Bruins win in double OT. Now lead series 3-2

Wow, what a game… again! This was just a spectacular game, full of drama, and was very thrilling to watch. A shutout game into the 3rd period, and it resulted in a double overtime finish. What more could you ask for. Going into this game NESN had a very interesting stat for each goaltender. They said that Carey Price in Game 5’s, was 0-2 with a 5.00 GAA and .833 save percentage. Tim Thomas meanwhile was 2-0 with a 0.50 GAA and a .980 save percentage with 1 shutout. Well, Thomas definitely lived up to that reputation! Now on to the game that was.

1st Period

Boston started the game very aggressive, but then turned the puck over. Montreal was able to get the puck on Thomas, but he made the save down-low. Boston brought the puck back into the Montreal zone, and the 1st line got good pressure on Price. An intentionally wide shot came right to Lucic, but he was clamped down on by Wisniewski. Lucic got the puck back though, and got a shot on net that was deflected in front by Kreci and bounced to the corner off the pads. Kreci picked it up and wheeled around a pass to the front of the net, and it went right by Horton. Montreal was able to clear the puck out of there zone. Marchand brought the puck up ice and tried to get a pass to Recchi on his right in the circle. The puck bounced to the corner boards, and was retrieved by Bergeron. Bergeron found Recchi right in front of Price, but the shot stopped by Price. Marchand came flying in on a rebound chance, but Price slammed the door shut making a couple impressive saves in a row. The Bruins were playing very well just 5:00 into the game. They had a lot of energy, and were very physical. Around the 6:40 mark, their was a face-off in the Boston zone. It was a stalemate and the puck trickled towards Thomas. He tried to poke check it away but missed, and it went right towards the post. He went spread-eagle, but was lucky as a Bruin picked up the puck. With 3 Canadians jamming the net, Boston now had numbers coming up ice. It was a 5-on-3, and Kreci passed from the near side to Lucic in the middle. He shot the puck, and it was slowed down by a diving Canadian. Price went to make the save, and was now in an awkward position on his behind, while Bergeron picked the puck up. Subban had back-pressure, and knocked the puck away. Boston had set up in the Montreal zone when Seidenberg attempted a dee pass to Chara. The puck was picked-off by Cammalleri, who now had a breakaway chance coming up the far side. Seidenberg was quick on his feet, and dove to close off his space. Cammalleri was forced to slow down, but he had 2 teammates coming up ice. Thomas being the aggressor, came way out of his crease. Cammalleri deked and passed through the diving Thomas to Plekanec. It looked like a sure goal, except for one thing. Coming down ice to provide back pressure was Michael Ryder. Ryder set himself up in the net when Thomas left. When the shot came in from Plekanec, he threw his right hand up and made an incredible glove save. Montreal was able to keep the puck in the zone, and attacked relentlessly. Boston was able to get the puck, and finally cleared after some great saves by Thomas (and Ryder). Around the 10:30 mark, Boston dumped the puck into the sideboards. Price caught the puck in the trapezoid, but would give it away to Horton on the pass. Horton passed to the slot to Kreci, but Carey Price made a spectacular save of his own with the pads and he covered up. Montreal came back with some tremendous pressure of their own. Plekanec got a shot off from the point, and it was redirected by Cammalleri. Thomas made a ridiculous kick with the left skate to save the goal. Both teams had tremendous energy to start this game, and both goaltenders were superb to start. You could tell from the get-go this was gonna be a good one. Gionta came up ice for Montreal, and headed down the sideboards. Ference was pressuring him, poking at the puck. Gionta decided to skate right into the stick (even though he didn’t have to) for a holding penalty at 14:16. Chris Kelly almost had a shorthanded bid at 15:15. Peverley picked off a pass in the neutral zone, and passed to Kelly coming up ice. Kelly deked out a Canadian defender, and had 3 Canadians behind him. He just couldn’t get the puck on his stick for the backhand attempt. Montreal was attempting to come up ice off the miss, and Desharnais skated right into Boychuck who wasn’t near the play. And with a little bit of acting by Boychuck, he was able to get an interference penalty at 15:47. It would be 4-on-4 for 30 seconds before Boston would go on the powerplay. Boston was able to keep the puck in Montreal’s zone for virtually the whole 30 seconds, denying the Canadians any chances. Boston was bringing the puck up ice, when Kreci found Lucic in-between 2 Canadians. Lucic had a breakaway, and shot the puck right into Prices chest. The Bruins powerplay was up to par (meaning awful), before Rich Peverley would receive a terrible interference call at 17:11. Peverley was knocked into Price by Subban, and Price hit the ice. It was now 4-on-4 for 36 seconds. The B’s were able to control the puck though, and Montreal couldn’t muster anything on the powerplay. The clock wind down, and the game was scoreless heading into the 2nd.

2nd Period

Boston started quickly in the 2nd, getting shots on Price before a minute had passed. Marchand came behind the net, and passed to Bergeron, who sent it to Recchi right in front of the net. Price made another tremendous save to keep the game scoreless. Just 1:53 into the period, Travis Moen received a holding penalty. 10 seconds into the penalty, Kaberle couldn’t handle the puck. It was picked up, and skated up ice by Halpern. He had Plekanec on his right, and Chara in-between them. Chara hit the ice, and stopped the cross-ice pass to deny the shorthanded pass. Another powerplay, another no goal for Boston. The tempo of the game slowed down after the slow-moving powerplay by Boston, and they were suddenly half-way through the 2nd. At the 10:56 mark, and indirect pass by Subban for Kostitsan put the Canadians in a 2-on-1 situation. Kostitsan shot the puck at Thomas, and he closed up the 5-hole, burying the puck underneath him. After that play, Montreal was able to sustain some pressure for a moment, but nothing surfaced. It became a dump and chase game by both teams. 16:15 into the 2nd, Boston won a face-off in the attacking zone. The puck was sent into the corner, and picked up by Kreci. He tried a wraparound attempt, but was stuffed by Price. The puck was picked up by Wisniewski, who tried to flip it out of the zone. It was gloved down by Kreci but he was clamped down on by the Montreal defense before he could get a shot off. Just as the period was winding down, there was a bit of excitement. Peverley tapped a blocked shot to Ryder. Ryder brought it through the neutral zone, and passed back to Peverley who shot wide. Just as the 19:00 mark hit, Seidenberg picked off a Montreal pass at the point. He passed to Marchand all alone in the high slot. He tried to go to the post, but Price held it. As he went behind the net, he passed to the net to try to get some offense. But Price appeared to have covered the puck. Marchand was jamming behind Price, and got the attention of Plekanec. Plekanec took a couple of shots at Marchands face, and drove him into the post. It looked like both wanted to go. Plekanec got a punch off,  and Marchand appeared to get a punch or two off before the interfering linesmen forced Marchand to fall to the ice. Recchi then tried pushing Gil away from the pile, and he caught an inadvertent elbow to the head. Recchi didn’t like that, and started swiping at Gil furiously. Bergeron broke up the fight, and then Gionta came over and got Recchi’s attention. Seidenberg grabbed a hold of Gionta, and Subban grabbed Seidenberg. Then it looked like Seidenberg asked Subban if he wanted to go, and Subban nodded. Seidenberg was about to wiggle his gloves off to fight, when Subban backed away and started yapping at him. Brad Marchand and Tomas Plekanec each received roughing penalties at 19:07. It was now 4-on-4 for the last 52 seconds of the 2nd period. The 2nd didn’t provide as much flare as the 1st period did, and the game remained scoreless. This was setting up to be a classic in Boston.

3rd Period

The 3rd period started fast and quick. Dennis Seidenberg brought the puck into the attacking zone, and tried to get a bad angle shot on Price, but he hit the side of the net. The puck was picked up by Kelly, who wheeled around a pass to Peverley. Peverley couldn’t get a shot off, because he was tripped by a diving Subban. For some reason there was no penalty. Gionta took the puck into the Boston zone, and skated around the far circle, and 3 Bruins to get in Tim Thomas’s face. He got a backhand on net, but Thomas made a nice save. The puck was picked up by Boston, and they had a 3-on-2 up ice. Peverley came up the near side, and passed to Chara in the middle. He shot a bomb from the high slot, but Price made the pad save. The puck stayed in the crease, and was picked up Peverley. He shot it right into Price, and the puck trickled by the far post. Coming out of the penalty box, Marchand picked the puck up and shot on net. It was deflected by Bergeron right into Prices gut. Marchand drove hard to the net, and stirred up more trouble. Bergeron came in to help him out by taking hold of Subban, and skating back with him. The two grabbed each others collars, and started yapping back-and-forth. Bergeron was done talking, and gave a little push to the bigger and stronger Subban, who proceeded to fall to the ice. Nice dive ya baby! Anyways, the game continued with no penalties. Off a Montreal dump, Boston took control of the puck and brought it up ice. Ryder skated up the sideboards, and turned back. He dumped the puck behind the net, and it was picked up by Peverley. Peverley came out, and found Ryder in the high slot for a one timer. Price made another great blocker save to keep the game scoreless. Montreal cleared the puck into the Boston zone, and Boston came back up ice. Chara chipped it into the corner, where Marchand retrieved it. He passed back to Recchi in the slot, who tapped it just wide of the post. Recchi retrieved the puck, and got it to Chara who dumped it back in. Marchand picked it up behind the net, and passed to Bergeron in the slot. Bergeron broke his stick on the shot attempt, and it trickled through the crease. Marchand found it, and put it in the back of the net for the games first goal at 4:33. Boston was up 1-0, and with the way Tim Thomas was playing, that might have been all they needed. The intensity of this game had quickly picked up. Montreal started controlling the puck in the Boston zone, and the Bruins were forced to ice the puck twice. Claude Julien even called his time-out to give his players some rest. Montreal continued to pressure Boston, not allowing them to get the offense started. Plekanec came down the sideboards with the puck, and passed back to Subban for the one-timer. The puck hit a mass of bodies in front of Thomas, and Seidenberg made a tremendous poke check to clear the puck from the slot. Boston started playing conservative hockey, which is not smart against a fast rush Canadians team. Boston had a turnover in the center-circle, and Montreal dumped the puck in. It was sent around the boards by McQuaid, but bounced off Lucic’s skates to Darche. His snap-shot hit the post, and Montreal remained goalless. Boston started getting the offense moving, and it was started by Brad Marchand. A bad angle shot was stopped by Price. Montreal couldn’t clear the puck, and Recchi got a shot off from the far circle with Marchand deflecting the puck into Price’s gut. Montreal then came right back, and crashed the net off a shot from the near circle by Plekanec. The puck hit Thomas’s glove, and fluttered into the air. The puck came down, and Thomas hit the ice. Kostitsan got off a shot in the slot that hit Thomas on the ice. Off the ensuing face-off, the puck was pinned along the sideboards. It was chipped behind the net, where Darch passed to Eller, and the puck jumped off his stick to Halpern in the slot. Halpern put the puck over a flopping Thomas at 13:56 to tie the game. Suddenly, things looked very scary in Boston. The B’s went back onto the attack, with Kreci taking the puck around Price. He passed to Chara at the point, who passed to Lucic at the circle. Lucic got a shot through traffic, but Price made the stop. The end of the 3rd was a back-and-forth battle between the teams. The 3rd period ended, and we were headed for sudden death overtime again, this time tied at 1.

1st OT

About 1:30 into the OT, Boston came up ice with the 1st line. Kreci was on the far side, and he passed to Lucic in the middle. Lucic got a great shot off, but Carey Price made a terrific save to keep the OT going. This game wouldn’t receive a quick OT goal like the last game did. Montreal started getting pressure in the Bruins zone. Subban passed from the point to Gionta at the far circle. He passed across ice to Desharnais who had an open net, but the puck bounced off his stick. He passed back to Subban, who was able to get it Gionta, but the puck exploded on him as well. He was able to pass back to Hamerlik at the point, who shot for the net, and Thomas gloved it down. That was a huge break for the Bruins. The tempo was picking up, creating a back-and-forth environment. Boston dumped the puck into the attacking zone. Price picked the puck up right to next to the post. Price attempted to make a play on the puck, but he fanned on the pass. A charging Marchand now had a play on the puck, and almost put it in the net. Price was inadvertently tripped by Marchand, and he fell on the puck to cover it up. Montreal brought the puck back up ice with numbers. Darch passed from the near side through the crease looking for a redirection, but there was no one there. These offenses just kept going back and forth midway through the OT. At the 13:40 mark, Bergeron went behind and around Price. He passed back to Recchi, who hit the far post. Montreal took the puck back up ice. Kostitsan passed from the near sideboards across ice to Plekanec. He came slowly down the far slot, and Thomas came out to meet him like always. He deked, and went to the back of the goal and passed through a diving Thomas to Cammalleri. 4 Bruins were in on the play, and 3 were in front of the net to support the diving Thomas. When Cammalleri shot at the net, it hit Bergeron’s back, and then Chara’s skate to bounce away from the goal. That was as lucky as you can get. Boston came up ice with their own counter-attack. Peverley shot the puck intentionally wide. It bounced off the boards to Ryder, who passed from behind the net to Kelly in the slot. Kelly was tripped by P.K. Subban’s skate, and couldn’t make a play. For some reason though, no penalty. Chara brought the puck back up ice, and made some swift moves to get by the Canadians defense. He threw a shot on net, and Price held the near post. The puck came back to Sopel, who through it to the sideboards. It was picked up by Eller, who had it knocked away by Marchand. The puck was picked up by Bergeron, who had a clear 1-on-1 with Price in the slot, but he was tripped by Sopel. A clear scoring chance denied, and it resulted in a tripping penalty on Sopel at 16:12. I don’t think it was worthy of a penalty shot, but I would have much rather seen that than another failed powerplay by Boston. The game remained 1-1. As the seconds waned away, it was time to head to the 2nd overtime of the night.

2nd OT

Montreal started the 2nd OT aggressive. Darche had a point shot off a face-off in the Boston zone, but Thomas made the save. Cammalleri had a good shot from the far circle, but Thomas made another great save. Off another face-off in the Bruins zone, Montreal took possession of the puck. Kelly broke his stick, and the puck went to Hamerlik at the point. He took a shot, and it was tipped by Halpern right in front of Thomas who made the save. Boston started getting its offense started. Seidenberg brought the puck behind the net, and passed to Kreci in front. His shot went wide. Later, Kaberle would dump the puck in to the near boards, and it was fetched by Peverley. He passed to Ryder at the circle who got a shot off, and Price made a tremendous save. Montreal cleared, and Boston came back up ice. Marchand took the puck to the near boards, and passed back to Boychuck at the point. His blast was saved by Price, and ricocheted out to Gionta. Gionta passed to Moen, and Montreal had a 2-on-1. Moen passed back to Gionta in the slot, and Thomas made an absolutely ridiculous save. He went right to left, and robbed Gionta with the left pad. It would prove to be his biggest save of the night. Boston was feeling it now, and they were able to control the puck for once in this overtime. Horton passed through the neutral zone to Lucic. He went down into the corner, and took a bad angle shot at Price. The puck came out, and was picked up by Horton. He went back to the point, and passed to Lucic, who passed to Ference. From the point, Ference took a shot on net, and it was tipped by Kreci. The puck hit Price, and bounced right to Nathan Horton in the crease. And at 9:03, Horton buried the puck in the back of the net, and the Boston Bruins won game 5 in double overtime 2-1.

Post-Game Breakdown

Whew, I am sweating. Sometimes, things are just too close for comfort. With the way that this Bruins team plays, I was wondering if they were going to blow it at some point. But, they played great hockey, and Thomas was spectacular. For once, there isn’t much to criticizes about this team. They played great, hung in there when things got tough, and pulled out a huge win. Going into game 6, I feel very confident about this team. I want to think that they’ve flipped the switch, so-to-speak, and have figured out how to finish. This is a very different team than played in games 1 and 2. This is a much better road than home team. So, even though the Bell Center is a tough place to play, I give the Bruins a big chance to come out on top in game 6. If the Bruins lose game 6, I wouldn’t be surprised either. Montreal certainly doesn’t want to lose to their most hated rival, in their own arena. If the Bruins do lose, it would depend on how they lost on the chances they have going into game 7. If it’s another game like this, then I’d say they have a great chance to win. Both goaltenders were outstanding, and sometimes you just can’t beat a hot goalie. So if the offense can get 2 or even 3 goals, and they lose, I wouldn’t be as worried if they lose 1-0. One things for sure, the B’s man-advantage sucks. They are 0-fer in the series, and need to fix that. Even if they do win this series without scoring a powerplay goal, they won’t fair well in the next round playing that way. Changes have to be made, and I don’t care if it’s moving players around, or changing up the approach. Something just has to change, because they are not going to score the way their powerplay is trying to score! Heading into game 6, I feel good though. It’s a toss-up game, as both teams have reasons why they could or should win. But, I do feel a lot better now that Boston is up 3-2 heading to Montreal, instead of down 3-2.