A fragile St. A win against the St. Louis Blues may not be a big deal for a team with high expectations.

But given the Bruins’ current situation, they’re not going to be able to win the game against St. Louis on Tuesday. A win in St. Louis could be a good start for them to get where they want to go.

Seeing the Blues and their 32nd-place power take a 2-0 lead, the B’s scored three goals in the third period to earn a 3-2 victory, their most emotional victory of the season.

There was a lot of desperation in the comeback win; David Pastrnak’s first goal in eight games won the game with less than two minutes remaining.

“(There was) faith in the room. We could feel it,” said Pastrnak, who put 10 shots on net in 24:29 of the ice. “Obviously going into the third quarter we didn’t have any goals but there was something different. We felt like we were going to get it. It was just a matter of time. Obviously a great comeback for us and a big win for our group.”

Trailing 2-0, the Bruins got a point from Morgan Geekie at 4:53 of the third quarter, who returned to the lineup after three straight healthy scratches. Pastrnak stole the puck from Colton Parayko in the neutral zone and went on a strange charge with Geekie. Geekie took Pastrnak’s pass and beat Jordan Binnington on the blocker side in his first game of the year.

The B’s then tied it at 9:15. Brad Marchand placed a loose puck and put Charlie McAvoy over the top. McAvoy’s hesitation to shoot bounced him off the initial power play unit, but on this play, it allowed him to take a one-timer from the high slot to beat Binnington.

And finally, with 1:47 left in regulation after a wild scramble for the puck in the offensive zone, McAvoy made Pastrnak a big meal with his blast for Binnington’s go-ahead goal.

This was the B’s first comeback victory of the year.

“Mac and Pasta, I think they weren’t going to let us lose tonight,” coach Jim Montgomery told NESN. “You could see in the third period that they took the ice with a high purpose. And Morgan Geekie is really proud of her. He started three games in a row, but I could see his work ethic in practice coming and going. This is his best game of the year. This is the Morgan Geekie we know can help the Bruins every night.”

One of the most intriguing pregame stories was the change of the starting power play unit, with Hampus Lindholm replacing McAvoy.

And it wasn’t long before PP got his chance. They actually gained two advantages in the first 8:23. But as for the results, it was the same, the same. They got a few shots at Binnington, but none of them were really high percentage, and the movement on the PP never resulted in much movement from Binnington in his own half.

Pastrnak said Monday he needed to shoot more and took his own advice. He made six of B’s ​​nine shots in the first period.

The B’s had a chance to die, thanks in part to a big block from the Blues’ struggling PP that caused defender Lindholm to leave the game. It appears that he made the shot from the inside of his right knee.

The Blues’ best chance came early in the period. Jordan Kyrou made a clean break from the offensive blue line, but Jeremy Swayman was able to direct his backhand out wide.

The B’s had a third power play chance with 1:02 to play in the second period, and with Hampus Lindolm unavailable, McAvoy came back with the top player. The B’s did everything but score. They had four shots on net, and that didn’t include their best chance at a nice game of tic-tac-toe. Elias Lindholm fed Brad Marchand down the left side, and Marchand, selling a shot to freeze Binnington, fed Pavel Zacha for what appeared to be a tap-in. However, Pastrnak put in his stick and the ball went out.

And when Cole Koepke takes a high-stick penalty in the offensive zone, you know what’s going to happen next. On the PP, Swayman stopped Kyrou’s shot off the pad, but Brayden Schenn was there to clear the rebound for a 1-0 lead at 9:24. It was the Blues’ first strong home goal all season.

They would soon take second place as the B’s were not yet done shooting themselves in the foot.

Pastrnak then high-sticked another offensive zone catch and at 12:12 the Blues took a 2-0 lead when Oskar Sundqvist scored an easy goal from the back door.

Any wind that might have been in the B’s sails was gone. When Radek Faksa faced another power play with a hard hit to Tyler Johnson, there was little urgency and it sailed through the boards without much danger of scoring.

The B’s trailed by just two goals entering the third quarter. This has been a challenging but surmountable problem over the last few years. He looked like Mount Everest with this suit. But they managed to make it big…

Montgomery had no information about Hampus Lindholm, who was the B’s best defender this season, especially in the offensive zone. But since the B’s only took six defensemen on the road trip with Andrew Peeke currently injured, Montgomery said they’ll call up another D-man for Thursday’s crunch matchup against the Stars in Dallas. Ian Mitchell and Michael Callahan are two left-wing candidates.

First Publication Date: November 12, 2024 22:47 EST