This Day in Hockey History – March 21, 1991 – The Give and Take of Bourque and Tugnutt

Mar 21, 2020

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Some people are givers – like Ray Bourque offering up a record-setting 19 shots. Others are takers – like goalie Ron Tugnutt denying all but one of them as he faced a total of 73 shots on net. In the battle between Bourque’s Boston Bruins and Tugnutt’s Quebec Nordiques on March 21, 1991, the giver and taker tied 3-3.

Tugnutt began his career with the Quebec Nordiques, and after they relocated, Bourque ended his with the same franchise, then the Colorado Avalanche. The defenseman was the elder by seven years and was drafted by the Bruins in 1979. At the 1986 draft, the goalie joined the Nordiques. Both of them were still playing for their original team when they met for the epic give-take in 1991.

Boston Garden had a sellout crowd of 14,448 that night. The Nordiques scored a goal a period, and each one gave them the lead. They only needed 26 shots to score thrice as Boston goalie Reggie Lemelin “let in a couple of softies.” Meanwhile, the Bruins sent shot after shot after shot but were only able to tie up the score each time. The game went into overtime, but no one broke the tie.

The captain led the way, setting his record 19 shots on goal. To this day, the closest anyone else has come is 16. Bourque said afterwards, “And I thought at least six of them were going in.” He did have an assist just 15 seconds into the second period and then gave the Bruins a point by tying the game at 10:36 of the third. He had made good on his 14th shot on net.

Unfortunately for Bourque, with eight seconds remaining in overtime Tugnutt denied him the game-winner. “I couldn’t believe it,” remarked the incredulous captain. “On that last one, I saw all net, nothing but net, and I thought, ‘No way he’s gonna get this.’ I shot it as hard as I could, with a guy in front of him, and he still caught it.” Tugnutt responded, “I didn’t even see it. I just stuck my glove out. I anticipated he’d go glove side and that’s where he went. I’m glad he’s such an accurate shooter.” He then joked that he made that final save because, “I was too tired to get up.”

Bourque wasn’t the only Bruin shooting his heart out. All but one (John Carter) of his teammates also sent at least one at Tugnutt. After 61 shots in regulation and a whopping 12 in overtime (thought to be a regular-season record), the Bruins racked up a total of 73. As Bourque put it, “We had 70 shots, and I bet something like 30-35 of those were good, quality shots. I’m telling you, it was scary.”

The 73 shots came ten short of the NHL record set by the Bruins in 1941, and it was one more than the 72 shot by the Bruins in 1970. That made Tugnutt the man of the hour as he blocked so many of them, earning a .959 save percentage. Boston’s Cam Neely (who had four shots himself) was impressed. “Some of the greatest shots you’ll see on net, and he stopped them all. It was wild.” Tugnutt reflected, “It was one of those nights when I saw the puck well. I couldn’t tell you how many times I stopped shots through a screen, but it was a lot. But I also gave up some rebounds, and that’s also why the shot total was so high.”

It got to the point where the Bruins just had to laugh. As their coach, Mike Milbury explained, “There was amusement because he was playing so well. You get this tendency where you’re thinking the goal is coming, it’s just around the corner. Then it doesn’t come. Then it’s just laughter and amazement, and you just shake your head incredulously.” From Tugnutt’s point of view, he had to tell himself, “Don’t look or you’ll start laughing, too, and lose your concentration.”

When the end finally came, Neely told Tugnutt to take a bow. The exhausted goaltender commented, “I’ve never been in a situation where an opposing player said to take a bow in another team’s building. It was nice to be congratulated by the Boston players.” One of those who told him “Good game” was his worthy foe, Bourque.

Somewhat lost in the excitement over the high number of shots on net was an acknowledgment of Guy Lafleur’s final game at Boston Garden. He planned to retire at the end of the season, so with 2:05 remaining, the fans gave him a standing ovation. Bourque commented, “You have to appreciate a guy who played in the NHL the way he did. He was the best player in the world for about a half-dozen years. I think the fans showed a lot of class to show their appreciation for him in his last occasion here. I know he was one of my idols when he was in his prime.” The Bruins all “saluted him by simultaneously banging their sticks against the boards near game’s end.”

After that game, Tugnutt played for Quebec one more year and then went through seven NHL teams (and a season in the AHL) before retiring in 2004. That was the same year that Bourque was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. He had remained with the Bruins for all but the final season of his career. In 2000, he asked to be traded to the Colorado Avalanche, and they hoisted the Stanley Cup at the end of the season.