Where this Bruins’ season takes us is still anyone’s guess. But right now? They’ve got a little something going on.
The B’s extended their winning streak to five games after Pavel Zacha’s goal beat the clock with 5.5 seconds left in overtime, lifting the B’s to a 3-2 win over the Ottawa Senators at the Garden on Thursday. Charlie McAvoy carried the puck in deep and got the puck on goalie Linus Ullmark and it trickled through him. Zacha stuck with it and tapped home the GWG, giving the B’s their fourth win in as many tries in extra time this year.
The Bruins took a 2-1 lead into the third period and withstood the first real Ottawa push of the game until they got a power play when Thomas Chabot was called for a pick on Morgan Geekie.
But the B’s quickly gave it right back when Shane Pinto outworked three Bruins on the penalty kill in front of the Boston net and drew a slashing penalty from Zacha.
The Sens went back on the attack on the 4-on-4 and then evened the game on the power play when through a screen, Claude Giroux’s shot from the left wing broke through Joonas Korpisalo and leaked over the goal line with 8:08 left in regulation.
That’s the way it stayed until extra time.
With 42 seconds left in OT, the B’s got a power play, but gave it right back on the ensuing faceoff when Geekie was called for tripping. But with the sides back to 3-on-3, the B’s prevailed in the end. The very end.
It was a solid opening 40 minutes for the B’s.
The good news for the Bruins was that they held a commanding 9-2 advantage in shots on goal over the Senators in the first period. The bad news? The first shot the B’s allowed was of the high danger variety and it wound up in the back of the net.
Jonathan Aspirot tried to step up on Claude Giroux at the Boston blue line and was too late to deny the slick veteran’s that started a 2-on-1 for Shane Pinto and Michael Amadio. The Sens executed it to perfection and Amadio beat Joonas Korpisalo for the 1–0 lead at 5:42.
Ottawa didn’t have another shot on net until there was 1:06 left in the period.
But while the B’s had decent offensive zone time, most of their shots on old friend Linus Ullmark were from the perimeter and Ullmark wasn’t giving up any dangerous rebounds.
The B’s were down a forward when the second period started as John Beecher suffered an upper body injury in the first and did not return.
The zone time would pay off early in the second period. After some decent pressure, a loose puck slow slid out to the top of the right circle. Andrew Peeke stepped into it and blasted a slapper that broke through Ullmark and hit the post. With the puck sitting in the crease, Morgan Geekie swooped in for the tap-on at 1:22, his 10th of the season.
Thw B’s dominated for much of the second and, after they couldn’t capitalize off their first power play of the game, they finally did pull ahead.
Peeke had left the game for a time in the second when Tyler Kleven caught him in a vulnerable position and rammed him back-first into the boards. But the defenseman returned in time to record a two-point night.
Peeke fed the puck up to Tanner Jeannot and Jeannot carried the puck along the right wall, drawing two Senators to him. That left Sean Kuraly wide open and Jeannot found him. With plenty of time and space, Kuraly buried his second of the year over Ullmark’s shoulder at 16:03.
The B’s had to kill off a Mark Kastelic interference penalty shortly after that, but the did so successfully and took the 2-1 lead into the third.
