Bruins goalie Tim Thomas is lost in the scrum in front of his net late in the third period.
(Barry Chin/Globe Staff)
Bruins 4, Devils 3
In the old days, when front-of-the-net scrambles took place late in a game, a defenseman like Dennis Wideman would have pulled off the bowling ball routine, laying out forwards like candlepins until time ticked off the clock.
But in the new NHL, referees are trained to sniff out such hooks, cross-checks, and drag-downs. So last night, when the Devils crashed the net in the final seconds of a one-goal game, Wideman and the rest of the Bruins tried everything within the books to keep the puck from crossing the line.
In the end, the biggest stop came down not to Tim Thomas, who had 42 saves (19 in the third period), but Glen Metropolit.
As mayhem erupted, Metropolit suddenly found himself behind his goalie. So the center laid out, like he was on his couch watching TV, just in time to stop a shot by forward Brian Gionta in the final seconds, icing the 4-3 win for the Bruins before a sellout crowd of 17,565 at TD Banknorth Garden.
"You do whatever you can do to keep the puck out of the net," said Metropolit, who led all forwards in ice time (20:22). "I got caught behind Timmy. Then it was like old road hockey."
The Bruins needed every Thomas save and the final Metropolit block to keep the surging Devils from wiping out a two-goal lead and swiping a win.
Up, 4-2, in the final 20 minutes, the Bruins failed to keep their skates on the Devils' throats, going 0 for 2 on third-period power plays that could have extended their advantage.
Instead, the Bruins didn't record a single power-play shot - their lone third-period attempt came off David Krejci's stick at 13:11 - while the Devils rammed the play down the throats of the Boston defense.
At 9:10 of the third, Marc Savard took an untimely hooking penalty. Ex-Boston College captain Mike Mottau handcuffed Thomas with a long-distance shot that forced the goalie to shovel the rebound into the front-of-the-net danger area. Center Travis Zajac found the puck and popped one past Thomas at 10:33, making it 4-3.
"We didn't go at them much in the third period," said Savard.
For the Bruins, most of the third period was a disappointing bookend for what had been an efficient first 40 minutes. Forward Dainius Zubrus batted in a first-period goal, but the Bruins stormed back for three straight strikes, including a last-second score by Marco Sturm.
P.J. Axelsson kicked off the rally when he found the rebound of a Phil Kessel shot and winged the puck past goalie Kevin Weekes (21 saves). The Bruins took a 2-1 lead late in the period after Krejci won an offensive-zone draw from Zajac and slid the puck to Sturm, who passed it back up the wall to Wideman at the point. With Chuck Kobasew setting a screen, Wideman snapped a shot that eluded Weekes at 18:10.
The Devils went on their first power play when Zdeno Chara was whistled for slashing at 19:15. But after Andrew Ference cleared the puck, which glanced off defenseman Johnny Oduya's glove, Sturm sprinted off for a partial breakaway. Oduya recovered to force Sturm's shot wide, but the left wing collected his own rebound and stuffed a forehand shot through Weekes's pads with 0.6 seconds remaining in the period.
Oduya trimmed Boston's lead to 3-2 in the second period when his point shot deflected into the net off Chara's left skate at 17:11. But the Bruins scored in the final minute for the second straight period when Axelsson's turn-and-fire from the point was tipped home by Savard with 59.5 seconds left, making it 4-2.
"We played extremely well for the first 40 minutes," said coach Claude Julien. "After they scored the first goal, we didn't panic. They're a hard team to play against when they have the lead. But we got back into the game."
Julien didn't like what he saw in the third period when his team was outshot, 20-1, and bullied by the crash-and-bang Devils. But one positive was that with 72 seconds left in regulation, after New Jersey called a timeout, the Bruins won an offensive-zone faceoff, kept the puck in the Devils' zone, and didn't allow a shot until Mottau got one through traffic at 19:31.
Then it was up to Thomas, Metropolit, and the rest of the Boston defense to scramble and keep New Jersey from tying the game.
"Theoretically, we didn't want the third period to go that way," said Thomas. "But we found a way to get the win."
Fluto Shinzawa can be reached at fshinzawa@globe.com.
© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company.
