The Boston Bruins just barely escaped St.Louis last night with a 6-5 win over the Blues. The Bruins nearly blew a three-goal third period lead but managed to hang on and walk away with a huge two points to remain in third place in the Atlantic division. Detroit still remains in ninth place and out of the playoff picture with the B’s win.
St. Louis looked awake and energized very early on and finally scored 14:04 into the first period by Jaden Schwartz. 41 seconds later, Loui Eriksson scored his 28th of the year to even the score at 1-1. Eriksson walked in all alone after receiving a John-Michael Liles stretch pass snapping it five-hole on Blues goalie Brian Elliott. David Krejci responded two-minutes later scoring his 17th of the year to make it 2-1.
The Blues responded in the second making it 2-2 5:39 in when Paul Stastny put in a rebound after being left all alone in front of the net. The Bruins woke up after that defensive breakdown and scored three straight making it 5-2. They outshot the Blues 15-8. Beleskey scored his 15th of the year, followed by Frank Vatrano who got his eighth of the year and then David Krejci got his second of the game and 17th of the season on the power-play.
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The third period rolled around and the Bruins only mustered up five shots on net and held on for dear life. St. Louis scored 3:56 in to make it 5-3, then again at 7:38 to make it 5-4. The Blues outshot the B’s 14-5 in the final 20 minutes but ultimately fell short when Patrice Bergeron scored his 30th of the year on the power play to make it 6-4. The Blues did get another goal with the extra attacker but the Bruins were ultimately saved by the bell while the Blues continued to swarm the Bruins defensive end.
Boston was outshot 30-28 but that three goal second period was ultimately the difference in the game. Through 60-minutes, the B’s went 2-4 on the power play while going 5-5 on the penalty kill. They out hit the Blues 29-21 and really took care of the puck, giving it up only once while generating five takeaways.
David Krejci scored his first four point game in his National Hockey League career and was the Bruins best player last night. He scored two big goals and had two assists en route to a huge and much-needed win.
Next: David Krejci Has Career Best In Big Win
The Bruins will travel to Chicago for an NBC game tomorrow afternoon with another huge two points on the line. The Detroit Red Wings play the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight and will let the Bruins know what their outcome tomorrow must be to remain in the playoff picture. Lets hope the Maple Leafs can help us out like the Canadiens did not to long ago and give a huge blow to the Red Wings playoff chances.