Pastrnak Scores With 11 Seconds Left, Bruins Stun Stars With Three-Goal Third Period To Win 3-2
After hitting the third period down 2-0, the Bruins roared back with three goals to stun the Dallas Stars for a 3-2 win at the American Airlines Center on Friday.
Brad Marchand factored in to all three goals, finishing with a score and two assists. He netted his 32nd of the season to cut the Stars’ lead in half, then assisted Tim Schaller on a shorthanded goal to tie it, and finally fed it to David Pastrnak who scored the game-winner with just 11 seconds left in overtime.
Tuukka Rask made 40 saves in the win to improve to 31-11-5. That’s his highest save total of the season.
Highlights
The Bruins struggled to get much going on offense in the first two periods. Dallas, meanwhile, capitalized on a pair of good scoring chances. First with Esa Lindell’s open point shot fired past a screened Tuukka Rask:
Then with Jamie Benn’s shorthanded tally, taking advantage of Marchand as he fell and lost the puck. Benn deked and just let the puck glide through Rask’s pads to make it 2-0 with the nifty shorty:
But in the third period, the Bruins started to win more puck battles and create more opportunities around the net – especially the line of Marchand, Riley Nash, and Pastrnak.
Riley Nash helped make Marchand’s goal happen with a pass from his knees to Pastrnak. The winger’s shot went in off Marchand’s knee as he tumbled to the ice in front of Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen:
Kevan Miller sparked the 2-on-1 that led to Schaller’s shorty to tie the game when he fired the puck up the boards and it caromed fortuitously to Marchand. Schaller took the cross-ice pass and deked beautifully around Lehtonen, backhanding it in from a tough angle:
David Krejci was on the ice with Marchand and Pastrnak for the game-winning goal. He flipped the puck to the end boards, where Pastrnak battled for it before Marchand gathered the bounce and slipped it back to him. And Pastrnak finished it off, going backhand to forehand and firing it around Lehtonen to put the B’s up 3-2:
Rask made a handful of key saves during the Bruins’ comeback, and also had this pair of impressive stops on Jamie Benn early in the second:
The Bruins (46-17-10) head to St. Paul next to take on the Minnesota Wild on Sunday.
