After going down 2-0 to the Philadelphia Flyers in the second period, the Boston Bruins came out guns blazing in the third period and scored four goals to help get the game to a shootout where they ultimately won.
The game started off well for the B’s. They continued their play from the game against the Islanders. They were creating chances and sustaining pressure at 5-on-5, but just couldn’t finish. The game went into the first intermission scoreless.
However, the Black and Gold struggled in the second period. They had difficulty creating chances at 5-on-5 and finally allowed a powerplay goal against. To make matters worse, the Flyers scored a late goal in the period to make the score 2-0 going into the second intermission.
After that embarrassment of a second period, many Bruins’ fans felt hopeless, they thought this game was all but lost. There was no way Boston was coming back from down 2-0 with their inability to score a goal at 5-on-5.
But this just wasn’t the case last night. The impossible happened as the B’s finally scored a 5-on-5 goal early in the period with rookie Jack Studnicka potting his first NHL goal to make the score 2-1. Miraculously, just over a minute later, Charlie Coyle scored another 5-on-5 goal to tie the game.
Both the Bruins and Flyers would go on to score two more goals in the period to force the game to overtime with a 4-4 score. Overtime would be eventful with goalie Tuukka Rask having to bail out his Boston teammates several times. But, ultimately, the Black and Gold would emerge victorious via a shootout thanks to a nifty move by Jake DeBrusk.
Now that you have the recap of the game, here are my three takeaways from the exciting event.
3. Boston Bruins’ fans owe Nick Ritchie an apology.
Since being acquired by the B’s at last year’s trade deadline, fans have had ridiculously high expectations for left wing Nick Ritchie. They expect him to be a type of player that he just isn’t — a speedy, flashy superstar.
The fact is that Ritchie isn’t pretty to watch. He’s a big-bodied power forward/grinder-type player that makes a living in front of the net deflecting shots and cleaning up rebounds. He’s not fast, doesn’t have the softest hands, and doesn’t have the hardest shot, so don’t expect to see highlight reel goals from the former first-round pick.
Now it’s true that Ritchie wasn’t good during his small amount of time with the Black and Gold last season after being acquired. But you have to give him credit where credit is due — he has been arguably the best forward for Boston this season.
Ritchie seems like a totally different player than he did last season. He’s getting to rebounds and finding loose pucks to create scoring chances. He’s been in the right spot at the right time and just seems to have a knack for this.
Because of Ritchie’s improved play this season, he currently leads the team in goals with two and his tied for second on the team in points with three. While he doesn’t play like a stereotypical top-six forward, he’s been producing like one and fans owe him an apology.