Tag: thirdperiod

The Boston Bruins came back in the third period to score four unanswered goals, led by Charlie Coyle’s tying and go-ahead goal, for a 6-3 win over the San Jose Sharks at the TD Garden Monday afternoon.

Coyle’s goals were his first in 10 games and his second two-goal game of the season. Joonas Korpisalo earned the win in his first start since Jan. 5 with 25 saves.

The Bruins go off to the lead in the first period as Vinni Lettieri got on the board with a redirect, but the Sharks would bounce back minutes later as Barclay Goodrow beat Korpisalo’s blocker.

The Bruins would once again take the lead in the second with a power-play goal from David Pastrnak to then find Will Smith tie the game for the Sharks less than two minutes later.

Right after the Bruins’ second power-play of the night, Fabian Zetterlund potted his own rebound and San Jose took the lead with less than five minutes to go in the middle frame.

A pair of goals from Coyle kicked off the Bruins’ third period rally as he and linemates Brad Marchand and Matt Poitras began to find their groove.

Marchand and Elias Lindholm added two empty-net security goals to solidify the 6-3 win.

First period:

Vinni Lettieri redirected Jordan Oesterle’s long shot past Yaroslav Askarov’s blocker at 9:21 of the first period. 1-0 Bruins.

From behind the net, Nico Strum fed a pass to Barclay Goodrow in the slot where he quickly released the puck and put a shot past Joonas Korpisalo’s blocker at 13:16 of the first period. 1-1 game.

Second period:

On the power play, Pavel Zacha found David Pastrnak low in the right-wing circle where he blasted a shot past Askarov’s glove at 7:02 of the second period. 2-1 Bruins.

After a turnover in the neutral zone, Mikael Granlund sent a pass to Will Smith in the right-wing circle where he threw a wrist shot past Korpisalo’s glove at 8:52 of the second period. 2-2 game.

Fabian Zetterlund picked up his own rebound out front to give the Sharks the lead at 15:18 of the second period. 3-2 Sharks.

Third period:

Matt Poitras hit Charlie Coyle with a backhanded pass low inside the right circle where he got off a quick snap shot low past Askarov’s right skate at 8:22 of the third period. 3-3 game.

Coyle sent a pass out front intended for Poitras that bounced off Askarov and into the net at 14:11 of the third period. 4-3 Bruins.

Brad Marchand then put the Bruins’ first empty netter in with a backhanded shot at 18:45 of the third period. 5-3 Bruins.

Then Elias Lindholm added another empty-net goal at 19:35 of the third period. Final score: 6-3 Bruins.

Game notes

• The Bruins also went with Marchand, Coyle and Poitras. Interim head coach Joe Sacco said postgame, “I think with Matty (Poitras), we were looking for someone to help transport the puck through the neutral zone, and on their goal he did that,” Sacco said. “When he came to the neutral zone with some speed, he held on to it.”
• Coyle hadn’t score in 10 games and had two assists in that same time. Sacco said the coaching staff tells him to shoot more. “Charlie has a tendency obviously to overpass at times, and he’s the first one to tell you,” Sacco said. “He has a good shot that he has to utilize and stop deferring at times. We’ve talked about that as a group this year. We want to play off the shot more and that’s a big part of it.”
• Postgame, Coyle talked about his shooting and how it’s more the mindset of realizing it isn’t about making the perfect play. He added his second goal was just trying to get the puck to the net and giving his teammates a chance for the rebound and a scoring opportunity. “It’s just kind of getting those habits to create chaos to the net and not deferring all the time to teammates. We have a very unselfish group and a lot of times when you have that, guys want to set each other up all the time.”
• Frederic was out of the lineup due to illness, Sacco said before the game. Sacco rolled with Oliver Wahlstrom, Vinni Lettieri and E. Lindholm on the third line.
• In just three games with the Bruins this season, Lettieri has two goals and is on a two-game goal streak. Sacco said postgame that’s basically what they expected bringing up an experienced player like Lettieri from Providence. He said Lettieri’s success is because he goes to the inside. “Both his goals are direct plays of just being around the net front,” Sacco said. “Today he was just on the inside with a good tip. To score in this league, you have to be on the inside, and that’s what he does…He doesn’t have size, but he has the speed to get in there and he’s using that effectively.”
• His goal was also the product of a really strong shift where Pastrnak and Morgan Geekie had a 2-on-1 and ended up drawing an offensive-zone faceoff and then Lettieri scored on the next shift.
• The Bruins have now scored power-play goals in three of their last four games.
• Pastrnak has extended his goal streak to four games and his multi-point streak to four games as well.
• The Bruins head on the road to face the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday at 7 p.m.