Bruins vs. Blackhawks 2/5/20 RECAP: Charlie McAvoy scores his first goal of the year to help the Boston Bruins win 2-1 in overtime!

First Period:

Not much happened here other than the Boston Bruins absolutely dominating the first 20 minutes and having to deal with Robin Lehner playing absolutely out of his mind.

Seriously. He should’ve been the first star of the night.

2nd Period:

Things didn’t start super great, as David Krejci boarded Adam Boqvist, who had to leave the game early. The ensuing penalty featured some solid net-front defense...were it not for teeny tiny man Alex DeBrincat show up and sneak a shot through. 1-0 Blackhawks.

Thankfully, the 2nd was much like the first in how the B’s took full control of it, and Sean Kuraly turned in the cycle to put a frame-perfect shot past Robin Lehner.

A Micrometer off, and that might not go in. That was the kind of night we got out of this game.

And then...silly bullshit happens.

Third Period:

Much of the same in this period, but what set it apart was the penalties. There were a lot of penalties handed out in the third period, but none were going to be part of the conversation more...than the one Torey Krug took late through the period, that ended up creating the hand-pass that got this Drake Caggiula goal called back.

Man, what a shambolic sequence that ended up being.

Nothing doing for either side...and to everyone’s favorite thing...wherein-

Charlie McAvoy finally scored a goal:

Bruins win 2-1!

Game Notes:

• A wall-to-wall asskicking in possession for the Bruins. The Hawks tried their best but they just couldn’t summon the kinds of shots that the Bruins were...even if the Bruins were giving up on shot attempts they could get. This could’ve been even better!
• Lost in the Lehner heroics was Jaroslav Halak, who did a pretty good job in spite of the comparitively light load. He finished tonight with a .955 SV% on 22 shots.
• This game was an absolutely miserable officiating performance. The Hawks got screwed on calls, the Bruins got screwed on calls...this was a great example of the NHL needing to make serious changes on officiating.
• Great time for Sean Kuraly to score, as he’d been struggling a bit throughout the new year. To say nothing of course of Charlie McAvoy to get his first of the year in the most clutch fashion possible.
• Just a terrible way for Boqvist’s night to end. I hope he recovers fully.

Thursday and Friday off to come back home, then Boston comes home to face the Coyotes at 3pm EST on Saturday!

See you for some afternoon hockey!