The Bruins looked to be down and out after two periods, trailing 2-0 and surely on their way to a series-evening loss. Jaroslav Halak had given up two soft goals. They had struggled to create much of anything at 5-on-5. Their power play had created chances, but hadn't been able to finish them.
Then came a third period for the ages. The Bruins decided they were coming back, taking a 3-1 series lead, and there was absolutely nothing the Hurricanes could do about it. They scored four straight goals and held on for a 4-3 win, and now have a chance to close out the series in Game 5 Wednesday at 4 p.m.
They finally broke through to cut the lead to 2-1 with 12:34 to go on an incredible hustle play from Jake DeBrusk, as he chipped a puck past Haydn Fleury, stormed past him, beat James Reimer to the puck as Reimer came out to challenge him, and then went flying through the air as he slid the puck past Reimer.
-- Jake DeBrusk2-1 #TakeWarning pic.twitter.com/E6ZAfHxtDl
— Here's Your Replay ⬇️ (@TheReplayGuy) August 18, 2020A couple minutes later, Charlie McAvoy destroyed Jordan Staal with a clean hip check, firing up the Bruins bench even more.
OOOOOF.#NHLBruins Charlie McAvoy hit on #TakeWarning Jordan Staal pic.twitter.com/oIuzZMTk9k
— Here's Your Replay ⬇️ (@TheReplayGuy) August 18, 2020On the very next shift, Joakim Nordstrom set up Connor Clifton for a laser one-timer into the top corner that tied the game. A minute and a half later, Torey Krug sent Brad Marchand in on a breakaway with a gorgeous indirect pass up the boards, and Marchand slid a shot through Reimer's five-hole to give the Bruins a 3-2 lead.
-- Connor Clifton2-2 pic.twitter.com/7b5y68JxUA
— Here's Your Replay ⬇️ (@TheReplayGuy) August 18, 2020-- Brad Marchand3-2 #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/kLRQeuo2Zi
— Here's Your Replay ⬇️ (@TheReplayGuy) August 18, 2020It felt like that was the end of the game right there, but the Bruins added another on a nice tic-tac-toe passing play from David Krejci to Ondrej Kase to DeBrusk for his second goal of the period just two and a half minutes after Marchand's goal. It would turn out to be a good thing they got that fourth.
-- Jake DeBrusk - 2nd tonight4-2 #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/BG9AN7hgqP
— Here's Your Replay ⬇️ (@TheReplayGuy) August 18, 2020When the assault was all said and done, the Bruins had scored four straight goals in a seven-minute stretch and outshot Carolina by a ludicrous 15-0 margin through the first 18 minutes of the third period.
To the Hurricanes' credit, they didn't just roll over and bow out quietly. They wound up cutting the lead to 4-3 with 1:27 to go when Teuvo Teravainen's pass to the front deflected off a skate and in. They continued their late push, but there would be no tying goal.
The Bruins that showed up in the third period weren't there for most of the game, but it did look like they were on their way to a strong first period, as they drew a penalty less than two minutes in and then put four shots on goal on the ensuing power play. They nearly scored -- and probably should have scored -- when Marchand set up Krug for a one-timer that Reimer was slow to react to, but Krug's shot went towards the wrong side of the half-open goal and hit Reimer right in the pads.
Torey Krug literally had the ENTIRE net... pic.twitter.com/rFxLqPAAGc
— Evan Marinofsky (@emarinofsky) August 18, 2020While the Bruins offense started going quiet after that power play, their defense continued to stifle the Hurricanes, holding them without a shot on goal through the first nine minutes of the game. Their first shot wound up going in, though, and it shouldn't have.
Justin Williams took a shot from the top of the left circle, and while there was some traffic around the net, it appeared Halak had a clear view. There was no deflection, either, and Halak just straight-up missed the shot with his glove.
-- Justin Williams1-0 #TakeWarning pic.twitter.com/kPYpSS4pgL
— Here's Your Replay ⬇️ (@TheReplayGuy) August 18, 2020The Bruins struggled for the remainder of the first period, registering just one shot on goal over the final 16-plus minutes of the period. They came out better in the second period, though, and once again generated a bunch of chances on another power play midway through the middle frame, but Reimer came up with a couple big saves on Patrice Bergeron and another on Krejci.
It felt like the Bruins were just about to bang down the door and tie the game, but then just 30 seconds after the power play expired, all that momentum evaporated. On the Hurricanes' first decent-looking rush in seemingly forever, Jordan Martinook took a shot from the left wing that caught Halak off his line and once again beat him glove-side. No snipe. Just a savable shot you need your goalie to stop.
-- Jordan Martinook2-0 #TakeWarning pic.twitter.com/NXGA7o2wQ3
— Here's Your Replay ⬇️ (@TheReplayGuy) August 18, 2020It felt like that could've been lights out for the Bruins. Two bad goals allowed could have deflated them for the night and forced them to regroup for a best-of-three series heading into Game 5.
But as they have proven time and again, these Bruins are resilient. And their third period Monday night was another example of the kind of resiliency and take-no-prisoners dominance it takes to win in the playoffs.
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