The Bruins’ power-play (0 for 2) failed them again, and they allowed another last second goal that could have been crushing.
But it just didn’t matter.
The Bruins put forth one of their best defensive efforts in the last couple of weeks against the NHL’s hottest team and beat the St. Louis Blues, 3-2, in overtime at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis.
Charlie McAvoy scored 48 seconds into OT to lift the Bruins to victory, snapping the Blues’ nine-game win streak. The Bruins outshot the Blues, 35-22, thwarting one of the most explosive offenses in the league.
Jake DeBrusk won the puck bewhind the Blues net, found McAvoy in the high slot and the defensive ripped a shot over goalie Ville Husso’s blocker for the winner.
The Blues took a 1-0 lead on a first period power-play, but not before the Bruins pushed their man-advantage futility streak to 0 for 26. This PP was an abbreviated one because Mike Reilly cut it in half with yet another stick foul. It was Reilly’s sixth stick penalty in as many games for Reilly, who could be making himself the lead candidate for coming out of the lineup when Hampus Lindholm returns.
St. Louis did not score on that first power-play, but they showed off what has made them the second best power-play in the league on their second chance. After Charlie McAvoy was called for hooking, the Blues displayed some dizzying puck movement, culminating with Vladimir Tarasenko feeding Pavel Buchnevich for a quick one-timer from the slot.
The Blues nearly made it 2-0 when a turnover led to a quick 2-on-0, but Jeremy Swayman made a solid blocker save on Brayden Schenn.
The Blues may be more offensive-minded now than they were when the hoisted the Stanley Cup on TD Garden ice in 2019, but they can still be edgy. Late in the first, Ivan Barbashev delivered a high hit on Taylor Hall that was called for roughing, but the Bruins lost the power-play when Curtiz Lazar went after Barbashev, drawing an unsportsmanlike conduct call. With the way the Bruins power-play was going, it’s a good bet coach Bruce Cassidy was fine with Lazar sticking up for Hall.
The Bruins had a 11-8 shot advantage in the first, but they didn’t really test Husso.
But they would cash in on their first really god chance at 1:33. Jake DeBrusk tried a wraparound that Husso stopped, but the puck came right back to DeBrusk. With Husso not sure where the puck was, DeBrusk snapped it top shelf for his 23rd of the year. That ended a four-game point-less streak for DeBrusk.
And then Hall would get a little revenge to give the Bruins the lead at 9:44. Old friend Torey Krug turned the puck over to Erik Haula, who got it to Derek Forbort at the left point. Forbort flipped a wrister toward the net that Hall deflected past Husso for his 17th of the year. That snapped an eight-game goal-less for Hall.
The Bruins were dominating the second period, oushooting the Blues 17-6 and only several solid Husso stops kept the B’s from extending their lead. It looked like all of that would come undone when Forbort took a tripping penalty with 3:00 left, but the Bruins came up with a strong kill.
So they were out of the woods, right? Wrong. With the seconds ticking off the clock, the Blues finally won the puck along the boards after a lengthy with a few seconds left in the period. From the blue line, Tarasenko flung a soft backhander toward the net and Robert Thomas made a terrific tip to beat Swayman with 2.4 seconds left in the period for yet another last minute goal, the 25th they’ve allowed this season. It was a new game going into the third.
