The Bruins save the best for last.

In other words, if they don’t destroy their opponent in the first two periods, they make sure they do in the third period. If they’ve put their opponent away in the first two, they’ll still pile it on in the third.

Looking a pure goals standpoint, the Bruins have averaged a league-best 1.53 goals in the third period this season. That’s a shade over half a goal less than the Kings average in an entire game, but we’ll get to the stats in a bit.  

The B’s are used to spending their third periods adding to leads. The highest-scoring team in the league, the B’s usually have the lead they’ll keep by the time the puck is dropped in the final period. 

Yet as good a team as the Bruins are throughout games, there’s something different about the third. Something happens, and the team’s killer instinct kicks in. Specifically, the scoring picks up considerably, and the goaltending doesn’t waver. 

“Our guys really want to finish strong, and they don’t want to give the other team an opportunity to get themselves back into it when we do have the lead,” Claude Julien said. “I just think they want to finish strong. For the most part, I think our team’s been pretty committed to playing 60-minute games.”

Tuesday, the Bruins didn’t have the luxury of entering the third in hopes of padding a lead. Trailing the Jets, 3-2, they had a comeback to mount. Eight seconds into the period, Winnipeg’s lead was erased on a Nathan Horton tally. The B’s added two more to give them the 5-3 victory and latest display of third-period dominance. 

“It’s mental mindset,” Dennis Seidenberg said after the win. “Today, we told ourselves we sucked in the first two periods and we have to get out there to win. We just can’t sleep through the whole game and it shows that we’re mentally strong enough to turn it up in the third period when it counts and to get the win”.

Tuesday marked the 12th time this season that the Bruins had entered the third period trailing -- only the Rangers have been in that situation less (10 games). While the B’s don’t often find themselves needing to mount a third-period comeback, they’re as good as any team at doing it. Their 3-8-1 record in games in which they trailed after two gives them a .250 winning percentage in such contests, a clip that is second to only – you guessed it – the Rangers’ .300 percentage. 

So not only can the Bruins pad leads in the third period (their three goals in the third last week against the Devils to blow the game open should come to mind), but they can come back when they’re down after the first two periods. Either way, they’re going to score. 

Take a look at the Bruins’ scoring by period. The B’s have scored 40 and 42 goals in the first and second periods, respectively, this season. That number jumps way up to 60 when it comes to the third period. Additionally, the Bruins have allowed a league-low 23 goals in the third period this season. 

That last number is of course a product of the team’s superb defense and goaltending. When taking into consideration that three of the third-period goals the B’s have allowed have been empty netters, you’re left with some pretty crazy stats. 

Take this one, for example. Tuukka Rask has allowed just five third-period goals this season (he’s played in 15 third periods – his 14 starts and Dec. 10, when he spelled Tim Thomas in the third). That’s a pretty impressive mark, even from the league leader in both goals-against average and save percentage. Put it this way: If Rask was always as lights-out as he is in the third period, he’d have a GAA of 1.00. 

Rask may not be able to articulate what makes him so much better in the third period, but he knows his team is capable of bearing down and securing wins in the final 20 minutes. For a guy who has won six games in a row, he’ll take it. 

“We have always been a pretty good team in the third when we are leading,” Rask said. “We have been able to get these comebacks and it’s huge for the team’s confidence. … The guys are just in pretty good shape I guess.”

The Bruins are tough to play at any point in any game, but if you want to beat them, you had better do it in the first 20 minutes. The team is undefeated (20-0-0) when taking a lead into the third period, and if you get a lead on them, make sure it’s big enough to prevent a comeback.