The Boston Bruins were playing the second of back to back nights against New York teams, but after beating the NY Islanders in Boston Tuesday the Bruins let one get away against the NY Rangers at Madison Square Garden last night.
The Rangers struck first on a one timer by Mika Zibanejad but the Bruins took control in the middle frame with tallies by Danton Heinen, David Pastrnak, and Patrice Bergeron. But in the 3rd period perhaps the Bruins felt the fatigue from the second straight night of hockey and the Rangers tied the game, sending things to overtime.
Jaroslav Halak made a sensational save in the OT, and had 36 in all on the night, but the shootout went seven rounds before Tony DeAngelo won it for the Rangers. The Bruins do pick up one point for the regulation tie and are now knotted up for third place in the Atlantic division with the Montreal Canadiens.
The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Ottawa Senators 5-4 so they now have a three point lead over Boston and Montreal.
In women's college hoops, sophomore Nicole Anderson nailed a tie-breaking three-pointer with 34 seconds left to lift the Saint Michael's Purple Knight's to a 76-68 victory over Southern New Hampshire University at Ross Sports Center in Colchester.
Anderson's trey triggered an 8-0 Purple Knights run that put the game away and capped off a comeback from a 14-point second-half deficit.
The St. Michael's men were also victorious against their Southern New Hampshire counterparts, an 82-72 win sparked by a spectacular 35-point, game high effort from Derek Cheatom. Cheatom went six for nine from beyond the arc and Levi Holmes added 15 points, while Essex Junction's Eli DiGrande owned the boards, pulling down 9 rebounds.
The St. Michael's men's hockey team couldn't quite finish off the trifecta of wins, falling 3-2 against Stonehill College in Massachusetts last night. Sam D'Antuono got the Purple Knights on the board first but Stonehill scored the next three goals before Zach Sullivan got one, too little too late in the third period on the power play.
The UVM men's basketball team was also in action last night, scoring an 86-63 win over the University of Maine at Patrick Gym. Ernie Duncan had a game high 26 points and Anthony Lamb, recovered from recent concussion symptoms, added 24 as the Catamounts improve to 18-5 on the season.
The UVM women also played Maine, but fell to the Black Bears 66-45.
The last home game in school history for Green Mountain College men’s basketball team was Saturday, when the Eagles defeated Bryant-Stratton College-Buffalo, 81-53. That brought Green Mountain’s record to 16-6 this year.
VPR’s Ric Cengeri was in attendance for the game and he joined me to talk about it.