A six-game war for Lord Stanley’s Cup this past June between the Chicago Blackhawks and Boston Bruins nearly made everybody forgot about a three-month long lockout. The hockey -- fast, aggressive, cerebral, and downright nasty at times -- was some of the best we’ve seen. When you call it a ‘war’, you’re hitting the nail on the head; A three-overtime game, players battling through possible concussions (yikes), a guy with a hole in his lung (yikes again), and heartbreak in the Hub.
The 2013 Stanley Cup Finals had it all.
Like any playoff series, there’s a mental toll taken on its players. Especially for the losing club. Often, you could use it as a building block or let it destroy you from the inside out. And if the Black-and-Gold showed the Blackhawks on Sunday, it’s that they’re not going away anytime soon.
Back at the United Center for the first time since Game 5 of last year’s fourth round series -- and battling with the Central-best Blackhawks for the first time since Game 6 -- the B’s brought their a-game for one of their better 60-minute efforts this season. Even if they left with just one point.
Chicago forward Marian Hossa opened up the game’s scoring just 4:13 into the first period, capitalizing on a Zdeno Chara pinch and striking on a 2-on-1 for his 20th goal of the year.
But with two goals in 69 seconds, the Bruins were in charge.
Brad Marchand snapped home a wicked wrister with just 19.8 seconds left in the third, and then deked the Blackhawks’ Corey Crawford for his second goal of the game 50 seconds into the middle frame, good for his ninth career multi-goal game. Yet, fourth line forward Brandon Bollig brought Chicago to an even 2-2 mark with his bad angle goal on Tuukka Rask.
And a scoreless third period, and huge 3-on-4 overtime penalty kill from the Bruins later and the Bruins’ hope for an escape from Chicago with two points were still alive. A 2-on-1 with Matt Bartkowski and Gregory Campbell brought back shades of Kaspars Daugavins, with Campbell missing a wide open Chicago cage. And when a last second Zdeno Chara danglefest in the ‘Hawks zone when just over Crawford’s net, it was on the shootout.
Jonathan Toews struck in the bottom of the first, Marchand kept the B’s alive in the top of the third, and then Patrick Kane (a player 0-for-9 in shootouts in 2013-14 prior to his attempt) cracked his goose egg, coming in slow and beating Rask for a Chicago win.
But you know what? You’ll take this game. Again and again.
If the Bruins had their say, they would’ve played this game all day and night long and as last year’s Game 1 battle showed us, that’s probably how it would’ve gone, too.
For the Bruins, this was a golden effort. Top to bottom.
That begins with the play of No. 63, the Bruins’ undeniable firestarter.
Marchand, a player absolutely rocked with rotten luck this season, was all over the Blackhawks defense. His skating game was strong, as was his ability to muck it up and battle along the boards for loose pucks. He did a great job of drawing defenders to him, got under the skin of the ‘Hawks skill players, and beat Crawford with two of the most Marchand goals to ever Marchand.
Striking with two goals, the glory found its way to Marchand, but what about the rest of the roster?
Look at Ryan Spooner, a rookie that won three of five offensive zone faceoffs, with two of them against Michal Handzus no less. How about icing a roster that had 10 different players put at least three shots on net? And then there was the Black-and-Gold’s ability to control the pace of play in the final period -- though they were aided by two power play opportunities -- outshooting the Blackhawks 14-to-7 much to the chagrin of the Madhouse on Madison.
This was the road game -- and probably the regular game for that matter -- that coach Claude Julien has been looking for out of his club. It’s as simple as that, really.
Yet, it’s tough to fall head-over-heels in love with what you saw today, too. You gotta wonder the following: Just how much of what you saw tonight was resentment and bottled up emotion from last year? Look at the Canucks’ play against the Bruins in their first trip back to Boston in 2012 as an example when they beat the Bruins at their own game, easily getting inside the B’s heads. And then what happens when the B’s play a team that didn’t rob them of their second Cup in three years?
It’s not reasonable to expect the Bruins to generate this kind of motivation or inspiring play every time they take the ice, but they’ll have the chance to do it once again on Monday afternoon when they host the Los Angeles Kings at TD Garden.
Unfortunately for Boston, they’ll have to do it without Adam McQuaid, who left today’s game after the second period with an undisclosed injury. The Bruins have recalled Zach Trotman from Providence in his place. Trotman has played in one NHL game this season.