Blackhawks at Bruins

It wasn’t that many years ago when those three words sent a shockwave of electricity through the fans of both hockey teams, but 2008-14 is becoming a forgotten era in the psyche of both markets, their fandom preoccupied with the long journeys that lie ahead.

Tonight, the Chicago Blackhawks skate onto TD Garden ice as one of only two NHL teams with categorically worse 2024-25 records than the Bruins, who at least have experienced a mini-spike in their recent performance to punctuate this season that has become something unimaginable, at least from an internal perspective.

But here are the Bruins, looking down only at the Blackhawks and Sharks with three games remaining in the 2024-25 season.

The players and coaches take no solace in Easter Egg Ping-Pong Ball collecting, they want to win. The Bruins finally earned a couple of W’s in the last week, surprising the Carolina Hurricanes and the New Jersey Devils, two playoff-bound teams that couldn’t muster the sustained effort it would have taken to discourage a Boston team that, newly configured, is playing for careers, pride and professionalism.

Many of the fans in attendance tonight at TD Garden are thrilled to be here as either the beneficiaries of a season-ticket holder’s burnout or because they’d been planning this all season and thought it might make for a good playoff tune-up game.

Instead, those fans are seeing a vastly different lineup than what was anticipated as recently as the first week of March.

This traditional-six matchup remains intriguing in that it’s one of the last looks we’ll get as these clubs before the summer break. Both franchises are intent on taking sustainable steps next year in an attempt to get closer to the kind of expectations to which both Boston and Chicago were accustomed in 2013.

Riley Duran is looking to make his NHL debut tonight wearing No. 62 in black and gold. The former Providence College forward has dug his way out of a rough start to the AHL season and shows the potential to help the Bruins as another bottom-six forechecker with a big stride.

One of hockey’s greatest rivalries of the 1970s pitting brothers Phil, right, and Tony Esposito against one another. This photo comes from Game 1 of the Bruins’ and Black Hawks’ 1970 Stanley Cup semifinal series at the Chicago Stadium. Phil had a hat trick in the series opener, setting the Bruins on course for a four-game sweep.

The Bruins celebrated some individual awards before the game, recipients including David Pastrnak (Elizabeth C. Dufresne), Morgan Geekie (Eddie Shore), Parker Wotherspoon (Johnny Bucyk Community), and the 98.5 Three Stars (Pastrnak, Jeremy Swayman, and Geekie).

The NESN 7th Player Award (fan vote for the player who exceeds expectations) will be bestowed before Tuesday night’s season finale against New Jersey.

FIRST PERIOD

Fraser Minten to the box at 2:57 for tripping. Moments earlier, former Bruin Nick Foligno crosschecked Marat Khusnutdinov to the ice but incurred no attention from the officials.

Bruins get a short-handed chance as Jakub Lauko jams at the left post before Arvid Soderblom could freeze the puck.

On the second penalty kill, Pastrnak deked Connor Bedard to set up a short-handed shot, then he had a great chance to hit the young Chicago star coming out of his own zone but spun out of the contact zone.

The Bruins jump out front, 1-0, 10:40 into the game on a quick conversion of a Chicago turnover on a breakout play. The top line of Pastrnak, Geekie and Elias Lindholm strikes again. Pastrnak finished the play after starting it by stepping in front of the defenseman, causing the turnover. Geekie pounced and relayed to Lindholm for assists.

RINK RAP: The above was Pavel Zacha’s line for much of the season, but it’s been a potentially important development for Lindholm to find rhythm at the center of this line. Now that the Bruins have added Minten to the middle and anticipating the eventual NHL return of Matt Poitras, a competitive training camp next fall has also morphed into one that allows successful development by Minten and Poitras to allow Zacha to slide back to the left wing. Zacha, for his part, told Rink Rap earlier this season that he prefers the center position, but he has been Boston’s most-consistent October-April player. Outshined in recent months by Pastrnak and Geekie, for much of the first half of the schedule Zacha was all that was going well up front for the Bruins. He remains a critical piece of the top six going forward, regardless of which line and which position he takes.

Shots after one: 11-10 Blackhawks. With the exception of one early-game flurry, Swayman has handled their deliveries with ease, even passing his leg-pad saves Gerry Cheevers style to teammates for quick transitions to the attack.

SECOND PERIOD

The Chicago defense is like the city’s skyline (or a tight tennis match followed by a blowout): 6-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2, 6-1, 6-0.

Old friend Tyler Bertuzzi camping in front of Swayman got his stick on a point shot but deflected the puck over the glass.

Bedard snaps a wrister from the right circle that Swayman snatches and tosses into the faceoff circle with disdain. Swayman’s form is the best it’s been all season. Kind of a shame to see him in a landing pattern just when he’s starting to look like his ultra-sharp self.

Nick Foligno ties the game at 7:55 of the second period, snapping a wrist shot past Swayman on a partial breakaway that was the ironic product of a stumble by a Chicago player, resulting in a turnover. But when Fabian Lysell attempted to play the puck back up the boards to Mason Lohrei at the left point, the passed was bothered by Ilya Mikheyev and grabbed by Foligno — off to the races. The goal was officially unassisted.

Soderblom would then rob Lysell, who is still looking for his first NHL goal after putting an excellent shot on goal from a relay begun by Casey Mittelstadt and forwarded by Zacha.

A flurry of unrelated minor penalties produced no goals.

Big chance for Duran in the slot, but another big save by Soderblom.

Soderblom makes another big stop on Geekie at the left post.

The Bruins are pushing late in the second period, but Soderblom is playing well.

Sam Rinzel turns it over to Minten who takes the puck in alone, but Soderblom makes it look easy.

THIRD PERIOD

Former Bruins prospect Ryan Donato in the right place at the right time, following up on Rinzel’s rush to give Chicago its first lead at 3:13 of the third. 2-1.

In a flurry of blood-curdling screams reminiscent of the fateful 18 seconds at the end of Game 6 of the 2013 Stanley Cup, the Bruins are, in a matter of a minute and 34 seconds, down 4-1 to the Blackhawks on TD Garden ice.

Donato at 3:13, Bertuzzi at 4:23 and Kevin Korchinski at 4:47.

The Bruins have a half period to work with, and they’ve outplayed Chicago for much of this tilt. Both goalies were having great games until yours truly went and mentioned how well and dialed in Swayman is – then boom chick-a-pop, and it’s 4-1.

Pastrnak sets up Geekie and it’s a game at 4-2 with 8:52 left.

Bruins cannot convert on the powerplay. but with Swayman on the bench for a sixth attacker, they continue to pressure for a third goal, but it’s still a two-goal game entering the final minute of regulation.

Big scramble, and Pastrnak is carrying a Blackhawk’s stick around in his armpit – that’s a penalty with 39.2 seconds to go.

Timeout Boston.

That’s our cue.

Drive safely everyone.