An overtime turnover by former St. Louis Blues draft pick Carl Soderberg put the puck on the stick of T.J. Oshie and into the back of the Boston net while St. Louis goaltender Jaroslav Halak continued to stand his ground as a Bruins killer, sinking the B’s, 3-2.

But hey, it’s one more point for the Bruins than you thought they’d get before the third started.

It’s no secret that the odds were up against the Black-and-Gold tonight. Boston entered play without Zdeno Chara, who left for the Sochi Winter Olympics earlier than his fellow NHL brethren so that he could carry the Slovakian flag at the Opening Ceremony, and they were going against a St. Louis club that entered play with 20 wins in just 28 contests at Scottrade Center in 2013-14.

That was (at times painfully) apparent through the first 40 minutes of play.

The Blues grabbed a 2-0 edge behind goals from Alexander Steen and Jaden Schwartz, but finally, at the 9:16 mark of the third period, the B’s found life.

With Milan Lucic providing the screen, a wicked wrister from David Krejci blew past Halak, good for Krejci’s 13th of the year (and third in the past five games) and enough to cut the St. Louis lead in half. Boston’s next move came just two minutes and eight seconds later.

On an awkward and unlikely angle, Brad Marchand banged home his 18th goal of the season, reestablishing himself as the club’s leading goal-scorer with 18 (tied with Reilly Smith).

From there, the Bruins were swarming over Halak and company.

Failing to convert on a power play 30 seconds after Marchand’s goal, the Bruins ultimately did what seemed borderline impossible and forced overtime, hanging on and undoubtedly stealing a point. And while the overtime frame didn’t bring as much fortune as the third did, there was little to hang your head about if you were in the Boston locker room. They straight up stole a point tonight.

You just can’t deny the skill and four-line toughness of the Blues. It’s why they’re near the top of the Western Conference, and it’s what makes them an awful matchup for opposing blue lines. Take the Bruins’ 6-foot-9 captain out of that Boston blue line and replace him with a 5-foot-8 guy playing in his fifth career game at the National Hockey League level and you’re going to have an adventure.

But all things considered, the B’s weathered the Blues’ storm.

Much of the pressure was on Johnny Boychuk, the most tenured Bruin defender entering play (tonight was his 298th NHL game), but it was a duo of young guns in Dougie Hamilton and Matt Bartkowski that seemed to shoulder the load in Missouri. Though he finished the night without a goal or assist to his name, the 25-year-old Bartkowski continued his recent stretch of strong play, finishing the night with seven hits, two blocked shots, and the most ice-time among B’s players, skating 23:20, including over three minutes on the penalty kill.

Bartkowski, a player whose stock has gone up since the season-ending injury to Dennis Seidenberg, continues to emerge as a viable option for Claude Julien’s top-four, and is skating like a player that you just may want to hang on to past this year’s trade deadline.

Much has been about the B’s youthful wealth on the point, and with Torey Krug, Dougie Hamilton, and the recently extended Kevan Miller considered locks for the future, Bartkowski, who was nearly traded to Calgary last deadline, seems like a player maybe on the outs. Now, that’s not because of his play (in a bad way, anyways), but rather the Bruins’ desire to upgrade their defense for another deep playoff run, and the fact that you can’t get something promising without giving up something promising. On the league’s teeming trade market, you gotta give to get.

(Well, unless you’re the Chicago Blackhawks, apparently.)

Bartkowski is a Julien player in the sense that he’s a jack of all trades. He can kill penalties, he can slide into any pairing with relative ease, and with 10 assists in 41 games, he’s a modest contributor. And at just $650,000, he’s a definite bargain for the Black-and-Gold. That’s tough to move.

Especially if he continues to churn out performances like he did tonight.

Without Chara and without Seidenberg, the Boston defense has its moments of rookie gaffes. Tonight, far away from the puck on Oshie’s overtime goal, Warsofsky takes the fall for one. And I just don’t think that’s fair. There’s no way that Warsofsky couldn’t picked up on Soderberg fumbling the puck, and there’s no reason why he should take the fall for Chris Kelly being unable to clear Oshie away from the net before the puck crossed the line. He’s a rookie and these things happen, but given his performance on the Bruins’ first power play unit, he’s not a guy I’m throwing under the bus.

Like it has for much of the year, and despite getting on the board with a goal, Boston’s first power play unit just rolled once again. Their passes were crisp, looks were strong, and their possession and subsequent pressure were both things of beauty. A break here or there and they win the game.

The same, however, cannot be said for the second unit.

I think that the second unit has been a mess since Loui Eriksson came back from his second concussion, and while that’s not his fault, it’s clear that they’re still working out some kinks. The second unit, featuring Soderberg, Eriksson, Patrice Bergeron, and with Smith and Hamilton manning the points, just hasn’t been able to build upon the first unit’s momentum. And while it’s not a critical flaw as of right now, it’s quickly becoming an undeniably noticeable one out there.

Obviously it’d be tough to take Eriksson -- a player you acquired to for all intents and purposes replace Tyler Seguin -- off both the second line (done) and the power play, but it may be something that the B’s have to consider given both Marchand’s recent hot streak and Eriksson’s apparent discomfort (I don’t know how else to say it) out there.

But man oh man, do I feel terrible writing that about Eriksson after seeing that dude take a high stick to the mouth that made him look like Gangrel. The diagnosis: He had some ‘loose teeth’ afterwards.

The man just can’t catch a break this year.

Up next

The Bruins return to the Garden for one final game before the (much needed) Olympic break. Playing host to the Ottawa Senators for the second time this season, and for the fourth meeting overall, the Black-and-Gold will look for a strong finish from their top guns as they prepare to head out to Sochi. The Bruins have won just one of three meetings against the Sens in 2013-14.

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