The Boston Bruins completed a perfect homestand of 6-0-0 as they dismantled the Chicago Blackhawks in the third period. Another loose effort from the Bruins leading to a goal-fest at TD Garden this afternoon.
Noel Acciari got things going after Sean Kuraly made a great play on the blue-line to steal the puck shorthanded before Acciari buried the puck to make it 1-0 Bruins. Evidently not a fan of the 5v5 format of the game the Bruins went 2-0 up with a David Krejci powerplay goal.
Jonathan Toews and Erik Gustafsson replied for the Chicago Blackhawks to tie the game before John Hayden netted Chicago’s third unanswered goal, 3-2 Hawks. The Bruins really didn’t like the idea of 5v5 and scored their third goal of the afternoon on the powerplay with David Krejci grabbing his second of the tilt.
The Chicago Blackhawks were not for rolling over and retook the lead with Matthew Highmore’s first NHL goal. Boston were not intent on allowing Highmore to steal the headlines and David Pastrnak saw fit to tie the game.
Pasta’s goal proved to be the Bruins only 5v5 goal of the entire contest and there were more goals to come from the black and gold. Brian Gionta finally got the Bruins in front once more with his sixth point in five games. 5-4 Bruins.
Rick Nash provided some breathing room for the Bruins, making it 6-4 Boston.
To top things off in the dying embers of the third, Sean Kuraly completed his first career Gordie Howe hattrick (goal, assist and a fight). 7-4 to the swashbuckling Bruins who have abandoned any notion of defence in favour of blowing teams out of the frozen water.
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Jake DeBrusk was again outstanding registering three points. DeBrusk is growing exponentially as Krejci’s wingman and the chemistry between the two makes the first and second line impossible to deal with. The Boston Bruins have strength in depth posing three formidable offensive lines. With both Bergeron and McAvoy out of the lineup to go 6-0-0 is more than encouraging as we rapidly approach the playoffs.
As a sidenote, Brad Marchand came under the spotlight again for an odd incident involving Anthony Duclair. Whilst Marchand is rightly scrutinised for some of his actions I feel the witch-hunt has gotten silly. Slow-motion replays do provide clarity to incidents but they also take away the sense of speed you get from watching in real time. I believe Marchand genuinely tried to get out of the way, however he could’ve maybe done more with his right arm.
You don’t have to wait long for your Bruins hockey fix as they head to United Centre to face the Hawks yet again.