Despite losing three separate leads, the Boston Bruins came out on top against the Edmonton Oilers to kick off their Western Canada road trip with a win.
Despite losing three separate leads, the Boston Bruins came out on top against the Edmonton Oilers to kick off their Western Canada road trip with a win.
The Boston Bruins fumbled three different leads before heading to overtime, but Charlie McAvoy saved the day for Boston in a 6-5 win against the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place on Wednesday.
Cycling the zone with Pavel Zacha and Jake DeBrusk, McAvoy wound up with the puck in the slot and got around a sliding Evander Kane and goalie Stuart Skinner to punch in the winning goal at 3:10 of overtime.
"Just loved the way we kept forging ahead," Bruins coach Jim Montgomery told media in Edmonton after the game. "We didn't worry about what happened, positively or negatively. I thought we continued to play, obviously you had a great push by a great team in the third period and it kind of snowballed, but we went right back to work after."
McAvoy also had an assist, and David Pastrnak scored a goal and an assist for the Bruins, which improved to 34-12-11.
Mason Lohrei, playing in his first game since Jan. 18 after getting recalled from AHL Providence on Tuesday, had three assists for his first multi-point NHL game. Jeremy Swayman made 39 saves in his second start in a row, but his lack of rebound control nearly cost Boston the game.
"Not exactly how we drew it up, but really special to get those two points," Swayman told reporters in Edmonton. "And the way we did it, through the adversity and their push. I think that's really something special for our group moving forward."
James van Riemsdyk nearly ended the game on a breakaway out of the penalty box in overtime, reminiscent of Los Angeles Kings defenseman Brandt Clarke’s winner against the Bruins on Saturday, but Skinner made the stop at 1:45.
It looked like Pastrnak would be the hero when he broke a 4-4 tie at 12:41 of the third period, taking a drop pass from Lohrei and skating into the center to beat Skinner, but Edmonton forward Zach Hyman tied it up 5-5 at 13:23, rebounding Mattias Ekholm’s point shot to force overtime.
Morgan Geekie opened the scoring with a power-play goal through traffic at 3:24 of the first period, but the Oilers tied it at 11:40 when Warren Foegele deked in and beat Swayman five-hole after Connor McDavid forced a turnover.
The Bruins stormed ahead in the second period, with Brad Marchand making it 2-1 just 25 seconds into the second period with a snap shot from the left side. Trent Frederic made it 3-1 on a redirect at 4:40, and DeBrusk rebounded Pastrnak’s shot at 13:57 to push it to 4-1.
"I think the biggest thing is just the culture here and 'Marchy' is our captain. These guys just know how to win," Lohrei told reporters in Edmonton. "They've done it so much that you're never out of it no matter what's going on."
Then things started to unravel for Boston. Foegele scored his second of the night at 15:27 of the second, getting behind the defense and finishing Hyman’s feed to cut it to 4-2. The Oilers tied it with two goals in 70 seconds during the third period – rebound goals from Cody Ceci at 6:14 and Corey Perry at 7:24 – to erase Boston’s lead.
Bruins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk exited at 1:05 of the first period with a lower-body injury and is considered day-to-day, according to Montgomery.
The Bruins face the Calgary Flames on Thursday at Scotiabank Saddledome at 9 pm ET.
"It was a gutsy effort by the entire group," Montgomery said. "The forwards knew that they had to go north and hold on to pucks so that we wouldn't spend a lot of time in our end. And then the five D-men, they really did a great job for us tonight."
Other Links:
Bruins Call-Up Scores in NHL Debut