CALGARY, Alberta — When the puck drops for overtime, it’s white-knuckle time for the fans as the NHL’s three-on-three format leads to lots of open ice and end-to-end action.
For
Brad Marchand, however, it’s go time.
The Bruins’ captain is the franchise’s all-time leader in overtime goals with 21.
“Overtime is a blast and it’s a privilege to be on the ice and to want to make something happen with our group,” Marchand said moments after he had the best view in the Scotiabank Saddledome for
David Pastrnak’s OT winner Tuesday night. “We seem to have a lot of confidence in those situations that we can capitalize on opportunities, but I don’t feel pressure in overtime. I feel like it’s exciting and the fans love it. We love it. We’re still fans of the game, so it’s exciting hockey to watch and be part of, but it’s just a great opportunity to have a big moment.”
Pastrnak’s big moment capped a night in which the Bruins twice fell behind by a pair of goals but refused to shrink in the moment. In fact, after coach
Joe Sacco called a timeout following the Flames’ two-goal spurt to start the second, the ice was tilted in the Bruins’ favor for the majority of the final 30 minutes, including a torrid third period in which they outshot the hosts, 15-5.
“The goal was just simply just to get our guys to regroup,” Sacco said Wednesday at the team’s optional skate at WinSport Arena. “At that point, we didn’t like the way the game was going and I just felt it was the time to just kind of grab their attention and say, ‘Hey, there’s lots of time left in the game, but we have to start playing.’ And I love the response, obviously. I mean, we come out with a win, but I don’t know if it’s because of [the timeout], but the guys just started to play our game.”
Prior to Pastrnak’s winner, the Flames’
Nazem Kadri had bolted up the wing only to be denied by a
Charlie McAvoy stick theft that set stage for the Bruins’ final rush.
“Chuckie made a hell of a play on the backcheck,” said Pastrnak, who now has 11 OT goals, second only to Marchand in franchise annals.
“Typically, we want that person that’s tracking back into our zone to try to take away the puck carrier and he did that,” said Sacco. “The other forward or defenseman or whoever was playing the two-on-one, his job is to make sure it doesn’t go back door. So, it was a really good read by Charlie.”
Sacco liked how his team handled the extra session, noting that there’s not a lot left to coach at that point.
“I think that’s where talent takes over in overtime,” he said. “There’s a couple of things that we try to tell our guys that maybe if it’s a neutral-zone forward check, I think something like that. Making sure that we don’t give the puck away. Three-on-three, you want to possess the puck as much as you can. You saw a couple of times last night where we didn’t have anything in the offensive zone, so we took it back outside, we regrouped, we were able to get some line changes, get some fresh bodies out there.”