BSJ Game Report: Bruins 3, Blues 2 (OT) - McAvoy the hero in overtime as B’s gut out win in St. Louis

Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 3-2 win over the Blues, with BSJ insight and analysis:

BOX SCORE

HEADLINES 

Bruins bog down Blues, capture two points: What a difference a couple of days can make.

Following Thursday night’s letdown performance against the Senators, the banged-up Bruins looked like a rudderless club — their ceiling limited due to injuries and looking like a team just biding time during this buffer period ahead of the postseason.

But give credit where it’s due. Even though the Bruins are still severely shorthanded with key cogs like David Pastrnak, Hampus Lindholm and Linus Ullmark out of commission, the B’s have managed to string together back-to-back wins over the Penguins and Blues thanks to some stingy defensive structure — and timely scoring.

The Blues were the latest team to be bogged down by Boston, with the B’s coming away with a 3-2 overtime victory at Enterprise Center in Boston’s first visit to St. Louis since the 2019 Stanley Cup Final. 

Despite entering Tuesday’s game with a streak of 12 straight games with 4+ goals scored, the Blues struggled to generate a ton of quality chances against the Bruins — who did a good job of hampering a rush-first team like St. Louis and limiting the number of Grade-A chances developing in front of Jeremy Swayman (20 saves). 

They might have coughed up yet another last-minute goal in the second period, but the Bruins managed to lock things down for the remainder of the evening, with the Blues landing just five more shots on goal over the final 20:48 of play before Charlie McAvoy ended things with a slot snipe in overtime.

With another two points secured in the standings, the B’s sit just one point behind the third-place Lightning in the Atlantic Division, and three points clear of the Capitals in the wild-card standings. 

Last-minute goals continue to plague Boston: Ah yes, a familiar fault with this Bruins team once again sprouted up at an awful time. Despite a fantastic second period in which the Bruins scored two goals and halted a high-flying Blues offense, Boston still entered the second intermission stuck in a 2-2 deadlock — with Robert Thomas tipping a puck past Swayman with … just three seconds left in the frame.  

Be it a lack of concentration or just some lax D-zone play, the Bruins need to tighten things up in the closing seconds of a period, because one of these back-breakers in the postseason could easily swing the momentum of a seven-game series. 

FOUR UP

Jake DeBrusk: A strong performance from DeBrusk on Tuesday — with the winger lofting a puck past Ville Husso for his 23rd goal of the season at 1:33 in the second period before later setting up McAvoy’s game-winner in overtime. DeBrusk has been great on Boston’s first line down the stretch, but he’s also emerged as a very effective weapon in 3v3 overtime, especially alongside a puck-possession weapon like Charlie Coyle.

Jeremy Swayman: Swayman wasn’t exactly under siege in this one, but good on the B’s netminder for serving as a steadying presence since Ullmark went down. After an extended slump in net, Swayman has now posted a .914 save percentage over his last three appearances. Not elite, but good enough to help this team out over this rough stretch.

Second line: Pastrnak has obviously been missed on the power play, but the Bruins’ second line has still been able to land some punches with regularity even without their top sniper in place. A physical shift from this top-six unit was rewarded with Taylor Hall’s deflection goal in the second period — with Erik Haula now up to three goals and five points in seven games without Pastrnak. Not too shabby.  

Having Curtis Lazar in a top-six spot might be a bit unconventional, but the Bruins held a 9-0 edge in shots on goal during this line’s 9:27 of 5v5 ice time together on Tuesday.

Charlie McAvoy: The Bruins have definitely missed Lindholm’s talents on the blue line, but man — this team would be up the creek if McAvoy was on the shelf. Along with his OT winner, McAvoy logged 25:03 of ice time with two shots on goal, one hit, one block and two takeaways. 

THREE DOWN

Last-minute goals: A lot can change over the final 20 minutes of play, but the Bruins sure seemed like they were in control of this game as the second period was winding down. That is until Boston was caught snoozing once again and Thomas made them pay with a nifty tip tally. Just can’t have that. 

Mike Reilly: Man, when Lindholm is finally cleared to return ... Reilly might have a tough time sticking in the lineup. Even though the Bruins actually had some strong shot-share metrics when Reilly was on the ice, the blueliner still put his team in a bad spot when it came to yet another high-sticking penalty. In total, Reilly has been whistled for six penalties (four of the high-stick variety) over the last six games. 

Power play: The drought continues. With Tuesday’s 0-for-2 showing, the Bruins are now in an 0-for-27 rut on the power play, with their last special-teams tally coming all the way back on April 2. 

PLAY OF THE GAME

LOOSE PUCKS

LOOKING AHEAD

The Bruins will close out their two-game road trip on Thursday with a matchup against the Penguins. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.