By René Reyes/DFP Staff
Rookie Steven Kampfer made a name for himself Thursday night against the Philadelphia Flyers. First, the Boston Bruins defenseman delivered a big hit on Flyers veteran Scott Hartnell in the third period. Then, the 5-foot-11 native of Ann Arbor, Mich., notched his first career game-winning goal with 1:14 remaining in regulation in a contest that saw the B’s come back from three one-goal deficits and rally to score five times in the third.
The unexpected offensive contribution from Kampfer – who tallied just seven goals in four collegiate seasons at the University of Michigan – carried the Bruins (24-12-7) to a riveting 7-5 victory over the Eastern Conference-leading Flyers (27-11-5) before another raucous crowd of 17,565 at the TD Garden.
“I thought it was kind of a teeter-totter game there,” Kampfer said. “We didn’t play well at certain points, and they came back in the game and we battled back, and we got two points. That was huge for us against the No. 1 team in our conference.”
The Flyers struck first in this matchup between two hated rivals at 3:34 of the first period. Flyers forward Ville Leino sent a pass from the right boards that Hartnell got a hold of behind the cage and swatted past B’s goaltender Tim Thomas (30 saves). Hartnell’s goal snapped the Bruins’ 10-0 unanswered goal streak, which dated back to the third period of Monday’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
After Hartnell and Flyers teammate Braydon Coburn were both called for hooking near the end of the first, the Bruins were awarded with their first power play opportunity of the night. B’s captain Zdeno Chara capitalized on the five-on-three advantage at the 18:16 mark of the first period. He unleashed a bomb from the right circle that sizzled into the top left corner. With the goal, Chara extended his points streak to four straight games.
“[Bruins center Marc Savard] made a nice pass, and I just buried it,” Chara said. “It was nice to go in. We really needed one, especially on the five-on-three. You know how important it is that you take charge and score a goal with the two-man advantage.”
The Bruins went ahead 2-1 only 45 seconds into the second period. Kampfer wristed a shot from the blue line that deflected off Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron – who was screening Flyers netminder Brian Boucher (30 saves) – and into the net. Bergeron’s 14th tally of the season was his fourth goal in the last two games.
With less than five minutes to go in the same frame, Chara committed a turnover in the Bruins’ offensive zone. Flyers right winger Andreas Nodl collected the loose puck and sent it up the ice to an open Nikolai Zherdev, who deked Thomas with a backhand finish on the clean breakaway.
The Flyers would tack on another goal right before the second period was up when center Jeff Carter’s wrister from the left face-off circle beat Thomas stick side, gaining a 3-2 lead with only 36 seconds left in the frame.
The Bruins knotted the game at 3-3 on a goal from forward Mark Recchi at 0:38 of the third. Chara sent the disk from the B’s defensive end toward the Philly end, but the puck hit the end boards behind the net and bounced right to Recchi, who potted the empty-netter, as Boucher was caught out of position trying to retrieve the puck.
“I was going for the forecheck,” Recchi said. “I was just going straight in. I knew it was going to come out, so we’ll take a lucky break and play our game.”
A minute and 10 seconds later, the Bruins would make it a 4-3 advantage over the Flyers. B’s defenseman Adam McQuaid put a shot on goal from the right point that deflected off forward Michael Ryder’s stick and snuck inside the right post.
Coburn’s shot from just outside of the slot ricocheted off Thomas’ right pad and right to forward Danny Briere, who tapped the puck home at the 6:48 mark, tying the contest at four goals apiece.
The Flyers retook a one-goal edge, 5-4, less than a minute later when captain Mike Richards slid the puck to a charging Sean O’Donnell, who then netted his first career goal in 49 games with the flick of a wrist from the left circle.
Bruins center Brad Marchand scored the equalizer at 11:26. When he fell bringing the puck to goal, forward Blake Wheeler managed to tip the puck to Marchand, who quickly scooped it up and zipped it past the glove of Boucher and into the top right corner.
“From what I remember, I think [center Gregory Campbell] passed it to [Wheeler] and he came in and got me the puck and I tried to get it on net,” Marchand said. “I got a lucky shot and found the net.”
Kampfer scored the go-ahead goal – his fourth career NHL goal in his last nine games played – for the Bruins at 18:46. Kampfer ripped a shot from the right face-off circle that slipped by Boucher’s right shoulder.
“I saw the guy rimming the puck around the wall there,” Kampfer said of his game-winning goal. “I had a jump on the guy, the forward up on the red line, so I just jumped in. I just tried to get a shot on net, and I was fortunate enough to beat him far-side high.”
Bruins coach Claude Julien has been pleased with the development of Marchand and Kampfer, both young players who are starting to play big roles for this Bruins squad.
“It’s good that it happens against teams like the Flyers, the elite teams,” Julien said. “When your young players can rise to the occasion and do well, it certainly speaks for itself. I think their development has been pretty good. Our young guys are developing well and hopefully that continues. They’ve been contributing and you need that.”
Campbell added an empty-net goal with 6.8 ticks left on the clock, sealing the Bruins’ 7-5 win and capping off a five-goal third period for the hometown team in a game where the lead changed hands five different times.
“I wish I could say it was a lot of fun, although we had to come from behind a couple of times,” Julien said. “But no, I think I liked the way our guys battled back. Even though I thought defensively we might have been a little sloppy or not as good as we have been, we still battled hard and we still found some ways to score goals, and at the end of the night, that’s all you can ask for.
“When you beat a team like the Flyers, who are obviously a very good team this year and are playing so well, at the end of the night you take the two points and you appreciate it.”
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