Down the Frozen River

Tag: Anaheim Ducks

Bruins let another one slip away on Long Island

The Boston Bruins may have scored first, but the New York Islanders scored four unanswered goals to win, 4-1, Thursday night at UBS Arena in Elmont, New York.

Ilya Sorokin (15-11-5, 2.46 goals-against average, .921 save percentage in 31 games played) made 26 saves on 27 shots against in the win for the Islanders.

Bruins goaltender, Linus Ullmark (16-8-1, 2.79 goals-against average, .909 save percentage in 26 games played) stopped 25 out of 28 shots faced in the loss.

Boston fell to 27-17-4 (58 points) overall and remains in command of 4th place in the Atlantic Division, as well as the second wild card berth in the Eastern Conference.

With the win, New York improved to 18-20-6 (42 points) on the season and stuck in 6th place in the Metropolitan Division.

Patrice Bergeron returned to action after missing the last three games with an upper body injury (lacerations on the back of his head after being injured on Feb. 8th against Pittsburgh).

He returned to his usual role as the first line center and was flanked by Taylor Hall and David Pastrnak in the process.

On defense, Urho Vaakanainen returned to the lineup after missing his fourth game this season with an upper body injury that he sustained on Feb. 1st against the Seattle Kraken.

Vaakanainen was slotted on the third pairing alongside Derek Forbort– rendering Connor Clifton as a healthy scratch against the Islanders.

The Bruins were without Jakub Zboril (right ACL) and Brad Marchand (suspension) on Thursday.

Meanwhile, head coach, Bruce Cassidy, juggled the lines with Bergeron back in action– relegating Erik Haula to third line duties in the process with Jake DeBrusk at left wing and Nick Foligno on right wing.

Everything else was left untouched from Tuesday night’s, 2-1, shootout loss at the New York Rangers.

With Vaakanainen activated from the injured reserve and back in the lineup, Jack Ahcan was reassigned to the Providence Bruins (AHL) on Thursday.

Jack Studnicka, Marchand, Zboril and Clifton served as Boston’s short list of players that were out of Thursday’s action as healthy scratches and/or suspended or injured players.

Midway through the opening frame, Noah Dobson hooked Bergeron and presented the Bruins with their first power play at 10:57 of the first period.

Boston couldn’t convert on the ensuing skater advantage and took a penalty of their own moments later when Anton Blidh was penalized for interference at 14:18.

The Islanders were unsuccessful on the resulting power play.

About a minute after the B’s killed off Blidh’s infraction, Craig Smith setup Hall as Hall (11) raced towards the net and beat Sorokin on the short side to give the Bruins a, 1-0, lead at 17:26 of the first period.

Smith (10) and Mike Reilly (7) tallied the assists on Hall’s goal and Boston carried the, 1-0, lead into the first intermission, while outshooting the Islanders, 13-6.

Both teams had six blocked shots each, zero takeaways and went 0/1 on the power play through one period.

New York led in giveaways (4-2) and hits (9-4), while the Bruins held the advantage in faceoff win percentage (53-47) heading into the middle frame.

Haula tripped Oliver Wahlstrom at 10:28 of the second period and yielded a power play to the Islanders as a result.

It didn’t take the Isles long to strike on the skater advantage as Dobson let go of a shot from the point that dropped to the ice in the crease after Ullmark made the initial save, but Jean-Gabriel Pageau (7) was on the door step to collect the garbage and tie the game, 1-1, at 11:30 of the second period.

Dobson (14) and Mathew Barzal (21) notched the assists on Pageau’s power-play goal.

There were no more goals and no more penalties for the rest of the second period as the two teams went into the second intermission tied, 1-1, on the scoreboard.

Despite New York outshooting Boston, 13-7, in the second period alone, the Bruins led in shots on goal, 20-19, through 40 minutes of action.

The Islanders led in takeaways (1-0), giveaways (7-6) and hits (24-14), while the B’s held the advantage in blocked shots (10-8) and faceoff win% (56-44).

The Isles were 1/2 on the power play, while the Bruins remained 0/1 on the skater advantage entering the final frame.

DeBrusk turned the puck over in his own end while Brock Nelson worked the rubber biscuit around the boards and back to the point where Dobson (8) threw a shot with eyes through traffic past Ullmark to give the Islanders their first lead of the night, 2-1, at 5:50 of the third period.

Nelson (9) had the only assist on what would become the game-winning goal as the Bruins couldn’t keep up.

Midway through the third period, Cal Clutterbuck interfered with Trent Frederic and cut a rut to the penalty box as a result at 10:14.

Boston failed to convert on the ensuing advantage.

Moments later, Frederic made a big hit on Kieffer Bellows as the puck rebounded and Boston’s defenders were momentarily preoccupied as Ullmark was out of position.

Barzal (12) (who had just skated around the back of the net to reach the other side) timed it perfectly for a layup goal on the rebound to extend New York’s lead to two-goals.

Bellows (7) and Adam Pelech (12) had the assists on Barzal’s goal and the Islanders led, 3-1, at 13:32 of the third period.

With 2:53 remaining in the action, Cassidy pulled his goaltender for an extra skater. It did not go well.

Zdeno Chara tried to clear New York’s defensive zone and inadvertently sent an indirect pass off the glass to Nelson in the neutral zone, whereby Nelson (16) skated closer to the open frame and buried an empty net goal to give the Islanders a, 4-1, lead at 18:47.

Chara (7) had the only assist on Nelson’s goal.

At the final horn, the Islanders sealed the deal on three unanswered goals in the third period to win, 4-1, on home ice.

New York finished the night leading in shots on goal, 29-27, including a, 10-7, advantage in the third period alone.

The Isles also held the advantage in blocked shots (15-11) and hits (35-20), while Boston left UBS Arena leading in giveaways (11-9) and faceoff win% (60-40).

The Islanders finished the night 1/2 on the power play, while the Bruins went 0/2 on the skater advantage.

The B’s dropped to 19-7-1 against teams currently outside of a playoff spot and 0-2-0 against the Islanders this season.

Boston fell to 18-7-1 (9-3-1 on the road) when scoring first, 17-2-1 (9-1-1 on the road) when leading after the first period and 5-3-0 (0-2-0 on the road) when tied after the second period this season.

New York improved to 5-16-2 (5-9-2 at home) when allowing the game’s first goal, 2-14-2 (2-7-1 at home) when trailing after one and 2-2-3 (1-2-3 at home) when tied after two periods in 2021-22.

The Bruins conclude their four-game road trip (1-1-1) against the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday.

Boston returns home to host the Colorado Avalanche next Monday in a matinée matchup that was originally scheduled for Dec. 23rd before hitting the road again on a trip through Seattle, San Jose and Los Angeles to wrap up the month of February.

The B’s open the month of March in Anaheim before visiting Vegas and Columbus.

February 18, 2022
Rangers complete comeback via lengthy shootout victory against Bruins

For the 12th time this season, the New York Rangers gave up the game’s first goal and came back to win despite Igor Shesterkin making a brief departure and reappearance in the, 2-1, shootout victory over the Boston Bruins Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.

Shesterkin (23-5-2, 2.05 goals-against average, .938 save percentage in 30 games played) made 31 saves on 32 shots faced and may have been a bit overdramatic in incidental contact that yielded a goaltender interference penalty, as well as a roughing minor about midway through overtime– necessitating the use of Alexandar Georgiev (7-7-2, 2.99 goals-against average, .898 save percentage in 20 games played) before Shesterkin could return for the shootout for no decision in about 41 seconds of playing time.

Did you get that? Shesterkin played all but 41 seconds on Tuesday night in the shootout victory and Georgiev’s brief appearance yielded no shots faced in the dying 41 seconds of overtime.

Apparently, there’s no strict adherence to the “15-minute rule” if a concussion spotter rules you out of a game for a checkup after regulation.

Anyway, Bruins goaltender, Jeremy Swayman (9-7-3, 2.15 goals-against average, .923 save percentage in 20 games played), made 33 saves on 34 shots against in the shootout loss.

Boston fell to 27-16-4 (58 points) on the season and remain in command of 4th place in the Atlantic Division, as well as the second wild card berth in the Eastern Conference.

The Rangers, meanwhile, improved to 31-13-4 (66 points) overall and in control of 3rd place in the Metropolitan Division– one point behind the Carolina Hurricanes for 2nd and four points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins for the division lead.

Having previously lost, 5-2, on Nov. 26th at TD Garden, the B’s fell to 0-1-1 in their season series against New York with one more regular season matchup remaining on April 23rd in Boston.

Boston went 5-3-0 against the Rangers last season and 3-0-0 against “The Broadway Blueshirts” in 2019-20.

Matt Grzelcyk made his return to the lineup alongside Brandon Carlo on the second defensive pairing after suffering an upper body injury against the Hurricanes on Feb. 10th.

Once again, the Bruins were without Jakub Zboril (right ACL), Urho Vaakanainen (upper body), Patrice Bergeron (upper body) and Brad Marchand (suspension) on Tuesday.

Vaakanainen and Bergeron are close to returning, though it may or may not be later this week.

Bergeron has been in a burgundy no-contact practice jersey for the last couple of days and could join the team on Long Island for their matchup with the Islanders on Thursday.

B’s head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made no other changes to his lineup from Saturday afternoon’s, 2-0, victory in Ottawa to Tuesday night in New York.

Erik Haula took part in his 500th career National Hockey League game, while Mike Reilly participated in his 300th career NHL game.

Bergeron, Jack Ahcan, Vaakanainen, Marchand and Zboril made up the list of injured players and healthy scratches out of the action against the Rangers.

Charlie Coyle capitalized on a turnover in New York’s own zone as the Rangers brought the puck back into their own end inadvertently early in the opening frame.

Coyle setup Craig Smith for a one-timer, but the puck rebounded right in Coyle’s (11) direction for a layup goal while crashing the net– giving Boston a, 1-0, lead at 3:39 of the first period.

Smith (9) had the only assist on the goal.

The two teams then went about eight and a half minutes without a stoppage in the action before the next faceoff.

Neither team could score for the rest of the first period and there were no penalties called, so the Bruins took a, 1-0, lead into the first intermission and outshot the Rangers, 8-2, in the process.

Boston had allowed their fewest shots against in any first period (let alone any period) this season as a result.

Both teams had four blocked shots and two takeaways each, while the two clubs split faceoff win percentage, 50-50, after 20 mintues.

New York led in giveaways (5-3) and hits (16-15) heading into the middle frame, while each team had yet to see any time on the skater advantage.

There were no goals and no penalties in the second period.

Through 40 minutes, the Bruins led, 1-0, on the scoreboard. Both teams had 17 shots on net after two periods, despite the Rangers leading in shots on goal in the second period alone, 15-9.

New York led in blocked shots (11-7), giveaways (7-6) and hits (28-22), while Boston held the advantage in takeaways (6-4).

The two teams split faceoff win%, 50-50, and had yet to see any time on the power play heading into the final frame of regulation.

Braden Schneider sent an indirect pass off the boards through the neutral zone to Dryden Hunt, who promptly sent the rubber biscuit over to Filip Chytil for a shot on goal.

Chytil (5) followed up on his own rebound and tied the game, 1-1, at 6:45 of the third period.

Hunt (6) and Schneider (3) tallied the assists on Chytil’s goal as the Rangers surged in momentum to start the third period.

Midway through the final frame, K’Andre Miller tripped Coyle and presented the first power play of the night to the Bruins at 11:48 of the third period.

Boston’s power play was powerless as they couldn’t muster anything past Shesterkin– let alone get set up in the attacking zone.

About a minute after Miller was out of the box, Tomáš Nosek and Jacob Trouba cut a rut to their respective penalty boxes as Nosek was guilty of delivering a swift cross check, while Trouba earned a roughing minor for retaliating– this after a Rangers skater perhaps got away with a cross check that set things off– angering Nosek in the process.

The two teams skated at 4-on-4 for two minutes as a result of Nosek and Trouba’s infractions at 14:44 of the third period.

Less than two minutes later, Charlie McAvoy tripped up Miller and yielded a 4-on-3 power play to the Rangers at 16:32.

After 12 seconds of a rare 4-on-3 advantage, New York continued on an abbreviated 5-on-4 power play and failed to convert on the skater advantage.

After 60 minutes of action, the Bruins and Rangers were tied, 1-1, on the scoreboard despite Boston leading in shots on goal, 29-28– including a, 12-11, advantage in the third period alone.

Both teams had 13 blocked shots, eight takeaways and nine giveaways each.

New York led in hits (35-25) and faceoff win% (56-44) heading into overtime.

Both teams were 0/1 on the power play heading into the extra frame.

Cassidy sent out Coyle, Jake DeBrusk and McAvoy to start overtime, while Rangers head coach, Gerard Gallant, countered with Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider and Adam Fox.

About midway into overtime, Smith crashed the net hard despite coming to a stop at the crease and his momentum carried him into Shesterkin sending the Rangers goaltender flying (albeit somewhat under his own volition to draw a penalty).

Alexis Lafrenière took issue with Smith’s hard play and began to go after the Bruins forward– generating a scrum as a result.

Smith was assessed a minor penalty for goaltender interference, while Lafrenière received a roughing infraction at 2:48 of the overtime period.

The two teams then skated at 3-on-3 for two minutes (you know, as overtime is already) until Smith and Lafrenière returned from the box with seconds left in overtime– rendering it 4-on-4 for about six seconds.

A stoppage with about 40 seconds left in overtime also presented concussion spotters inside Madison Square Garden with the perfect chance to remove Shesterkin from the game– you know, about two minutes after the play in which he could have been injured occured.

Shesterkin slammed his stick against the glass before heading down the tunnel in displeasure, while Georgiev went into the net for New York for a grand total of 41 seconds and faced no shots in that span.

Gallant used his timeout with 6.7 seconds remaining in overtime and a potentially game-clinching attacking zone faceoff, but nothing came of it for the Rangers as time expired and signaled that a shootout would be necessary.

After 65 minutes of action, the score remained tied, 1-1, despite the Rangers amassing a, 34-32, advantage in shots on goal, including a, 6-3, advantage in overtime alone.

Both teams had 13 blocked shots and 10 giveaways each, while New York also led in hits (36-25) and faceoff win% (55-45).

Shesterkin emerged from the tunnel (“15-minute rule” be damned) and returned to the net for New York in the shootout as Gallant elected to have the home team Rangers shoot second.

DeBrusk led Boston’s first shootout attempt with a burst of speed heading towards the net and sent a shot past Shesterkin on the glove side– upper-90– ringing the iron before hitting the twine.

Zibanejad responded with a serpentine route into the zone before tucking the puck around Swayman as the Bruins goaltender overcommitted on the sell job.

After one round of the shootout, the score reflected that of the scoreboard itself, 1-1.

David Pastrnak took his time, skated wide and sent a shot off of Shesterkin’s glove to kick things off for each team’s second attempt.

Artemi Panarin tried his hand at emulating Zibanejad’s shootout goal, fake a shot and went backhand around Swayman to give the Rangers a, 2-1, advantage in the shootout.

Coyle had to score to prolong the skills competition and did just that after taking his time and burying a shot under the bar over Shesterkin’s glove side.

Gallant sent out Lafrenière to try to seal the deal, but the 2020 1st overall pick skated right down the middle of the ice and had his backhand shot denied by the Boston netminder.

Haula skated right down the middle lane and sent a shot off of Shesterkin’s leg pad without difficulty.

Fox entered the fourth round of the shootout for the Rangers wide from the right side before trying to pump fake Swayman with a deke before losing the puck on an aggressive poke check from the Boston goaltender.

Taylor Hall kicked off the fifth round of the shootout with a forehand shot off of Shesterkin’s glove.

Ryan Strome countered with a wide left approach to the slot before missing the net entirely.

Not to be outdone, McAvoy sent an attempt wide on the stick side from a backhand.

Kreider then lost the puck intentionally while trying to slip the rubber biscuit through the five-hole, but Swayman made the routine save.

Trent Frederic entered from the left side and sent a shot right at Shesterkin’s five-hole.

Chytil was then denied on after entering from the right side and trying his hand at Peter Forsberg’s patented postage stamp move, but Swayman made the save.

In the eighth round of the shootout, Cassidy sent Nick Foligno to center ice to try to put Boston ahead, but No. 17 in black and gold fired a shot right at the New York netminder from his off side.

Hunt then skated into the zone wide left, deked and was denied by Swayman.

Smith sped into the offensive zone before coming to a glide and sending a shot from the slot that Shesterkin made a routine save on to kick things off in the ninth round of the shootout.

Finally, the 18th shooter overall, Miller entered wide on the right side before deking and scoring on Swayman’s right pad to give the Rangers a, 3-2, advantage in the shootout and a, 2-1, shootout victory overall against the Bruins.

New York took home the shootout win, earned the extra point and improved to 4-1 in shootouts this season (5-4 past regulation), while Boston fell to 1-2 in shootouts in 2021-22 (3-4 past regulation overall).

The B’s fell to 18-6-1 (9-2-1 on the road) when scoring first, 17-1-1 (9-0-1 on the road) when leading after the first period and 18-1-2 (12-0-2 on the road) when leading after the second period this season.

The Rangers improved to 12-10-2 (6-3-2 at home) when allowing the game’s first goal, 9-7-2 (5-1-2 at home) when trailing after one and 3-11-0 (2-3-0 at home) when trailing after two periods in 2021-22.

The Bruins swing by the New York Islanders on Thursday before wrapping up their four-game road trip (1-0-1) against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.

Boston returns home to host the Colorado Avalanche on Feb. 21st for a matinée matchup before heading back out on the road in Seattle, San Jose and Los Angeles to close out the month of February. The B’s open the month of March in Anaheim before venturing to Vegas and Columbus.

February 16, 2022
Swayman blanks Senators in shutout victory

Jeremy Swayman picked up his second shutout of the season in a, 2-0, victory on the road against the Ottawa Senators as the Boston Bruins goaltender stopped all 30 shots that he faced Saturday afternoon at Canadian Tire Centre.

Swayman (9-7-2, 2.22 goals-against average, .919 save percentage in 19 games played) earned the fourth shutout of his career in the win for Boston, while depth scoring was paramount.

Senators goaltender, Matt Murray (5-8-2, 2.58 goals-against average, .922 save percentage in 16 games played), made 35 saves on 37 shots against in the loss.

The Bruins improved to 27-16-3 (57 points) overall and remain in command of 4th place in the Atlantic Division as well as the second wild card berth in the Eastern Conference.

Ottawa fell to 16-24-4 (36 points) on the season and stuck in 6th place in the Atlantic Division.

The B’s improved to 2-0-0 against the Sens this season, having won, 3-2, on Nov. 9th at TD Garden earlier this season.

Saturday marked the first game between the two teams at Canadian Tire Centre since Dec. 9, 2019, when the Senators beat the Bruins, 5-2, prior to the pandemic shortening the end of the 2019-20 regular season and preventing cross-border regular season travel in 2020-21.

Boston was without the likes of Jakub Zboril (right ACL), Urho Vaakanainen (upper body), Patrice Bergeron (upper body), Brad Marchand (suspension) and Matt Grzelcyk (upper body) on Saturday in Ottawa.

Grzelcyk took part in warmup, but was not quite ready to return to action after being injured in the second period of Thursday night’s, 6-0, loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.

Tyler Lewington was reassigned to the Providence Bruins (AHL) on Friday, while Jack Ahcan was recalled from Providence and suited up on the second defensive pairing alongside Brandon Carlo.

With Grzelcyk out of the lineup, Mike Reilly was promoted to top-pairing duties with Charlie McAvoy.

Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made no other changes to his lineup beyond Ahcan and Reilly.

A quick rush from one end of the rink to the other in the opening minute led to some dominant possession in the attacking zone for the Bruins that culminated in the game’s first goal courtesy of Trent Frederic (3).

Charlie Coyle worked a pass over to Craig Smith for a one-timer that generated a rebound right to where Frederic was crashing the slot on the doorstep to give Boston a, 1-0, lead 45 seconds into the first period.

Coyle (11) tabbed the only assist on the goal.

Almost midway into the opening frame, Austin Watson led with a late, high hit on Ahcan after Ahcan dished the puck around the boards in his own zone.

Watson was charged with a minor for interference, while Anton Blidh took issue with the integrity of Watson’s intent and was assessed a roughing infraction– negating a chance for a Boston power play and instead resulting in two minutes of 4-on-4 action at 8:09 of the first period.

Shortly thereafter, the Bruins went on a rare 4-on-3 power play for about 27 seconds as Thomas Chabot slashed Ahcan at 9:38.

Boston wasn’t able to convert on the skater advantage, however.

Midway through the period, Blidh sent a shot with a purpose off of Murray’s right pad and generated a rebound whereby Curtis Lazar (6) chipped the rubber biscuit over the line to give the B’s a two-goal lead.

Blidh (7) recorded the only assist on the goal as the Bruins took a, 2-0, lead at 13:26 of the first period.

Less than a minute later, Reilly cross checked Dylan Gambrell and presented the Senators with their first power play opportunity of the afternoon at 14:00.

The Sens weren’t able to capitalize on the skater advantage, however.

Late in the period, Tim Stützle caught Jake DeBrusk with a cross check in the neutral zone at 18:37, but the Bruins couldn’t convert on the power play even as it extended into the middle frame.

Heading into the first intermission, Boston led, 2-0, on the scoreboard and, 22-8, in shots on goal.

The B’s also held the advantage in takeaways (3-1) and faceoff win percentage (52-48), while the Sens led in giveaways (2-1) and hits (19-15).

Both teams amassed five blocked shots each after one period.

Ottawa was 0/1 and Boston was 0/2 on the power play entering the middle frame.

Smith tripped Stützle at 8:18 of the second period and yielded a power play to the Senators as a result for the only even of the second period as neither team was able to score, nor draw another infraction.

Entering the second intermission, the Bruins still led, 2-0, on the scoreboard, as well as in shots on goal, 28-16, despite trailing the Sens in shots on net in the second period alone, 8-6.

Boston held the advantage in blocked shots (11-10), takeaways (6-1) and faceoff win% (54-46), while Ottawa led in giveaways (5-3) and hits (39-34) through 40 minutes of action.

As there were no penalties called in the final frame, both teams finished 0/2 on the power play Saturday afternoon.

Blidh thought he made it, 3-0, when he sent a pass to Lazar entering the attacking zone before following up on a rebound– while Lazar tripped over Murray– and wrapping the rubber biscuit around the Senators goaltender.

The official call on the ice was that it was a good goal.

Ottawa’s head coach, D.J. Smith, however, thought it was worthy of a challenge.

Upon review, the call on the ice was overturned as it was deemed incidental contact between Lazar and Murray that had impeded with Murray’s ability to make a save on Blidh’s attempt– thereby rending it goaltender interference with no minor penalty and no goal.

With 3:46 remaining in the action, the Senators pulled their goaltender for an extra attacker.

Murray went back into the net after an icing call with about 90 seconds left in the game, but came back out of the crease shortly thereafter.

With 30.5 seconds left on the clock, Ottawa used their timeout to rally some semblance of a comeback, but failed to beat Swayman as the Bruins kept sending the puck down the frozen river in search of an empty net goal.

Boston missed the open twine three times, but it didn’t change the end result as the final horn sounded and signaled a, 2-0, shutout victory for the Bruins.

The B’s finished the afternoon leading in shots on goal, 37-30, despite being outshot by the Sens, 14-9, in the third period alone.

Boston wrapped things up leading in blocked shots (19-13) and faceoff win% (56-44), while Ottawa left their own building leading in giveaways (6-4) and hits (44-42).

The Bruins improved to 18-6-0 (9-2-0 on the road) when scoring first, 17-1-0 (9-0-0 on the road) when leading after one and 19-1-1 (12-0-1 on the road) when leading after two periods this season.

The Senators fell to 4-18-3 (3-10-1 at home) when allowing the game’s first goal, 1-10-2 (0-5-0 at home) when trailing after the first period and 1-18-0 (0-9-0 at home) when trailing after the second period in 2021-22.

The Bruins continue their four game road trip (1-0-0) next Tuesday (Feb. 15th) at the New York Rangers before swinging through the New York Islanders next Thursday and returning to Ottawa next Saturday.

Boston returns home to host the Colorado Avalanche on Feb. 21st before heading back out on the road in Seattle, San Jose and Los Angeles to close out the month of February. The B’s open the month of March in Anaheim before going to Vegas and Columbus.

February 12, 2022
Penguins complete comeback in first meeting with Boston this season

Danton Heinen scored a pair of goals in his first game back at TD Garden as a member of the visiting team since he was traded to the Anaheim Ducks for Nick Ritchie on Feb. 24, 2020, while Sidney Crosby scored the eventual game-winning goal and Bryan Rust added an empty net goal to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins over the Boston Bruins, 4-2, on Tuesday night.

Heinen signed with Pittsburgh as a free agent on July 29, 2021, after spending parts of two seasons with Anaheim. The Ducks opted not to tender a qualifying offer to the then would have been-restricted free agent.

Meanwhile, Tristan Jarry (24-8-6, 2.21 goals-against average, .925 save percentage in 38 games played) made a season-high 43 saves on 45 shots against in the win for the Penguins.

Bruins goaltender, Jeremy Swayman (8-7-2, 2.35 goals-against average, .914 save percentage in 18 games played) stopped 21 out of 24 shots faced in the loss.

David Pastrnak had a pair of goals in Boston’s loss and Patrice Bergeron exited the game midway through the third period with an upper body injury induced by what was deemed as an “incidental” trip (as there was no penalty on the play) by Crosby.

The B’s will likely be without Brad Marchand in their next matchup as a result of his antics in the final minute of the action, but more on that after as we recap some roster news and notes from the All Star break to Tuesday night’s loss.

But first, a quick standings update.

Boston fell to 26-15-3 (55 points) overall, but still holds on to 4th place in the Atlantic Division as well as the second wild card in the Eastern Conference.

Pittsburgh improved to 28-11-8 (64 points) on the season and in command of 3rd place in the Metropolitan Division standings.

The B’s fell to 0-1-0 against the Pens this season after amassing a 5-3-0 record in their regular season series in 2020-21, as well as a 2-1-0 record against Pittsburgh in 2019-20.

The Bruins were without the services of Jakub Zboril (right ACL), Trent Frederic (upper body), Tuukka Rask (lower body) and Urho Vaakanainen (upper body) on Tuesday, while Nick Foligno and Erik Haula made their return to the lineup.

Foligno took Anton Blidh’s spot on the fourth line left wing, while Haula resumed his role as the second line center with Tomáš Nosek returning to his fourth line job.

As a result of the lineup changes and in accordance with the league’s rules on temporary taxi squads up until the All Star break, Steven Fogarty, Tyler Lewington and Jesper Frödén were reassigned to the Providence Bruins (AHL).

On defense, Connor Clifton took over Vaakanainen’s spot on the third pairing alongside Derek Forbort.

Frederic, Rask, Vaakanainen, Zboril and Blidh made up Boston’s list of injured players and healthy scratches against the Penguins.

During the first intermission The Athletic‘s, Fluto Shinzawa, reported that Rask’s comeback from offseason hip surgery was likely coming to an end and that the 34-year-old goaltender is considering a retirement announcement in the next few days.

Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, offered no update on Rask’s status after the game other than reiterating that Rask will be unavailable for the week and any decisions that may suggest retirement would come from Rask– not as a team directive.

If Rask is, in fact, retiring, he would do so as Boston’s winningest goaltender in franchise history, amassing 308 wins in 564 career NHL games– all with the Bruins– since making his league debut in 2007-08.

In that 15-season span, Rask would finish with a career goals-against average of 2.28 and a career save percentage of .921 in about 32,405 minutes played– the most by any Boston goaltender in club history, while ranking second in shutouts (52) to Tiny Thompson’s 74.

He also served as the backup netminder on the 2011 Stanley Cup champion roster and backstopped Boston to two more Final appearances in 2013, and 2019.

Almost two minutes into the opening frame, Radim Zohorna tripped up Charlie Coyle and cut a rut to the penalty box at 1:40 of the first period as result.

It didn’t take Boston long to convert on the ensuing power play, as Brian Boyle botched an indirect pass up the boards intended for John Marino that was instead snagged by Bergeron as the Bruins captain kept the rubber biscuit in the attacking zone.

Bergeron worked a pass up to Taylor Hall, who set up Pastrnak (23) for a one-timer goal from one knee at the faceoff dot– giving the B’s a, 1-0, lead at 2:01 of the first period in the process.

Hall (20) and Bergeron (23) tallied the assists on Pastrnak’s power-play goal.

A few minutes later, Jake DeBrusk hooked Dominik Simon and presented the Penguins with their first power play of the night at 5:27.

Boston’s penalty kill stood tall, however, and killed off DeBrusk’s minor.

Late in the period, the Pens turned the puck over in their attacking zone– rendering a de facto 3-on-1 opportunity for the Bruins as Haula sent a pass to Hall through the zone before Hall’s shot generated a rebound whereby Pastrnak (24) batted the puck out of mid-air and under Jarry’s glove.

Boston took a, 2-0, lead courtesy of Pastrnak’s 40th career two-goal game, while Hall (21) and Haula (12) notched the assists at 15:34 of the first period.

Entering the first intermission, the B’s led, 2-0, on the scoreboard, as well as in shots on net, 17-10.

Pittsburgh held the advantage in blocked shots (6-5) and hits (12-11), while Boston led in takeaways (5-2), giveaways (5-4) and faceoff win percentage (53-47).

The Penguins were 0/1 and the Bruins were 1/1 on the power play heading into the middle frame.

Heinen (10) struck early in the second period– cutting Boston’s lead in half, 2-1, courtesy of being in the right place at the right time to catch a pass from Brock McGinn on a drive-by through the low slot before wrapping the rubber biscuit around Swayman.

McGinn (6) and Mike Matheson (13) had the assists on Heinen’s first goal of the game at 4:18 of the second period.

Just 28 seconds later, Heinen (11) recorded his second goal of the night courtesy of a shot with eyes from the circle to Swayman’s left off of the Bruins goaltender’s shoulder and into the twine.

Marino (17) and Evan Rodrigues (18) notched the assists on the goal as the Pens tied it, 2-2, at 4:46 of the second period– marking the fastest two goals by one Penguins skater since Martin Straka scored a club-record two goals in a seven-second span on Feb. 11, 2000, against the Edmonton Oilers.

Almost midway through the period, Pittsburgh was caught with too many skaters on the ice– rendering a bench minor at 7:24 that was served by Heinen.

Boston couldn’t convert on the ensuing power play, however.

Minutes later, Coyle interfered with Jeff Carter and yielded a power play to the Penguins at 11:56.

It took roughly a minute on the skater advantage for Crosby (13) to notch a power-play goal– the eventual game-winner in the process, as well as his 499th career NHL goal– to give Pittsburgh their first lead of the night, 3-2, at 12:53 of the second period.

Rust (19) and Jake Guentzel (24) had the assists on the goal as the Penguins capped off a trio of goals in a span of 8:35.

Late in the period, Matheson and Hall exchanged some pleasantries after a whistle and earned minor penalties for roughing at 18:49– resulting in 4-on-4 action that would seep into the final frame.

Through 40 minutes of action, Pittsburgh led Boston on the scoreboard, 3-2, despite the Bruins leading in shots on goal, 35-18– including an, 18-8, advantage in the second period alone.

The Penguins held the advantage in blocked shots (11-7) and hits (24-19), while the B’s led in takeaways (9-5), giveaways (7-5) and faceoff win% (66-34).

Both teams were 1/2 on the power play heading into the second intermission.

Craig Smith interfered with McGinn at 1:43 of the third period, but the Penguins weren’t able to score on the ensuing power play to begin the final frame.

Moments later, Crosby took down Bergeron with an errant leg as the Bruins captain smacked the back of his head off the boards while falling.

Bergeron did not return to the night’s action after going down the tunnel under his own power after a brief exchange with a Boston athletic trainer.

Matt Grzelcyk tried to invite Crosby to a square dance shortly thereafter with a swift cross check, but the Pittsburgh captain would not accept and instead was caught retaliating and assessed a roughing minor at 9:25.

The Bruins did not score on the resulting power play, however.

With 1:42 remaining in the action, Cassidy pulled Swayman for an extra attacker amidst the jumbled lines, but as Smith shortly tried to enter the zone and fumbled the puck– Charlie McAvoy couldn’t recover on the error and Rust broke free with possession.

Rust (15) skated through the neutral zone and buried the rubber biscuit in the open basket for a, 4-2, lead at 18:31 of the third period, while Guentzel (25) recorded the only assist.

Swayman vacated the crease once more with about 1:19 left on the clock, but it was ultimately to no avail despite Boston crowding the net in the other end.

After Jarry delivered a quick slash amongst the net front traffic, Marchand took exception to the Pittsburgh goaltender’s action and choice words shortly thereafter– appearing to aggravate the oft-short-tempered Bruin in the process.

Marchand swung a punch at Jarry’s mask and proceeded to get his stick in Jarry’s face– whether or not it was a forceful shove or spear remains at the mercy of the discretion of the officials on the ice and/or league office as Marchand was assessed a match penalty on the play, rendering an automatic suspension unless otherwise stated.

The B’s finished the night shorthanded as Marchand’s roughing minor and match penalty came at 19:35 of the third period.

Jarry took the high road after the game and told reporters “I think it’s just the heat of the moment, everyone’s battling hard out there. [Marchand’s] just trying to get the puck to the net and I think the team did a great job. … It’s part of the game and it stays on the ice.”

Cassidy noted after the game that Marchand’s antics were “undisciplined” and that he “needs to control his emotions in that situation.”

The rest is up to the league now.

At the final horn Tuesday night, the Penguins had won, 4-2, despite trailing Boston in shots on goal, 45-25.

The Bruins held the advantage in shots on goal in the third period alone, 10-7, as well as in giveaways (11-8) and faceoff win% (55-45), while Pittsburgh wrapped up the night’s action leading in blocked shots (19-13) and hits (30-22).

The Pens finished the night 1/4 on the power play while the B’s left their own ice 1/3 on the skater advantage in the loss.

The Bruins fell to 17-6-0 (9-4-0 at home) when scoring first, 16-1-0 (8-1-0 at home) when leading after the first period and 3-12-2 (3-7-1 at home) when trailing after two periods this season.

Pittsburgh improved to 7-8-7 (4-3-3 on the road) when allowing the game’s first goal, 4-3-3 (3-2-1 on the road) when trailing after one and 21-1-1 (11-1-0 on the road) when leading after the second period in 2021-22.

Boston will host the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday before venturing across the border to visit the Ottawa Senators on Saturday afternoon to begin a four-game road trip.

The Bruins swing through New York for a pair of games against the Rangers and Islanders before visiting the Senators once more next Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, respectively.

February 9, 2022
Ducks down Bruins in first meeting since 2019

Hampus Lindholm had three assists in a, 5-3, victory for the Anaheim Ducks as they beat the Boston Bruins on the road Monday night at TD Garden.

John Gibson (14-10-6, 2.55 goals-against average, .919 save percentage in 30 games played) made 23 saves on 26 shots faced in the win for Anaheim.

Boston goaltender, Tuukka Rask (2-2-0, 4.29 goals-against average, .844 save percentage in four games played), stopped 22 out of 27 shots against in the loss in his first consecutive start of the season.

The Bruins fell to 24-13-2 (50 points) overall, but remain in 4th place in the Atlantic Division, while the Ducks improved to 21-16-7 (49 points) and took command of 2nd place in the Pacific Division.

As a result of the ongoing pandemic, the two clubs hadn’t played each other prior to Monday night since Oct. 14, 2019, when David Pastrnak scored all four goals in a, 4-2, win for Boston on home ice.

The Bruins were without Jakub Zboril (right ACL), Trent Frederic (upper body), John Moore (upper body), Anton Blidh (upper body) and Matt Grzelcyk (upper body) on Monday.

Moore and Blidh took part in morning skate ahead of the game, but were not well enough for game action.

Meanwhile, Mike Reilly returned from the league’s COVID-19 protocol and was utilized in his usual spot on the second defensive pairing alongside Brandon Carlo.

As a result of Grzelcyk being out and Reilly returning, Urho Vaakanainen was promoted to the first pairing with Charlie McAvoy.

Boston’s head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made no other changes to his lineup from Saturday afternoon’s, 3-2, win against the Winnipeg Jets to Monday night’s action.

Frederic, Moore, Steven Fogarty (taxi squad), Jesper Frödén (taxi squad), Grzelcyk, Tyler Lewington (taxi squad), Zboril and Blidh comprised the long list of Bruins that were out of the lineup for one reason or another against the Ducks.

Less than a minute into the opening frame, McAvoy hooked Rickard Rakell and presented Anaheim with the night’s first power play as a result 44 seconds into the first period.

The Ducks weren’t successful on the ensuing skater advantage, however.

About midway through the opening period, Oskar Steen checked Nicolas Deslauriers with force from behind at an awkward angle, yielding a five-minute major for boarding initially.

In accordance with league rules, the on-ice officials reviewed the play and rescinded Steen’s major and instead issued a minor infraction on the play– yielding a two-minute power play to Anaheim as a result at 9:09 of the first period.

50 seconds into the skater advantage, Ryan Getzlaf unloaded on a blast from outside the faceoff circle to the left of Rask that was tipped by Derek Grant (7) in the slot to give the Ducks a, 1-0, lead.

Getzlaf (23) and Lindholm (12) tallied the assists on Grant’s power-play goal at 9:59.

Anaheim’s goal marked just the eight shot combined on the night as the Ducks held a, 7-1, advantage in shots on net as Grant opened the scoring.

Heading into the first intermission, the Ducks led, 1-0, on the scoreboard and held an, 11-5, advantage in shots on goal.

Anaheim also led in blocked shots (6-1), while Boston led in takeaways (4-3), giveaways (5-2), hits (11-8) and faceoff win percentage (59-41).

The Ducks were 1/2 on the power play after one period and the B’s had yet to see any action on the skater advantage. That would change quickly in the middle frame.

Trevor Zegras slashed Patrice Bergeron and worked his way over to the penalty box as the Bruins went on their first power play of the night 17 seconds into the second period.

Unfortunately for Boston, the ensuing skater advantage was not kind to them.

Isac Lundeström (9) broke free and crashed the net on a breakaway, sliding the puck under Rask either via the five-hole or under a leg where Rask couldn’t quite get a feel for it as the rubber biscuit trickled through and made its way over the goal line.

Lindholm (13) tallied the only assist on Lundeström’s shorthanded goal and the Ducks led, 2-0, at 1:28 of the second period.

Almost midway through the period, Tomáš Nosek worked a pass across the slot to Pastrnak (20) for a one-timer goal that cut Anaheim’s lead in half, 2-1.

Nosek (6) and Nick Foligno (6) were credited with the assists on Pastrnak’s goal at 7:47 as No. 88 in black and gold reached the 20-goal plateau for his sixth consecutive season– tying Bobby Orr for the most consecutive 20-goal seasons (six) under the age of 25 in Bruins franchise history.

Overall, Pastrnak is tied for the eighth-most consecutive 20-goal seasons, trailing Johnny Bucyk (10), Rick Middleton (nine), Brad Marchand (nine), Phil Esposito (eight), Bergeron (8), Peter McNab (seven) and Orr (seven).

Marchand reached his ninth consecutive 20-goal season this season and Bergeron currently has 12 goals in 2021-22.

Less than a minute later, during a commercial break, Gibson shoved Foligno as the Bruins forward appeared to have been chirping the Anaheim bench.

A scrum ensued, though nobody received any minor infractions.

Shortly after play resumed, Foligno and Sam Carrick exchanged fisticuffs as the Ducks defended their goaltender.

Both players received fighting majors at 8:55 of the second period.

Foligno and Carrick’s fight marked the 14th fight this season for Boston and the eighth since Jan. 1st.

Moments later, Getzlaf (3) entered the attacking zone and ripped a shot over Carlo, as well as over Rask’s right shoulder on the blocker side to extend Anaheim’s lead, 3-1, at 11:04 of the second period.

Rakell (9) and Lindholm (14) had the assists on Getzlaf’s goal as the Ducks retook a two-goal lead.

A few minutes later, Josh Mahura hooked Steen at 14:59 and presented Boston with another power play.

This time the Bruins were sure to take advantage of the skater advantage as Marchand sent a shot pass to the slot where Taylor Hall (9) redirected the puck off the far right post and into the twine behind Gibson.

Marchand (25) and Bergeron (20) notched the assists as Hall’s power-play goal brought Boston back to within one– trailing, 3-2, at 15:52 of the second period.

Through 40 minutes of action, the Ducks led the Bruins, 3-2, on the scoreboard and, 20-15, in shots on goal, despite Boston amassing a, 10-9, advantage in shots on net in the second period alone.

Anaheim held the advantage in blocked shots (11-1), giveaways (10-7) and hits (19-16), while Boston led in takeaways (5-3) and faceoff win% (54-46).

Both teams were 1/2 on the power play heading into the final frame.

Vaakanainen caught Rakell with a high stick 26 seconds into the third period and presented the Ducks with another chance on the power play, but Boston made the kill.

Moments later, Troy Terry (23) entered the attacking zone before curling and dragging the puck for a snap shot over Rask’s blocker side to give Anaheim another two-goal lead, 4-2, at 6:12 of the third period.

Kevin Shattenkirk (16) and Cam Fowler (16) had the assists on Terry’s goal as the Ducks continued to dominate the evening.

Midway through the period, Mahura lost an edge while chasing a loose puck in the low slot and crashed into the left post– requiring an extra minute or two with the assistance of a trainer to get off the ice.

With about 13 minutes left in the game, the Bruins tweeted that Foligno would not return to the action with an upper body injury, joining Deslauriers and Mahura in the pile of injuries on the night.

Greg Pateryn (1) blasted a shot from the point over Rask’s blocker side with traffic in front of the net to make it a four-goal lead for the Ducks at 10:58 of the third period.

Zegras (20) and Rakell (10) had the assists on Pateryn’s goal– his first in 44 games– as Anaheim extended their lead, 5-1.

Erik Haula (4) answered back late in the third with a one-timer goal courtesy of 49 seconds worth of zone time in Boston’s attacking zone as Pastrnak worked the puck deep to Reilly for the backhand behind the back pass through the slot to Haula to bring the Bruins to within two goals.

Reilly (6) and Pastrnak (17) tallied the assists on Haula’s goal and the B’s trailed, 5-3, at 16:28.

With 3:02 remaining in the action, Cassidy pulled Rask for an extra attacker.

After a stoppage with 15.1 seconds left on the clock, Cassidy used his timeout to rally his players for a chance at a double-miracle that ultimately went by the wayside.

At the final horn, the Ducks had won, 5-3, and finished the night leading in shots on goal, 27-26– despite Boston holding an, 11-7, advantage in the third period alone.

Anaheim left TD Garden with the advantage in blocked shots (23-3) in addition to two points in the win column, while the Bruins exited their own arena leading in giveaways (13-11), hits (30-25) and faceoff win% (59-41).

The Ducks went 1/3 and the B’s went 1/2 on the power play on Monday.

The Bruins fell to 9-8-2 (6-5-1 at home) when allowing the game’s first goal, 4-8-1 (4-5-1 at home) when trailing after one period and 3-10-2 (3-6-1 at home) when trailing after two periods this season.

Anaheim, meanwhile, improved to 17-6-3 (6-4-1 on the road) when scoring first, 14-1-2 (4-1-0 on the road) when leading after the first period and 15-2-1 (5-2-0 on the road) when leading after the second period in 2021-22.

Boston went 5-2-0 in their seven-game homestand and will hit the road to finish the month of January with a three-game road trip.

The B’s visit the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday (10 p.m. ET on TNT), Arizona Coyotes on Friday and Dallas Stars on Sunday before returning home to host the Seattle Kraken in their first ever matchup on Feb. 1st.

January 25, 2022
Bruins beat Jets in first matchup in almost two years

The last time the Boston Bruins and Winnipeg Jets faced each other, Canada Life Centre was still known as Bell MTS Place and the World Health Organization (WHO) was still a little over a month away from declaring the outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 virus (also known as COVID-19) a global pandemic.

Seriously, it’s been that long.

722 days since they last played each other to be exact.

Saturday afternoon at TD Garden in Boston, the Bruins beat the Jets, 3-2, courtesy of a game-winning power-play goal for David Pastrnak in a game that had a little bit of everything.

Tuukka Rask (2-1-0, 3.86 goals-against average, .857 save percentage in three games played) made 22 saves on 24 shots against for a .917 SV% in the win for Boston.

Winnipeg goaltender, Connor Hellebuyck (14-12-5, 2.83 goals-against average, .912 save percentage in 31 games played), stopped 29 out of 32 shots faced for a .906 SV% in the loss.

The Bruins improved to 24-12-2 (50 points) overall and– prior to Toronto’s win later Saturday evening– were temporarily one point behind the Toronto Maple Leafs for 3rd place in the Atlantic Division.

Instead, the B’s remain 4th in the division, but in command of the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.

Meanwhile, the Jets fell to 17-14-6 (40 points) this season and remain in 6th place in the Central Division. Winnipeg is four points behind the San Jose Sharks for the second wild card spot in the Western Conference.

Though he missed most of Thursday night’s, 4-3, win against the Washington Capitals after sustaining an upper body injury, Brad Marchand took part in warmup and did not skip a beat as Bruce Cassidy made a few minor changes to his lineup.

With Anton Blidh (upper body) fresh out of the action due to an injury against the Capitals, Oskar Steen went back in on the third line with Jake DeBrusk on the opposite wing and Charlie Coyle centering the two.

Meanwhile, Nick Foligno slotted in on the fourth line in Blidh’s usual role at left wing with Tomáš Nosek at center and Curtis Lazar at right wing.

Boston was without the services of Jakub Zboril (right ACL), Trent Frederic (upper body), John Moore (upper body), Mike Reilly (COVID-19 protocol) and Blidh (upper body) on Saturday.

Moore practiced with the team on Friday and is close to returning to the action if Cassidy is to make any changes to his defensive pairings between now and then.

Steven Fogarty and Jesper Frödén were recalled from the Providence Bruins (AHL) ahead of Saturday’s matinée and assigned to the taxi squad with the expectation that Fogarty would make his Boston debut if Marchand wasn’t ready to go.

Looks like Fogarty is waiting to don the Spoked-B in a National Hockey League game another day.

Fogarty and Frödén were joined by Tyler Lewington in the press box on Saturday.

Dominic Toninato dropped a pass back to Jansen Harkins (4), who snuck a shot off of Rask’s arm and under the glove side to give Winnipeg a, 1-0, lead at 2:46 of the first period.

Toninato (3) had the only assist on the goal as the Bruins gave up a goal on their opponents’ first shot of the game for the second consecutive game.

About a few minutes later, Connor Clifton dropped the gloves with Harkins and exchanged fisticuffs in what was Clifton’s second fight of the season and Harkins’ first.

Both players received five-minute fighting majors at 5:19 of the opening frame.

Shortly thereafter, Pierre-Luc Dubois sent Matt Grzelcyk awkwardly into the boards from behind, leaving the Bruins defender struggling to make his way down the tunnel.

Grzelcyk would return for the second period, however.

Midway through the first period, DeBrusk worked the puck deep in the attacking zone and sent a pass to Coyle, who one-touch redirected it over to Steen (2) for a spin, sweep and throw goal.

Coyle (9) and DeBrusk (7) tallied the assists on Steen’s goal as the Bruins tied the game, 1-1, at 11:37.

Almost two minutes later, Brandon Carlo and Austin Poganski exchanged pleasantries behind the Boston net yielding fighting majors in the process at 13:07.

Six seconds after the ensuing faceoff, Derek Forbort caught Dubois with a high stick and cut a rut to the penalty box at 13:13.

Winnipeg wasn’t able to convert on the ensuing skater advantage, however.

Instead, the Jets sustained the pressure as they had been doing virtually the entire period.

Mark Scheifele sent a shot towards the slot that caught a double deflection– first off of his own teammate, Andrew Copp’s, skate and then again off of the skate of Boston defender, Urho Vaakanainen before making its way to the back of the twine.

Copp (11) gave Winnipeg a, 2-1, lead courtesy of being in the right place a the right time and with a little more luck than just that at 19:34 of the first period.

Scheifele (17) had the only assist on the goal as the Jets took a, 2-1, lead on the scoreboard, as well as an, 11-4, advantage in shots on net into the first intermission.

It was the worst offensive output for the Bruins so far this season as they only managed four shots on net in the first period.

That said, the B’s led in blocked shots (4-3), takeaways (5-3) and hits (13-11), while the Jets led in giveaways (4-1).

Both teams split faceoff win percentage, 50-50, while only Winnipeg had witnessed any action on the power play– going 0/1 in the process– entering the middle frame.

Forbort blasted a shot from the point that likely was going for Hellebuyck’s five-hole early in the second period had it not been for Coyle’s (9) excellent hand-eye coordination to tip the puck past the Winnipeg goaltender’s right pad instead.

Forbort (4) had the only assist on Coyle’s goal as the Bruins tied things up, 2-2, at 2:31 of the second period.

A few minutes later, Boston got their first chance on the power play courtesy of an interference minor against Toninato at 5:15, but the B’s were powerless on their first skater advantage of the night.

Nobody else scored and nobody else took a trip to the penalty box for the rest of the second period as the two teams were tied, 2-2, after 40 minutes of action with the Bruins leading in shots on goal, 20-17– rallying for a, 16-6, advantage in shots in the second period alone.

Boston also held the lead in blocked shots (13-9), hits (21-20) and faceoff win% (55-45), while Winnipeg led in takeaways (9-6) and giveaways (8-2).

Both teams were 0/1 on the power play heading into the final frame.

Dubois checked Coyle early in the final frame and popped a pane of glass out behind the Winnipeg net.

The TD Garden “Bull Gang” (rink crew) quickly put it back in place and made the necessary repairs in about 90 seconds before play resumed.

Adam Lowry tripped up Coyle at 2:27 of the third period to the dismay of his father and Jets interim head coach, Dave Lowry– presenting another power play to Boston in the process.

A blocked shot found its way back to the point as Grzelcyk corralled the loose puck as the Bruins established an umbrella setup in the attacking zone.

Grzelcyk worked the puck over to Pastrnak (19) for a one-timer blast from his usual spot at the faceoff circle to give the B’s their first lead of the afternoon, 3-2, at 3:59 of the third period.

Grzelcyk (14) and Marchand (24) had the assists on Pastrnak’s power-play goal that became the game-winning goal on account of the fact that no one else scored afterwards.

Steen cut a rut to the sin bin for catching Dubois with a high stick at 5:19 of the third period, but the Bruins killed off the minor infraction.

Boston stood tall once again on the penalty kill when Rask sent an errant puck over the glass and out of play, yielding an automatic delay of game penalty that was served by Taylor Hall at 8:15.

With 1:49 remaining in regulation and down by a goal, Winnipeg used their timeout to draw up a plan to try to tie the game at the very least and force overtime.

Hellebuyck vacated the crease with 1:34 remaining for an extra attacker, which quickly became a de facto two skater advantage for the Jets as Nosek caught Copp with a high stick and was sent to the box at 18:33.

Winnipeg had a 6-on-4 opportunity, but Boston kept blocking shots mixed in with a few more clutch saves from Rask as time winded down and the final horn sounded.

The Bruins had won, 3-2, and finished the afternoon leading in shots on goal, 32-24– including a, 12-7, advantage in the third period alone.

The B’s left their own building with the advantage in blocked shots (17-13), hits (28-25) and faceoff win% (52-48), while the Jets left Boston holding the advantage in giveaways (9-8).

Winnipeg went 0/4 on the power play, while the Bruins went 1/2 on the skater advantage Saturday afternoon.

Boston improved to 9-7-2 (6-4-1 at home) when allowing the game’s first goal, 4-7-1 (4-4-1 at home) when trailing after one period and 5-2-0 (5-1-0 at home) when tied after two periods this season.

The Jets fell to 12-4-3 (5-3-3 on the road) when scoring first, 6-3-1 (3-2-1 on the road) when leading after the first period and 3-3-5 (3-2-4 on the road) when tied after the second period in 2021-22.

The Bruins (5-1-0) conclude their seven-game homestand against the Anaheim Ducks next Monday before hitting the road for a few games in Colorado next Wednesday (Jan. 26th), Arizona next Friday (Jan. 28th) and Dallas next Sunday (Jan. 30th) to close out the month of January.

January 22, 2022
Pastrnak scores twice in thrilling, 4-3, win for Boston

David Pastrnak had a pair of goals, while Charlie McAvoy scored the game-winning goal late in the third period as the Boston Bruins defeated the Washington Capitals, 4-3, Thursday night at TD Garden.

Linus Ullmark (14-5-0, 2.55 goals-against average, .915 save percentage in 20 games played) made 14 saves on 17 shots faced in the win for Boston.

Washington goaltender, Vitek Vanecek (8-5-5, 2.57 goals-against average, .909 save percentage in 20 games played) stopped 29 out of 33 shots against in the loss.

The Bruins improved to 23-12-2 (48 points) overall and remain 4th in the Atlantic Division, while the Capitals fell to 22-10-9 (53 points) on the season and fell to 4th place in the Metropolitan Division.

With one game remaining against Washington this season on April 10th in Washington, D.C., the B’s have already clinched the regular season series 2-0-0.

Nick Foligno returned to the lineup after missing his 13th game this season due to injury and/or an illness, having most recently sustained a lower body injury on Jan. 8th in a, 5-2, win in Tampa.

As a result, Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, placed Foligno on the third line right wing in place of Oskar Steen– scratching the Boston rookie in the process– at least for the night.

The B’s were without the services of Jakub Zboril (right ACL), Trent Frederic (upper body), John Moore (upper body) and Mike Reilly (COVID-19 protocol) on Thursday.

No other changes were made to the lines of defensive pairings against Washington.

Earlier in the day on Thursday, Steven Fogarty and Kyle Keyser were reassigned from the taxi squad to the Providence Bruins (AHL).

Tyler Lewington joined Steen in the press box as Boston’s pair of healthy scratches against the Capitals, while Reilly, Frederic, Moore and Zboril were out due to injury and/or COVID protocol.

Evgeny Kuznetsov (13) kicked things off with a toe drag snap shot over Ullmark’s shoulder on the blocker side– off the crossbar and into the twine– at 4:07 of the first period.

Alex Ovechkin (29) and Trevor van Riemsdyk (10) tallied the assists on Kuznetsov’s goal as the Capitals jumped out to a, 1-0, lead early in the opening frame.

It wasn’t long (50 seconds to be exact), however, before the Bruins tied things up, 1-1, courtesy of a goal from Pastrnak (17) as No. 88 in black and gold entered the attacking zone, dropped a pass back for Taylor Hall, then proceeded to crash the net and redirected a pass behind Vanecek’s right pad for the goal.

Hall (18) and Erik Haula (10) notched the assists on Pastrnak’s goal at 4:57 of the first period.

Midway through the opening frame, Hall was caught Kuznetsov with a high stick and was assessed a minor infraction at 8:14, yielding the night’s first power play to Washington.

The Caps weren’t able to convert on the ensuing skater advantage.

Late in the first period, Brad Marchand tripped up Nick Jensen and cut a rut to the box at 14:22. Once again, however, the Capitals let the resulting power play go by the wayside.

Shortly thereafter, Tom Wilson delivered a huge, clean, hit on Anton Blidh– knocking the fourth liner out of the game with an upper body injury.

Wilson led with his shoulder and caught Blidh’s chest first, but still drew the ire of Bruins skaters as they watched their teammate get help off the ice from a trainer.

McAvoy responded minutes later with a big hit on van Riemsdyk behind Washington’s own net.

The temperature of the action on the ice, though, was notably rising.

After 20 minutes of action, the B’s and Caps were tied, 1-1, on the scoreboard, despite the Bruins outshooting the Capitals by a 2:1 ratio (10-5).

Boston held the advantage in blocked shots (7-4), giveaways (5-2), hits (15-10) and faceoff win percentage (61-39), while Washington led in takeaways (4-2).

The Capitals were 0/2 on the power play, while the Bruins had yet to see any time on the skater advantage.

Boston later tweeted before the middle frame began that Blidh (upper body) would not return to the night’s action.

Haula hooked Connor McMichael and cut a rut to the sin bin at 4:33 of the second period as a result.

Shortly after killing off Haula’s minor, the Bruins went on their first power play of the night thanks to Garnet Hathaway’s interference infraction at 6:48– although it came with a price as Hathaway nearly charged and ran Marchand into boards– leaving the Boston winger clutching his shoulder before eventually making his way down the tunnel.

Marchand, as with Blidh and Jensen, would join the growing list of players with upper body injuries that were confirmed not to return to the game on Thursday night by the end of the second intermission.

While Hathaway was in the box, the Bruin took their time to capitalize on the skater advantage and score a power-play goal as Pastrnak (18) broke free on a drive to the net and followed up his own rebound– slipping the rubber biscuit through Vanecek in the process.

Matt Grzelcyk (13) had the only assist on Pastrnak’s power-play goal and Boston led, 2-1, at 8:37 of the second period.

About four minutes later, Craig Smith went to the box for tripping Hathaway, but the Capitals couldn’t capitalize on the ensuing power play at 12:38.

Late in the middle frame, Lars Eller (7) entered the attacking zone and floated a shot from the left faceoff dot off of Ullmark’s glove and into the top right corner of the net– knotting things up, 2-2, in the process.

McMichael (7) had the only assist on a goal that Ullmark probably wishes he had back at 16:12 of the second period.

Heading into the second intermission, the score was tied, 2-2, despite Boston leading in shots on goal, 20-11, including a, 10-6, advantage in the second period alone.

Washington led in takeaways (8-4) and hits (29-20), while the B’s held the advantage in giveaways (8-6) and faceoff win% (58-42).

Both teams had nine blocked shots each, while the Caps were 0/4 and the Bruins were 1/1 on the power play.

Kuznetsov slashed Pastrnak to kick things off at 5:17 of the third period, but Boston couldn’t beat Vanecek on the ensuing power play.

Almost midway through the third period, however, Jake DeBrusk (6) slipped a shot through Vanecek’s five-hole that had eyes as the Vulcanized rubber trickled over the goal line before a Capitals defender fished it out and play kept going without skipping a beat.

Until the horn sounded to signal that the replay booth in the NHL’s Toronto offices had deemed a goal had been scored at 9:41 of the third period.

DeBrusk’s goal gave Boston a, 3-2, lead and was unassisted.

Less than a minute later, however, Nicklas Bäckström (1) wired his first goal of the season (after having missed most of the season due to rehabbing an injury) on a shot from afar in the attacking zone after Brandon Carlo and the rest of his Boston teammates failed to clear the puck.

Wilson (17) had the only assist on Bäckström’s goal as Washington tied things up, 3-3, at 10:17– just 36 seconds after DeBrusk’s goal.

Late in the third, Nic Dowd tripped Derek Forbort and presented Boston with another power play at 17:26.

In the dying seconds of the ensuing skater advantage, Haula worked the puck to DeBrusk, who whipped a pass back to McAvoy at the point.

McAvoy (6) sent a wrist shot over Vanecek’s blocker high on the short side while pinching into the zone to give Boston a, 4-3, lead at 19:15 of the third period.

DeBrusk (6) and Haula (11) tallied the assists on McAvoy’s power-play goal that went on to serve as the game-winner as the Caps failed to score with the goaltender pulled shortly after the ensuing faceoff at center ice.

With less than a minute remaining, Peter Laviolette, tried everything he could to rally Washington to one more tie, but it was to no avail as the final horn sounded– signaling a victory in Boston’s favor.

The Bruins had won, 4-3, and finished the night leading in shots on goal, 33-17, and even had a, 13-6, advantage in shots in the third period alone.

Boston also left their own building leading in blocked shots (17-14), giveaways (10-7) and faceoff win% (55-45) on Thursday night, while Washington exited with the advantage in hits (36-27).

The Capitals went 0/4 and the Bruins went 2/3 on the power play.

Boston improved to 8-7-2 (5-4-1 at home) when allowing the game’s first goal, 4-5-1 (2-3-0 at home) when tied after one period and 4-2-0 (4-1-0 at home) when tied after two periods this season.

Washington fell to 17-8-4 (8-5-2 on the road) when scoring first, 7-5-3 (6-3-2 on the road) when tied after the first period and 7-1-2 (3-1-0 on the road) when tied after the second period in 2021-22.

The Bruins (4-1-0) host the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday before the B’s wrap up their current seven game homestand against the Anaheim Ducks next Monday prior to hitting the road for three games with stops in Colorado, Arizona and Dallas to close out the month of January.

January 21, 2022
Hurricanes storm Bruins, 7-1, in road victory

Nearly 11 years after Jackie Robinson broke Major League Baseball’s color barrier, Willie O’Ree was called up from the Québec Aces minor professional hockey team and suited up for the Boston Bruins at Montréal Forum in what became a, 3-0, shutout for the Bruins against the Montréal Canadiens on Jan. 18, 1958.

The next day, O’Ree read in the paper that he had been the first Black player in National Hockey League history.

He played in the following game with Boston, a 6-2, loss to Montréal in his Boston Garden debut before he was sent back to the minors for the remainder of the 1957-58 season.

In a, 3-2, win against the Canadiens on Jan. 1, 1961, at Boston Garden, O’Ree scored his first career NHL goal– the eventual game-winner at 10:07 of the third period.

In total, O’Ree amassed 14 points (four goals, ten assists) in 45 career NHL games with the Bruins from 1958-61– paving the way for many Black players since then while being subjected to the brunt of racial epithets from fans, players and coaches alike.

In some tragic sense, not much has changed within the culture of the sport and society at large.

No one is a product of their time. Ignorance, inequality and racism are always ignorance, inequality and racism.

O’Ree’s hero, Herb Carnegie, was never given a proper chance at making the NHL.

Carnegie received a similar sham of a tryout that the Boston Red Sox gave Robinson on April 16, 1945, only this time it was at training camp in a different sport with the New York Rangers in Sept. 1948– a little more than one year after Robinson first played for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947.

In 1998, O’Ree was hired by the NHL as a Diversity Ambassador, having given many speeches since to kids and adults alike– those that play the game, those that have played the game and anyone that will listen in-between.

In 2018, O’Ree was finally inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto as a Builder.

Also in 2018, the NHL first presented the Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award, which is presented annually “to an individual who– through the game of hockey– has positively impacted his or her community, culture or society,” as voted on by a fan vote in combination with weighted votes from O’Ree himself, the NHL and the award’s presenting sponsor, MassMutual.

Fans can submit candidates every year before the field is narrowed to three finalists that are then voted on to select a winner.

O’Ree is also a member of the Order of Canada, has a statue in the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. and is awaiting the result of the Willie O’Ree Congressional Gold Medal Act in the United States Congress on Wednesday.

Oh, and, one more thing, O’Ree played his entire professional career spanning from the 1950s through the 1970s legally blind in his right eye after sustaining an injury in Junior hockey.

“I knew my heart would be with the Bruins forever."#NHLBruins | #Willie22 pic.twitter.com/PSBw5LZpoP
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) January 19, 2022

On Tuesday night, 64 years to the day that he made his NHL debut with Boston, the Bruins retired O’Ree’s No. 22 in front of 17,850 fans in attendance at TD Garden prior to a, 7-1, loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.

O’Ree became just the 12th player in franchise history to have his number retired, joining the likes of Eddie Shore (No. 2), Lionel Hitchman (No. 3), Bobby Orr (No. 4), “Dit” Clapper (No. 5), Phil Esposito (No. 7), Cam Neely (No. 8), John Bucyk (No. 9), Milt Schmidt (No. 15), Rick Middleton (No. 16), Terry O’Reilly (No. 24) and Ray Bourque (No. 77) in the rafters of TD Garden.

He read a speech from his home in San Diego, California via Zoom before former Bruin and current NHL on TNT analyst, Anson Carter, as well as members of the S.C.O.R.E. Boston Youth Hockey program raised O’Ree’s No. 22 banner to thunderous applause.

Now all that’s needed is another statue outside the building next to Orr’s “The Goal” in The Hub on Causeway.

Or maybe the City of Boston can put it next to City Hall near Bill Russell’s statue.

Tuesday night in Carolina’s, 7-1, victory, Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored a pair of goals while Jaccob Slavin and Tony DeAngelo each had four-point nights from the Hurricanes’ defense.

Frederik Andersen (20-6-0, 2.03 goals-against average, .930 save percentage in 26 games played) made 31 saves on 32 shots faced in the win for the Canes.

Bruins goaltender, Tuukka Rask (1-1-0, 5.25 goals-against average, .821 save percentage in two games played) made seven saves on 12 shots against before being replaced after one period with his team trailing, 5-1– though in large part through no fault of his own for the lack of effort team-wide in the loss.

Linus Ullmark (13-5-0, 2.52 goals-against average, .917 save percentage in 19 games played) made 20 saves on 22 shots in relief of Rask for no decision.

As a result of Tuesday night’s loss, the Bruins are 0-2-0 against the Hurricanes this season.

Boston fell to 22-12-2 (46 points) overall, but the B’s remain in command of 4th place in the Atlantic Division.

Meanwhile, Carolina now sits atop the Metropolitan Division with a 26-8-2 record (54 points) thus far in 2021-22.

Connor Clifton and Matt Grzelcyk were back from the league’s COVID-19 protocol for Boston, while Mike Reilly was placed in the aforementioned protocol ahead of the game on Tuesday.

In addition to Reilly, the Bruins were also without Jakub Zboril (right ACL), Nick Foligno (lower body), Trent Frederic (upper body) and John Moore (upper body) against Carolina.

With Clifton and Grzelcyk back, head coach Bruce Cassidy, adjusted his defensive pairing accordingly– partnering Grzelcyk with his usual suspect on the first defensive pairing alongside Charlie McAvoy, while Clifton went back to his third pairing role with Derek Forbort.

Urho Vaakanainen covered Reilly’s role on the second pair with Brandon Carlo.

On Monday, Karson Kuhlman, was claimed off waivers by the Seattle Kraken– signaling an end to his Bruins career as a result.

The 26-year-old undrafted forward made his NHL debut with Boston in the 2018-19 season and spent parts of four seasons with the B’s in 75 games, amassing 7-8–15 totals in that span.

On Tuesday, goaltender, Kyle Keyser, and forward, Steven Fogarty, were recalled from the Providence Bruins (AHL) and assigned to Boston’s taxi squad.

Reilly, Frederic, Foligno, Moore, Fogarty, Tyler Lewington (the only healthy scratch), Zboril and Keyser were all out of the lineup against Carolina for one reason or another.

Less than four minutes into the action, Slavin sent a pass across the slot to Teuvo Teräväinen (11) for a one-timer goal on Rask’s glove side as the Bruins netminder was forced to sprawl across the crease.

Slavin (18) and DeAngelo (20) tallied the assists on Teräväinen’s goal and the Hurricanes jumped out to a, 1-0, lead at 3:44 of the first period.

A little more than a couple of minutes later, Kotkaniemi (8) wrapped a rebound around Rask’s right leg pad from the doorstep to give Carolina a two-goal lead at 6:03 of the first period.

Andrei Svechnikov (17) and Nino Niederreiter (8) notched the assists as the Canes pulled ahead to a, 2-0, lead with a pair of goals in a span of 2:19.

Midway through the opening frame, Svechnikov was assessed an interference minor at 9:48, yielding the night’s first power play to the Bruins.

Boston took advantage of the ensuing skater advantage on a deflection goal from Patrice Bergeron (12) to cut Carolina’s lead in half, 2-1, at 11:13 of the first period.

David Pastrnak (16) recorded the primary assist with the no-look shot pass off of Bergeron’s skate and into the twine, while McAvoy (19) picked up the secondary assist.

Just 13 seconds later, Kotkaniemi (9) got a stick on a shot from the point by Slavin and deflected the rubber biscuit over Rask’s shoulder to give Carolina another two-goal lead, 3-1.

Slavin (19) and Derek Stepan (5) had the assists on Kotkaniemi’s second goal of the game at 11:26 of the first period.

Less than a minute later, Clifton cut a rut to the sin bin for cross checking at 12:11, but the Hurricanes were not successful on the resulting power play– at least not yet on the night’s list of skater advantage opportunities.

Late in the opening frame, Seth Jarvis (7) waltzed around Clifton and crashed the net on an individual effort for an unassisted goal to give the Canes a, 4-1, lead at 16:01.

56 seconds after that, Stepan (5) scored a goal while crashing the slot as Jordan Martinook took a hit and freed the puck to his teammate in a high danger scoring area.

Martinook (6) had the only assist on Stepan’s goal as Carolina took a, 5-1, lead at 16:57 of the first period.

Entering the first intermission, the Hurricanes had a, 5-1, lead on the scoreboard and a, 12-10, advantage in shots on goal as Boston had allowed five or more goals for the first time in any first period since March 3, 2008, when they gave up six goals to the Washington Capitals in a, 10-2, loss at the then known as Verizon Center.

Alex Ovechkin had a first period hat trick, Matt Bradley and Brooks Laich each had a pair of goals in that game, while all four dressed netminders made an appearance.

Tim Thomas got the start for Boston and was pulled twice after a brief relief appearance by Alex Auld, while Cristobal Huet started the game for the Capitals, but was yanked from the crease with back spasms and replaced by Olaf Kölzig.

Truly, it was the definition of insanity.

The Bruins had goals from Dennis Wideman and Marco Sturm that night, if you’re wondering, while notorious enemy of the Commonwealth, Matt Cooke, opened the night’s scoring.

Meanwhile, Nicklas Bäckström and Donald Brashear also pocketed goals for the Capitals in that wild game from almost 14 years ago.

Back at TD Garden on Tuesday night, while losing, 5-1, after one period, the Bruins led in blocked shots (4-3) and giveaways (4-2) as the Hurricanes also maintained the advantage in takeaways (3-1), hits (13-12) and faceoff win percentage (52-48).

Carolina was 0/1 on the power play, while Boston was 1/1 on the skater advantage heading into the middle frame.

The second period was relatively tame as no goals were scored by either team and a string of penalties opened the ice for lots of skating.

Ullmark replaced Rask before the period began and Brendan Smith caught Craig Smith (no relation) with a high stick at 6:55.

Boston’s power play came up short, however, and would do so again at 10:38 when Sebastian Aho cut a rut for high sticking at 10:38 of the second period.

The Bruins also couldn’t score on an abbreviated 5-on-3 advantage at 11:30 when Ian Cole tripped up McAvoy.

Through 40 minutes of action, the Hurricanes still led, 5-1, on the scoreboard, despite trailing Boston, 23-20, in shots on goal as the Bruins rallied to outshoot Carolina, 13-8, in the second period alone.

The Canes led in blocked shots (13-5) and takeaways (12-2), while the B’s led in giveaways (7-3) and faceoff win% (60-40).

Both teams had 21 hits aside, while the Hurricanes were still 0/1 and the Bruins were now 1/4 on the power play heading into the second intermission.

Vincent Trocheck cross checked Erik Haula 33 seconds into the third period, but Boston’s ensuing power play was cut short when McAvoy and Aho collided near the blue line by the Bruins’ attacking zone– resulting in an interference minor for No. 73 in black and gold at 1:13 of the final frame.

After 80 seconds of 4-on-4 action, the Hurricanes went on an abbreviated power play, but it didn’t take them long for Slavin (2) to riffle a shot from inside the faceoff circle over Ullmark’s blocker on the short side to give Carolina a, 6-1, lead.

DeAngelo (21) and Teräväinen (19) tallied the assists on Slavin’s power-play goal at 3:05 of the third period and the Hurricanes had a five-goal lead as a result.

Haula later caught Slavin with a high stick at 6:04 and presented Carolina with another power play for good measure.

The Hurricanes got their money’s worth as Svechnikov (13) stayed aggressive on a loose puck in the slot and elevated the rubber biscuit over Ullmark as the Bruins goaltender was down.

Aho (23) and DeAngelo (22) notched the assists on Svechnikov’s power-play goal and Carolina continued to blow Boston out of their own building, 7-1, at 7:48 of the third period.

After that nothing else happened.

There were no more goals, nor penalties, as fans left TD Garden early either to make the trains out of North Station due to the later than usual start as a result of the night’s opening ceremonies or simply to avoid watching the seconds tick down while lackluster entertainment continued on the ice.

At the final horn, Carolina had won, 7-1, and finished the night leading in shots on goal, 34-23, including a, 14-9, advantage in the third period– tied for the second-most shots allowed in any third period by Boston this season.

The Bruins had previously given up 14 shots against in the third period on Opening Night against the Dallas Stars in a, 3-1, win on Oct. 16th at TD Garden and gave up a season-worst 16 shots against in the third period alone twice within a span of a week apart– once on Dec. 2nd in a, 2-0, shutout win in Nashville and again on Dec. 9th in a, 3-2, win in Edmonton.

Tuesday night didn’t have the same end result for Boston, despite being badly outshot in the third period.

The Hurricanes exited the building with the all-important victory and led the night in blocked shots (16-9), while the Bruins left their own ice leading in giveaways (8-5) and faceoff win% (55-45).

Both teams had 26 hits aside.

Carolina went 2/3 on the power play, while the B’s finished the night’s action 1/5 on the skater advantage.

An amazing honor.

On behalf of Willie O'Ree, B's alum @AnsonCarterLA and @scoreboshockey's Dallas Jackson, Toryn Jackson, Austin Nelson, and Donald Craft raised his No. 22 banner to the @tdgarden rafters.#NHLBruins | #Willie22 pic.twitter.com/hvJg10VbG8
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) January 19, 2022

Boston fell to 7-7-2 (4-4-1 at home) when allowing the game’s first goal, 3-7-1 (3-4-1 at home) when trailing after the first period and 3-9-2 (3-5-1 at home) when trailing after the second period this season.

Carolina, meanwhile, improved to an impressive 17-2-1 (10-1-1 on the road) when scoring first, 15-1-0 (7-1-0 on the road) when leading after one and 17-1-1 (7-0-1 on the road) when leading after two in 2021-22.

The Bruins continue their seven-game homestand (3-1-0) against the Washington Capitals on Thursday before the Winnipeg Jets visit Boston on Saturday.

The B’s are currently scheduled to wrap things up at on this current homestand next Monday against the Anaheim Ducks before hitting the road for three games with stops in Colorado, Arizona and Dallas to close out the month of January– at least until the remaining condensed schedule is announced on Wednesday, that is.

January 19, 2022
Hall caps Bruins, 4-3, OT victory over Predators

The Boston Bruins have won eight out of their last nine games and knocked off the top team in the Western Conference with a, 4-3, overtime victory courtesy of Taylor Hall’s game-winning goal Saturday afternoon against the Nashville Predators.

Boston jumped out to a two-goal lead early in the first period thanks to Craig Smith and Mike Reilly before Nashville tied things up midway through the second period.

Both teams swapped goals almost three minutes apart in the third period as regulation gave way to overtime.

Linus Ullmark (13-5-0, 2.51 goals-against average, .918 save percentage in 18 games played) made 26 saves on 29 shots against in the win for the Bruins– extending their winning streak to five games (their longest of the season).

Predators goaltender, Juuse Saros (20-10-2, 2.35 goals-against average, .926 save percentage in 32 games played), stopped 40 out of 44 shots faced in the overtime loss.

The B’s improved to 22-11-2 (46 points) and remain in command of 4th place in the Atlantic Division, while the Preds fell to 24-12-3 (51 points)– still leading the Central Division at the time of this writing.

Boston finished their season series 2-0-0 against Nashville, outscoring the Predators, 6-3, in that span.

Derek Forbort returned from the league’s COVID-19 protocol and was paired with Charlie McAvoy to start the afternoon, while Urho Vaakanainen was partered with Tyler Lewington on the third defensive pairing.

With Forbort back in the lineup, Jack Ahcan was reassigned to the Providence Bruins (AHL).

Jakub Zboril (right ACL), Nick Foligno (lower body), Connor Clifton (COVID protocol), Trent Frederic (upper body), John Moore (upper body) and Matt Grzelcyk (COVID protocol) remained out of the lineup on Saturday.

Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made no other adjustments from Thursday night’s, 3-2, win against Philadelphia to Saturday’s matinée with Nashville.

Karson Kuhlman was the only healthy scratch for Boston.

Brad Marchand skated into the attacking zone and sent a pass through the middle of the ice to Patrice Bergeron for a one-touch redirection pass over to Smith as Boston’s first line skated towards the net early in the opening frame.

Smith (5) sent a catch and release wrist shot over Saros’ glove on the short side– bar down– to give the Bruins a, 1-0, lead at 3:20 of the first period.

Bergeron (18) and Marchand (23) tallied the assists on the goal.

Moments later, Erik Haula slipped a pass to Reilly (4) as the Bruins defender pinched in from the point and went to the net, holding the puck on his stick before sending a backhand shot over Saros’ leg pad and under the glove for a two-goal lead at 7:37.

Haula (9) and Hall (17) notched the assists on Reilly’s goal and the B’s led, 2-0, before the midpoint of the first period.

Late in the opening frame, Colton Sissons (5) riffled a shot from the high slot between the hash marks off of Ullmark’s arm on the blocker side and into the back of the twine.

Dante Fabbro (10) had the only assist as the Predators cut Boston’s lead in half, 2-1, at 14:30.

Entering the first intermission, the Bruins led on the scoreboard, 2-1, and in shots on goal, 10-6, while Nashville held the advantage in blocked shots (3-1) and faceoff win percentage (68-32).

Boston also led in his (19-14), but both teams split takeaways, 4-4, and giveaways, 4-4, as well.

Neither team had seen any action on the power play heading into the middle period.

Forbort and Michael McCarron exchanged pleasantries and dropped the gloves after a stoppage at 3:43 of the second period, resulting in the 11th fighting major for Boston this season.

Less than a minute later, Brandon Carlo was penalized for cross checking and presented the Predators with the first power play of the afternoon at 4:15 of the second period.

The Preds, however, couldn’t convert on the skater advantage.

Instead, Nashville pounced in the vulnerable minute after special teams play– tying the game, 2-2, at 7:32 of the second period thanks to a goal from Luke Kunin (8) outside the faceoff circle– beating Ullmark on the blocker side as Carlo may have inadvertently screened his own goaltender.

Nick Cousins (7) and Mark Borowiecki (2) had the assists on Kunin’s goal.

Through 40 minutes of action Saturday afternoon, the Bruins and Predators were tied, 2-2, on the scoreboard despite Boston holding a, 28-17, advantage in shots on goal– including an, 18-11, advantage in the second period alone.

The B’s controlled blocked shots (6-5) and hits (37-35) after two periods, while Nashville led in takeaways (6-5) and faceoff win% (60-40).

Both teams had six giveaways each, while only Nashville had witnessed any time on the power play and went 0/1 heading into the second intermission.

Tanner Jeannot hooked Forbort at 2:07 of the third period and yielded a power play to Boston for the first and only time Saturday afternoon as a result.

It didn’t take long for the Bruins to convert on the ensuing skater advantage as the B’s worked the puck around the attacking zone umbrella formation.

McAvoy sent a pass to Marchand along the wall before Marchand (20) unloaded a wrist shot off of Saros’ glove and into the top corner on the short side– giving No. 63 in black and gold his ninth consecutive season with at least 20 goals.

McAvoy (18) and Bergeron (19) were credited with the assists on Marchand’s power-play goal as the Bruins pulled ahead, 3-2, at 3:50 of the third period.

Boston didn’t hold onto the lead for long, however, as Nashville responded on the scoreboard 2:36 later with a goal from their captain.

David Pastrnak misplayed the puck along the boards in his own zone– botching a flip pass in the process to Roman Josi’s lucky fortune as Josi (13) ripped a shot off of Ullmark’s glove and into the twine– tying the game, 3-3, in the process.

Philip Tomasino (7) tallied the only assist on Josi’s goal at 6:26 of the third period.

Midway through the final frame of regulation, Marchand made a big hit behind Nashville’s net, sending Fabbro down the tunnel briefly, clutching his shoulder.

Minutes later, Vaakanainen got his stick in the wrong place at the wrong time as Matt Duchene went sailing (perhaps partially of his own effort to draw a penalty).

Nevertheless, Vaakanainen cut a rut to the penalty box for tripping at 13:34.

The Bruins managed to kill off the ensuing minor, however, giving them a bit of a momentum swing as the minutes ran off the clock.

After 60 minutes, Boston and Nashville were knotted up on the scoreboard, 3-3, despite the B’s holding a, 41-28, advantage in shots on goal, including a, 13-11, advantage in shots on net in the third period alone.

The Bruins dominated in blocked shots (12-7), while the Predators led in takeaways (7-6), hits (46-44) and faceoff win% (60-40) after regulation.

Both teams had nine giveaways aside as the Preds finished the afternoon 0/2 on the power play and the B’s went 1/1 (as there were no penalties called in the overtime period).

Cassidy started Bergeron, Marchand and McAvoy in the extra frame, while Predators head coach, John Hynes, matched with Ryan Johansen, Duchene and Josi.

Duchene rang the a shot attempt off the crossbar early in overtime before Jake DeBrusk had a breakaway going the other direction.

DeBrusk too, however, rang the iron on Saros’ right side before dialing down the effort on the loose puck in the crease and gliding away amidst the chaos.

Less than a minute later, Hall (8) scored while fighting and falling for another loose puck on the doorstep after Pastrnak ripped a shot on goal.

Pastrnak (15) and Vaakanainen (4) had the assists on Hall’s game-winning overtime goal and the Bruins took a, 4-3, victory on home ice against Nashville as a result at 1:41 of the overtime period.

Boston left their own building leading in shots on goal, 44-29– including a, 3-1, advantage in overtime alone– while also leading in blocked shots (12-8) on Saturday afternoon.

Nashville finished the game leading in hits (46-45) and faceoff win% (61-39), while both teams wrapped up the effort with nine giveaways each.

The Bruins improved to 2-1 in overtime (3-2 past regulation overall) this season and the Predators fell to 5-2 in overtime (6-3 past regulation overall) as a result.

Boston also improved to 15-5-0 (8-3-0 at home) when scoring first, 16-0-0 (8-0-0 at home) when leading after one period and 3-2-0 (3-1-0 at home) when tied after two periods in 2021-22.

Nashville fell to 5-10-2 (3-5-2 on the road) when allowing the first goal, 2-10-1 (1-4-1 on the road) when trailing after the first period and 4-3-2 (3-1-2 on the road) when tied after two periods this season.

The Bruins host the Carolina Hurricanes next Tuesday and will retire Willie O’Ree’s No. 22 prior to the game in a ceremony that is set to begin at 7 p.m. ET. O’Ree and his family will attend virtually from their home in San Diego.

On Jan. 18, 1958, O’Ree broke the NHL’s color barrier as the first Black player to suit up in a game.

Though he only played in 45 career games in parts of two seasons with the Bruins, O’Ree had 4-10–14 totals and played– unbeknownst to the team at the time– blind in his right eye after suffering an injury in Junior hockey.

O’Ree spent many years in the minor leagues before and after his Bruins tenure in a career that spanned from 1950-51 through 1978-79.

Gary Bettman was named NHL Commissioner in 1993, and five years later, named O’Ree as an NHL Diversity Ambassador in 1998.

Together, O’Ree and the NHL have brought the game to thousands of kids that might have otherwise never had the chance to play or learn from one of the greatest figures in league history.

In 2018, O’Ree was finally inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto and the NHL created the Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award, which is presented annually to “an individual who– through the game of hockey– has positively impacted his or her community, culture or society.”

Each year, fans submit candidates for the award with O’Ree (joined by the league) in narrowing the field to three finalists.

The award winner is ultimately determined by a fan vote with weighted votes from O’Ree, the NHL and presenting sponsor, MassMutual.

After retiring O’Ree’s No. 22 and playing the Hurricanes next Tuesday, Boston will also host the Washington Capitals next Thursday and Winnipeg Jets next Saturday before the Anaheim Ducks swing through town before the B’s hit the road on Jan. 26th in Colorado.

January 15, 2022
Pastrnak scores hat trick in Rask’s return from hip surgery

David Pastrnak record his 11th career hat trick and helped the Boston Bruins beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 3-2, in Tuukka Rask’s return to action Thursday night at TD Garden.

Rask, 34, made his season debut since recovering from offseason hip surgery and signing as an unrestricted free agent with Boston on Tuesday.

His last regular season appearance was way back on May 10, 2021, in a, 3-2, overtime victory against the New York Islanders on home ice before facing the Islanders in the Second Round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs– losing in six games while being eliminated on the road on June 9, 2021, in a, 6-2, loss at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Thursday night, however, was different as Rask described an unusual feeling prior to the puck drop.

“It was [emotional]. It was very much out of the normal, I guess, the way I was feeling before the game,” Rask told reporters after the, 3-2, win. He continued, “[I]t was great to see the fans’ support– the best fans.”

Rask (1-0-0, 2.00 goals-against average, .926 save percentage in one game played) made 25 saves on 27 shots against in the win.

Philadelphia netminder, Carter Hart (7-11-4, 2.93 goals-against average, .912 save percentage in 22 games played), stopped 33 out of 36 shots faced in the loss.

The B’s improved to 21-11-2 (44 points) on the season and remain in command of 4th place in the Atlantic Division, while Philly fell to 13-16-7 (33 points) overall and stuck in 6th place in the Metropolitan Division.

Boston is now 2-1-0 against the Flyers this season.

The Bruins were without the services of Jakub Zboril (right ACL), Nick Foligno (lower body), Connor Clifton (COVID-19 protocol), Derek Forbort (COVID-19 protocol), Trent Frederic (upper body), John Moore (upper body) and Matt Grzelcyk (COVID-19 protocol) on Thursday.

As a result, Jack Ahcan was recalled on an emergency basis from the Providence Bruins (AHL) ahead of the night’s action and paired with Tyler Lewington as Lewington made his Boston debut on the third defensive pairing.

Urho Vaakanainen was promoted to the left side of Charlie McAvoy, while head coach, Bruce Cassidy, left everything else the same from Wednesday night’s, 5-1, win against Montréal.

Boston’s long list of scratches Thursday night included Frederic, Foligno, Moore, Forbort, Grzelcyk, Zboril, Clifton and Karson Kuhlman.

Pastrnak (14) kicked things off with a shot that beat Hart’s blocker side to give the Bruins a, 1-0, lead at 1:51 of the first period.

Prior to the goal, Erik Haula had sent a pass across the slot to No. 88, who promptly unloaded an accurate shot into the twine.

Haula (8) and Taylor Hall (16) snagged the assists on Pastrnak’s first goal of the night while a good portion of fans were probably still finding their seats.

A couple minutes later, Nick Seeler cut a rut to the penalty box for holding and presented the Bruins with the night’s first power play at 4:04 of the first period.

About midway through the ensuing skater advantage, Brad Marchand faked a shot and slipped a pass to Pastrnak (15) for a catch and release goal instead– extending Boston’s lead to two-goals in the process.

Marchand (21) and Charlie McAvoy (16) tallied the assists on Pastrnak’s power-play goal and the Bruins led, 2-0, at 5:27.

About 20 seconds later, Ivan Provorov caught Charlie Coyle with a high stick and was assessed a minor infraction at 5:48, but the B’s weren’t able to convert on the ensuing skater advantage.

Late in the period, Zack MacEwen checked Hall while Hall was already falling to the ice from prior contact with a Flyer.

This drew the ire of Pastrnak– who would be assessed an interference minor– and Lewington, who squared off in an exchange of pleasantries and brought MacEwen into the box with him as the two received roughing minors.

All three penalties were assessed at 15;28 of the first period and resulted in a power play for Philadelphia.

Boston killed of Pastrnak’s minor, however, and escaped without harm as the Bruins led, 2-0, heading into the first intermission.

The B’s also dominated in shots on goal, 12-6, as they held Philly without a shot through almost the first half of the first period.

The Flyers led in blocked shots (3-2) and hits (10-8), while the Bruins led in takeaways (2-1), giveaways (4-0) and faceoff win percentage (61-39) after one period of play.

Philadelphia was 0/1 on the power play, while Boston was 1/2 heading into the middle frame.

Lewington and MacEwen exchanged pleasantries that quickly escalated into an exchange of fisticuffs at 2:51 of the second period, spurring some momentum in favor of the Flyers, though by how much is a valid question as a few defensive mishaps, breakdowns and miscommunication here and there would lead to Boston giving up a couple of goals later in the period.

Tomáš Nosek was sent to the sin bin for interference at 6:26 of the second period.

Late in the ensuing penalty kill, the Bruins got caught spending too much time in their own zone– unable to get a desperate clear for a line change.

Provorov rocketed a shot from the point that Cam Atkinson (15) redirected up high past Rask from point blank on the doorstep to cut Boston’s lead in half, 2-1.

Provorov (10) and Keith Yandle (12) notched the assists on Atkinson’s power-play goal at 8:02 of the second period.

About a minute later, Pastrnak and Max Willman got into a shoving match by the benches and each received roughing minors, necessitating 4-on-4 action for a pair of minutes at 9:07.

Late in the middle period, after Joel Farabee was denied on a breakaway by Rask– something the Bruins netminder did a few times during the night– the Flyers slipped through the neutral zone on a sloppy effort by the Bruins at getting back into their own zone.

Atkinson and Farabee had a de facto 2-on-1 as McAvoy went chasing and Farabee skated around him before Vaakanainen was left on his own trying to breakup the passing lane.

By that point Farabee had already surrendered the puck to Atkinson coming down the other side boards whereby Atkinson then duffed a pass back to Farabee for a one-timer opportunity that went by the wayside– but not completely.

Farabee’s (11) patience paid off as the Flyers forward kept his composure and gathered the puck a half step behind him in his stride and promptly buried the rubber biscuit in the empty twine behind Rask– tying the game, 2-2, in the process.

Atkinson (13) and Yandle (13) earned the assists on the goal at exactly 15:00 of the second period.

It didn’t take Philadelphia long to lose the momentum that they had generated from Boston’s misfortune, however.

Justin Braun tripped up Craig Smith at 15:16 and Willman followed his teammate into the box at 16:29 for hooking Pastrnak.

The Bruins had 48 seconds of an ensuing 5-on-3 advantage. It took them less than 20 seconds to score their second power-play goal of the game.

Marchand worked the puck around the zone to McAvoy, who fed Pastrnak (16) in his usual spot from the high slot at the faceoff circle for a one-timer blast that beat Hart and gave Boston a, 3-2, lead at 16:45 of the second period.

McAvoy (17) and Marchand (22) had the assists on the goal which completed the hat trick for Pastrnak on Thursday night– marking the 11th hat trick of his NHL career (the third-most among active NHLers trailing Alex Ovechkin, 28, and Evgeni Malkin, 12).

Only Phil Esposito (26), Cam Neely (13) and John Bucyk (12) had more hat tricks in their Bruins tenures than Pastrnak has so far.

It was also the first hat trick in back-to-back games for Boston since April 7-9, 1998, when Sergei Samsonov scored a hat trick one game after Steve Heinze notched three goals for the Bruins, as noted by 98.5 The Sports Hub Bruins beat reporter, Ty Anderson.

And if you’re wondering “when was the last time a hat trick had been scored by Boston on back-to-back calendar days?”

Well, that was on Dec. 4th and 5th in 1982, when Barry Pederson scored hat tricks in both, 6-4, victories– though one was in Montréal (Dec. 4th) and the other was against Philadelphia (Dec. 5th), per WEEI‘s Scott McLaughlin.

As for the last time the Bruins scored multiple hat tricks in the month of January? That was a bit more recent.

Patrice Bergeron scored his first career hat trick in a, 6-0, win against the Ottawa Senators on Jan. 11, 2011, six days prior to Zdeno Chara’s first career hat trick in a, 7-0, win against the Carolina Hurricanes on Jan. 17, 2011.

Oh and Pastrnak’s two power-play goals (75) helped him surpass Bobby Orr (74) for sole possession of the eighth-most in Bruins franchise history.

Anyway, through 40 minutes of action in Boston, the B’s led, 3-2, on the scoreboard and, 29-15, in shots on goal– including a, 17-9, advantage in shots on net in the second period alone.

The Bruins also led in blocked shots (6-5), giveaways (8-2) and faceoff win% (62-39).

Philadelphia held the advantage in takeaways (6-2), as well as hits (17-13), while the Flyers went 1/2 on the power play and the Bruins were 2/4.

There were no goals scored in the third period as the two teams swapped chances before the Flyers eventually outshot Boston in the final frame alone.

Brandon Carlo sent an errant puck over the glass for an automatic delay of game minor at 12:05 and Coyle followed it up with another delay of game infraction for a puck over the glass at 13:15.

With a 5-on-3 advantage upcoming before an abbreviated regular 5-on-4 power play, Philadelphia’s interim head coach, Mike Yeo, used his timeout to inspire his players to do something on the special teams.

The Bruins were down two skaters for 51 seconds and managed to make the kill on both penalties.

With 3:24 remaining in the action, Yeo pulled Hart for an extra attacker, but it was to no avail.

At the final horn, Boston had won, 3-2, and finished the night leading in shots on goal, 36-27, despite trailing Philadelphia, 12-7, in shots on net in the third period alone.

The Bruins led their own building leading in blocked shots (16-6) and giveaways (11-3), while the Flyers exited TD Garden leading in hits (23-18).

Both teams split the final faceoff win% total, 50-50, as Philly went 1/4 on the power play and Boston went 2/4.

The B’s improved to 14-5-0 (7-3-0 at home) when scoring first, 15-0-0 (7-0-0 at home) when leading after the first period and 16-1-0 (6-1-0 at home) when leading after two periods this season.

Philadelphia fell to 2-14-2 (1-9-2 on the road) when allowing the game’s first goal, 1-11-2 (0-6-2 on the road) when trailing after one and (1-15-3 (1-9-2 on the road) when trailing through the second period in 2021-22.

The Bruins (2-0-0) continue their seven-game homestand Saturday afternoon against the Nashville Predators.

Boston then hosts the Carolina Hurricanes next Tuesday and will retire Willie O’Ree’s No. 22 prior to the game in a ceremony set to begin at 7 p.m. ET. The Washington Capitals, Winnipeg Jets and Anaheim Ducks will also visit Boston before the B’s hit the road on Jan. 26th in Colorado.

January 14, 2022