Seguin, slow start come back to bite Bruins in overtime

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GOLD STAR: Zdeno Chara did everything he was asked to do and then some in the overtime loss to the Dallas Stars. Chara was on the ice for Alex Radulov’s goal that made it a 2-0 game in the second period, but that was his only blemish in an otherwise strong day. It was Chara that wound up and blasted home his fourth goal of the season toward the end of the second period to get the Bruins on the board and give them some life. Chara finished with a goal and four shot attempts in a team-high 24:46 of ice time and finished with four blocked shots as well in a solid game for the B’s captain. It’s a credit to Chara’s veteran poise that he didn’t hesitate when given the open lane to wind up and slap away in the second period just one game removed from putting Phillip Danault in the hospital after the shot him in the head. 

BLACK EYE: It turned out to be a tough day for David Pastrnak, who finished a minus-2 and was part of a trio of gassed Bruins players that got hemmed into their own zone for another eventual defeat in the overtime session. Pastrnak finished with more shots on net (three) than giveaways (two) in his 23:18 of ice time, but really wasn’t much of a factor for the Bruins in a game where Dallas stepped up their defensive acumen and physicality to discourage the Bruins. Pastrnak, Ryan Spooner and Matt Grzelcyk all breaking down and getting tired out in overtime was just the final bit of bad play in an afternoon that wasn’t great overall for No. 88. Overall it was a pretty quiet afternoon for both Pastrnak and Brad Marchand while Patrice Bergeron was his brilliant self in the middle. 

TURNING POINT: The Bruins simply didn’t show up for the first 30 minutes of the game, and that’s why they ended up on the losing end of things. They were outshot by a 9-1 margin to start the game in sleepy fashion, and then allowed the Stars to score the game’s first two goals in the second period before they got things out of neutral. Eventually they gained some energy from watching Zdeno Chara make a play to score a goal toward the end of the second period, and they did enough in the third period to earn a point in overtime. But the Bruins proved once again on Monday afternoon that really getting going midway through a game isn’t a good formula for success. 

HONORABLE MENTION: Got to give it to Tyler Seguin after finally stinging the Bruins in the overtime session. Seguin dangled through a clearly gassed Ryan Spooner, Matt Grzelcyk and David Pastrnak before flipping a puck past Anton Khudobin after he prematurely dropped into a double-stacked pad save while Seguin outwaited him with the puck. In all Seguin finished with a goal, a plus-1 rating, four shot attempts, two takeaways and a 12-for-21 in the face-off circle while getting the last laugh against the Bruins. Seguin clearly still does most of his damage in certain moments (3-on-3 OT and on the power play, for instance) but he can certainly be effective when paired with a coach like Ken Hitchcock that will pull more out of him. 

BY THE NUMBERS: 1-6 – the Bruins record in the overtime session after dropping another one on Monday afternoon with a mid-December win over the Red Wings as their only OT victory this season. 

QUOTE TO NOTE: "I like to save the pucks and that was one of them." – Anton Khudobin, channeling Yogi Berra as he talked about a second period stop, one of his 29 saves in the game, on a shorthanded breakaway from Radek Faksa that helped keep the B’s in the game. 

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