Sunday, June 16, 2013

Day 77: Overtime Again... But This Time a Win For the Bruins (Phew!)

I'm sure I'm not the only one who breathed a huge sigh of relief at about 11:30pm last night when Daniel Paille beat Corey Crawford on the glove side. The Bruins and Blackhawks, for the second straight game, needed extra time to decide the winner. But game two had a much more enjoyable conclusion—not only did I get to bed before 1am, but the B's took game two on the road and head back to Boston with the series tied at one.

The Bruins were lucky they were even in the position to take this game to overtime after they came out sluggish in the first period. The Hawks out-skated, out-checked, out-hustled, outshot and outscored the lead-footed B's. In the first period alone, Chicago outshot Boston by an astounding 19-4, but only scored one goal on a wrist shot by Patrick Sharp about halfway through the period. Actually Patrick Sharp alone outshot the Bruins. It was slightly embarrassing.

So needless to say, the team should be buying Tuukka Rask a new car or something for keeping them in this game, saving 18 of 19 shots, most of which happened in a flurry at the front of the net. If it weren't for the quick reflexes of the young goalie, this game could've gotten real ugly, real early!

Coach Julien must have threatened some lives or families or something during the first intermission because the team came out like someone lit them on fire in the second. Every part of their game improved—they looked more in sync and managed to finally score. With five minutes left in the second period, Chris Kelly knocked a "juicy" rebound in over the right shoulder of Crawford for his first goal of the post season.

After a scoreless third period, the two teams, once again, headed into overtime. I'm not sure there's anything in sports that makes me more anxious than sudden-death overtime. I really should buy a defibrillator to have handy during these games because I feel like I'm going into heart failure. Although, I'm not sure defibrillating is something I can do to myself (I've usually been totally abandoned by the time overtime rolls around!)

Luckily, I didn't have to endure more than 13 minutes and 48 seconds of such torture, thanks to my hero, Daniel Paille, who scored the winning goal. The score was the result of hustle, the Blackhawk's inability to clear the puck from the zone and an amazingly crisp pass from Tyler Seguin. Thank the hockey gods for that one—going back to Boston down 0-2 is not my idea of fun.

Deep breath, Bruins fans. Back to Beantown we go!

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