Recap: Lindholm’s OT goal gives Bruins a wild 6-5 win in Pittsburgh

How’s that for a hockey game?

After being down 5-2 in the second period and 5-3 at the start of the third, the Bruins stormed back with two goals in the latter half of the third and got an OT winner from Hampus Lindholm to earn their sixth win in a row.

It was a wild way to kick off the month, and not without its downsides as Jeremy Swayman left the game with what looks to be a serious knee injury.

Things got off to an inauspicious start for the Bruins, as Sidney Crosby scored 30 seconds into the game to make it 1-0 Penguins.

Charlie Coyle would get one back for the Bruins five minutes later, collecting a loose puck and putting it home to make it a 1-1 game.

The Bruins would take the lead eight minutes later, as Jakub Lauko scored his first career NHL goal off of a great pass from Nick Foligno. 2-1 Bruins.

It got a bit dicey after that, as the B’s would allow four goals in a row, getting Linus Ullmark yanked from the game in the process.

Evgeni Malkin tied it up at 2-2 less than two minutes into the second period.

With a delayed penalty on the Bruins, Josh Archibald made it a 3-2 game in favor of the Penguins nine minutes into the second.

Bryan Rust would give Pittsburgh another goal around 90 seconds later, making it 4-2 Penguins.

Just 20 seconds later, Rickard Rakell scored to make it 5-2 Penguins, as Pittsburgh scored three goals in less than two minutes.

The Bruins thought they got one back via Patrice Bergeron, but a successful coach’s challenge led to the goal being overturned.

In true Jack Edwards “THAT ONE COUNTS” fashion, Brad Marchand would indeed score the Bruins’ third goal just a few minutes later, making it a 5-3 game.

Five minutes into the third, Swayman, who replaced Ullmark after the latter allowed the fifth goal, left the game after a collision with Bergeron. Swayman didn’t put much pressure on his leg leaving the ice, nor did he return to the bench.

With under ten minutes to go, Pavel Zacha started the comeback by deflecting a Lindholm point shot past Tristan Jarry to make it 5-4 Penguins.

With less than 90 seconds to go and the Bruins’ net empty, Taylor Hall collected a loose puck and fired it past Jarry to make it a 5-5 game.

The Bruins had to kill a Lindholm tripping penalty in OT, but they survived - and then Lindholm sent everyone home.

And that’s all she wrote! 6-5 final in favor of YOUR Boston Bruins.

Game notes

• Whew. 11 goals, plus one that ended up not counting. Three-goal comeback. Goal with the net empty. This game had it all.
• It was kind of funny to see Jarry whiff on that game-winner, especially after he spent much of the game flopping trying to draw penalties — that’s not to say it wasn’t a good shot, but is one you'd expect to see stopped if you’re a Penguins fan.
• The Nick Foligno Redemption Tour continues, as he made a great play to set up Lauko’s goal and then told Jarry to stop flopping earlier in the game.
• Hall was immense in the third period, making a good hustle play to keep the puck alive prior to Zacha’s goal, then scoring from the greasy area on the game-tying goal.
• It’s a fool’s errand to predict the severity of an injury, but Swayman’s looked pretty bad. It’s never good to see the knee hyperextend like that, and the fact that he put no pressure on it leaving the ice is more cause for concern. Matt Porter notes that Swayman had ice, not crutches, after the game, so...fingers crossed.
• Lindholm gets the plaudits for the game winner and rightfully so, but it was part of an impressive offensive night for him: 1G, 3A.
• Weirdly enough for a team that scored six goals, Lindholm was the only Bruin with a multi-point night — everyone else on the scoresheet either had a single goal or single assist.
• Derek Forbort left the game with an upper-body injury and didn’t return.

Catch your breath! The B’s are back at it Thursday night in Manhattan — 7:30 start time.