The Boston Bruins celebrate a second period goal against Chicago Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford (50) as Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Michal Rozsival (32) looks on during Game 2 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals, Saturday, June 15, 2013, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
CHICAGO (AP) — The Boston Bruins were mad when they played poorly in the first period of Game 2 of the Stanley Cup finals. Then they went out and got even with the Chicago Blackhawks .
This group of Bruins is one resilient bunch.
Daniel Paille scored at 13:48 in overtime and Boston used another great performance by Tuukka Rask to overcome a sluggish start in a 2-1 victory over the Blackhawks on Saturday night, tying the series at a game apiece.
“We got rewarded because I thought from the second period on, we were a good team, a better team, and by the end I thought we had more chances,” Bruins coach Claude Julien said.
Three days after a three-overtime thriller in the opener, Boston and Chicago once again were tied after regulation. The Bruins then turned up their play and finally cashed in after goaltender Corey Crawford singlehandedly kept the Blackhawks in the game.
Brandon Bollig had a turnover in the Chicago end and Tyler Seguin passed it to Paille, who shot it under Crawford’s glove and off the right post for his third goal of the playoffs. The slick shot sent the Bruins back to Boston with the momentum ahead of Game 3 on Monday night.
“We just kept the pressure on and Seggy threw the puck to me,” Paille said. “I just popped out and had to shoot the puck quick, get it off my stick. I was able to send it post low. He made a good play passing it over instead of shooting.”
Patrick Sharp scored for Chicago, which looked more and more gassed as the night wore on. Crawford made 26 saves.
“You’ve got to kind of swallow this one and move on,” Sharp said. “We know what’s on the line in this series and going into Boston’s going to be tough, but we’re ready for the challenge. We’ll find a way to be better for Game 3.”
Paille also had an assist on Chris Kelly’s tying goal in the second, and Rask made 18 of his 33 stops in the first period.
“That’s kind of how our room is. On any given night, someone can step up,” Kelly said. “Paille showed that tonight.”
The first two games of last year’s Stanley Cup also went to overtime, with Los Angeles taking a 2-0 lead at New Jersey before going on to defeat the Devils in six games. Before last season, it had been 61 years since the first two games of the finals needed an extra period to decide the winner. In that 1951 Stanley Cup, each of the five games went to overtime, with Toronto taking the series against Montreal.
The way Chicago and Boston are playing, a repeat is certainly possible.
It was the third consecutive overtime game for the Blackhawks, who eliminated Los Angeles with a 4-3 victory in two overtimes in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals, and then defeated Boston 4-3 in Wednesday night’s marathon. Chicago dropped to 4-2 during OT games in this year’s playoffs.
The Bruins lost the opener when Dave Bolland’s tip went off Andrew Shaw’s leg and past Rask for the winning score. They also blew a 3-1 third-period lead in that one, but seemed to have no problem putting the loss behind them that night.
After all, the same core group of Bruins dropped the first two games of the 2011 Stanley Cup finals against Vancouver and came back to win. They trailed 4-1 in the third period of Game 7 against Toronto in this postseason and came back to win.
It’s a spirit that runs hand in hand with their home city these days. In the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings, the Bruins talked about wanting to do something for the city, and they took another step toward that goal in Game 2.
“We’re excited to come away with a win. But it’s only 1-1,” defenseman Dennis Seidenberg said. “It’s a long series. We have to start focusing on the next game, and start better.”
The Bruins’ final push was a stark contrast to the beginning of the game, with the Blackhawks looking refreshed during a dominant first period. The Bruins looked tired and slow, except for Rask, and he was enough to keep it close.
Rask turned away numerous prime opportunities for Chicago, but Sharp managed to score while the goaltender contended with a pile of bodies in front of the net. It was his ninth playoff goal, breaking a tie with Bryan Bickell for the team lead and matching Boston center David Krejci for the NHL’s best total.
A few minutes later, Marian Hossa pushed Rask’s pads and the puck just over the red line in goal. But the officials ruled the play had been whistled dead before the score.
“I thought the whistle was a little quick, but that’s the way it is,” Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews said. “It’s frustrating when the bounces don’t go your way, but it is what it is.”
When the first period was over, the Blackhawks had 19 shots on goal. Sharp (six) and Hossa (five) each had more shots than Boston had as a team (four).
It was not a pretty scene in the Bruins’ locker room at intermission – Julien said there was “a bit of a chat.” Still, Chicago only had a 1-0 lead.
“I think we were angry,” Seguin said. “We were motivated. I think the guys just weren’t happy in here. We knew we could be better. We were making mental mistakes.”
Boston began to control the action in the second, leading to the tying score.
Paille had a takeaway against Sharp behind the net and then made a nice move to get to the other side of the goal. Crawford turned him away, but Kelly was there to poke in the rebound at 14:58.
Kelly’s first playoff goal since April 12, 2012, against Washington and No. 11 for his career ended Boston’s scoreless stretch of 1 hour, 40 minutes and 57 seconds dating to the third period of the opener.
“It’s like the second period, I thought we lost the pace of the game on that end of the rink,” Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. “We had the perfect start to the game, then we stopped doing what made us successful. We stood around. They countered.”
NOTES: Bruins F Nathan Horton played 21 1/2 minutes after leaving the series opener with an unspecified upper body injury. … Toews received a standing ovation when he was recognized in the first period with a videoboard message honoring the center for winning this year’s Frank J. Selke award, given to the NHL’s best defensive forward. … It was the first split of the first two games of the Stanley Cup finals since 2004, when Calgary won the first game on the road and Tampa Bay took Game 2. The Lightning won the series in seven games.
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Jay Cohen can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jcohenap
2013 Stanley Cup Finals: Bruins beat Blackhawks 2-1 in OT, even Cup series is a post from: PhatzRadio.com
