Recap: Bruins scrape together comeback 3-2 win over Canucks

It certainly was not pretty. But the Boston Bruins were able to pull out a 3-2 over the Vancouver Canucks Sunday night.

Down 2-1 heading into the final 20 minutes, two power play goals late lifted the Bruins to the victory. Anton Blidh, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak found the back of the net while Linus Ullmark made 36 stops to secure the W.

With the win, the Bruins improved to 11-7-0 on the season. The loss for Vancouver made it four in a row, as the team dropped to 6-14-2.

1st period

Yeah, not a hot start for the Bruins.

You first Ullmark tripping over himself going to play a puck behind the net that left a scramble in front with no goalie. Luckily nothing came from it, but it set the tone early.

The Canucks got an early power play and just three and a half minutes in, they were on the board.

Not sure what Ullmark is doing there. Just kind of let the puck sit, doesn’t cover it up and his attempt to clear is too late. Bodies crash in front and puck trickles in as Tanner Pearson gets credit for the goal.

Luckily for Boston, it was ex-Bruin Jaroslav Halak in the crease on the other end. And let’s just say he gifted the Bruins one back.

Good for Blidh, getting his first of the season. He’s been playing really well as of late. He shimmies his way into the zone and rips one from far around that beats Halak glove side.

The Canucks nearly took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission. Conor Garland clapped one from the point that beat Ullmark up high, but bruce Cassidy challenged for offsides and it was successful.

1-1 after 1.

2nd period

Tomas Nosek nearly put the Bruins right on the board just 24 seconds in, but the goal was waived off for a clear kicking motion. Nosek looked like Pele out there, as clear of a kick as you can get.

The rest of the period? Well, the Bruins came out pretty sloppy in the second. They weren’t great in the first, but probably worse in the middle frame.

Vancouver took the lead back as Garland wouldn’t be denied on this one.

Bad turnover by Jakub Zboril, but a brutal goal allowed by Ullmark through the five-hole. Got to have that one back.

Bruins couldn’t generate anything. 2-1 Canucks heading into the final period.

3rd period

Something was said during the intermission. Something had to have been. Because the Bruins came out flying in the third.

And you know what happens when you start out-skating teams? You draw penalties. Which is exactly what Boston did. Nick Foligno drew a tripping call and the Bruins went to work on the power play.

Well, eventually. They did give up a breakaway to Tyler Motte shorthanded and Ullmark made a great stop on the five-hole. The Bruins collected the puck and went back down the ice.

Literally seconds later, Pastrnak rang the post, a scramble ensued in front before the puck popped out to Marchand.

You go to the net and good things happen. And what a timely save by Ullmark. It could have been 3-1 Canucks, instead, we got ourselves a tie game.

The Bruins went back on the power play late in the game with Oliver Ekman-Larsson called for boarding on Blidh. Blidh went down the tunnel and did not return.

But Marchand *again* put the team on his puck, deked around Kyle Burroughs and fed Pastrnak backdoor for the tap-in.

I mean, come on. What a move by Marchand and what a pass.

Bergeron got an empty-netter but it was called for offsides (very rude Travis Green). Nonetheless, the Bruins survived and came out with a 3-2 win.

Notes

• Let’s start positive first. What a response late from the top guys. The first line was shut down for a good part of this game. But when it mattered most, they were there. They turned it up and got the job done
• Evan Marinofsky tweeted this out, but Marchand is the team MVP right now and probably deserved consideration for the Hart. Will he win? Probably not with Connor McDavid and Leon Drasaitl doing what they’re doing, but he’s been so crucial to this Bruins team
• After nearly everyone on Twitter ripped them apart before they even had skated a shift together, the line of Foligno-Frederic-Kuhlman actually played pretty well! They certainly were standing out early on and Frederic had a great first game back
• And the bottom line was pretty good as well. Hopefully Blidh is okay. He’s been playing some great hockey as of late and was rewarded with the goal. Someone is going to be the odd man out
• Yeah it was a bad turnover on the Garland goal, but Zboril was the Bruins best defenseman last night. No other way around it, he deserves a spot in the lineup
• Ullmark had a rough game, but he made two great stops on breakaways to keep the Bruins in the game
• OK so the first two periods. It was a train wreck. Boston was throughly outplayed by a weak Canucks team. Out-muscled, out-skated, it was clear Vancouver wanted it more early on
• WHEN are we going to get a full 60 minutes from this group? When? We’re still waiting
• Ullmark/Swayman – can we see some improvement on rebound control? A puck that hits your chest should not drop in front of you. And if it does , CLEAR IT OUT
• I’m very interested to see what the lines look like next game against Detroit. I would assume Jake DeBrusk and Erik Haula, who were sitting this game, slide back into the lineup but where? The third and fourth lines were not the problem. If Blidh is out, then there’s a spot. But can you really go to back to DeBrusk-Haula-then someone like Kuhlman or Foligno? I’m not sure
• The Bruins will never get by a playoff team with the effort we saw tonight. Never. Nope. No shot. They’re lucky it came against a weak Canucks team

So okay, not pretty, but a win. Put it in the rearview, and focus on Detroit on Tuesday.