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Boston Bruins Gameday 48: Rask and Bruins Bounce Back Strong

By Dan Luise

BOSTON, MA - NOVEMBER 29: Tampa Bay's first goal eludes Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask (40) during a game between the Boston Bruins and the Tampa Bay Lightning on November 29, 2017, at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. The Bruins defeated the Lightning 3-2. (Photo by Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA - NOVEMBER 29: Tampa Bay's first goal eludes Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask (40) during a game between the Boston Bruins and the Tampa Bay Lightning on November 29, 2017, at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. The Bruins defeated the Lightning 3-2. (Photo by Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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The Boston Bruins were able to bounce back against a strong St. Louis Blues team with an entertaining full-team effort.

With the win tonight, The Boston Bruins improved to 17-6-4 at home this season. They are also now 19-1-5 when scoring first. After a tough game and disappointing loss Tuesday, this was a good bounce-back win for the team.

They came out playing well, sustained pressure for almost the full 60 minutes and came out with an important two points.

1st Period

While the 18-game point streak was snapped earlier this week, another streak was snapped tonight. After eight straight games of allowing the first goal, the Bruins were finally able to take a 1-0 lead. The goal came with about seven and a half minutes remaining in the first. A rebound was bouncing around the crease with bodies going all over the place and it was David Krejci who was finally able to backhand it home. Even after a review for goaltender interference, the goal stood.

Overall, the Boston Bruins may not have been perfect but had a solid opening 20 minutes. They were outshot 14-9 but created some solid scoring chances (7) and looked much better than Tuesday. For the St. Louis Blues and their opponents, they actually hold the cumulative lowest first goal total in the league. So, a low-scoring first period seems up to par for the Blues. Nonetheless, it was an entertaining period and some shoving as time expired made for an interesting remaining 40 minutes.

2nd Period

The Bruins came out FLYING. They had over a minute of high-pressured offensive zone time in the first couple minutes from the Heinen-Bergeron-Pastrnak line. Everyone else seemed to be on-board as well with some great scoring chances and continued high-pressure. With that offensive zone time, the Boston Bruins outshot the Blues 13-3 in the opening ten and a half minutes or so.

After two, The Bruins were leading in shots 31-20. They had a lot of great chances and Blues’ goaltender Jake Allen was the reason this game stayed 1-0 after two.

3rd Period

The St. Louis Blues came out pressuring the Bruins as expected. Tuukka Rask was forced to make some key saves early on. He would finish the game with 32 saves and improve to 17-0-2 in his last 19 games. Boston was able to respond with some more pressure and this entertaining game and goalie battle continued.

The first penalty of the game finally came with just over 11 minutes left. Bruins wasted no time capitalizing on the opportunity and Patrice Bergeron netted his 21st of the year in signature fashion. Bergeron’s goal was assisted by David Pastrnak which extends his current point streak to seven games (3 G, 6 A).

Immediately, this already good game picked up the intensity even more with Backes and the Bruins continuing to crash the net, swiping at rebounds and creating chances. The second half of the period was nothing short of entertaining and back-and-forth action. In the remaining five minutes of the game, the Bruins killed off a key St. Louis powerplay. But, with 1:32 to go and the net empty, Jaden Schwartz cut the Bruins lead in half. With less than a second to go, David Backes beat the clock and put one home to secure the win and two points for the Boston Bruins.

Rask and Bruins Bounce Back Strong

To no surprise at all, Tuukka Rask was the star of the game. While it may be a bummer to lose the possible shootout in the last two minutes, he and the team should be very happy with his play. This was just a fun and entertaining game to watch from start to finish.

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The Bruins will need to play this strong again on Saturday against the rival Toronto Maple Leafs. The Leafs are nipping at the heels of the Bruins only three points back. Boston does hold four games in hand, but tonight’s intensity is still needed against Toronto’s firepower.

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