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  • Svedberg stands tall in shootout comeback win in Columbus

    Post Game

    Svedberg stands tall in shootout comeback win in Columbus

    Chris Chirichiello November 21, 2014
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    The Boston Bruins overcame a two goal deficit in the third period Friday night in Columbus and eventually beat the Blue Jackets in a seven round shootout off the stick of emergency call-up Alex Khokhlachev, 4-3.

    Khokhlachev may have been the hero in the end, but the Bruins would not have been in a shootout situation if it wasn’t for their goaltender Niklas Svedberg. Svedberg looked shaky in the early going allowing two goals on the Blue Jackets first 11 shots of the game, but from there on out, he was locked in.

    “Sveddie I thought got better as the game went on,” Head coach Claude Julien told NESN’s Jack Edwards and Andy Brickley after his team’s come from behind win. “I’m sure he’d like to have one of those goals back, but he conducted himself well after the first period and gave us some big saves. He gave us an opportunity to win the game until we gave him some of those goals. He stood tall. They had a lot of talented players in that shoot out and he gave us a chance to let one of our other younger players win it.”

    This was the type of game Svedberg needed after getting trounced by the Montreal Canadiens in his last start allowing five goals on 34 shots and filling in the previous night against the Maple Leafs where he allowed two goals in relief of Tuukka Rask. It wasn’t the best two game stretch for Svedberg and a solid outing was in order.

    Svedberg finally received a victory over a team that was not named the Buffalo Sabres. He now improves to 3-3 on the season with his 25-save effort.

    The 25 year-old netminder was the difference maker in the second and third periods keeping the game close. At one point, Svedberg made a sequence of saves off three different Blue Jacket’s players, robbed Jack Skille from point blank glove side and he stopped all seven attempts in the shootout.

    Svedberg was not taking all of the accolades in this one as he gave credit to his teammates for their resiliency.

    “A lot of character from our team,” Svedberg told reporters afterwards. “Those kinds of games are extra fun to win.”

    It may have been Svedberg’s first career shootout in the NHL, but he was no stranger to shootouts in his days in the AHL where he owned a 15-6 record over the last two seasons, which bode well for the Black and Gold on this night.

    There may have been a little bit of luck on the B’s side Friday night in Columbus beginning with Dennis Seidenberg’s blast from the neutral zone that trickled past Sergei Bobrovsky, but their goaltender on the other hand didn’t get lucky. Svedberg made the necessary adjustments after the first frame by better positioning himself and leaving his crease a little more frequently.

    After the first period, where he allowed two goals on 11 shots, Svedberg then stopped 16 out of the next 17 thrown at him by a desperate Blue Jackets team.

    Svedberg stood tall all night giving the B’s every opportunity to come back and win the game. The Black and Gold overcame a two-goal deficit in the third period and won it in a marathon of a shootout once again due to their goaltender who stopped all seven chances.

    It may have been an ugly way to chalk up two points in the standings, but a win is a win especially on the road without players such as David Krejci, Brad Marchand and Dougie Hamilton, who missed the last 10 minutes of regulation and overtime.

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