To begin their western road trip, the Bruins defeated the Oilers despite losing a lead and a defenseman.
Charlie McAvoy, who scored the game-winning shootout against Dallas on Monday, was brilliant in two different ways as Boston beat Edmonton 6-5 early on Thursday morning. First, he ducked under a diving defenceman, and then he got his backhander behind Stuart Skinner.
The Bruins are now 34-12-11, with a 5-9 overtime record. They have a Thursday night game at Calgary.
Morgan Geekie’s goal against Stuart Skinner at 2:34 into the game gave the Bruins an early lead, but nine minutes later, Warren Foegele’s first of two goals leveled the score at one.
Boston took the lead thanks to a goal by Brad Marchand 25 seconds into the second period. Trent Frederic added another goal at 4:40 to make the score 3-1.Jake DeBrusk, playing in his hometown, gave his team a 4-1 lead with 6:03 remaining in the second half, but Foegele’s second goal at 4:33 made it 4-2 at the half.
Against the NHL’s most efficient third-period club, Swayman gave up a bad one early in the final frame. Cody Ceci’s point-blank attempt was halted by him, but it still passed through him. With 13:46 remaining, Mattias Janmark quickly leaped on it in the crease and pushed it across the goal line to make it 4-3.
Seventy seconds later, Corey Perry made it 4–4 with a basket after beating Derek Forbort to his own rebound.
Zach Hyman responded 42 seconds later to tie the score at 5 and send the game into overtime after David Pastrnak’s 36th goal had given the Bruins the lead again.
When James van Riemsdyk got a breakaway coming out of the penalty box, he almost equaled Brandt Clarke’s goal that defeated Boston last week, but Skinner stopped him.
Four things may be learned from the Bruins’ opening road trip:
The Bruins have regained first place in the Atlantic Division with a record of 34-12-11 and 79 points, but just temporarily. Before playing Carolina on Thursday, they had played 57 games, compared to Florida’s 78 points from just 56 games.
James van Riemsdyk nearly matched Brandt Clarke’s goal from last week’s victory over Boston when he got a breakaway coming out of the penalty box, but Skinner stopped him.
The opening road trip for the Bruins can teach us four things:
Though only momentarily, the Bruins have taken over first place in the Atlantic Division with a 34-12-11 record and 79 points. They had played 57 games prior to their Thursday matchup against Carolina, while Florida had 78 points from just 56 games.
Reaching objectives — The captain of the Bruins is getting around 400 goals in his career, having celebrated completing 1,000 games in the last two weeks. Wednesday’s goal gave him 398. On the Bruins’ all-time list, Rick Middleton (402), is fourth, four behind him.
With his goal and assist, David Pastrnak is one point closer to reaching 700 in his career.
MVP favorite Connor McDavid only managed two assists despite the Bruins preventing him from scoring. The superstar from the Oilers only managed four shots.
