Bruins vs. Golden Knights 10/8/19 RECAP: Bruins rally from 2-0 hole, win 4-3!

First Period:

Ooooh, this started poorly.

Things started badly with a Bruins penalty kill that did not looked prepared at all to be dealing with what the Knights were bringing, and noted fancystats maven and probably happiest human alive now that he’s no longer a Senator Mark Stone cashed in a shot that bounced down on Rask’s glove. 1-0 Knights.

That shot’s even a little higher and Rask gets on Sportscenter for saving it.

Compounding that was not too long after, a former Bruin in [checks NESN’s broadcast] ...Zach Senyshyn?

Well, Reilly Smith was the guy on the ice and the dude who shot this puck with absolutely nobody except Rask in front of him, so we’ll have to say network TV might’ve goofed on that.

Puck-watching isn’t gonna prepare you for the shot that’s coming, guys. 2-0 Knights.

Thankfully, the B’s first line finally turned it’s scoring engines on, and David Pastrnak took a feed from Bergeron and Marchand to put Boston on the board! 2-1 Knights.

Man they’re just video game cheat code levels of brilliant.

And just to prove it, Brad Marchand who had fanned on a previous shot that could’ve been an obvious goal, got to make up for it with a seeing eye shot that caught Fleury off guard to tie the game on the power play! 2-2!

The b’s held their ground, and to the 2nd we go.

Second Period:

Things kicked off in the second right with Brad Marchand getting a fantastic pass from David Pastrnak and his full blessing to just go be the elite goalscorer he is.

That was just cruel. 3-2 B’s!

Then, with momentum purely on the B’s side, Torey Krug cashed in during an absolutely strangling shift with a shot that deflected off a Vegas stick and made it right past MAF. 4-2 B’s!

The Knights would try to make their best effort to attack Rask in any way they could, but the B’s held firm and Rask shut the door on some major 1-on-1 opportunities.

And onto the final period we go!

Third Period:

After waking up in the middle of the first and being fully awake in the second, the B’s locked the third period down, limiting the Knights to but 7 shots on goal.

Unfortunately, one did have the opportunity to make it into the net, as Max Pacioretty reminded people his shot is still pretty fantastic on the power play, giving Vegas fans some hope. 4-3 Bruins.

But, even with Fleury pulled, the B’s managed to keep the door shut, and a heat-exhausted Rask and company grabbed themselves their first higher-scoring win of 2019!

Game Notes:

• After an initial surge that made the B’s look very tired, the Knights sort of buckled under the pressure of the 2nd period and while they got some good shifts here and there, they were never able to match what they had done in the first ten minutes of the game.
• Charlie Coyle’s line has been absolutely monstrous, able to put together choking defensive and offensive shifts. They haven’t capitalized much outside of Game 1, but lesser goaltenders/defenses than the one Vegas has should be very worried.
• Torey Krug is a 5’11 terror on skates right now. Able to make long tours of the attacking zone, scores on a booming shot, and has shown he’s not the same guy he was last year at all in the best way with his fantastic defense based on killer speed alone. Dude’s just on another level right now.
• Gigantic game for David Pastrnak who had 3 points, two of whom were those fantastic assists on Marchand’s goals, and powered the team back into the lead. When the first line is on, it is on.
• In high-scoring games like this one, SV% can be a bit misleading, but Rask was under-siege for much of the 1st and 2nd period, so he was able to get himself to a respectable .912 SV% in spite of his 3 goals against and honestly the only goal you could make an argument for wanting was the Mark Stone one where it literally bounced on his glove and then down. This sport’s object of play is a real doozy.
• Some real boneheaded play caused more opportunities for the B’s to have to backcheck than I think anyone would care for.
• Bit of injury scares in the earliest and latest parts of this game as Matt Grzelcyk took a puck off the foot and left the game but returned later on. Next was Tuukka Rask, who at the end of regulation had to be helped to the bench by his teammates as he couldn’t get up under his own power, which he later revealed to be him overheating. Both are fine, but boy losing either this early on would be a very bad thing.
• This 3-0 start is the best start the B’s have had since the early 2000’s. That sure...is a thing.

B’s get a day of travel, then finish the western conference road trip in Colorado at 9pm thursday.

We’ll see you there!