The
Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Boston Bruins in crushing fashion Tuesday
night. In the second game of a back to back, it was fatigue that ultimately
caught up with the Bruins. Boston jumped out in front early, grabbing a power
play goal on a heavy blast from captain Zdeno Chara just 4:45 into the opening
stanza. Tyler Seguin later followed with a deadeye snipe of his own. His marker
extended the Bruins lead, putting them on top 2-0. Boston’s lead held up well
into the third period before it was shattered by a titanic Penguins comeback.
The Pens mounted a ruthless late game attack, notching three goals, sending the
Bruins home losers. The 3-2 setback drops Boston to 17-4-3 on the season and
will send Claude Julien and his men back to the drawing board.
The
Bruins showed up ready to play in this one. Their power play capitalized, the
Seguin/Bergeron/Marchand line kept its blistering streak going, and Anton
Khudobin looked as if he was going to steal a game in which Boston was outshot
34-16. Once ahead, the Bruins played a collapsing style defense for much of the
game. This strategy worked in Boston’s favor. The Bruins forced play to the
boards, denying the Pittsburgh stars from the high percentage looks they were
in search of.
On
a night many expected Tuukka Rask to be between the pipes for Boston, it was
Anton Khudobin who stole the show for much of this one. He showcased his fine
talents in an aggressive yet effective and in control manner. Khudobin was
great on his reads, challenged many shots, and held his posts well. Stopping
Sidney Crosby and company can be a daunting task for any net minder. In facing
nearly double the shots Marc-Andre Fleury did, Khudobin was tremendous in stifling
the NHL’s top offense.
Now
Khudobin did allow three goals. However a case can be made these goals weren’t
his wrongdoing in the least bit. Dan Bylsma and his Penguins began to take the
pace of play away from Boston midway through the second period. The Boston
defense bent but didn’t break until nearly fifteen minutes had passed in the
game’s final frame.
Boston,
playing and winning an overtime thriller the night before in Ottawa, began to
shows signs of exhaustion. It was
mental lapses, tired legs, and costly turnovers that contributed to Boston’s
downfall. Pittsburgh keyed in on this and kept the pedal to the metal. The Pens
dominated play for nearly the entire period, keeping Boston pinned in its own
end. With the way things had began to unfold, it seemed as if an imminent
Penguin goal was a fore gone conclusion.
Despite
being outskated, Boston was able to effectively kill off a Pittsburgh two-man
advantage in the early stages of period three. The momentum had swung back to
their side. Chris Kunitz snatched that momentum right back. He buried a
beautiful one-timer off a cross slot feed from Kris Letang. Former Hurricane
Brandon Sutter then tied it and minutes later won it, rifling two goals past
Khudobin.
Boston
appeared to be on its way to a victory in which it could be mightily proud of.
The Bruins did an exceptional job in shadowing Pittsburgh’s elite scorers all
over the ice. Khudobin was standing on his head and the Bruins defense looked
impenetrable, blocking away 26 what would have been shots. A taxing three games
in a four night span certainly caught up to Boston. Excuses aside, the Bruins
once again find themselves on the wrong end of a late game collapse.
One
thing is for certain; Boston will be back at practice, once again searching for
a way to remedy their recent third period woes. Look for the Bruins to leave
this one on the rearview with the Florida Panthers heading in Thursday night.
The Panthers have lost eight of their last ten dating back to a 4-1 beat down
that was administered by Beantown’s own.
Game Notes:
Sidney Crosby’s eight game point streak was snapped.
The Bruins will square off with Pittsburgh three more times
this season. The next meeting will be this Sunday, March 17.
No comments:
Post a Comment