Mason Lohrei leads Bruins to victory in Chicago
If Mason Lohrei’s days as a Bruin are numbered, he’s making them count.
Lohrei has been the subject of rampant speculation the last couple of days as part of a possible package for Calgary Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson. If it was bothering him, he didn’t show it.
The defenseman scored his fifth and sixth goals of the season in the Bruins’ 5-2 victory over the Blackhawks in Chicago on Saturday night.
Like Lohrei, Andersson played in his game Saturday, suggesting any prospective deal wasn’t that imminent, though the Flame, an upcoming unrestricted free agent, was seen savoring what might have been his last game at the Saddledome after his team’s win over the Islanders.
Whether a deal happens or not, the B’s train kept on rolling. They shook off an early two-goal deficit and some shaky officiating to record their sixth straight victory. Joonas Korpisalo made 21 saves for his third straight victory.
Despite dominating the first 10 minutes of the game, the Bruins went into the first break down by two goals.
The B’s were all over the Hawks early, putting the first eight shots on the net, and there were a few very good chances. Arvid Soberblom’s best save was on David Pastrnak, who was not able to lift the puck over the prone netminder’s left pad.
Not one but two questionable calls went against the B’s and changed the complexion of the game, for a time anyway. First, Nikita Zadorov was called for roughing when Tyler Bertuzzi turned into a hit along the boards. Zadorov barked at the officials all the way to the box.
The B’s were able to kill off the infraction. But before Zadorov was able to get back into the play, Andre Burakovsky fed Ryan Greene in the slot and Greene beat Korpisalo at 16:14.
Then came a crucial non-call. Casey Mittelstadt came down the right boards to help Hampus Lindholm, who was activated off injured reserve before the game, with Nick Foligno. The former was able to push the puck to Wyatt Kaiser and then tripped Mittelstadt, which allowed Kaiser to skate into the open slot unabated. From there, he whistled a wrist shot past Korpisalo at 18:14.
Coach Marco Sturm, usually reserved behind the bench, exploded on the officials but it could not change that fact that the B’s were down a deuce heading into the second period.
The B’s quickly cut the deficit in half at 1:54 of the second on a beautiful play that Charlie McAvoy started and finished. From his own end, McAvoy started the breakout with a pass to Marat Khusnutdinov, who lugged it through the neutral zone. After gaining the blue line, he dished to Pastrnak along the right boards and Pastrnak fed it to Elias Lindholm. The centerman drifted to the left side and connected with the rushing McAvoy, who snapped his third of the year past Soderblom.
The Hawks nearly regained their two-goal lead when Zadorov failed in his attempt to keep a puck in at the Chicago blue line and Oliver Moore broke out on a 2-on-1 with Nick Lardis. It looked like Moore was going to give Lardis a tap-in but Alex Steeves dove to break up the pass.
It was a terrific hustle play from Steeves, and the B’s made it count.
Lohrei tied the game for the B’s at 14:51. Pavel Zacha wheeled behind the net, came out on the right side and passed it to Hampus Lindholm at the left point. Lohrei, rotating down, took Lindholm’s feed and beat Soberblom with a sharp wrister that beat Soberblom to the short side from the right dot for his fifth of the year.
Then the B’s took the lead with 46 seconds left in the period. Mittelstadt pulled up just over the blue line and made a smart, short pass to Viktor Arvidsson, who had a 2-on-1 with Zacha. Arvidsson (11) made the long cross-ice pass to Zacha and then scored on Zacha’s long return pass.
Lohrei then gave the B’s an insurance goal on the B’s first power play at 9:01 of the third. With a Mittelstadt screen, the defenseman’s long wrister eluded Soderblom and the B’s had a 4-2 lead.
The B’s then took a commanding lead at 11:02 off another beauty. Pastrnak carried the puck in the zone and, with no shooting option, he took his time waiting for help. He took the puck over to the right boards and sent a perfect pass to Khusnutdinov (12) for a tap-in.
