The Boston Bruins blew a third-period 2-1 lead only to fall 4-3 in overtime against the Minnesota Wild. It was the second straight game at TD Garden where Boston could not hold on to two points. Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov scored twice, including the overtime winner, but Marc-Andre Fleury secured the “W” for the Wild.
The 39-year-old Fleury stopped 40 of 43 Bruins shots before notching his fifth win of the season. His play, mainly in the second period, kept Minnesota in a game that looked like a lock for the Bruins.
David Pastrnak’s two goals in the first period powered the Bruins through the first forty minutes of action. Pastrnak had 11 shots on goal to lead the Bruins attack.
Minnesota grabbed a 1-0 lead at 7:46 when Marcus Johansson buried a rebound on the power play. Johansson snagged his rebound after he redirected a Frederick Gaudreau shot on an outstretched Linus Ullmark.
Right off the face-off, Bruins Left-Wing Jakub Lauko dropped the gloves with Wild forward Connor Dewar. Lauko pumped up the 17,850 in attendance as he made his way to the penalty box. This fight and emotion gave the Bruins the spark they lacked up to that point.
“It was great, it got us into it,” said Bruins Head Coach Jim Montgomery on Lauko’s fight. “I thought we picked up our intensity after that. They (Minnesota) just scored, and I thought we were a little flat. So he picked us up.”
Johnny Beecher broke the puck out of the Bruins’ zone and sped past Wild Defenseman Zach Bogosian before feeding Pastrnak in the slot. Pastrnak’s wrist shot beat Fleury high blocker side to even it 1-1 at 11:29.
Pastrnak sniped his second goal of the period as time expired when he rifled a Pavel Zacha feed past a sprawling Marc-Andre Fleury for his 19th of the season. A little give-and-go between the two Czechs saw Pastrnak circle behind the net as Zacha stick-handed his way toward the goal before zipping a pass to a wide-open Pastrnak at the bottom of the left circle.
The Bruins outplayed the Wild in the second period. The second game of back-to-backs for Minnesota started to show as the period continued. Fleury’s play kept them in the game. Ullmark was equally as deft in the crease, making timely saves as he turned back 27 of 31 shots.
Despite being the second game of a back-to-back for the Wild, they pulled even and then ahead in a 1-minute and 58-second sequence midway through the third.
Kaprizov evened things 2-2 at 13:12 when he pounced on a rebound at the right post after Ullmark stopped a Jake Middleton shot from the blue line. Brock Faber had the secondary assist on Kaprizov’s ninth of the season.
Ryan Hartman gave the Wild the 3-2 lead at 15:10. Once again, Boston could not contain a Wild player down low on a rebound attempt as Hartman scooped the puck over Ullmark’s shoulder for his ninth of the season.
Brad Marchand tied the game 3-3 at 18:54 of the third. Minnesota’s Alex Goligoski was in the penalty box for High-Sticking, and Ullmark was on the Bruins bench for the 6-on-4 power-play opportunity when Marchand corralled a loose puck in front of the Wild goal. A mad scramble in the Wild crease as Fleury played with a defenseman’s stick led to numerous pokes at the puck before Marchand netted his 13th goal of the year.
“I don’t like the plays to the slot that we’re giving up and I don’t like the rebound chances that we’re giving up,” said Montgomery. “It’s areas we’ve got to clean up.”
“I do like the way we responded. I like our compete level, our execution. Offensively and defensively needs to get better,” added Montgomery. “I love the fact that we got that point. I loved the way our goaltender competed again.”
Kaprizov capitalized for the game-winner at 2:54 of overtime when he one-timed a Joel Eriksson El pass past Ullmark on a three-on-one bid. Boston was caught with Charlie Coyle and Jake DeBrusk down low in the offensive zone before the Wild sprinted off the other way to end the game.
“Gotta get that on net. I don’t like the shot selection, and I don’t like both guys going into the net, going all the way to the goal line,” said Montgomery of the game-winning goal sequence. “That’s what gives up the three-on-one the other way. In three on three,I think our game management wasn’t great. We had full possession, and we lost it 40 seconds in there with, I don’t want to say careless pass, but it’s not a tape-to-tape pass, you know, and then now they have possession.”
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