The game that the Bruins and Devils played at TD Garden earlier this year was weird, with a bunch of high-sticking penalties, dives and that extended delay due to the clock not working.
This one was even wackier, with two shorthanded goals, a bunch of breakaways, a penalty shot, and a game-winning goal by...Adam McQuaid?!?!!?
A pretty bad call goes against Patrice Bergeron and ends up giving Travis Zajac a penalty shot. Anton Khudobin is up to the task. Scoreless.
Torey Krug takes advantage of a lucky bounce off a Jersey stick and gives the Bruins a 1-0 lead with a shorthanded, unassisted goal. 1-0 Bruins.
Remember that thing about a bunch of breakaways? Here’s another, and Miles Wood didn’t miss. 1-1 tie.
The Bruins liked scoring an unassisted shorthanded goal so much that they decided to do it again. In the same period. Again, a weird game. Tim Schaller! 2-1 Bruins.
Taylor Hall makes every Edmonton Oilers fan cry with a beautiful move early in the second. 2-2 tie.
Torey Krug gets it right back with a more normal goal for him, coming on the PP. 3-2 Bruins.
Taylor Hall continues to be good, as he finds Kyle Palmieri with a great pass. Palmieri finishes it off beautifully, and it’s tied at 3-3.
Anton Khudobin robs Stefan Noesen, keeping it tied in the second.
Adam McQuaid!?!?!!? A weird, wacky bounce ends up winning a weird, wacky game. 4-3 Bruins.
Patrice Bergeron would ice it with an empty-netter, giving the Bruins a 5-3 win.
Game notes
- Anton Khudobin was immense tonight, saving the Bruins’ bacon on about 15 different occasions. There was a point in the second period where he made a flurry of saves, froze the puck, then baseball-swatted it out of the zone as he skated to the corner, almost a “are you kidding me with this effort?” type move. The team in front of him was bad tonight. He saved the day.
- The last two games were a bit troubling to watch. The Bruins played a poor brand of hockey in each, as each game was loaded with bad turnovers, sloppy passes, lazy penalties and mental lapses. The Devils had at least 3 or 4 breakaways in this game. They had a bunch of PP chances. The Bruins aren’t going to win many games if they play the way they did tonight.
- Good for Adam McQuaid, getting the game-winner on a toss on net. The bruiser got the bounce, and it’s hard to not be happy for the guy.
- Great play by Brad Marchand to get the puck to Patrice Bergeron for the ENG. Marchand got bundled by Damon Severson, but still moved the puck. TAKING HITS TO MAKE PLAYS, as the NHL video games would say.
- Speaking of Severson, I don’t blame him for turtling against McQuaid. Severson had nothing to answer for, as his hit on Marchand was 100% clean. McQuaid would have tuned him up. Why bother?
- If these teams somehow meet in the playoffs, every goal will be scored from the opposite goal line on wobbly knuckle puck shorthanded shots. It’s been that kind of season series.