All the Boston Bruins had to do was hold on for a few more minutes.
Leading by two goals, all that separated them from a massive win was one last late push by the Ottawa Senators.
The Bruins did not make it.
Ottawa scored a pair of goals with an extra attacker to send the game to overtime.
The Bruins did not score in overtime.
They didn’t score in the shootout, either, and let a pair of critical points slip through their hands, falling 6-5 at Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday evening.
As the Bruins led 5-3 with less than four minutes to play, Nic Jensen scored for Ottawa by firing a rebound from the right faceoff circle into the back of the net past Jeremy Swayman.
Even still, the Bruins were ahead by a goal. Or at least they were until Josh Norris scored his second goal of the game with 12 seconds remaining in regulation.
For the third straight game, Swayman faced at least 40 shots on goal, as he finished with 39 saves on 44 shots.
The Senators started preparing him early and jumped out to a 2-0 advantage before the halfway point of the first period with goals by Adam Gaudette and Tim Stützle. Meanwhile, it seemed the Bruins were going to struggle to score as they barely possessed the puck to start the game.
But in a short sequence, Boston showed that wasn’t going to be a problem.
Pavel Zacha got the Bruins on the board by scoring on the power play for his 11th goal of the season at 11:07 of the first period. With 48 seconds left until the intermission, David Pastrnak rifled a wrist shot from above the faceoff circles off the rush to tie the score with his 21st goal of the season and third in as many games.
The Bruins took their first lead when Morgan Geekie scored his 11th goal of the year barely over a minute into the second period.
It was in the middle frame that the game fell into disarray as a scrum broke out after nearly every whistle. The Bruins and Senators combined for 22 penalty minutes in the second period alone, the majority of which came when Mark Kastelic, fresh out of concussion protocol, fought his former Senators teammate Zack Ostapchuk in his first game back in Ottawa.
Josh Norris took advantage of the chaos for Ottawa by tying the game with a power-play goal while Brad Marchand served a double-minor penalty for roughing, only for Johnny Beecher to put the Bruins back heading into the third with his third goal of the season.
Vinni Lettieri scored his first goal as a member of the Bruins to push their lead to 5-3 with less than 10 minutes to play in the game.
Of course, though, a two-goal advantage is the most dangerous kind there is.
But even after the Bruins relinquished they’re lead, they didn’t have one of their top players on the ice while they still had a chance to win the game, as Brad Marchand didn’t skate a single shift in overtime or appear in the shootout.
By letting the extra point slip through their fingers, the Bruins have slipped outside of the playoff picture and sit one point behind Ottawa in the wildcard race.
The Bruins will see the Senators again later this upcoming week but first must face the San Jose Sharks on Monday afternoon at TD Garden.
