After the first two periods Tuesday night in St. Louis, it looked like the Boston Bruins were about to suffer another bad loss in a season full of them.
They trailed the Blues 2-0 through two periods. St. Louis came into the game with the worst power play in the NHL and yet it scored twice with the man advantage in the second period. Bad penalties and lackluster special teams again were hurting the Bruins.
But instead of spiraling further, the Bruins gave an inspired effort for the remainder of the game and earned their first third-period comeback win of the campaign with a 3-2 victory.
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One of the most encouraging aspects of this win for the Bruins was they got key contributions from players who had been struggling.
Morgan Geekie has had a really tough season. He's been a healthy scratch multiple times and entered Tuesday with zero goals in 11 games. He ended that drought by getting the B's on the board with a goal at 4:53 of the third period.
Geeks gets us on the board. pic.twitter.com/EcmEceV3Ru
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) November 13, 2024
Charlie McAvoy had tallied only one point in his last 14 games before Tuesday. He gave one of his best performances of the season with a goal and an assist during the third period. The star defenseman tied the score with a blast from inside the blue line that beat Blues goalie Jordan Binnington at 9:15 of the third period.
What a blast from Charlie McAvoy to tie it up for the B's 💥 pic.twitter.com/AtMWRiB00C
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) November 13, 2024
The Bruins took their first lead of the night with 1:46 remaining when David Pastrnak ended a seven-game goal drought -- his longest since the 2021-21 season -- with his seventh tally of the year.
DAVID PASTRNAK IN THE CLUTCH 🍝 pic.twitter.com/w3UfOZibbZ
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) November 13, 2024
Pastrnak was the best player on the ice all game. He scored the game-winning goal and picked up the primary assist on Geekie's tally. Pastrnak also registered a game-high 10 shots on net. The Bruins had a 22-6 lead in shot attempts, a 13-5 edge in shots on net, a 13-0 advantage in scoring chances and a 2-0 goal differential during Pastrnak's 17:31 of 5-on-5 ice time, per Natural Stat Trick.
Another encouraging sign for the Bruins from this game was their play in the third period. They came into Tuesday with a league-worst minus-11 goal differential in the third period. Boston didn't tally a single shot in the third period of last Saturday's defeat to the Ottawa Senators.
The Bruins were far more dangerous offensively in the third period against the Blues. In addition to outscoring the Blues 3-0 in the frame, the B's earned a 11-8 edge in shots, a 12-9 lead in scoring chances and a 7-5 advantage in high-danger chances at 5-on-5 in the third period.
This win has the potential to be a season-changing result for the Bruins. They badly needed this kind of game where they stick with the gameplan, overcome adversity and pick up a much-needed two points.
Of course, a bad performance against a very good Stars team in Dallas on Thursday could ruin this momentum, but the Bruins have a real opportunity here to string together a couple good games in a row and get their season back on track.