Recap: Late Grzelcyk goal helps Bruins to 3-2 win over Oilers

Through 22 games this season, Boston Bruins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk had not found the back of the net.

He chose the perfect time for his first goal in the Bruins’ win over the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday.

Grzelcyk’s goal in the final minutes of the third period propelled Boston to a 3-2 victory over Edmonton. Linus Ullmark made 41 saves in the game as Brad Marchand and Jake DeBrusk also tallied goals.

The Bruins improved to 13-8-2 on the season, while the Oilers dropped their fourth game in a row to fall to 16-9-0.

1st period

The first period, like the night before in Vancouver, was with limited action and intensity.

Not much to note until Marchand undressed Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner for the shorthanded tally.

Great defensive play by (guess who) Patrice Bergeron on the PK to then send in Marchand alone on Skinner for his first shorthanded goal of the season.

With that late goal, the Bruins took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission.

2nd period

Boston got out to an early power play in the second and DeBrusk made the Oilers pay.

Why does it feel like every DeBrusk goal is a snipe? He goes top corner over Skinner to give the Bruins the 2-0 lead.

Late in the second however, the best power play in the league went to work with Leon Draisaitl narrowing the deficit to one.

Seen this quite a bit from the Oilers on the PP, hitting either McDavid or Draisaitl in that spot for one-timers. Didn’t get all of it on this one, but enough to get it by Ullmark.

2-1 Bruins after two.

3rd period

After a questionable hooking call on Bergeron, the Bruins went to work down a man. But again, Draisial, from the same spot, put one home and we got ourselves a tie game.

He really does live in that spot on the PP and it works. 2-2 game.

The Bruins were certainly on their heels for most of the third. Felt like they were just trying desperately to force OT and get the point and a chance at 2.

But Grzelcyk had other ideas, as with less than three minutes left in the game, he blasted home his first of the season for the lead.

An excellent shift from the second line leads to the Grzelcyk tally.

The Oilers pushed, but Ullmark came up big with some saves down the stretch and the Bruins secured a big 3-2 win in Edmonton.

Notes

• Great response from the whole team after laying an egg on Wednesday against the Canucks. Back-to-back games aren’t the easiest, but it showed this team does have fight to it when it wants to
• Linus Ullmark was the star of this game. Kept the Bruins in it late, can’t really blame him for either goal. He has been playing some great hockey as of late, allowing just two goals in each of his last four games and a .938 SV% in those contests
• The shorthanded king was back at it again. 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Ty Anderson tweeted this neat tidbit on the pair:
  • Shorthanded goals (since 16-17) Detroit Red Wings: 23, Los Angeles Kings: 23, Bergeron-Marchand: 23, Chicago Blackhawks: 22
• Really cool to see DeBrusk score in front of his hometown and his dad, Louie, who was on the call. And really great to hear Louie talk about his kid’s goal. Just a nice feel-good moment
• Some questionable penalties again against the Bruins. And it almost cost them the game. The hook on Bergeron was a joke and that lead to the game-tying goal
• The second line of Coyle, Hall and Smith had a rough night to say the least, but they did show up when it mattered. That shift on the Grzelcyk goal was really their only one all night with sustained offensive pressure
• Building off that, Taylor Hall was held to 11:37 TOI. That’s the 9th-lowest of his career and essentially one of his career-lows if you don’t count games where he’s gotten injured. It’s clear he needs to play with better players because he changed the game when he was playing with Bergeron and Pastrnak and has gone invisible again since he was dropped from that line

A big two points to give the Bruins three out of a possible four through two games in the road trip. A great bounce back performance getting the win over a good Oilers team.

A day off and then the roadie is completed in Calgary against a tough Flames team. Chance to go home on a good note.