The fans inside the TD Garden were treated to a wild hockey game with plenty of entertainment. Although the game started out rough, things heated up in the second period. This contest saw a losing streak snapped, a team point streak end and a new NHL goal leader emerge.
It appeared as though this game was going to be a mirror image of the Bruins previous game. After going down early, the B’s came back strong to try to mount a comeback. An eventful second period set the stage for an intense third period for the Bruins.
First Period
For the second night in a row, the opening frame for the Bruins was an ugly one. They could not get a handle on the puck to make any plays. The Avalanche were able to take advantage of Boston’s sloppy play to build an early two-goal lead.
Matt Duchene started the scoring for the Avalanche a little over five minutes into the period. He was able to catch the Bruin’s defense way out of position to net his 10th goal of the year. The home team then saw Nathan MacKinnon net a shorthanded breakaway goal after a bad turnover by Torey Krug.
Second Period
Early on, the ugly play of the Bruins continued. They had turnover after turnover and could not get any sort of rhythm going. Eventually, the Avalanche capitalized on a turnover to open their lead to three goals.
After some back and forth action, the Bruins finally got on the board. Tim Schaller found David Pastrnak coming out of the penalty box for a breakaway goal. A short time later, Pastrnak found the back of the net again after he rifled a one-timer past Calvin Pickard. It looked as though the Bruins were about to take over the game, until former Bruin Carl Soderberg scored his fourth of the year. After two, Boston was down 4-2.
Third Period
The Bruins controlled the majority of play throughout the third period. They were able to string together a handful of good shifts to put a lot of pressure on Pickard. Unfortunately, the Colorado goaltender was able to turn aside every opportunity. At the final buzzer, the scoreboard showed the Avalanche escaping with a 4-2 win over the Bruins.
Scoring Summary
FIRST PERIOD
COL-Matt Duchene (10) Unassisted
COL-Nathan MacKinnon SHG (7) Unassisted
SECOND PERIOD
COL-John Mitchell (1) Unassisted
BOS-David Pastrnak (17) assisted by Tim Schaller (5)
BOS-David Pastrnak (18) assisted by Brad Marchand (17) and Torey Krug (11)
COL-Carl Soderberg (4) assisted by Mikhail Grigorenko (6) and Francois Beauchemin (6)
THIRD PERIOD
No Goals
THW Three Stars
First: David Pastrnak (2 goals)
Second: Nathan MacKinnon (1 goal)
Third: Calvin Pickard (29 saves on 31 shots)
