Mar 8, 2014; Tampa, FL, USA; Boston Bruins defenseman
Kevan Miller(86) against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the second period at Tampa Bay Times Forum. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Second Period
“We need to break pucks out of our zone better, we turned the puck over in key areas and we need to do a little bit better job.” Kevan Miller on keeping the Hurricanes out of the defensive zone.
The Bruins started the second with 1:44 on the power play but weren’t able to convert anything onto the scoreboard, increasing the ‘Canes PK streak to 20-straight. As Rask came out to make a play off the glass he flipped the puck too high and sent the Bruins man-down at 17:28 of the second for a delay of game penalty served by Carl Soderberg.
Daniel Paille made perhaps the best save of the game for the Bruins ont he penalty kill against Eric Staal to keep it a one-goal game. Claude is also starting to shuffle the lines around:
Lucic-Krejci-Smith line is the only one intact.
Paille-Bergeron-Griffith
Soderebrg-Campbell-Eriksson
Marchand-Kelly-Cunningham
Fortunately for the Bruins Tuukka showed up to play for the second period, making a stone-cold stop on Eric Staal‘s attempt and stopping the follow-up rebound shot from Lindholm. The question looming in everyone’s minds, how long will he be able to carry them today?
Zdeno Chara blasts a one-timer at Anton Khudobin in the final 5:39 of the second frame but Dobby comes up big with the save. He always was a solid back-up goalie for the Boston Bruins.
With 5:25 remaining the Boston Bruins FINALLY got on the board. The Bruins brought the puck below the goal end to force Carolina to have to defend and then Marchand got the puck to the high slot to Bergeron. He was able to get the one-time shot past Khudobin and tie the game 1-1.
Fun Fact:Patrice Bergeron leads the Bruins in numerous categories. FO%, CF%, SCF%, points and assists.
David Krejci and Reilly Smith with a brilliant 2-on-1 opportunity, Krejci slowing the game down, holding the puck all the way to the slot making Khudobin commit before passing the puck to Smith who rang the puck off the post despite having a wide open net.
Second Period Summary:
The Boston Bruins started out slow once again for the second period and slowly came out of their funk mid-way through the period. There was more effort than in the first period, but not enough to instill confidence that they can take the cake in the third. The best bet for Boston at this point is to com out in the third and score a pair of goals to get the ball rolling. If they are able to instill a lead and do everything in their power to defend it, victory can be achieved.
Next: Third Period: Bruins At Hurricanes