RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Bruins haven’t had a real stinker in a while, so they were absolutely due for one.
It finally looked like it was happening on a Tuesday night in Carolina in front of a half-filled PNC Arena as the Bruins basically stopped playing after the first period. But something funny happened in the third period as the Bruins came back from three goals down, scored three goals in a whirlwind 1:17
Matt Grzelcyk, David Pastrnak and Danton Heinen scored the three unanswered goals for the Bruins to tie it all up, and Pastrnak ripped the game-winner on the PP for a very unlikely 6-4 win for the Bruins at PNC Arena.
The Bruins high water mark for most of the game was the end of the first period as Tuukka Rask stuffed a Jeff Skinner attempt at the doorstep on a cross-ice pass, and then Brad Marchand proceeded to score his 30th goal of the season at the other end of the ice on a slick no-look pass from David Pastrnak.
Perhaps the Bruins thought it was going to be easy street after the opening 20 minutes, but they got outhustled and outworked for the remainder of the game by a Canes team playing on their second night of back-to-back games. Sebastian Aho, Teuvo Teravainen and Justin Williams all scored goals in the second period, and Brock McGinn added a shorthanded goal in the third period to really clinch it for Carolina.
Once again it was penalties and special teams that ended up hurting the Bruins as Aho scored with Pastrnak in the box for hooking, and the Teravainen game-winning score arrived on a Zdeno Chara delay of game penalty after lofting a puck over the glass. Williams added an insurance marker after Elias Lindholm beat Riley Nash on a defensive zone draw, and Williams outhustled Chara to a loose puck in the crease after it got behind Rask.
It looked bleak for the Black and Gold at that point in time and even bleaker when the Bruins allowed the shorthanded score in the third, but they once again showed the “will to win” in coming all the way back from three goals down.
Boston Bruins
It was an especially sweet night for David Pastrnak, who earned his first hat trick in the history of his career.