Rask Bails Out Bruins for 2-1 Win Over Senators

Tuukka Rask made 33 saves and the Bruins woke up just in time to get two goals withing 3:30 in the third period from Brad Marchand and then captain Zdeno Chara after Senators defenseman Thomas Chabot gave the Senators a 1-0 lead 41 ticks into the final frame.

As one might expect, the Bruins came out flat after the big 8-1 win at Montreal and were outshot 9-3 in the opening frame and 15-7 in the second period but somehow entered the third period tied 0-0. Things were so dormant through the first two periods that both Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak did not register one shot on net.

Rask picked up the slack though and stopped all 24 shots through the first two frames and once again gave his team a chance to win a game they maybe didn’t deserve to win. After the dam finally broke for the Sens 41 ticks into the third period when they capitalized on an untimely line change by the Bruins. Bruins winger Anders Bjork had a brilliant chance on Nilsson thanks to a beautiful set up by Kuraly. The puck went the other way with the Bruins minus a man on the change and Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo’s race across the ice to catch up to the streaking Chabot who beat Rask for his third of the season.

Lovely goal from #72 to open the scoring early in the third.

GOAL: Chabot (3)
ASSIST: Tierney (9) pic.twitter.com/vr2bmISgpO

— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) November 28, 2019

The game could’ve gotten away from the lackadaisical Bruins right after that but Rask stopped a Chris Tierney shorthanded bid just over three minutes into the third period that would have put the Senators up 2-0 at the time. He also stopped nine of ten Senators shots in the final frame including a solid bid by Senators winger Anthony Duclair.

As he always seems to do though and like Rask, Marchand seized the moment and picked his team up. Marchand took a beautiful feed from Anders Bjork who worked it off the boards and found Marchand moving down the middle. Marchand put the dipsy-doodle-doo on Nilsson and scored a goal scorer’s goal.

Great play by Anders Bjork to feed Brad Marchand pic.twitter.com/0he5Nin1yu

— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) November 28, 2019

Just 3:30 later, the suddenly Paul Coffey-like Chara had his fourth point in as many games and fifth goal beating Nilsson for a 2-1 Bruins lead. Brendan Gaunce and Joakim Nordstrom had the helpers on what proved to be the game-winner.

The Bruins killed off an Ottawa power play right after that as Wagner went to the sin-bin for cross-checking at 8:53 and then held on down the stretch and in the final two minutes with Nilsson pulled for the extra skater.