B's Rally to Earn Point in OT Loss to Stars

BOSTON- The Bruins' game has not been as pretty over the last three contests.
They have fallen into holes in each of them and believe there is plenty of room to shore things up. Nevertheless, they are still finding a way to rack up the points.
Following a 3-2 overtime victory to the Dallas Stars on Monday afternoon, Boston has dropped two of its last three, but has managed to grab points in all three games (1-0-2) to extend its points streak to 13 games. It is their longest such streak since a 16-game stretch (15-0-1) in March 2014, the season they took home the Presidents' Trophy.

"We never gave up," said Zdeno Chara, who extended his points streak to three games with a second-period goal. "Obviously, we pushed back…kept pushing, but we've just got to make sure that we are a little bit more ready and a little bit more tight.
"Teams are coming and they look at the way we play. They're going to be, obviously, motivated to play us. We've just got to make sure we're ready for everybody who comes into this building, or who we're going to play."

After scoring at least four goals in five straight games, the Bruins struggled to generate much offensively for the majority of the first two periods, falling into a 2-0 hole thanks to tallies from Stephen Johns and Alexander Radulov. The lack of offense led to a bit of line juggling from Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy.
"They are a good defensive club. It's hard to get inside on them, so you're going to have to be good on the forecheck - good structure, getting pucks back. I didn't think we were early today," said Cassidy. "I just thought we weren't winning pucks early, and then as the game went on, we started getting a few more to go our way.
"We mixed up the lines a little bit, but we have had a lot of success lately, so we would like to allow players to play through with their groups."

But as they have throughout this torrid stretch, the Bruins found a way. Late in the second period, some strong work along the wall from Boston's fourth line - which included Riley Nash, following the line shifting from Cassidy - got the Bruins on the board and provided some momentum heading to the third.
Nash pulled the puck out of a pile and fed Charlie McAvoy at the right point. McAvoy then zipped a pass along the blue line to Chara, who slid down to the top of the left circle and let go a rocket that soared by Kari Lehtonen.
"It gave us life - it always does, especially when you're having a tough time scoring," said Cassidy. "He was excited, our guys were excited, and it gets the crowd going a little bit. I thought it was a turning point. It got us going a little bit, probably gave us some juice for the third to get back to 2 all."

The Bruins continued their push in the third and ultimately found the equalizer with 8:39 to go on Ryan Spooner's fifth goal of the year. Spooner took a pass from David Krejci and blasted a one-timer from just inside the blue line that trickled through Lehtonen.
With Jake DeBrusk battling for position in front, Stars defenseman Esa Lindell gave the puck the final whack it needed to get over the goal line and knot the game 2-2.
"I think in the first period, I think that might've been one of the worst periods that we've played," said Spooner. "I think the fact that we got a point and we came back says a lot, so that was definitely good to see."

Old friend Tyler Seguin ended things at 2:59 of the extra session with a spectacular effort during an extended delayed penalty.
"The delayed penalty - they worked pretty much to perfection, get everyone tired and walk down the slot and find the empty hole there," said David Backes. "I thought the first half of the game, they outskated us and were first on pucks, were in our face when we got to pucks, creating turnovers.
"We showed some character that we were able to fight back and get a point out of it, but with that being said, you get to a tie game - I felt like we had the momentum at that point. We need to find a way to get one more and take two points out of it."

More observations from the Bruins' 3-2 overtime loss to the Stars:

Khudobin keeps things close: Anton Khudobin made 12 saves in the first period and later stoned Radek Faksa on a shorthanded breakway in the second period with Dallas up 2-0 to keep the Bruins in the game. His strong play allowed Boston a chance to earn a point.
"I mean, I like to save the pucks," a matter-of-fact Khudobin said after the game. "They're a highly skilled team and they're really good - they play really good structure. So, they move pucks really well and I think that's why the shots were in good spots and high quality."

Power play struggles: The Bruins weren't able to establish much momentum on the power play, going 0 for 4 with the man advantage.
"Obviously, the power play can give you offense if you're having a tough time five-on-five - and tonight it didn't," said Cassidy. "I just thought we didn't wear them down enough with second chances. It's been a bit of a problem in the O-zone lately."
Overtime woes continue: The loss dropped Boston to 1-6 in overtime this season. Their lone victory came on Dec. 13 in Detroit on a Brad Marchand tally.
"It seems like we don't have the puck a lot," said Spooner. "The game against Washington, I think we might've touched the puck one or two times, and then tonight we had a couple looks but it wasn't good enough."

Chara sends thoughts to Danault: Zdeno Chara once again sent his support to Montreal forward Phillip Danault, who took a Chara slapshot to the head during Saturday night's game at the Bell Centre. The Canadiens announced on Monday that Danault has concussion-like symptoms and his condition will be re-evaluated on a daily basis.
"I spoke to Phillip a number of times, I reached out to him right after the game and wanted to make sure he was OK," said Chara. "He texted back and said he was feeling fine and released [from the hospital]. That's very positive, good news…very happy that he's going to recover fully and hopefully he's back on the ice to play hockey - that's what we're all hoping."