Recap: Bruins rally late, but fall to Chicago in OT

Charlie McAvoy flubs the puck on the power play, and Chicago converts on the odd-man rush the other way to make it 1-0 Chicago in the first.

The Bruins’ first period woes continue as Dylan Strome is left all alone in front to tip the puck by Tuukka Rask on the PP. 2-0 Blackhawks.

Alex DeBrincat is given too much room, and his perfectly placed shot beats Rask just 17 seconds into the third period to make it 3-0 Blackhawks.

A good effort by David Backes ends up sending the puck the other way, where Joakim Nordstrom capitalizes to make it 3-1 Chicago.

Zack Smith leaves his feet to come up high on David Pastrnak. John Moore takes exception, and appears to reinjure himself in the process.

Chris Wagner takes advantage of a stumble by Chicago to score on the PK, making it 3-2 Chicago.

With Chicago focusing on David Pastrnak, Torey Krug finds a little space and buries one top corner to tie it at 3-3.

Jonathan Toews snuffs out the David Pastrnak move attempt and goes the other way on the breakaway, beating Rask five-hole for a 4-3 Chicago win.

That’s all she wrote! The Bruins get a point, but Chicago leaves town with a 4-3 win.

Game notes

• Given the overall effort, a point isn’t a bad result tonight. The Bruins were sloppy, messy, etc. with and without the puck. Still, they were in it until the end, and managed to get out with something.
• The Toews play on Pastrnak wasn’t a penalty. There was no trip, no nothing, really. Pastrnak seemed like he was trying to draw a call, which is understandable, given the abuse he took all night. Still, not a good time to try to draw a call. Live and learn.
• I feel terrible for John Moore. I’m not sure yet that it’s serious, but it sure looked like he was favoring a shoulder coming off the ice. He just had shoulder surgery during the offseason, so another shoulder injury would be real rough.
• The Bruins, as a whole, were bad tonight, but McAvoy and Brad Marchand stuck out as being particularly off. McAvoy was brutal on the first Chicago goal, turning the puck over then sitting and watching the tap-in. Marchand looked like he was fighting the puck all night. Still, these nights happen.
• The Blackhawks clearly made it a focus to go after Pastrnak. I thought the Zack Smith hit shown above was a penalty, as he clearly left his feet and his initial point of contact was the head. Still, the worst was when Conor Murphy jabbed Pastrnak in the face in the corner, then the two got in a scrum in front of the net, yet Pastrnak was given the only penalty. Come on.
• Tonight marked the first time this season that the Bruins trailed by more than 2 goals at any point. Still, they managed to extend their season-opening point streak, and they still haven’t lost in regulation at home.

Back at it on Saturday!