Boston Bruins allow fluke goal to lead to a 3-2 shootout loss at home.

Nov 15, 2013; Ottawa, Ontario, CAN; Boston Bruins goalie

(40) reacts after a goal is scored by Ottawa Senators right wing

(not pictured) in the third period at the Canadian Tire Centre.The Senators defeated the Bruins 4-2. Mandatory Credit: Marc DesRosiers-USA TODAY Sports

For my fellow sportswriters and hockey bloggers, it’s probably a good idea to keep a few feet away from Tuukka Rask tonight. Rask played a great game again for Boston, but a fluke goal that just puttered through the five hole set the stage for a shootout loss for the Bruins tonight. Regardless of the outcome, the Bruins and Blues played to their strengths and it was literally black and blue hockey on multiple levels. Both teams came at each other in a very physical, but clean game throughout. While the game was solid and clean, those first two goals were odd and ugly.

Gregory Campbell fired a chippy shot from a pass from Matt Bartkowski.  The puck stayed on the ice and glided past Jaroslav Halak low glove side. This gave the Bruins a late first period lead, 1-0. Campbell hadn’t scored a goal in thirty games. The relief and joy on his face was evident to another sold out crowd at the TD Garden. That joy was turned to disgust as the Hockey Gods thought turnabout was fair play. Thirty one seconds later Derek Roy sent a shot on goal that just kept slowing down as it approached a battling Johnny Boychuk and Chris Stewart. The puck leisurely went by and like watching the last of your pinballs go down the chute, it just inched through Rask’s five hole and melted past the line.

David Backes and Carl Soderberg did their best to score in the bottom half of the second period to keep the game tied 2-2. The rest of the game was filled with hard, clean hits that saw Blues and Bruins players bouncing off each other with reckless abandon.  Both teams gave up opportunities for the other, but solid goaltender, good defensive coverage and the occasional ping of the post kept the game tied throughout the third period and overtime.

In the end, Alexander Steen (who had been held to no shots on goal for the first time this season) and Derek Roy were able to get shots past Tuukka Rask and pulled out the 3-2 shootout win in Boston. This makes six straight losses for the Bruins against the Blues at home. The last time the Bruins beat the Blues in the Garden, was all the way back in 2001. The Bruins will just move on with their point and be ready to take on the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday.