Recap: Marchand’s OT goal sinks Ottawa in 3-2 Bruins win

A win is a win is a win is a win is a win.

Jack Edwards was not behind the play-by-play mic for tonight’s game, but we could have used one of his signature lines: “They don’t ask how, they just ask how many.”

It was one of those nights for the Bruins, who managed just three shots on goal in the first period, let a two-goal lead slip away, gave up six power play opportunities…and still won, thanks to a Brad Marchand goal in OT.

Sports!

Things did not exactly get off to a scorching start for the Bruins, who got an early shot on goal and then went approximately 399 minutes before their next one.

However, proving that hockey is a weird game, they’d score the games first goal a few minutes after that second shot, with David Pastrnak doing David Pastrnak things on the power play to make it 1-0 Bruins late in the first.

Things trended a tad bit better in the second period (in that it didn’t take the Bruins 18 minutes to get two shots), then Trent Frederic cashed in after a big Jeremy Swayman save to make it 2-0 Bruins.

Frederic, so hot right now. Frederic.

Speaking of Frederic, a questionable penalty call against him led to Ottawa’s fifth (!) power play of the game late in the second period — Thomas Cabot converted to make it 2-1 Bruins with 30 seconds left in the middle period.

Ottawa appeared to tie the game late in the third when Josh Norris beat Swayman from a weird angle, but the goal was overturned on the ice due to a hand pass. Still 2-1 Bruins.

A few minutes later, the officials decided Ottawa needed another power play, and Vladimir Tarasenko cashed in with a beautiful shot to make it a 2-2 game late in the third.

After a back-and-forth start to OT, Swayman once again made a big save on one end and the Bruins went the other way to score, with Brad Marchand ending it in OT.

Bruins win, 3-2 final!

Game notes

• I’m not sure anyone will be writing lengthy histories of this game, waxing poetic from a Bruins perspective, but hey — two points are (is?) two points.
• There’s plenty to complain about from the officiating perspective tonight. Parker Kelly went down incredibly easily twice and drew a call both times. Hookings, roughings, trippings. Not all of the calls were terrible, but when you look at the two Kelly calls, it kind of spoils the bunch.
• I’m a little surprised there wasn’t more fuss made about the Norris non-goal. Parker Wotherspoon and Swayman immediately signaled for a hand pass, but one angle of the reply showed the puck didn’t move much, if at all, as it passed near Mathieu Joseph’s glove. It could have been one of those where if it was called no goal, there was nothing obvious to overturn the initial ruling?
• The Bruins had as many shots (3) in the 1:48 OT as they did in the entire 20-minute first period, which is hard to do.
• It was another good night for Charlie Coyle, who had two assists, including on the game-winner, and skated a whopping 21:30 TOI; Marchand matched him with the same TOI, with the two logging heavy minutes due to the million PKs.
• Back in the lineup tonight, Matthew Poitras skated just over eight minutes TOI. That’s not an entirely surprising figure due to how little of the game was played at 5v5.
• Hampus Lindholm also logged heavy minutes tonight, skating 25:54 TOI.
• I can’t find the highlight (because it wasn’t much of one), but there was a sequence late in the third, shortly after Ottawa’s goal, where the puck came to Danton Heinen along the side boards in his own end, as two Senators converged on him. Heinen made a touch pass right onto the tape of a teammate, who then flew the zone unbothered. Those are the kinds of plays Heinen seems to make on a nightly basis, even if they don’t end up on the scoresheet.

The B’s will play once more before the All-Star Break, a matinee game against the Flyers in Philly at 12:30 PM on Saturday.

See ya then!