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Bruins Win Double OT Thriller to Seize Series Lead

In what could easily be both the most agonizing and the most thrilling game of the season, the Boston Bruins took a 3-2 series lead over the hated Montreal Canadiens in 89:03 of hockey. Both teams had a very difficult time getting anything done, thanks to both goalies playing extremely hard. Boston had a slight edge in shots, but it was quite negligible. A few overlapping power plays couldn’t do anything for either team in the first period either.

Shots were slowed just a tad in the 2nd, and Boston had another shot with the man advantage, but still couldn’t get it done. Two simultaneous roughing penalties, one on each team, were incurred towards the period’s end, but 4-on-4 didn’t help either team any more or less.

Boston finally got on the board in the 3rd at 4:33, thanks to Brad Marchand. But Tim Thomas was kept busy throughout regulation’s final 20 minutes, and Montreal’s pressure finally payed off at 13:56, when Montreal tied the game at one goal a piece, which later sent the game to overtime.

The first extra frame was similar to the first two periods, with each team trying in desperation to beat the other, but not being able to. Boston got another power play late in the period on a tripping penalty, but to no avail. The way things were set up on the ice made it seem that a penalty should could easily have been in order, which Boston would’ve certainly preferred with their impotent power play.

Sensing fatigue could become an issue, both team came out with whatever they had left in their tanks, but the goalies still had plenty of reserve fuel with which to make spectacular saves, particularly Thomas. Either team could’ve won at any time, but at the 9:03 mark of the second overtime, Nathan Horton finally snaked the puck around Carey Price after some fancy puck movement for the 2-1 victory.

Coach’s Corner

“It’s fitting to see those guys score the winning goal… and they keep getting better from here on in.” – Claude Julien on the Krejci line.

Scoring Summary

1st Period
NONE
2nd Period
NONE
3rd Period
4:33	BOS	Brad Marchand (1) Wrist Shot – Assists: Patrice Bergeron (4) & Tomas Kaberle (2)
13:56	MTL	Jeff Halpern (1) Wrist Shot – Assists: Lars Eller (2) & Mathieu Darche (1)
1st OT Period
NONE
2nd OT Period
9:03	BOS	Nathan Horton (2) Wrist Shot – Assists: Milan Lucic (1) & Andrew Ference (1)

Penalty Summary

1st Period
14:16	BOS	Andrew Ference: Holding – 2 min
15:47	MTL	David Desharnais: Interference – 2 min
17:11	BOS	Rich Peverley: Interference on goalkeeper – 2 min
2nd Period
1:53	MTL	Travis Moen: Holding – 2 min
19:07	MTL	Tomas Plekanec: Roughing – 2 min
19:07	BOS	Brad Marchand: Roughing – 2 min
3rd Period
NONE
1st OT Period
16:12	MTL	Brent Sopel: Tripping – 2 min
2nd OT Period
NONE

Goalie Stats

	Goalie	Save Total	TOI
MTL	Carey Price (L)	49/51	88:45
BOS	Tim Thomas (W)	44/45	89:00

Shots on Goal

	1st	2nd	3rd	1st OT	2nd OT	Total
MTL	10	6	14	9	6	45
BOS	12	9	11	12	7	51

Game Notes:

• Boston is now a paltry 0/15 on the power play in the series.
• This was the first win by the home team in the series.
• Boston has never won a series when trailing 0-2.
• When the Bruins are leading a series 3-2, they’re 17-4; I won’t remind you what happened the last time they were up 3-2.

Tags: Andrew Ference, Brad Marchand, Bruins, Claude Julien, David Krejci, Milan Lucic, Montreal Canadiens, Nathan Horton, Patrice Bergeron, Rich Peverly, Tim Thomas, Tomas Kaberle

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