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The Boston Bruins didn’t have time to make up for the last last-second, buzzer-beating goal they surrendered to the Colorado Avalanche in a 2-1 defeat all the way back on Oct. 13. But time was on the B’s side this time around, as they overcame
Jarome Iginla’s first-period strike with :00.4 seconds left in the first, rallying by the Avs with a goal in both the second and third period, but crumbling with a late 6-on-5 goal against, and a frustrating 0-for-3 mark in the shootout in a 3-2 loss at the Pepsi Center.
On the second leg of a back-to-back, Colorado’s goal seemed to be a devilish of everything the Bruins have tried to move past in 2015. In other words, it was a return to the mental lapses that ruined their lives for about four months this season. Skating with an effort to simply run out the clock and return to the locker room with a scoreless affair through 20, the Bruins sorta forgot about Iginla -- a player that’s not exactly known to take his foot off the gas -- and let the veteran winger storm in with a virtually uncontested look.
The shot was contested, though, with a sliding Carl Soderberg and Chris Kelly, but they couldn’t come close to matching the torque the 37-year-old sniper put on the spinning puck.
With the strike, Colorado took a surprising 1-0 lead, while Iginla moved into sole possession of No. 20 on the NHL’s all time goal-scoring list, besting Islander legend Mike Bossy with the 574th goal of his career.
Boston found the equalizer 6:18 into their 12-shot middle frame, with
Torey Krug putting his home his ninth goal of the year, with
Milan Lucic and
David Pastrnak picking up the assists.
The Bruins jumped out to their only lead of the night four minutes into the third, with
Brad Marchand -- in his first game back from a two-game suspension -- beating Semyon Varlamov on a beautiful and patient feed from
David Krejci.
It was the lone bright spot in a period headlined by the Black and Gold simply trying to hang on for dear life.
Outshot 15-to-5 in the third, and after falling to cash in on a late-game power play,
Patrick Roy pulled Varlamov for the extra attack, and sure enough,
Ryan O’Reilly struck.
Cashing in for his ninth goal of the season, and sending the Bruins and Avs to overtime, a shotless overtime frame (for the Bruins anyways) led the Bruins-Avs to the shootout, where
Nate MacKinnon scored the lone goal in the top of the first round of the three-round shootout, stealing two points for the Avs.
If there’s one word to describe the Bruins’ late-game effort in this one, it’s ‘tiring’. The Bruins, and most notably Rask, looked like they had nothing left in the tank this one, and the Avalanche really took it to them with speed. It’s bittersweet to swallow a shootout loss, especially after the way the Bruins seemed to claw back in this one, but three-of-four on a two-game road swing is an end result you’ll take every time.
The silver lining-- Even when looking a bit spent, Rask was dynamite. With another strong showing (34-of-36), the 27-year-old improved to 5-1-2 in his last eight starts, and has posted a sensational .953 save percentage over that stretch.
The loss put an end to a three-game winning streak at Pepsi Center, and gave the Avs their first home win over the Bruins since Dec. 7, 2005.
Random thoughts and notes
- Torey Krug is currently paced for a 43-point season. He’s the real deal, and he’s gonna get paid, especially after taking a modest $1.4 million bargain one-year contract. And like I’ve said numerous times at this point, the Black and Gold would be wise to hammer that extension out before it jumps up another half million or so.
- With the primary assist on the B’s second goal of the night, David Krejci picked up career point No. 400. Realistically, Krejci should pass Fred Stanfield (409), and could push by both Barry Pedersen and Brad Park (417 each) or even Woody Dumart (429) by year’s end. The next big milestone, however, is passing Jean Ratelle (a Bruin from ‘76 to ‘81) and his 450 points in a B’s uniform to bump into the franchise’s Top 20.
- Four years ago tomorrow (or today if you’re in Boston), the Bruins visited the Pepsi Center and routed the Avalanche. But the biggest story in that game--
Marc Savard. Bumped on a hit by
Matt Hunwick, Savard suffered a concussion on the hit, and never returned to the game he loved so much. In five years with the Bruins, Savard served as the Bruins’ playmaking supreme, recording 74 goals and 305 points in 304 regular season contests for the Black and Gold.
Up next
The Bruins will head into the All-Star break, and thus won’t skate in game action ‘til next Thursday, Jan. 29, when they visit the Nassau Coliseum for the last time before the Islanders head on over to Brooklyn’s Barclays Center for the start of the 2015-16 NHL season. I’m in the minority, I know, but I love that old barn.
Ty Anderson has been covering the Boston Bruins for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010, is a member of the Pro Hockey Writers Association's Boston Chapter, and can be contacted on Twitter, or emailed at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com
Boston Bruins Blogger •Bruins Feature Columnist • 
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