Boston Bruins, NHL News, St Louis Blues

Bruins Unable to Hold Early Lead in Overtime Loss to Blues

After falling to the Dallas Stars on the road Thursday night 7-2, the Boston Bruins looked for a reprieve on Saturday afternoon when they faced off with the St. Louis Blues for the second time in a matter of a week. After defeating the Blues earlier in the week at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis 3-2, the Bruins were optimistic going into the matinee matchup at the TD Garden.

Trent Frederic Boston Bruins
Trent Frederic, Boston Bruins (Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)

However, despite scoring two goals in the first period, it wasn’t enough for Boston as they fell to St. Louis 3-2 in overtime on Causeway St. Saturday afternoon thanks to an overtime goal from Brayden Schenn. Joonas Korpisalo was in net and he made 28 saves on 31 shots on goal.

First Period

In the first period, the Bruins made the most of their opportunities despite being outshot 10-6. Radek Faksa got the Blues on the board first with a snap shot at the 6:25 mark in the opening frame. Trent Frederic then took matters into his own hands and scored the next two goals – both even strength goals – at the 9:34 and 12:12 marks, respectively.

Related: Pros & Cons of the Bruins Trading Trent Frederic

Frederic’s first goal came on a wrist shot that was set up perfectly by a net-front dish by Georgii Merkulov. The assist was Merkulov’s first point in the National Hockey League. His second goal came when he got his stick blade on a wrist shot by Mason Lohrei.

The goal gave Frederic not only three goals on the season, but also gave him 100 points in his career.

The rest of the period was relatively clean other than a bench minor for too many men on the ice on Boston, but St. Louis was not penalized for anything.

Second Period

The second period came and went with no scoring for either side, but again the Bruins were outshot by the Blues, this time nine to five.

Late in the second period, however, is when things got feisty. At the 19:08 mark, Charlie McAvoy and Oskar Sundqvist got tangled up and sent to the penalty box. McAvoy was sent to the sin bin for roughing, and Sundqvist for holding. Just 41 seconds later, Boston dug itself a hole and forced a 4-on-3 start to the third period when Frederic was called for cross-checking.

Third Period

After the 4-on-3 expired, St. Louis was on the power play for 1:19. Luckily for the Bruins, the Blues were unable to score on the man-advantage and the score remained 2-1.

However, at the 9:18 marker, Nathan Walker fired one past Korpisalo on the blocker side from in between the faceoff dots, tying the game up at two goals apiece – silencing the crowd.

The third period remained quiet the rest of the way with Boston being shut down and by St. Louis’s defense as the visitors outshot the hosts 10-6.

Overtime

In overtime, the Bruins were stifled yet again and were unable to pick up a single shot on goal. The Blues, however, picked up two. The second shot found twine off the stick of Schenn, sending the TD Garden crowd home 2:53 into overtime.

With the loss, Boston falls to 8-8-3 and into third place in the Atlantic Division, and seventh in the Eastern Conference. The victory solidifies St. Louis’s place in sixth place in the Central Division with a record of 8-9-1.


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