Boston, MA – Despite a total of 10 goals, Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals between the Boston Bruins and Chicago Blackhawks is going to overtime.
After the first three games saw a total of 12 goals, the offenses have come alive on Wednesday as a five-goal second period was followed by a three-goal third period, with Patrice Bergeron tying the game at 4-4 just 2:05 in.
Jaromir Jagr was working the puck behind the net and regained control after losing it. He again lost the puck, but Bergeron pushed the disc back to Jagr before circling back out front. Jagr then returned it back to Bergeron in front where he one-timed it home for his ninth of the playoffs.
Boston caught a break 6 1/2 minutes in when Bryan Bickell rang a shot off the glove of Tuukka Rask and the crossbar with a slap shot from the left wing.
Chicago continued to press in an effort to take the lead and Viktor Stalberg found himself all alone at the low left circle, but Rask made the stop on the slap shot just over a minute later.
The Bruins got their fifth power play of the game at 8:51 when Jonathan Toews was whistled for high sticking, but it lasted just 22 seconds as Jagr was called for high sticking as well after clipping Duncan Keith.
During the 4-on-4, Milan Lucic tried to force a pass through Patrick Kane, but Kane picked it off and went in on a short break, forcing David Krejci to take a hooking call to give Chicago a 4-on-3 power play.
It briefly became a 5-on-3 after the Toews penalty expired and Chicago was unable to take advantage, but Jagr was just coming out of the box when the Blackhawks took a 5-4 lead.
Marian Hossa, who missed Game 3 with an upper-body injury, fired a shot on net from the high slot that Rask made a save on, but the rebound sat at the left and Patrick Sharp chipped it in for his 10th of the playoffs at 11:19.
The Bruins needed less than a minute to again tie the game. A scrum along the left boards saw the puck forced out by David Krejci as he got it to Nathan Horton, who sent a backhand pass to the high slot. Johnny Boychuk then took a stride closer and ripped a shot to the glove side of Corey Crawford for his sixth of the playoffs.
Neither side got on the board the rest of the way, forcing the fifth overtime period of this series.
Boston got the first power play of the game when Johnny Oduya was called for interference 5:18 in, but it was Chicago that took advantage.
Tyler Seguin tried to control the puck at the left point, but had his pocket picked by Brandon Saad and the play went the other way. Saad outskated Zdeno Chara and was able to send a touch pass over to the left wing where Michal Handzus snapped it in off the left post for a short-handed goal and his third tally of the playoffs at 6:48.
Boston had its first good scoring chance when Daniel Paille and Rich Peverley skated in on a 2-on-1, but was unable to get the shot off. However, Keith was called for hooking on the play and the Bruins' power play went to work with 7:15 left in the frame.
A right circle faceoff in their own zone was won by Chicago and Niklas Hjalmarsson sent it the other way for Saad, who tried to clear the puck but Andrew Ference kept it in at the left point.
Ference then tried to get the puck down low, but it deflected off a Blackhawks player. Luckily for Boston, though, it went to Peverley and he wristed it home from the top of the right circle for his second of the playoffs to tie the game with 5:17 left in the frame.
The Blackhawks grabbed a 2-1 lead at the 6:33 mark of the second when a right-point shot from Michal Rozsival saw Toews get a stick on it from the right side and the puck slipped under the left pad of Rask.
Chicago made it a 3-1 game with 8:41 gone thanks to Kane. Rozsival threw another shot on net from the right wing that was blocked, but the puck came out front and Bickell threw a backhand on net. Rask couldn't control the rebound and it went to the right side where Kane lifted in a backhander for his seventh of the playoffs.
Boston got one back at 14:43 when Sharp tried to get the puck out of the zone on a wraparound from the left side while Boston was pressuring. Chara, though, picked it off at the left point and sent it back in front, where Lucic got a stick on it then put in his own rebound for his sixth of the postseason.
The visitors answered 49 seconds later. A 2-on-1 rush saw Michael Frolik pass it from the right to the left down low. Marcus Kruger switched to the backhand and got the puck on net, but Rask stretched out the legs and got his left pad on it. However, Kruger stuck with the play and was able to lift his own rebound home from the right post.
Kane was called for hooking with 3:36 left in the middle stanza and Boston took advantage as a Chara shot from the high slot was tipped over the net by Bergeron. The force of the rebound off the end boards caused the disc to hit the top of the net before dropping in the slot where Bergeron chipped it in with 2:38 left in the frame.
Boston holds a 2-1 lead in this best-of-seven series after winning the past two games following a triple-overtime loss in the opener.
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