Torey Krug scored 34 seconds into overtime to give the Boston Bruins a 4-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins, Monday night.
But that was merely a small part of what was an entertaining game from start to finish at the TD Garden.
The Penguins dominated the opening half of the first period, outshooting Boston 10-1 but the Bruins would get on the board twice before James Neal answered with a pair of goals. Zdeno Chara scored late to make it 3-2 but a goal by Sidney Crosby with .3 seconds remaining in the game forced an overtime.
Brooks Orpik whiffed on a shot at the point which led to a breakaway for Loui Eriksson. Eriksson faked to his forehand and slid a back hand shot under the pads of Marc-Andre Fleury to give the Bruins the lead 12:27 into the game.
The Bruins scored three minutes later when Reilly Smith snuck in from the backdoor and beat Fleury with a snapshot from the slot.
James Neal answered with his first goal of the game, receiving a pass from Jussi Jokinen and burying the shot past Tuukka Rask. Neal later hit the post in the second period.
Neal added his second goal just under the nine minute mark of the third period. Jokinen corralled a puck that was stuck between Johnny Boychuk’s skates and went wide, forcing the defenseman to follow. Jokinen dropped the puck to Neal who fired a perfect wrist shot from the left face off dot and picked the top right corner of the net to tie the game.
The Bruins stormed back, controlling the puck for several minutes. Zdeno Chara took a wrist shot from the right point and Sidney Crosby, in an attempt to bat the puck down, deflected it over Fleury and into the net.
With Fleury pulled, the Penguins pressed to tie the score with under a minute to go. In the dying seconds, Chris Kunitz backhanded the puck towards the net and Crosby slammed it into a wide open cage as time ran out. Replay showed the puck crossed the goal line with .3 seconds remaining in the game.
In overtime, Torey Krug took a return pass from Brad Marchand, skated in on net and fired a slapshot from the left wing circle to win the game.
- On 11/14/2009, Bill Guerin scored with .4 seconds remaining in the game to force overtime against the Bruins.
- James Neal has five goals in his last four games.
- Torey Krug’s seven goals ties him for first in the league among all defensemen.
Three Stars
- Torey Krug
- James Neal
- Tuukka Rask
Photo courtesy of NHL.com
