Bruins stage comeback for OT win

If there was ever a game that a team was lucky to win, it was tonight.

The Bruins looked positively awful in the first two periods against Melville - not a lot of effort, no battles for loose pucks and not much backchecking. If not for Derek Tendler, the Mils definitely would have buried more than two goals.

Then, on a power play with 3.3 seconds left in the second period, Calder Neufeld blasted a big shot top shelf from the top of the left circle. That cut the Mils' lead in half and gave the Bruins a big boost going into the third.

Even for the first few minutes in the third, I didn't think the Bruins looked great. As Keith said after the game, they really only played 17-18 minutes of hockey.  They allowed a one-timer goal to Michael Desjarlais during a 4-on-4 about three minutes in to restore Melville's two-goal lead.

Then Neufeld sniped yet another goal, his 11th of the year, and Josh Jelinski beat Alex Sirard 22 seconds later to tie it up and send Spectra Place into chaos. The Bruins had 16 shots in the period.

There were some tense moments near the end of the period. Melville had a goal called back with 3:31 left on a high stick. About a minute later, Austin Daae took a perfect pass breaking into the slot and was denied by Sirard's pad.

Dylan Smith later went hard into the end boards on a scoring chance and looked shaken up, to say the least. Shortly after that, Matt Dochylo took a bad hit from Michael Sagen and, I don't think, took another shift.

Smith's OT winner began with another big save by Tendler. The Bruins gained the line and Cole Olson held onto the puck just long enough to slip it through to Smith on the left side, and he found a tiny short side opening to beat Sirard.

The Mils have to be wondering what it's gonna take for them to beat the Bruins. They came out tonight fired up, obviously seeking revenge for the loss in their home opener, and likely would have had the game sewn up after two if not for Tendler.

Post-game with Smith and Cassidy:

Dylan Smith Oct. 5 by lewis94

Keith Cassidy Oct. 5 by lewis94