FINAL: Bruins 3 , Senators 2 (OT) - Marchand rescues Bruins from near disaster loss

It wasn't pretty whatsoever but the Bruins found a way to come away with a win in overtime 3-2 to secure two points on Thursday night. The Bruins got off to a sloppy start in the first period as they were outshot 9-3 at the first intermission. The three shots on goals for Boston in the first period was the fewest they had in any period this season. Somehow the Bruins went into the locker room with a 1-0 lead at the first intermission thanks to a David Pastrnak goal on the power play. It was not until Boston went on the man advantage that they started to have more chances in the offensive zone. 

I thought that the Bruins had a better second period as they had more chances throughout the period. Trent Frederic continues to catch my eye as he has throughout this season. Frederic recorded his 14th goal of the season at the 8:19 mark that was started by a great save by Jeremy Swayman and a nice pass from Pavel Zacha. Frederic is on pace to pass his 17 goals from last season.

 Also, Swayman was outstanding tonight and saved the Bruins multiple times that could have easily been Ottawa goals. It continues to show that the Bruins have the best goalie duo in the league. Ottawa's only goal in the second period came at the 19:32 mark from Thomas Chabot on the man advantage to make it 2-1. 

The Bruins struggled to close the game out in the third period as the were called for a lot of questionable penalties throughout the game, especially in the third period. The Bruins first got away with giving up a tying goal that was waved off due to a hand pass. However, the Bruins were called for another questionable penalty late in the game that led to a Vladimir Tarasenko goal on the power play to tie it at two. 

Brad Marchand scored 1:48 into overtime to secure the two points for the Bruins. What caught my eye though was the amazing save Swayman made right before which led to the game winner. Boston was lucky that Ottawa didn't have anyone there for the rebound because that could have easily been a winning goal on the rebound for the Senators. 

The Bruins will be back in action on Saturday in Philadelphia to face the Flyers at 12:30 p.m. before the All-Star Break.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• It was not pretty but the Bruins found a way to earn the two points.
• The penalty kill needs some work as they gave up two power play goals tonight to an Ottawa team that had converted on the man advantage only 15% of the time. 
• Swayman saved the Bruins many times yet again as he finished the night with 35 saves. 
• Frederic continues to be very impressive as he is on pace to pass his 17 goals from last season. 

THREE STARS: 

3. Thomas Chabot (1 goal and 1 assist)

2. David Pastrnak (1 goal and 1 assist) 

1. Jeremy Swayman (35 saves)

_____________________________

WHO: Bruins (29-9-9) at Senators (18-24-1)
WHEN: 7 p.m.
WHERE: Canadien Tire Centre, Ottawa. 
TV: NESN
RADIO: 98.5-FM The Sports Hub
LIVE BOX SCORE
ROSTERS

Sanderson-Zub
Chabot-Chychrun
Brannstrom-Bernard-Docker

Korpisalo
Sogaaro

PREGAME NOTES

The Bruins visit the Ottawa Senators north of the border in a back-to-back on Thursday night at 7 p.m. Boston is coming off a tough 3-2 loss on Wednesday night to the Carolina Hurricanes at TD Garden. Some of the keys I am looking for the Bruins to get back in the win column is for their penalty kill to get back on track as they are facing an Ottawa power play that only has a 15% success rate.The Senators also own a 72.3% success rate on the penalty kill this season while allowing 38 power-play goals. 

Despite Ottawa's struggle on the man advantage and 18-24-1 record on the year, they enter tonight having won three of their last four games and own a four-game point streak. In their last four games, they have outscored their opponents 16-9 with 11 different skaters having scored a goal. Brady Tkachuk leads Ottawa with 19 goals this season. Although, Drake Batherson is not far behind with 16 goals of his own. Tim Stützle paces the Senators with 44 points but Claude Giroux has 40 points of his own as well.  

The Bruins will want to keep an eye on rookie Ridley Greig who is tied for 11th in rookie scoring. Greig has 18 points this season with seven goals and 11 assists while leading NHL rookies in plus/minus (+16). This will be the first time that Grieg and Matt Poitras will be facing each other in the NHL while Poitras sits tied for 15th in NHL scoring.