The Boston Bruins found a way to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 2-1 in double-overtime of Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals on Wednesday night, and they likely demoralized the top-seeded Pens in the process.
The teams played nearly 66 minutes of scoreless hockey until Patrice Bergeron slipped one past Tomas Vokoun at the 15:19 mark in the second overtime. The catalyst on the goal was Jaromir Jagr, who fought Evgeni Malkin for the puck by the boards and flipped it ahead to Brad Marchand, who passed to his linemate for the winner.
It was Bergeron’s third-career playoff overtime goal.
“We found our way I guess. That’s the only way you can look at it,” said Bergeron after the game. “It wasn’t necessarily our best effort in the first 60, but I thought we regrouped well in overtime. We kept battling and we said that we had to find a way somehow, and we did in the second overtime.”
Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask was outstanding once again for the B’s. He stopped 53 of 54 shots he faced, though he did get lucky on a few shots, such as one by Malkin that hit the post. Despite the loss, Vokoun played well for Pittsburgh and stopped 38 of 40 shots. He bounced back after being pulled following his shameful performance in Game 2 that saw him allow three goals in the first period.
Jagr played a good game for Boston and now has three assists against the team for whom he starred for over a decade. He played aggressively and took four shots in over 26 minutes of ice time.
Now that they’re up 3-0 after taking Pittsburgh’s soul with the double-overtime win, I’d be stunned if the series didn’t end on Friday.
