Preseason: Bruins win in OT in an inspiring third period effort 2-1

Started slow, didn't look good for a lot. Then...

First Period:

Low Event, Low Danger is the best way to describe tonight's game in many ways. The game started with 8-6 in shots. It was slow, both sides were blocking shots like crazy and any opportunities that got in on either goaltender were not very great.

Anton Khudobin on the other hand, was great. And he came up big when he needed to.

This would become a recurring theme for the night.

The first ended 0-0, and on to the second we go in what one might consider a rather slow game.

Second Period:

Things didn't get off to a great start as the Bruins took a number of penalties early, and a Seth Griffith cross-checking penalty ended up being a backbreaker for Boston's PK as Riley Sheahan managed to redirect the puck past Khudobin for Detroit's only tally of the night. 1-0

It should say something about Khudobin's performance that a shot had to actively be redirected mid-flight in order for a score to happen. Regardless, the baby B's (and chaperones) let up an awful lot of shots this period, hoping to not get caught leaving another goal behind Khudobin.

Speaking of, it's clear Anton Khudobin missed Boston, because he put up an absolute dime of a performance tonight as the Bruins were sort of caught up in penalty killing and occasionally reminding Detroit what happens when you poke the bear.

If we've told you this once, Rest of the NHL we've told you this a hundred thousand times...

Regardless, things were looking dire coming out of the second, and only 20 minutes left to go...

Third Period:

The Bruins came out flying early, and demanded the respect of Detroit's defense, making Jimmy Howard work for every second of his saves. The Wings still held a commanding shot-lead, but Khudobin throttled any opportunity he could. He played even outer of his mind than he was previously, especially sticking a glove save in one of the most "gimmie" places on the ice. Right in front of him.

Just incredible.

The Bruins paid his work off with a number of great shifts, and finally broke through with Danton Heinen coming up huge once again.

I cannot express in words how great this goal is. And how shocked the Red Wings were after it.

The Red Wings tried to pull ahead, but were terrified of giving up shots past a certain point and decided that OT was much more preferable to attempting to go all out now that Boston had broken through. And onto OT we went.

Overtime:

Joe Morrow and Ryan Spooner did things. Glorious, wonderful things.

Our own CrzyCanucklehead made this observation on the tweeter, which was a great catch onto how this play developed, and into the effort Joe Morrow put into it.

Thats either great peripheral vision, trust in the system, or blind luck

Either way, good board battle by him

— Chris Abraham (@CrzyCanucklehed) October 1, 2016

And with that, The Bruins take their first preseason win. They'll be back in action tomorrow at 7pm vs. Philadelphia.

Assorted Notes:

• Tonight's best possession players were Ryan Spooner, Zach Senyshyn, and Danton Heinen, who were over 56% in CF%.
• Anton Khudobin put up a .971 in SV% and the Bruins could not have asked for him to be any better. He received the third star on tonight's game, but he honestly deserved the first.
• Not to be outdone, the first star of tonight's game was Ryan Spooner who had the game winner. He also had plenty of decent chances out in front of Howard and drew a penalty for Boston on sheer speed alone. He also led the forwards in Shots on Goal. A good night for him.
• Matt Grzelcyk did Offensive Defensemen things and led skaters in shots with 5.
• Only 7 skaters had a positive possession rating. All others had truly effing abysmal CF%. May need to fine tune that.
• In relation to the last point the Bruins got outshot by 10. Not terrible but not optimal. Hopefully more players showing over the weekend and into next week will help bolster this.
• Next up? Philly!