The Boston Bruins looked dead in the water after two periods Tuesday night in St. Louis. They were losing 2-0. They had taken two offensive-zone high-sticking penalties and allowed two power-play goals to a Blues man advantage that ranked dead last in the NHL. Their own struggling power play was 0-for-4. Hampus Lindholm, arguably their best player this season, had been knocked out of the game with a lower-body injury after blocking a shot.
Given the Bruins’ season-long struggles in the third period, there seemed to be little reason for optimism. But Tuesday night was different, and it was different because Boston’s three captains made sure it was different. David Pastrnak, Charlie McAvoy and Brad Marchand stepped up big-time in the third to lead the Bruins to their biggest period and biggest win of the season, a 3-2 comeback effort.
Pastrnak started the comeback 4:53 into the third when he stole the puck from Colton Parayko in the neutral zone and then set up Morgan Geekie, who had been a healthy scratch the last three games, for his first goal of the season.
McAvoy started and finished the sequence that led to the tying goal, making a stretch pass from his own zone to get the Bruins into the offensive zone, and then stepping into a one-timer to bury his first goal in 15 games. In between, Marchand combined with Justin Brazeau to win possession and then make the pass back to McAvoy, picking up his ninth point in the last nine games in the process.
The winning goal came with 1:47 left in regulation. After Pastrnak partially whiffed on a one-timer attempt, the Bruins kept the play alive and then McAvoy set up Pastrnak for another one-timer that he did not miss, and that just squeaked through Blues goalie Jordan Binnington. It was Pastrnak’s first goal in eight games, and a fitting end to a game that he absolutely dominated.
Pastrnak registered the Bruins’ first six shots on goal in the game, and ultimately finished the night with 10. He drew two penalties. He played a whopping 23:49. During the 17:31 that he was on the ice at 5-on-5, the Bruins had advantages of 22-6 in shot attempts, 13-0 in scoring chances, and 7-0 in high-danger chances. He had an absurd 97% expected goals share. Simply put, Pastrnak had the Bruins on the attack every time he was on the ice, even before he finally got rewarded with two third-period points.
“Mac and Pasta, I think they weren’t gonna let us lose tonight,” Montgomery said of McAvoy and Pastrnak on NESN. “You could just see it, that they were stepping out on the ice with an elevated purpose in the third period.”
Montgomery liked the way his captains were leading even before the comeback was complete, crediting them with keeping the bench upbeat and energized throughout the game.
“We just thought that something that’s been lacking in us has been our stick-to-itiveness, with just playing the right way,” Montgomery told NESN. “And that’s what we preached. The bench was great. Our leaders were fantastic. They were very positive all night long.”
Tuesday night was far from perfect. The careless penalties need to stop. The power play and penalty kill both remain in desperate need of improvement. Finding some offense before the third period would be preferred. Replacing Hampus Lindholm will not be easy if he misses time (Montgomery didn’t have any update postgame and said the team would know more on Wednesday).
(UPDATE: Montgomery said on Wednesday that Lindholm will be out "weeks," according to Jim McBride of the Boston Globe. The Bruins recalled veteran defenseman Jordan Oesterle from AHL Providence.)
But the Bruins didn’t roll over. They showed some real resiliency in the third period, led by their three captains, all of whom had come under criticism for their role in this team’s sluggish start to the season. Now they need to build on it, which has been a problem any other time they’ve started to build some positive momentum this season.
“You learn through adversity,” Montgomery said. “…When you get a game like tonight and you realize that if you stay in the moment, good things happen, believe in the process, and we just worry about what’s next.”
What’s next for the Bruins is a Thursday night road game against the 9-5-0 Dallas Stars, a team that crushed them 5-2 in Boston three weeks ago. Let’s see what the Bruins have learned.