BOSTON -- The unthinkable happened on Tuesday night.
The Bruins allowed a goal while on the penalty kill.
Alright, so that's an exaggeration. A power-play goal isn't exactly an outrageous stat. But statistically-speaking, these Bruins simply just don't allow them.
The B's entered the game with the NHL's top penalty-killing unit, having killed off all 23 of their opposition's power plays. After killing off their first of the night in the first period of Tuesday night's 2-1 shootout win over the New Jersey Devils, the Bruins 24-straight kill streak ended, when David Clarkson re-directed a Marek Zidlicky shot from the left point midway through the second period, with 53 seconds left on a Devils power play.
The shot got by Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask, and marked the first power-play goal the Bruins have allowed all season, snapping Boston's longest season-opening penalty-kill streak since 2001-02.
"Obviously the goal they scored, Rask couldn't really prevent," said Zdeno Chara. "That was a deflection. And other than that, he had a very strong performance."
"I didn't know who it was," said Rask. "I saw it hit a shaft of a stick. I saw it all the way, but then those kind of deflections, there's nothing really you can do. It either hits you or it doesn't. And this time it went in."
Boston Bruins
The Bruins went on to kill three more penalties, and are now 27-for-28 on the penalty kill this season. So even though they've allowed one, it still remains a solid unit.
That's because of their best penalty-killer.
"When you talk about being able to win games on a consistent basis, you have to rely on your goaltender," Julien said of Rask.
"He really made the key saves at the right time and kept us in the game, and allowed us to stay in the game."
"He was the difference-maker, especially in that first period," said Chara. "He made some good saves. He was very solid."
And even though they allowed a power-play goal, the penalty-kill remains very solid.