enough for him to be in the lineup tonight, though. Jokinen has just three assists in the entire playoffs, and he didn't even register a hit in the first two games of the series against Boston. With Pittsburgh's dedication to physicality, that wasn't cutting it for Dan Bylsma.
7:17 p.m.: Adam Kaufman says on Twitter that Paul Martin will be scratched tonight. We'll see if he comes out for warmups to get a better idea if that happens. I don't recall an instance of him getting hurt in Game 2.
7 p.m.: The clean sheet of ice has been staring us in the face for far too long, and we still have more than an hour to wait before the game gets under way.
The Bruins have put in a little extra effort to make sure everyone knows they're at a conference finals game (balloons, ice sculptures, etc.), but chances are all the fans were well aware of that when they forked over whatever small fortune it took to get their tickets.
Here's a look at the ice sculpture greeting the media members when they got off the elevator down on Level 3.
5 p.m.: Good evening and welcome from a quiet TD Garden, where there's a distinct calm-before-the-storm feeling, with Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals just about three hours away.
Even the most optimistic members of the home crowd could not have expected the Bruins to enter tonight with a 2-0 series lead over the Penguins, but thanks to a hard-fought Game 1 and a full-on blowout in Game 2, that's the situation.
With that, I think it's safe to expect one of the loudest crowds of the year, as everyone knows what is at stake for the Bruins. A win tonight, and a trip to the Stanley Cup Final becomes inevitable.
The Bruins will be trying to earn that third win, expectedly, with the same lineup that won Game 2 by a 6-1 score. It has been nice having a day where Jaromir Jagr-being-scratched rumors don't needlessly dominate the news cycle.
The Penguins, meanwhile, will need to get back to what got them here in the first place. They need to stop trying to brawl with the Bruins and instead try to attack with speed and skill. They've seemingly been intent on laying the body whenever possible, even if it comes at the expense of defense, and it's burned them. Attacking the Bruins in a physical game is a foolish strategy for any team, but especially one with as much goal-scoring ability as Pittsburgh.
Of course, offense won't mean much if the Penguins don't have a goalie, so Tomas Vokoun is going to have to show up. Vokoun didn't do that on Monday, and Marc-Andre Fleury has looked incapable of doing that for the past two years.
I'll be here to provide updates from pregame, throughout warmups and all through the game, from puck drop to the final whistle, so stick with the live blog for everything you need to know about Game 3.
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