In an idyllic setting, Jake DeBrusk scored twice in the Boston Bruins’ 2-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Winter Classic at Fenway Park on Monday.
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In front of the “green monster” home of the Boston Red Sox, members of both Eastern Conference teams donned retro-looking jerseys and took advantage of the mild weather during this 14th edition of the outdoor game earlier in the year.
Historically, the Winter Classics do not often result in offensive festivals. Penguins and Bruins players followed this tradition by struggling to find the back of the net… with the exception of DeBrusk.
The Edmonton native first leveled the game midway through the third period, deftly cutting in front of the net to fool Casey DeSmith’s vigilance. Then at 2 min 24s. DeBrusk dealt the killing blow to the Pens after a great breakthrough from Taylor Hall.
Mike Sullivan’s men came within a whisker of a tie late in the duel, but there was no time left as they threaded the needle.
Also, it wasn’t DeSmith who initiated the meeting between the penguins’ posts, it was Tristan Jarry. The latter had to retire before the first break after injuring himself during a routine stop.
DeSmith stopped 19 of the Bruins’ 21 attempts. He continued his dream season against Linus Ullmark by stopping 26 pucks to win. Kasperi Kapanen was the only one who demystified it from the Enclave in the middle period.
A special ceremonial duel
Before the first whistle, the captains of the two teams, Sidney Crosby and Patrice Bergeron, found themselves in the middle of the ice to continue an extraordinary ceremonial duel.
In addition to the latter, Bruins legends Zdeno Chara, Johnny Bucyk and Bobby Orr, as well as two-time World Series champions Jason Varitek and Tim Wakefield all took a break.
Instead of gently placing the puck between Bergeron and Crosby as usual, Orr aimed a wrist shot at Varitek’s baseball glove.