Outstanding Tuukka Leads Bruins To 2-1 Victory In Game One; McAvoy Stellar In NHL Debut
After what felt like an eternity to Bruins fans, the euphoria/anxiety that comes with having their team back in the playoffs returned to the region last night and the game result, a rousing 2-1 Bruins win to give them a 1-0 series lead, had folks bouncing off the walls. Frank Vatrano and Brad Marchand each had third period goals to erase a 1-0 deficit heading into the stanza. An outstanding Tuukka Rask stopped 26 of 27 shots, including several huge stops to keep the Bs afloat when they somehow managed no shots in the second period. Oh, and they did it without their second center and half their D from the regular season.
With about three-and-a-half minutes left and a 1-1 score, it felt like the Bs and Ottawa Senators would christen the 2017 NHL Playoffs with its first OT game. But then Charlie McAvoy stepped up to cap off the most impressive debut this side of Traci Lords.
“Hi, I’m Chucky, you wanna play 24:11 in your NHL debut?”
Chucky Mac’s pass to Patrice Bergeron got the Bruins into Ottawa’s zone with 3:21 left in the game. After some major hustle and puck battling from Brad Marchand, McAvoy made a ballsy pinch with exactly three minutes left to maintain possession then repeated it 10 seconds later. Rather than make the safe play and back off, the kid making his NHL debut in the playoffs took a pair of calculated risks which ultimately allowed the Bs to win to win the game.
David Pastrnak corralled Bergy’s corner dump before those two and Marchand kept possession for several seconds. Pasta made a sweet feed to Bergeron whose shot was blocked by Dion Phaneuf and took a fortuitous bounce right to Marchand who banged it into an open net. The Bs hung on late in the third for one of the gutsier wins you’ll see from this team.
A few more buds for your playoffs bowl…
*David Krejci was a last minute scratch after he took warm-ups but was unable to go. It was termed an upper body injury. The Bs were fortunate to win without their #2 center but it’s gonna be tough to pull off again. Hopefully, the extra day off will give him enough time to return.
*The Bs also lost Colin Miller in the second period after Mark Borowiecki’s dirty knee-to-knee felled the defenseman. It’s the last friggin’ thing this team needs right now—missing half their starting D from a week ago.
*Even on a night where Rask stood on his head and Marchand scored the winner, McAvoy was the story of the game. The rookie played with incredible poise, made terrific decisions, and certainly looked like he belonged on the NHL sheet.
*The Bs went 0/4 on the power play and need to fix that. Scoring chances are going to be limited against Ottawa so they need to cash in when they can.
*Frank Vatrano, who was extremely quiet to finish the year, got off the schnide when he knotted things up just under five minutes into the third. After Ottawa failed to clear, Riley Nash gained possession and quickly slid it over to Vatrano who made no mistake. I (kinda) called it and put @OldTakesExposed in a pretzel.
*And that was all after I got dummied by my co-host for calling Bobby Ryan ‘soft’ on Chiclets this week.
*But at least I wasn’t Ottawa. Rough night for the Sens when even the Harvard dorks are dragging their Crimson nuts across Ottawa’s noses while dunking on them.
*Game Two is Saturday at 3PM