The Boston Bruins rallied from a 3-1 deficit after two periods Tuesday night to force overtime, but would fall in a shootout 5-4 to the Winnipeg Jets at Bell MTS Place in Winnipeg in a matchup of two of the top teams in the NHL.
Brandon Tanev and Ryan Donato swapped first period goals to make it 1-1. Tanev and Joe Morrow scored second period markers though to give the home Jets a 3-1 lead after two. Danton Heinen and David Pastrnak both scored powerplay goals 1:51 apart early in the third for the Bruins to make it 3-3, before Tanev finished off his hat trick with a shorthanded goal just 53 seconds after Pastrnak had tied it to make it 4-3 Winnipeg. 3:37 later, Boston struck again as Torey Krug tied it with a powerplay goal.
In overtime, Brad Marchand had the best chance as he took a blocked shot and had a clear breakaway in on Winnipeg goalie Connor Hellebuyck with just five seconds left. Marchand missed with a wrist shot wide, sending the game to a shootout. Patrik Laine scored in the third round of the shootout for the Jets to make the difference, as Heinen was stopped by Hellebuyck on the Bruins final chance. Krug added an assist to go along with his game tying goal for the B’s. Marchand added two assists, his 48th and 49th of the season. Adam Lowry added two assists for the Jets.
Anton Khudobin made 28 saves in the loss for Boston (47-17-11). The Bruins were 3-5 on the powerplay. Hellebuyck also made 28 saves for Winnipeg (47-19-10) in the win, while the Jets were 0-1 with the extra man. Boston now sits at 105 points, and will face Tampa Bay at 7 p.m. Thursday night at TD Garden for first place in the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference. Tampa currently has 106 points.
