It started with Chris Wagner, and it ended with Wagner.
Finishing off a California swing of three games in four nights, the Bruins completed the California sweep with a 6-5 overtime win over the Sharks. But the win didn’t come without drama and controversy.
In the first, Chris Wagner’s tip of a shot trickled past Martin Jones, but before the puck could, in real time, clearly cross the goal line, Marc Edouard-Vlasic’s clearing of the puck made things more difficult for the officials.
After the play was called no goal on the ice, and confirmed by the league in Toronto, Torey Krug’s power play strike would get the Bruins on the board for real, his sixth goal of the season.
Goals by Zdeno Chara and Karson Kuhlman—the first goal of his NHL career—would follow, giving the Bruins the 3-0 first period lead. Joe Thornton’s first of the night with just three seconds left gave the Sharks some life entering the second.
That’s when things got wild.
Second period goals by Joe Pavelski, Jake DeBrusk,—his fourth in as many games— Thornton and Logan Coture would send the two teams into the third tied at four.
After Thornton completed the hat trick to give the Sharks their first lead of the evening, controversy struck again. And once again it was Wagner at the heart of it.
Wagner sent the game to overtime when he knocked his own rebound out of midair before tapping the puck into the the open net. It seemed pretty clear that the puck was played with a highstick.
It’s safe to say Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer was not too happy with the call, or lack of.
“It was above his shoulders. The officiating in the whole third period, I’m sure we’ll get an explanation or some type of apology,” said DeBoer. “It doesn’t help us in the standings, but that’s usually how it works."
Wagner and the Bruins had a little different of a view point.
“What goes around, comes around,” said a smiling Wagner. “I think I got it shoulder level, l he added. “I put it in before because I knew they couldn’t challenge it. They’re probably upset about that.”
Once the dust settled on the drama of the third period, the Bruins wanted to make sure another blown lead wouldn’t be the night’s main story.
Two nights after his late goal broke the tie in Los Angeles, Charlie McAvoy’s tally in overtime gave the Bruins the victory, their sixth in a row. They now have points in 11 straight.
McAvoy’s tally came as he joined David Krejci and DeBrusk on an odd-man rush.
"I was just kind of trailing it. You know when you're out there with [DeBrusk] and Krech (Krejci) they're just two dynamic play makers, they're gonna make plays that not many people can,” said McAvoy. “Had a feeling that Krech saw me there. He made a perfect pass and I was just able to step into it and shoot as hard as I could."
The Bruins are absolutely rolling right now and doing so without their leading scorer in David Pastrnak.
It sounds like the Bruins are having fun, and doing so as a team.
“Let’s face it, we win as a team and lose as a team,” head coach Bruce Cassidy said. “I’m happy for everybody, including myself.”
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