Daugavins On Missed Opportunity: 'It Hurts'
BOSTON (CBS) - The Boston Bruins had their share of chances to win Wednesday night's Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, but those missed opportunities could haunt them for the rest of the series.
None of those missed chances are more glaring than the empty net forward Kaspars Daugavins had midway through the third overtime. After cutting in front of the net, Daugavins found Corey Crawford out of position and an open net staring him in the race. A simple redirect would have erased the fact Boston had blown two different two-goal leads during the game, and given the Bruins a Game 1 victory in Chicago.
But, with a diving Jonny Oduya giving chase, Daugavins lost the puck before he had a chance at that redirect and the puck slowly trickled away. Just a couple of minutes later, the puck pin-balled off a pair of Blackhawks in the Bruins' end and past Tuukka Rask to give the Blackhawks a 1-0 series lead.
"It’s frustrating when you get a chance, first of all to play in overtime, and then you actually get the greatest chance in overtime," Daugavins said after the 4-3 loss. "You have to be strong mentally to put those in. I thought I had it, I did everything like I wanted to and I just missed my shot. It hurts."
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Daugavins fell to the ice after the missed opportunity, and complained that Oduya tripped him. But even with the contact, Daugavins said he should have buried the scoring bid.
"Watching on the replay there was a stick right near my skates while I was trying to get it up. I fell forward, but you can’t complain," he said. "I should have scored that, even with the tripping."
In a game that lasted 112 minutes, Daugavins played just 15, so he said fatigue was not a factor on his overtime whiff.
"I felt really good; I hadn’t played as much as the guys who played 45 minutes," he said. "My legs felt good, my body felt good. I don’t know, it was one of those plays."
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"If I get one more I’ll make sure I put it in," he said.
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