Bruins Beat Blackhawks to Take 2-1 Series Lead

(AP) Paille, Bergeron put Bruins ahead 2-0 after 2nd
By HOWARD ULMAN
AP Sports Writer
BOSTON
Goals by Daniel Paille and Patrice Bergeron after a scoreless first period gave the Boston Bruins a 2-0 lead over the Chicago Blackhawks through two periods in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals Monday night.

With the series tied 1-1, the Blackhawks suffered a key loss moments before the game when forward Marian Hossa was scratched from the lineup after being hit by a puck during warm-ups.

Paille, who scored in overtime to give Boston’s a 2-1 win in Game 2, gave the Bruins the lead at 2:13 of the second period with a slap shot from the right circle. Tyler Seguin’s hard shot from the left side was saved by Corey Crawford and the puck went to the right corner.

Chris Kelly got it away from Dave Bolland and passed to Paille for a quick shot, his fourth goal of the postseason.

Bergeron made it 2-0 with his seventh playoff goal on a power play at 14:05, just 5 seconds after Boston’s two-man advantage ended.

Jaromir Jagr held the puck a few feet to the left of Crawford and passed across the slot to Bergeron. Boston’s star center settled the puck then shot from about 10 feet. Crawford lost his stick as he thrust it toward Bergeron.

Game 4 of the best-of-seven series is Wednesday night in Boston.

The loss of Hossa’s offense could be costly for Chicago. He was tied for the team lead with 15 playoff points and was third on the Blackhawks with 17 goals during the regular season. The right wing also has three game-winners goals in this year’s playoffs.

Ben Smith, who played just one game this regular season and none in the playoffs, replaced him in the lineup and had one of the Blackhawks’ few solid scoring bids among the 18 shots put on goalie Tuukka Rask in the first two periods. At 7:49 of the second, he shot from close to Rask’s right but couldn’t score.

The Bruins had a much better first period than in their Game 2 win Saturday night. They were outshot 19-4 in that period before regaining the momentum in the second period and keeping it for much of the rest of the game.

Both teams played carefully in the first period Monday, wary of making costly mistakes, as the tight nature of the series continued after the first two games were decided in overtime.

Boston outshot Chicago 11-10 in the first period and had three good scoring opportunities while shorthanded after Shawn Thornton was penalized for roughing at 14:15.

The Blackhawks’ power-play troubles continued as they failed to score on two extra-man opportunities. The first came when Kaspars Daugavins, playing because Gregory Campbell broke his right leg in the Eastern Conference finals, was sent off for roughing at 9:57.

Campbell attended Monday’s game with a cast on his leg.

Chicago is 0 for 8 on power plays in the best-of-seven series and 1 for 26 in nine games.

Besides Hossa, there was one change in the lineups from Game 2. Right wing Viktor Stalberg replaced Brandon Bollig for Chicago.

Boston’s Claude Julien and Chicago’s Joel Quenneville rank second and third among coaches in playoff victories since the 2008 postseason. Julien has 49 and Quenneville has 47. Detroit’s Mike Babcock leads with 51.

The history of third games was in the Bruins’ favor. In Game 3s this year, the Bruins were 3-0 and the Blackhawks were 0-3. And the home team has won the last nine Game 3s in the finals.

Chicago won the series opener 4-3 in three overtimes. The only time the first three games of a Cup finals series all went to overtime was in 1951, when all five games needed extra time. Toronto beat Montreal 4-1 to win the championship.