Bruins Live Blog: B's Hang On For 3-2 Win Over Senators
Final, 3-2 Bruins: Zdeno Chara absolutely demolished Chris Neil in the corner, leading to a Bruins clear, and Boston is able to skate away with the win and the two points. It was a huge win, considering how close the Senators would have been had they won, and also considering the B's played half the game without Bergeron, arguably their most important player.
Third period, 32.3, 3-2 Bruins: With an extra skater on the ice, the Senators are able to create some chaos in front of the Boston net, and Johnny Boychuk gets called for holding. It'll be 6-on-4 for the final 32.3 seconds.
Third period, 4:58, 3-2 Bruins: Just as soon as I report on Hamilton being in the room, he returns to the bench. Good news for Boston.
Third period, 5:42, 3-2 Bruins: The Bruins are hanging on to the lead, with Khudobin now up to 40 saves on the night. His career-high is 44, which he made last year against Ottawa.
The Bruins are apparently going to be without Dougie Hamilton for the rest of this one, as he was a little dazed after his big hit on Condra. At the time, I thought he just knocked the wind out of himself, but he hasn't returned to the bench since.
Third period, 9:39, 3-2 Bruins: A monstrous hit by Dougie Hamilton on Erik Condra helps lead to a Bruins possession in the Ottawa end, and moments later, Nathan Horton was batting home a rebound off a Lucic bomb from the blue line to give the Bruins a 3-2 lead. Krejci picks up the secondary assist.
Third period, 11:31, 2-2: With just the toes on his right foot, Robin Lehner keeps the Senators in a tie game after Tyler Seguin takes a hard pass from Zdeno Chara from blue line to blue line and walks in all alone on the netminder. Seguin deked to his backhand, and though he seemed to fool all of Lehner's upper body, his pads stayed in position, and he extended his right toe to save the shot as Seguin went crashing into the end boards.
If the Senators are able to squeeze out a point or two tonight, remember that save.
Third period, 18:05, 2-2: It seemed impossible that the Senators hadn't scored in a wild frenzy at the Boston net, and that's because, well, they had.
After play continued, the referees went to replay review and saw that the puck did indeed hit the bar in the back of the net, tying this one up at 2-2. Andre Benoit gets the tally.
Third period, 20:00, 2-1 Bruins: The third period is under way.
Second intermission, 2-1 Bruins: The team just sent out an update that Bergeron will not return to tonight's game. The announcement did not give any details as to what's ailing Bergeron, but it's bad enough to keep him out for the rest of this one.
End of second period, 2-1 Bruins: The Bruins head to the locker room holding on to that 2-1 advantage, as we saw all three goals scored in a 1:41 span and haven't seen in a goal in the past 35:31. The Bruins lead in shots 33-32.
The big story that period, of course, was Patrice Bergeron. It was unclear what exactly was ailing him when he skated off nearly eight minutes into the period, but it was enough t0 keep him off the bench for the remainder of the period. Any excitement for the addition of Jagr would be essentially canceled out if Bergeron were to be seriously injured, so his status right now is a chief concern.
Second period, 5:02, 2-1 Bruins: Rich Peverley is centering Seguin and Marchand, with Bergeron still out.
Second period, 5:54, 2-1 Bruins: Still no Bergeron on the bench, but the Bruins were able to kill off that penalty without him. In fact, they really should have canceled out the Ottawa power play, as Chris Neil was very clearly holding Andrew Ference's stick in front of the Boston net, but no penalty was called.
After the penalty ended, Khudobin came up with a huge kick save (his 27th stop of the night) to maintain the B's 2-1 lead. He hasn't always looked completely in control, but he's gotten it down. Sounds like another goalie we once knew ...
Second period, 9;17, 2-1 Bruins: Another really strong shift by the third line ends unfortunately for Boston, with Rich Peverley getting called for a trip in the midst of a scrum in front of the Ottawa net.
One player who's really stood out to me tonight -- and probably the first time in a Bruins sweater -- has been Jay Pandolfo. Perhaps he's trying to make a case for not being the healthy scratch when No. 68 comes to town on Thursday night, but he's been aggressive on the forecheck and strong on the stick, doing all the little things that Claude Julien appreciates.
Also, still no Bergeron.
Second period, 12:16, 2-1 Bruins: The B's don't get into much of a rhythm on the power play, and the score remains 2-1. Khudobin's save total is now up to 24, and this one's not even halfway over.
In some potentially scary news for Bruins fans, Patrice Bergeron skated off the ice ice bent over and went straight down the tunnel. It was unclear what happened to him in a battle in front of the Boston net, but I'll keep an eye out for him to see if he returns.
Second period, 17:47, 2-1 Bruins: Khudobin has four saves already this period, but he should get a rest now, with O'Brien going to the box for the second time tonight for hooking.
Second period, 20:00, 2-1 Bruins: Second period is under way.
End of first period, 2-1 Bruins: The period comes to an end with the Bruins leading 2-1 and the two teams tied with the Bruins leading in shots 21-19. This certainly isn't the type of tight game I and many others expected to see, but perhaps the late-season urgency is kicking in on both sides.
Of note -- a fan wearing a Jagr jersey was shown on the video board and received the loudest ovation of the night from the home crowd. Thursday should be an interesting night here.
First period, 7:49, 2-1 Bruins: Zdeno Chara appeared to give the Bruins a 3-1 lead with a monster blast from the high slot, but referee Gord Dwyer immediately waved it off, saying Patrice Bergeron interfered with Lehner. Watching the replay, Bergeron was pushed by a Senators defenseman into the crease, so it's a highly suspect call, and one that keeps this a one-goal game.
First period, 11:10, 2-1 Bruins: The power play can't get a goal, though it did generate three solid chances. Now, Ottawa goes on the power play, as Ference gets called for putting his hand over the puck. That's a weird rule, but Ference definitely did it.
First period, 13:55, 2-1 Bruins: The third line followed up the Seguin goal with great energy and extended possession deep in the Ottawa zone led to Jim O'Brien getting called for hooking.
The Bruins, who have 11 shots on net already, head to the power play.
First period, 15:31, 2-1 Bruins: These two teams have now scored three goals on 12 shots in the opening 4:29 of this one, the most recent by Tyler Seguin.
He took a pass from Marchand that left Seguin with a wide open net to bury his 12th goal of the season, and the Bruins now lead.
First period, 16:32, 1-1: It took all of 40 seconds for the Bruins to answer.
The Senators' failed clear went right to Zdeno Chara at the blue line. He fired a wrister toward net, and the shot deflected off Krejci's knee and into the net. Tie game.
First period, 17:12, 1-0 Senators: Ottawa's Colin Greening found some space all alone in front of the Boston net, and Zack Smith was able to chip the puck to him. Greening settled it on his stick and backhanded the puck past Khudobin for the game's first goal.
First period, 20:00: Patrice Bergeron was kicked out of the opening faceoff, and this one is under way.
7:02 p.m.: Puck drop is just minutes away. The Bergeron line will start, with Seidenberg and Ference on the back end. For the Senators, Mike Hoffman-Kyle Turris-Jakob Silfverberg will start up front, and Chris Phillips and Sergei Gonchar will start on the blue line in front of Robin Lehner.
6:38 p.m.: Anton Khudobin will be between the pipes for Boston tonight, getting his second straight start. Here are the rest of the Bruins' lines from warmups:
Lucic-Krejci-Horton
Marchand-Bergeron-Seguin
Pandolfo-Peverley-Caron
Paille-Campbell-Thornton
Chara-Hamilton
Seidenberg-Ference
Boychuk-Bartkowski
Khudobin
6:25 p.m.: Peter Chiarelli just addressed the media to discuss the Jagr signing down on Level 2 of the Garden.
Some quick nuggets from Chiarelli's talk:
--He spoke very highly of Jagr, not just for his career but for what he still brings to the table. He pointed that he led the Stars in goals and points this year.
--He was also asked about the potential of re-signing Jagr, but noted he couldn't give a real accurate answer. He said that when he acquired Mark Recchi a few years ago, he probably wasn't expecting to re-sign him but ended up keeping him for two more years.
--The big mystery of what line Jagr fits on best will continue, though Chiarelli appeared confident that Jagr will accept whatever role the Bruins ask of him.
6 p.m.: You've heard by now, unless you have an important job that doesn't allow for you to peruse the web and field text messages all day, Jaromir Jagr is officially a member of the Boston Bruins.
That's exciting, no doubt, as it's not every day a team adds a future Hall of Famer to the roster, and it's sure to be the big story in the city for the next few days, at least.
However, these guys have a game to play tonight. And it's a pretty big one.
The Senators are in town (for what feels like the 50th time this season), and they're trailing the Bruins by just four points in the Northeast Division, the Bruins can't really afford to give up any points tonight.
Peter Chiarelli is scheduled to address the media shortly regarding Jagr, so I'll have some updates from that when he's finished, and then I'll post the lines from pregame warmups. Jagr won't be in there tonight, sadly.
In the meantime, check out some of these great photos of Jagr from his 20-plus-year career.
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