Bruins look like Stanley Cup contenders winning 2019 NHL Winter Classic

The iconic Notre Dame stadium played host to the 2019 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic game today between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Boston Bruins. Here’s a recap of the first NHL game of 2019.

Just under 80,000 were in attendance at Notre Dame Stadium for the 2019 NHL Bridgestone Winter Classic, which ended up being one of the better Winter Classic games in recent memory. Both the Bruins Tuukka Rask and Blackhawks Cam Ward played fantastic, keeping the game close through 60 minutes. In the end, it was the Boston Bruins who won, with a final score of 4 to 2.

The Notre Dame motto, “play like a champion today,” was plastered throughout the Winter Classic stadium. Fitting, seeing as these two original six franchises have no shortage of Stanley Cups between them (Six each for a total of 12). While this game likely won’t be a preview of this years Stanley Cup final, fans need to look back no further than 2013 to see the last time these two met for Lord Stanley’s Cup.

The Blackhawks opened the scoring in the first period, with Brendan Perlini beating Tuukka Rask and making it a 1-0 game for Chicago. The Bruins were quick to answer, with none other than the man they call “Pasta” scoring his 24th of the season. It remained 1-1 after the first.

The Blackhawks were the first to score in the second period as well. Dominic Kahun tipped a puck through Rasks five-hole, prompting an annoyed reaction from the goaltender as he surely wanted that one back. With an assist on the goal, Jonathan Toews recorded the 7th Winter Classic point of his career.

Dspite this play, Rask played a phenomenal game. Both he and Ward kept the game from being in the 5-7 goal range. Rask also had a slight bit of help from the greatest goaltender in NHL history, the post, to keep the Blackhawks at only two goals.

Patrice Bergeron answered shortly after with a beautiful series of plays in which he chased down a shorthanded Blackhawks break-a-way before scoring the backhand game-tying goal on the same shift. It’s safe to say Bergeron is back to his old self after being out for most of November and December with a rib injury. Plays like this will put him back in the discussion for his potential record-breaking 5th Selke Trophy.

Both goaltenders played incredibly in the third, making key saves on multiple occasions, but it was the Bruins who ran away with it after the red-hot Sean Kuraly netted another game-winning goal to put the Bruins up 3-2. The electric line of Heinen, Kuraly and Wagner brought the energy needed in the third to take the game for the B’s.

Brad Marchand added an empty netter at the end of the game, give the Bruins a 4-2 win to kick off the 2019 year with a bang. As good as the Blackhawks have been in their last 10 games, they couldn’t get through the Bruins, who are starting to heat up now that they are finally fully healthy again. Watch out for this team in the back half of the season.

https://twitter.com/NHLBruins/status/1080210361415057408

Highlights

The Chicago Blackhawks look to get back into the win column against the New York Islanders on Thursday evening. The Boston Bruins will play the Western Conference-leading Calgary Flames on Thursday night.

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