Bruins 3, Senators 2
BOSTON -- The Boston Bruins started their Tuesday by closing a deal that brought future Hall of Famer Jaromir Jagr over from the Dallas Stars.
The Bruins then ended their Tuesday by pulling out a 3-2 decision over the Ottawa Senators, thus moving back to within a point of the idle Montreal Canadiens atop the Northeast Division.
But in between the trade and the victory, the Bruins also lost leading scorer and the NHL's leading faceoff man Patrice Bergeron to what appeared to be an injury to his head or shoulder after he came together with Ottawa's Colin Greening as the Senator was trying to shoot in the second period. He made contact with Greenings' forearm or elbow and did not return to the game
Bergeron has had two serious concussions but has been concussion free for almost two years.
Nathan Horton (12th goal) converted a Milan Lucic (two assists) rebound past Robin Lehner with 9:39 left and Anton Khudobin stopped 45 shots as the Bruins made it 4-0 (all close games) over the Senators this season; 13 wins in the last 14 games against Ottawa.
The Bruins, winning their second straight with Khudobin in goal (he had a 2-0 shutout at Buffalo Sunday night), fired 50 shots at Lehner, who shut them out in Boston last year and faced 46 shots in a 2-1 overtime loss at TD Garden earlier this season.
Horton scored for the fourth game in a row.
David Krejci (No. 9, plus an assist) and Tyler Seguin (12 shots on goal, 12th goal of the year) also scored for the Bruins while Greening (No. 7) and Andre Benoit (No. 3) scored for the Senators, who continue to battle despite a slew of injuries.
The Benoit goal tied the game 1:55 into the third period -- but no one knew it. When play stopped with 17:14 left, Toronto called, the play was reviewed, the goal counted and the clock was set back to 18:05.
The Bruins killed the final 32.3 seconds of the game a man down, with Johnny Boychuk in the penalty box. But a crunching check by Zdeno Chara all but ended the game.
Much of the crowd was still arriving when the teams combined for three goals in an early 2:01 span.
The Bruins gave the puck away in their own zone and Zack Smith poked it to Greening, who beat Khudobin with a backhander just 2:48 into the game. But Krejci deflected a Zdeno Chara flip at the net by Lehner 40 seconds later and, 1:01 after that, Brad Marchand made a nifty pass to Seguin for the go-ahead goal.
The Bruins thought they had made it 3-1 at 12:11 when a Chara blast from the point beat Lehner. But Patrice Bergeron was in the crease and the goal was waved off.
The Bruins had 21 first-period shots (they allowed 19); their most in a period since they had 22 in the third period at Minnesota Feb. 19, 2012.
NOTES: To get Jagr, who should help the struggling power play, the Bruins parted with winger Lane McDermid and the rights to winger Cody Payne and a draft pick that could out to be a first rounder. The trade calls for a second-round pick, unless the Bruins make it to the Eastern Conference final, which would then make it a No. 1 pick. "His career speaks for itself," Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli said before the game. "He's a strong player, protects the puck well. It's consistent with our style in the sense that there's a cycle element to his game. He's good on the half-wall, really good release, shot. He's just a real good player." Jagr, who started his NHL career almost three years before Bruins defenseman Dougie Hamilton was born, is slated to debut Thursday and on the third line and power play. ... A fan in the crowd already had a Jagr Bruins jersey on. ... Kaspars Daugavins, claimed on waivers from Ottawa last week before taking time to get his work visa, skated in the warmup for Boston but didn't dress for the game. ... The teams came in 1-2 in the NHL in penalty killing, the Bruins No. 1. ... The Senators visit Buffalo and Florida Friday and Sunday; while the Bruins host New Jersey Thursday before going to Montreal Saturday. ... Twenty Bruins raised $76,000 for the Shawn Thornton Foundation, the Bruins Foundation and the Floating Hospital at Tufts Medical by having their heads shaved Monday.
