Bruins beat Senators 5-3

Tonight the Ottawa Senators needed a win to get closer to the Bruins in the standings, but as they committed so many turnovers, the Bruins took advantage as they went on to beat the Senators 5-3. In the third period, they poked the bear a few times with two big hits, one clean and one not so clean. Who else but Chris Neil, laid out Johnny Boychuk with a huge hit but it was clean and hard. A little later, Kyle Turris gave Joe Corvo an elbow to the head and all Turris got was a 2-minute minor. The Bruins would hold on for a 5-3 win over the Senators and now we have to wait until Tuesday for the rematch in Boston.

Quick game summary
In the first period, Erik Karlsson, the defenseman that some think is the best in the league but makes so many defensive mistakes, scored to make it 1-0 Senators. A little more than a minute and a half later, Patrice Bergeron scored his 18th goal of the season to tie the game 1-1. Bergeron's goal all started as Karlsson didn't skate back fast and hard enough to get a Boychuk dump in as Marchand went in and got it. Later, Brad Marchand scored his 22nd goal of the season to make it 2-1 Bruins.

In the second period, Carter Camper scored his 1st NHL goal making it 3-1 Bruins.

In the third period, Chris Neil laid a huge hit on Johnny Boychuk which sent both guys down to the ice in pain. Zdeno Chara came rushing over ready to take on Neil but Neil stayed down on the ice. A little later, Joe Corvo was hit in the head with an elbow by Kyle Turris and only got a 2-minute boarding penalty. I'm not sure how you only get two minutes for that cheap hit. If it was a Bruins player we all know he would have got 5-and-a-game. David Krejci later scored his 13th goal of the season, a power-play goal, making it 4-1 Bruins.

Later, Zdeno Chara and Chris Neil dropped the gloves off a faceoff and had a spirited fight. It looks like Chara lands one uppercut but nothing else seems to really land in this fight as Chara loses his balance and goes down to the ice. Ottawa fans all think Neil dominated and won this fight, but I'm not sure what they're watching. Did Neil win the fight because Chara lost his balance?

Zdeno Chara vs Chris Neil

The fight seemed to give the Senators a spark as Daniel Alfredson went on to score two goals in the same place the same way, taking one-timers on his off-wing almost above the faceoff circle and got them by Tim Thomas. With Alfredson's two goals the score was 4-3 Bruins. The Senators pulled Alex Auld and Patrice Bergeron would score an empty net goal, his 19th goal of the season.

Game notes
Shawn Thornton didn't play because he was sick with the flu.

The Bruins led the game in shots 37-30 and blocked shots 17-11. The Senators led the game in faceoff wins 29-21 and hits 23-21.

The Bruins went 1-for-2 on the power-play while the Senators went 0-for-2.

Tim Thomas played in net and made 27 saves on 30 shots. Thomas is now 26-12-0 with a 2.23 GAA and a .928 save percentage so far this season.

Patrice Bergeron led the Bruins with 9 shots.

Andrew Ference and Adam McQuaid led the Bruins with 4 blocked shots apiece.

Dennis Seidenberg led the Bruins with 5 hits.

Onto the next one
The Bruins are now 37-20-3 with 77 points. The Bruins next game is on Tuesday in Boston as they take on these same Ottawa Senators at 7pm ET. I'm hoping someone goes after Turris and makes him answer for that cheapshot. And hopefully Shawn Thornton is over his flu sickness by then.

Comments