Fighting Back

After an epic collapse in Montreal Saturday night, Zdeno Chara and the Bruins rallied to score four goals in the final three-plus minutes to earn a thrilling 4-2 victory over the Penguins in Pittsburgh last night.

Less than 72 hours ago, the visiting Bruins executed their game plan to perfection by building a seemingly insurmountable 2-0 lead against the hated Canadiens Saturday night with just under three minutes remaining in the third period. Thanks to a pair of goals from Patrice Bergeron and a stellar performance between the pipes from Tim Thomas (he finished with 39 saves), the Bruins seemed destined to waltz out of the Bell Centre with a hard-earned road victory.

Then, in the blink of an eye, everything crumbled.

Eerily similar to their epic collapse in last season's playoffs against the Flyers, the Bruins coughed up their 2-0 lead and had no one else to blame but themselves. A Michael Ryder trip of Montreal defenseman James Wisniewski gave the Canadiens a power play with less than three minutes left. Igniting the comeback, Scott Gomez scored on the ensuing man advantage to make it 2-1, then, with the goaltender pulled, Brian Gionta tied the game with just 47.7 seconds left to force overtime and bring the sellout crowd of 21, 273 to a deafening roar (the Canadiens were especially pumped up because they were celebrating their 3,000th NHL home game in Montreal).

Another penalty, this time by Blake Wheeler, gave the Habs a four-on-three power play in overtime. Although the Black and Gold killed the penalty, Montreal forward Max Pacioretty beat Thomas less than two minutes later to give the Canadiens the 3-2, come-from-behind victory.

"I thought we played a really good game until we took that bad penalty in the third," Bruins coach Claude Julien lamented. "We gave up a bad goal, and from there on in, we took another bad penalty in overtime. We shot ourselves in the foot."

The backlash against the Bruins in the Boston press was severe, and deservingly so. Once again, they showed us all that they are uniquely susceptible to epic collapses, which says something deeper about not only their hunger, fight and will to win, but their coaching as well. Captain Zdeno Chara refused to speak to the media after the game.

The feeling around Beantown got even worse last night as the Bruins trailed the Penguins 2-0 with just four minutes remaining. The lackluster effort seemed to be a direct result of the hangover suffered Saturday night at the hands of the hated Habs.

Then, it all turned around.

Shocking everyone in Pittsburgh as well as Bruins fans back home, Boston showed pride and heart (something rarely seen from the Black and Gold in recent years), rallying to score four goals in the final three plus minutes to earn an improbably 4-2 victory. By coming from behind with the odds stacking heavily against them, the Bruins did to Pittsburgh exactly what Montreal did to them just a few days before.

After Chara put the Bruins on the board with a power play goal to cut the deficit to 2-1, Brad Marchard lit the lamp just 12 seconds later to tie the game. Earning another man advantage, the Bruins capitalized with just 50 seconds remaining when Mark Recchi potted the game-winner. Gregory Campbell added an empty-net goal to make it 4-2 and improve the Bruins record to 22-12-7.

"It was such a great comeback," said Chara after the game. "Especially after the game against Montreal when we had the lead and we lost it. Great character win."

There you have it. Maybe the Bruins aren't the sinking ship that we once thought they were, getting our hopes high during the regular season only to break our hearts during the playoffs.

Then again, it's only one game. But after what happened against Philadelphia last season and again in Montreal on Saturday, Bruins fans can't help but hope and pray that this team is different after last night's thrilling victory in Pittsburgh.