Five reasons why the Boston Bruins won Game 2

(Reads headline)

“They scored more goals than the Blackhawks!”

Well, yeah, but there are reasons why the Boston Bruins won Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final over the Chicago Blackhawks, 2-1 in overtime, to even the series at 1-1. Here are five:

1. The Bruins’ Worst Was Their First

If you’re going to completely suck in a Stanley Cup Playoff game, better it’s the first period on the road than, say, overtime. The Blackhawks embarrassed the Bruins in the opening frame, outshooting them 19-4 and taking a 1-0 lead on Patrick Sharp’s goal. As Jaromir Jagr said after the game: "If someone watched the first period they would say 'Give (Chicago) the Cup right now."'

But the Bruins leveled the ice in the second period, and arguably outplayed the Hawks in the last 33:48 of the game before Daniel Paille’s goal ended it.

2. Tuukka Time

Rask kept the Bruins in the game when the Blackhawks were dominating, and didn’t make a misstep after the first. Corey Crawford was flashier, but Rask was solid in evening the series.

3. The Kill Is Still Killin’ It

The Blackhawks were 0-for-3 on the power play in Game 2 and are now 0-for-6 for the series. The Bruins previously held the Pittsburgh Penguins to 0-for-15 in the conference final, so their PK is red hot. We expected the special teams battle to be a wash; if it is, that benefits the Boston Bruins, the best team 5-on-5 in the postseason.

4. The Break

What if Chicago had gone up 2-0 in the first period? Had the quick whistle that wiped out what could have been a Marian Hossa goal in at 12:32 not sounded, it could have been a different game.

5. The Grunts Won

It was the reverse of Game 1: Patrick Sharp, handsome superstar, scored for the Blackhawks. Chris Kelly and Daniel Paille, blue-collar Bruins grunts, accounted for the goals in Game 2. Paille set up Kelly for the game-tying goal, and buried the game-winner on a perfect feed from Tyler Seguin off a Blackhawks turnover. Who turned it over? Brandon Bollig, a grunt.