Boston, MA – Goals from Daniel Paille and Patrice Bergeron in the second period have given the Boston Bruins a 2-0 lead over the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals.
Boston controlled play for much of the first period and began the second the same way, finally breaking through just 2:13 in.
Corey Crawford, who made 11 saves in the first frame, continued to bail his team out when he made a nice glove stop on a Tyler Seguin shot from the slot, but play continued in the Boston end.
Dave Bolland attempted to get the puck along the bottom of the right circle, but Paille lifted his stick and spun around for a shot that found the net as he scored his fourth of the playoffs for a 1-0 lead.
Chicago had a good opportunity when Brent Seabrook grabbed a bad clear at the right point and sent a slap-pass over to the left side where Patrick Kane got a shot on net, but Tuukka Rask saw it all the way and made the stop 7 1/2 minutes in.
The Bruins got their first power play of the game 12 minutes into the second period after Bolland was called for cross-checking after bringing Chris Kelly down.
Boston had a chance when Paille came flying through the neutral zone and tried to get a shot on net from the left wing, but he was upended by Niklas Hjalmarsson, who was whistled for tripping to give the Blackhawks a 5-on-3 advantage.
The two-man advantage was only for 10 seconds and it expired before Boston took advantage, but Bolland was just coming out of the box when the Bruins made it 2-0.
Zdeno Chara had the puck at the right point as the Bolland infraction ticked away, and passed it down low to the right side of the net. From there, Jaromir Jagr fired it across the goal mouth to the left side where Bergeron gathered the puck and flung it home for a 2-0 lead with 5:55 left in the second period.
The point was the 197th for Jagr in his postseason career, moving him into sole possession of fifth place on the NHL's all-time list, one ahead of Paul Coffey.
Rask made a good save on a Ben Smith shot late in the first period and had 18 saves through the first two frames to keep Chicago off the board.
Bolland was whistled for tripping with one minute to play in the second period, but Boston was unable to take advantage before time expired and will begin the third period with a minute of power play time.
It was all Boston at the beginning of the game as the team kept the pressure in the Chicago end but was unable to cash in.
Crawford made a pair of tough saves, including a right circle shot from Kelly two minutes in, and a low shot from Bergeron just over four minutes in.
Chicago had just three shots through the first 10 minutes, but got the first power play of the game when Kaspars Daugavins threw an elbow to the head of Andrew Shaw and was whistled for roughing at 9:57.
The Boston penalty kill, though, did its job as it held Chicago to zero shots on the advantage.
Boston found itself shorthanded again after Shawn Thornton was called for roughing at 14:15, but most of the play during the shorthanded situation was played in the Chicago end, which included a short break from Brad Marchand that saw him lose the puck off his stick before getting a shot off.
Boston has killed off all eight Chicago power plays in the series.
The Blackhawks are playing the game without forward Marian Hossa, who was a late scratch after injured during warmups. It was reported that he was hit by a puck and was replaced in the lineup by Smith.
This best-of-seven series is tied at 1-1 after the teams split the first two games in Chicago, both of which were decided in overtime.
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