Down the Frozen River

Tag: Anders Bjork

  • Marchand’s OT goal lifts Bruins over Rangers, 3-2

    Marchand’s OT goal lifts Bruins over Rangers, 3-2

    Brad Marchand did what he does best in overtime– scored the game-winning goal– on Wednesday night as the Boston Bruins beat the New York Rangers, 3-2, at Madison Square Garden.

    Boston goaltender, Tuukka Rask (6-1-1, 2.31 goals against average, .906 save percentage in eight games played) stopped 33 out of 35 shots faced for a .943 SV% in the overtime win.

    Alexandar Georgiev (1-2-2, 3.21 GAA, .891 SV% in five games played) made 29 saves on 32 shots against (.906 SV%) in the overtime loss for New York.

    The Bruins improved to 9-1-2 (20 points) on the season and continue to lead the MassMutual NHL East Division, while the New York Rangers fell to 4-5-3 (11 points), but surpassed the Buffalo Sabres and New Jersey Devils for 6th place in the division.

    Matt Grzelcyk (lower body) and Jake DeBrusk (lower body) returned to the lineup since being injured on Jan. 28th and Jan. 26th, respectively.

    Grzeclyk returned to his usual role on the left side of the second defensive pairing, while DeBrusk was placed on the third line left wing with Charlie Coyle at center and Anders Bjork on the right side.

    Anton Blidh was scratched in favor of Trent Frederic on the fourth line left wing.

    Meanwhile, Ondrej Kase (upper body) remained out of the lineup for the 10th time this season due to an injury sustained on Jan. 16th in New Jersey.

    Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made no other changes to his lineup.

    Greg McKegg, Jack Studnicka, Par Lindholm, John Moore, Steven Kampfer, Connor Clifton, Callum Booth, Blidh and Karson Kuhlman were all healthy scratches and/or members of the taxi squad on Wednesday.

    A little past the midpoint of the opening frame, Brendan Lemieux won a battle along the boards before working the puck off of Bruins forward, Sean Kuraly’s, stick and into the slot where Julien Gauthier (1) reached out to pocket the puck into the twine for his first career National Hockey League goal.

    Lemieux (2) had the only assist on Gauthier’s goal and the Rangers led, 1-0, at 13:50 of the first period.

    About a couple minutes later, Chris Kreider tripped up Jeremy Lauzon and presented Boston with their first power play opportunity of the night at 15:47.

    The Bruins weren’t able to convert on the ensuing skater advantage, however.

    After one period of play at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night, New York led, 1-0, on the scoreboard, despite splitting shots on goal evenly at, 6-6.

    The Rangers held the advantage in takeaways (3-2), while the Bruins had the advantage in hits (8-6) and faceoff win percentage (60-40) after 20 minutes.

    Both teams had four blocked shots each and four giveaways aside while only the B’s had seen any action on the power play (0/1) entering the first intermission.

    Almost midway through the middle frame, Craig Smith slashed Ryan Strome and was assessed a minor infraction, yielding a power play to New York at 8:05 of the second period.

    While on the penalty kill, Chris Wagner (2) emerged on a breakaway for Boston and sent the puck under Georgiev’s glove side to tie the game, 1-1, at 9:41.

    Wagner’s shorthanded goal was unassisted.

    Moments later, Strome slashed Bjork and cut a rut to the penalty box at 13:30 as a result.

    Boston’s power play was once again powerless, however, as the Rangers killed Strome’s minor with ease– often spending time on the penalty kill in the attacking zone.

    After 40 minutes of action at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday, the Bruins and Rangers were tied, 1-1, on the scoreboard.

    Boston held the advantage in shots on goal, 25-20, including a, 19-14, advantage in the second period alone, while also leading in faceoff win% (67-33) after two periods.

    New York led in blocked shots (11-5), giveaways (11-9) and hits (16-13), while both teams had five takeaways each entering the second intermission.

    The Rangers were 0/1 and the B’s were 0/2 on the power play heading into the final frame of regulation.

    DeBrusk thought he scored early in the third period when he rang the crossbar on a shot that bounced at the goal line, but the rubber biscuit just didn’t cross over the goal line completely– bouncing at an angle out of the crease and resulting in a “no goal” call (even after review).

    Moments later, Bjork worked the puck to DeBrusk in the trapezoid who promptly sent it back to Bjork (1) for the goal from point blank while crashing the low slot to give the Bruins their first lead of the night, 2-1.

    Bjork’s goal was assisted by DeBrusk (2) and Kevan Miller (2) at 9:00 of the third period.

    Less than a minute later, Wagner and Anthony Bitetto exchanged fisticuffs, yielding fighting majors to go with a high sticking minor and a roughing infraction, respectively at 9:17.

    It was the fourth fight this season for Boston and the first since Clifton fought Nicolas Aube-Kubel on Feb. 5th in Philadelphia.

    A couple of minutes later, Ryan Lindgren let go of a shot from the point that Lemieux possibly tipped with a high stick, but deflected the rubber biscuit off of Grzelcyk before bouncing off of Rask and landing in the crease.

    Kevin Rooney (3) was in the right place at the right time to pocket the puck into the twine and tie the game, 2-2.

    Lemieux (2) and Lindgren (3) notched the assists as New York evened things up at 11:22 of the third period, despite a review that confirmed the call on the ice (goal).

    Less than a couple minutes later, David Krejci tripped Lemieux and was assessed a minor penalty at 13:02, but the Rangers couldn’t muster anything on the ensuing power play.

    As time winded down in the third period, Rask took an excursion towards the bench mistakenly believing the score to be, 2-1, in favor of the Rangers.

    After Charlie McAvoy and the rest of the Bruins bench alerted their netminder that the game was actually tied, Rask returned to his crease unscathed and with a good laugh at the next stoppage of play.

    With the score tied, 2-2, after regulation, the two clubs required overtime (at least) to determine a winner, despite New York holding an advantage in shots on goal, 35-31, after 60 minutes of action– including a, 15-6, advantage in the third period alone.

    The Rangers also held the advantage in blocked shots (17-9), giveaways (15-14) and hits (29-21), while the Bruins led in takeaways (7-6) and faceoff win% (68-32).

    As no penalties were called in the overtime period, both sides finished 0/2 on the power play Wednesday night.

    Cassidy started Patrice Bergeron, Marchand and McAvoy in the overtime period, while New York head coach, David Quinn, countered with Mika Zibanejad, Pavel Buchnevich and Adam Fox.

    Marchand had a chance early in the overtime period to end it, but the puck just wouldn’t settle the right way as the veteran Bruin forward was tripped and instead presented a chance for the Rangers to score at the opposite end.

    After Boston broke up New York’s play, Bergeron worked the puck to McAvoy who then fed Marchand with a lead pass to set Marchand (8) on a breakaway whereby No. 63 in black and gold deked and sent a shot off the left post and in behind Georgiev to win the game, 3-2.

    McAvoy (10) and Bergeron (10) notched the assists on Marchand’s game-winning overtime goal 36 seconds into the extra frame as the Bruins sealed the deal on the victory.

    At the final horn Boston had won, 3-2, despite finishing the night behind in shots on goal, 35-32, to the Rangers (the Bruins had a, 1-0, shot advantage in overtime alone, however).

    New York wrapped up Wednesday night’s action leading in blocked shots (17-9) and hits (29-21), while the B’s finished the night leading in faceoff win% (69-31).

    Both teams had 15 hits aside as the Bruins improved to 3-2 in overtime (5-2 past regulation) this season.

    The Rangers, on the other hand, fell to 1-2 in overtime alone (1-3 past regulation) in 2020-21.

    With the primary assist on Marchand’s game-winning goal, McAvoy extended his assist streak to eight games (1-10–11 totals in that span)– becoming the first Bruins defender to record at least an eight-game assist streak since Ray Bourque’s 10-game streak in the 1992-93 season (Bourque had 4-13–17 totals in that span).

    Boston improved to 2-0-2 when trailing after the first period, 3-1-1 when tied after the second period and 4-1-2 when allowing the game’s first goal this season.

    The Bruins take on the Rangers again at Madison Square Garden on Friday before venturing to Long Island to face the New York Islanders on Saturday. Boston was scheduled to return home on Feb. 15th to face the New Jersey Devils, but that game has already been postponed due to numerous Devils players being in COVID protocol.

    The B’s are scheduled to return home on Feb. 18th against New Jersey before facing the Philadelphia Flyers on Feb. 21st outdoors at Lake Tahoe.

  • Kuraly caps another Bruins comeback, 2-1, over Flyers

    Kuraly caps another Bruins comeback, 2-1, over Flyers

    For the fourth consecutive game, the Boston Bruins mounted a comeback in the third period and for the third game in-a-row, they won– defeating the Philadelphia Flyers, 2-1, on Friday night at Wells Fargo Center.

    Tuukka Rask (5-1-1, 2.36 goals against average, .898 save percentage in seven games played) made 23 saves on 24 shots against for a .958 SV% in the win for Boston.

    Philadelphia netminder, Brian Elliott (3-1-0, 2.20 GAA, .929 SV% in five games played) stopped 21 out of 23 shots faced for a .913 SV% in the loss.

    The Bruins improved to 8-1-2 (18 points) on the season and remained in command of the MassMutual NHL East Division, while the Flyers fell to 7-3-2 (16 points) on the season and stuck in 2nd place in the division.

    Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made no changes to his lineup from Wednesday night’s, 4-3, overtime win against the Flyers.

    Ondrej Kase (upper body), Matt Grzelcyk (lower body) and Jake DeBrusk (lower body) remained out of the lineup for their 9th, 6th and 5th games, respectively, due to injury.

    Meanwhile, Greg McKegg, Jack Studnicka, Par Lindholm, John Moore, Dan Vladar and Karson Kuhlman remained as members of the taxi squad or were healthy scratches on Friday night.

    Bruins captain, Patrice Bergeron, took part in his 1,100th career National Hockey League game (all with Boston).

    Early in the opening frame, Brandon Carlo was penalized for holding and yielded the first power play of the night to the Flyers at 3:26 of the first period.

    Philadelphia’s initial skater advantage didn’t pan out as planned.

    Moments later, Scott Laughton slashed Chris Wagner and presented Boston with their first power play of the night at 8:38.

    The Bruins did not convert on the ensuing advantage.

    Moments later, Connor Clifton and Nicolas Aube-Kubel exchanged fisticuffs in just the third fight of the season for Boston at 13:50.

    Less than a minute later, Wagner roughed up Travis Sanheim after a stoppage in play, while Travis Konecny interfered with Wagner.

    Wagner and Konecny each received minor infractions at 14:22, but Philly was gifted a 4-on-3 advantage after Charlie McAvoy caught Joel Farabee with a high stick at 14:28 of the first period.

    Less than a couple minutes later, Carlo hooked Jakub Voracek and cut a rut to the sin bin at 16:03.

    Nevertheless, Philadelphia’s power play was unsuccessful as the two teams entered the first intermission tied, 0-0, on the scoreboard, despite the Flyers leading in shots on goal, 7-5.

    Boston held the advantage in blocked shots (7-4), takeaways (2-1), giveaways (2-0), hits (8-7) and faceoff win percentage (61-39) after one period of play.

    The Flyers were 0/3, while the B’s were 0/1 on the power play heading into the middle frame.

    Late in the middle period, Farabee tripped Jakub Zboril and presented Boston with a power play at 14:16 of the second period.

    Farabee got a breakaway as he exited the box after Philly killed his minor and was promptly tripped by Zboril, yielding a penalty shot at 16:25.

    Rask denied Farabee’s five-hole attempt on the ensuing penalty shot attempt and the game remained tied, 0-0.

    With two seconds left in the second period, Wagner received a roughing minor and gave the Flyers a power play that would extend into the final frame at 19:58 of the middle period.

    Philadelphia pulled their goaltender for a 6-on-4 advantage to finish off the second period, but it was to no avail as the two clubs entered the second intermission scoreless.

    Boston held the lead in shots on goal, 13-11, including an, 8-4, advantage in the second period alone.

    The Bruins also held the advantage in takeaways (6-1), giveaways (8-3), hits (18-12) and faceoff win% (67-33), while the Flyers led in blocked shots (13-10).

    Philadelphia was 0/4 and Boston was 0/2 on the power play after two periods.

    James van Riemsdyk (6) deflected a shot from the point by Erik Gustafsson past Rask to give the Flyers a, 1-0, lead 27 seconds into the third period.

    Gustafsson (6) and Claude Giroux (10) tallied the assists on van Riemsdyk’s power-play goal.

    Midway through the third period, Brad Marchand (7) tapped a loose puck into the twine on a rebound after a flurry of activity and tied the game, 1-1.

    David Pastrnak (3) and McAvoy (9) notched the assists on Marchand’s goal at 12:01 of the third period.

    Shortly thereafter, Anders Bjork sent a pass to Sean Kuraly while the two entered zone before Kuraly (2) one-timed a shot past Elliott to make it, 2-1, Boston 27 seconds after the Bruins tied the game.

    Bjork (2) and David Krejci (9) tallied the assists on Kuraly’s goal as the B’s took the lead at 12:28 of the third period.

    Moments later, Craig Smith tripped Voracek and presented Philly with one more chance on the power play at 16:03, but this time the Flyers were unsuccessful on the skater advantage.

    Alain Vigneault pulled Elliott for an extra attacker with 1:52 remaining and used his timeout after a stoppage with 1:29 left in the game, but Philadelphia couldn’t force overtime.

    At the sound of the final horn, the Bruins had won, 2-1, despite Philadelphia finishing the night leading in shots on goal, 24-23, including a, 13-10, advantage in the third period alone.

    Boston finished the night leading in blocked shots (15-14), giveaways (11-6), hits (28-22) and faceoff win% (58-42).

    The Flyers finished Friday night 1/5 on the power play, while the B’s went 0/2 on the skater advantage.

    The Bruins improved to 2-1-0 when tied after the first period, 2-1-1 when tied after the second period and 3-1-2 when allowing the game’s first goal this season.

    Boston was scheduled to return home to face the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday and Monday (Feb. 8th), but at least four Sabres players and their head coach, Ralph Krueger, tested positive for COVID-19– rendering all Buffalo games to be postponed through Feb. 8th.

    The B’s will continue on a now extended road trip until Feb. 15th, with stops in Manhattan on Feb. 10th and 12th against the New York Rangers, as well as Long Island on Feb. 13th against the New York Islanders.

  • Pastrnak nets hat trick in Boston’s, 4-3, OT win against Flyers

    Pastrnak nets hat trick in Boston’s, 4-3, OT win against Flyers

    Patrice Bergeron (1-3–4 totals) scored the game-winning goal in overtime, but David Pastrnak (3-1–4) had a hat trick in the Boston Bruins’, 4-3, overtime victory over the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center on Wednesday night.

    Tuukka Rask (4-1-1, 2.57 goals against average, .888 save percentage in six games played) stopped 22 out of 25 shots faced (.880 SV%) en route to the overtime win for Boston.

    Philadelphia goaltender, Carter Hart (4-2-2, 3.42 GAA, .898 SV% in eight games played) made 31 saves on 35 shots against in the overtime loss.

    The Bruins improved to 7-1-2 (16 points) on the season and moved into 1st place in the MassMutual NHL East Division, while the Flyers fell to 7-2-2 (16 points) and dropped to 2nd place in the division.

    Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made two changes to his lineup from Monday night’s, 5-3, win in Washington, D.C. to Wednesday’s matchup in Philadelphia– scratching Karson Kuhlman and replacing him with Anton Blidh on the fourth line while moving Anders Bjork to the right side of Sean Kuraly on that same line.

    Everything else was left intact as Ondrej Kase (upper body), Matt Grzelcyk (lower body) and Jake DeBrusk (lower body) remain out of the lineup due to injury.

    Greg McKegg, Jack Studnicka, Par Lindholm, John Moore, Urho Vaakanainen, Callum Booth and Dan Vladar all remained as healthy scratches and/or taxi squad members while Kuhlman joined the list Wednesday night as a healthy scratch.

    Boston General Manager, Don Sweeney, was named as an Assistant General Manager for Team Canada at the 2022 Winter Games earlier on Wednesday.

    He’ll be joined by the likes of Doug Armstrong (General Manager), Ken Holland (Associate GM), Ron Francis (Assistant GM), Roberto Luongo (Assistant GM) and Scott Salmond (Assistant GM) in Beijing, China next February.

    The Bruins worked their way into the zone from the initial puck drop as Pastrnak (3) drove to the net, slipped the puck between his own legs and around Flyers defender, Shayne Ghostisbehere, before flipping the rubber biscuit off of Ivan Provorov’s stick and into the twine to give Boston the game’s first goal.

    Charlie McAvoy (8) and Bergeron (7) had the assists on Pastrnak’s goal and the B’s led, 1-0, 12 seconds into the first period.

    It was the only event on the event sheet in the opening frame as the Bruins took a, 1-0, lead into the first intermission, despite both teams earning eight shots on goal aside.

    Boston led in takeaways (3-2), hits (14-10) and faceoff win percentage (53-47), while Philadelphia led in giveaways (7-1) through 20 minutes.

    Both teams had four blocked shots each and had yet to see time on the skater advantage entering the middle frame.

    Blidh was penalized for holding just past the midpoint of the second period at 10:10 and presented the Flyers with the first power play of the night.

    Philadelphia’s power play was powerless, however.

    Moments later, after McAvoy had his stick slashed out of his hand and was using Charlie Coyle’s– rendering Boston effectively short of a skater– Travis Sanheim setup Kevin Hayes (6) through the slot for a one-timer goal that tied the game, 1-1.

    Sanheim (3) and Philippe Myers (2) tallied the assists on Hayes’ goal at 15:29 of the second period.

    Nearly three minutes later, James van Riemsdyk cut a rut to the penalty box for Philly after slashing Kevan Miller at 18:25.

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

    Through 40 minutes of action Wednesday night in Philadelphia, the score was tied, 1-1, despite Boston leading in shots on goal, 21-19, including a, 13-11, advantage in second period shots alone.

    The Bruins also held the advantage in takeaways (6-5), while the Flyers led in giveaways (8-2), hits (22-19) and faceoff win% (55-46).

    Both teams had 10 blocked shots each and were 0/1 on the power play heading into the final frame of regulation.

    Early in the third period, Jakub Voracek (3) gave Philly their first lead of the night, 2-1, when his teammates pounced on a costly turnover by Jakub Zboril in his own defensive zone.

    Sanheim (4) and van Riemsdyk (9) notched the primary and secondary assists, respectively, on Voracek’s goal at 1:03 of the third period.

    Almost midway through the third, Joel Farabee (6) received a pass from Scott Laughton and buried a one-timer while Zboril was left trying to block the passing lane with an outstretched stick on an odd-skater rush after van Riemsdyk won a battle along the boards.

    Laughton (5) and van Riemsdyk (10) had the assists on Farabee’s goal and the Flyers took a, 3-1, lead at 8:41 of the third period.

    Nicolas Aube-Kubel closed his hand on the puck a few minutes later and received a minor infraction at 11:55.

    It didn’t take the B’s long to turn Aube-Kubel’s minor into a costly penalty.

    Just 10 seconds into the power play, Pastrnak (4) rocketed his second goal of the night over Hart’s blocker side into the opposite corner of the net– bringing Boston to within one.

    Bergeron (8) and Nick Ritchie (5) had the assists on Pastrnak’s power-play goal at 12:05 and the Bruins trailed, 3-2.

    Jeremy Lauzon presented the Flyers with another power play after he received a holding minor at 14:17, but Boston’s penalty kill successfully killed the infraction.

    Late in the period, Hayes hooked Brad Marchand at 17:59 and provided Boston with one another chance on the skater advantage, while trailing by a goal.

    With 1:10 remaining in regulation, Cassidy pulled Rask for an extra attacker, but despite a couple of zone entries, the Bruins were unsuccessful through a stoppage of play with 38.4 seconds left on the clock.

    Boston used their timeout to draw up a plan and in the dying seconds, the Bruins just about threw the kitchen sink at Hart before Pastrnak (5) pocket a rebound into the twine to tie the game, 3-3, with a hat trick goal.

    Pastrnak’s ninth career regular season hat trick came in his 393rd career game (all with Boston)– good enough for the fourth most in Bruins franchise history behind Phil Esposito (26 in 625 games played), Cam Neely (14 in 525 GP) and Johnny Bucyk (12 in 1,436 GP).

    Wednesday night also marked the fourth time that No. 88 in black and gold scored multiple goals in consecutive games in his career (Feb. 1-3, 2021, Oct. 14-17, 2019, Feb. 4-9, 2017 and Jan. 10-13 2015).

    Marchand (10) and Bergeron (9) collected the helpers on Pastrnak’s power-play goal at 19:45 and the Bruins had forced overtime, but not before Laughton interfered with Kuraly at 19:52 of the third period.

    That’s right, the Flyers took another penalty with 7.3 seconds left on the clock in regulation and would be going into overtime shorthanded.

    At the conclusion of regulation, the score was tied, 3-3, despite Boston leading in shots on goal, 33-25, including a, 12-6, advantage in the third period alone.

    The Bruins led in takeaways (13-8), while the Flyers led in blocked shots (16-13), giveaways (10-5), hits (26-25) and faceoff win% (56-44) heading into the extra frame.

    Philadelphia was 0/2 and Boston was 1/3 on the power play entering overtime.

    Flyers head coach, Alain Vigneault, started Hayes, Provorov and Justin Braun, while Cassidy countered with Bergeron, Marchand, Pastrnak and David Krejci– four forwards on a leftover 4-on-3 skater advantage.

    Just 31 seconds into the overtime period, Pastrnak fired a shot pass in Bergeron’s direction, whereby the Bruins captain redirected the puck into Hart’s pads– generating a rebound.

    Bergeron (6) gathered his own garbage and buried the bouncing puck into the back of the net for the game-winning goal.

    Pastrnak (2) and Krejci (6) tallied the assists on Bergeron’s goal and the Bruins won, 4-3, in overtime.

    Boston finished the night leading in shots on goal, 35-25, including a, 2-0, advantage in overtime alone.

    Philadelphia finished Wednesday night’s action with the advantage in blocked shots (18-13), giveaways (10-5), hits (26-25) and faceoff win% (54-46).

    The Flyers wrapped up the overtime loss 0/2 on the power play, while the B’s finished 3/4 on the skater advantage in their overtime win.

    Boston improved to 2-2 in overtime (4-2 past regulation) this season, while Philadelphia fell to 2-1 in overtime (2-2 past regulation) overall.

    With the win in the books, Bergeron, 35, became the second oldest player in Bruins history to amass 15 or more points through the team’s first 10 games of a season, trailing Bucyk (17 points in 1972-73 at age 37) for the franchise record.

    Boston also improved to 5-0-0 when leading after the first period, 1-1-1 when tied after the second period and 5-0-0 when scoring the game’s first goal this season in Wednesday’s win against Philly.

    The Bruins were scheduled to wrap up their road trip (2-0-1) on Friday with another matchup against the Flyers before returning home to face the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday (Feb. 6th) and Monday (Feb. 8th). 

    At least four Sabres players, however, have tested positive for COVID-19 and rendered all Buffalo games postponed through Feb. 8th, which means Boston will continue to be on the road until Feb. 15th, with stops in Manhattan on Feb. 10th and 12th against the New York Rangers, as well as Long Island on Feb. 13th against the New York Islanders.

  • Bruins rally, Ovi ends it, Caps top B’s, 4-3, in OT

    Bruins rally, Ovi ends it, Caps top B’s, 4-3, in OT

    The Boston Bruins came back from being down, 3-0, only for Alex Ovechkin to do what he does best and score the game-winning goal less than a minute into overtime on Saturday night at Capital One Arena– giving the Washington Capitals the, 4-3, victory in the process.

    Vitek Vanecek (5-0-2, 2.78 goals against average, .918 save percentage in seven games played) made 40 saves on 43 shots against for a .930 SV% in the win for the Capitals.

    Bruins goaltender, Tuukka Rask (3-1-1, 2.49 GAA, .890 SV% in five games played), stopped 19 out of 23 shots faced for an .826 SV% in the overtime loss.

    Boston fell to 5-1-2 (12 points) overall and slipped to 3rd place in the MassMutual NHL East Division, while Washington improved to 6-0-3 (15 points) and maintained their division lead.

    Saturday night marked the first of eight meetings between Capitals defender, Zdeno Chara, and his most recent former team after spending 14 seasons as captain of the Bruins.

    His last game against Boston was on April 11, 2006, as a member of the Ottawa Senators, in which Chara had two goals– including the game-winning goal in overtime– as the Sens beat the B’s, 4-3.

    Chara had a plus-1 rating on Saturday and recorded one shot on goal, as well as one takeaway in 20:54 time on ice.

    With David Pastrnak back in the lineup for the first time this season since undergoing a right hip arthroscopy and labral repair on Sept. 16th, Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy made a few adjustments to his lineup from Thursday night’s, 4-1, win over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

    First, Pastrnak was slotted into his usual spot on the first line right wing, while Karson Kuhlman also made his season debut in place of Jack Studnicka in the lineup and placed on the second line right wing.

    Charlie Coyle was reunited with Trent Frederic and Craig Smith as his wingers on the third line, while Sean Kuraly was flanked by Anders Bjork and Chris Wagner on the fourth line.

    On defense, Matt Grzelcyk remained out of the lineup with a lower body injury, so Connor Clifton suited up next to Brandon Carlo on the second pairing.

    Ondrej Kase (upper body), Grzelcyk (lower body) and Jake DeBrusk (lower body) were out of the lineup due to injury, while Greg McKegg, Studnicka, Par Lindholm, John Moore, Urho Vaakanainen, Callum Booth and Dan Vladar made up Boston’s list of scratches and/or taxi squad members on Saturday.

    Late in the opening frame, Nicklas Backstrom (5) generated a turnover and broke into the attacking zone with possession before the puck had crossed the blue line (putting the new interpretation of what’s “offside” to the eye-test as the Bruins did not use a coach’s challenge) before wiring a shot past Rask.

    Backstrom’s goal was unassisted and gave the Capitals a, 1-0, lead at 18:06 of the first period.

    It also came after a barrage of shots by Boston that were turned aside with ease by Vanecek. Talk about a momentum swing.

    Less than a minute later, Washington presented the Bruins with the first power play of the night when Richard Panik tripped Coyle at 18:45.

    The Bruins did not convert on the ensuing skater advantage, however.

    With 12.3 seconds left in the first period, Pastrnak fired a shot that deflected off of Chara’s stick and hit the Capitals defender in the face. Chara returned for the second period with a minor scratch and some signs of blood loss, but was undeterred.

    After 20 minutes of action at Capital One Arena, the Caps led, 1-0, despite trailing the B’s in shots on goal, 19-7.

    Washington held the advantage in just about everything else, however, including blocked shots (10-2), takeaways (4-3) and hits (12-5), while Boston led in faceoff win percentage (58-42).

    Both teams had four giveaways aside, while the Bruins were 0/1 on the power play.

    The Capitals had yet to see time on the skater advantage.

    Early in the middle frame, Washington established a net front presence that cut down on Rask’s line of sight enabling Trevor van Riemsdyk (1) to score his first goal as a Capital with a wrist from from the point while the Bruins netminder was screened.

    Brenden Dillon (4) and Backstrom (7) tallied the assists on van Riemsdyk’s goal and the Caps extended their lead to, 2-0, at 5:22 of the second period.

    Moments later, David Krejci hooked Nic Dowd and cut a rut to the penalty box, yielding a power play to the Capitals for the first and only time Saturday night at 8:39.

    Late in the ensuing power play, after an attacking zone faceoff, Washington zipped the puck back to the point then to Tom Wilson at the faceoff dot for a shot that ricocheted off of Panik (1) and over Rask’s blocker.

    Wilson (4) and Ovechkin (5) had the assists as Washington grabbed a, 3-0, lead thanks to Panik’s power-play goal at 10:03 of the second period.

    Moments later, Garnet Hathaway was penalized for interference at 16:43 and Boston had a chance to answer on the power play.

    The Bruins went to work as Nick Ritchie set himself up in front of the net while Patrice Bergeron sent a shot towards the crease, where the rubber biscuit first clipped Krejci on its way by before bouncing off of Ritchie (4) and into the twine.

    Krejci (6) and Bergeron (4) were credited with the assists as Ritchie’s power-play goal pulled Boston to within two goals, trialing Washington, 3-1, at 17:32 of the second period.

    Heading into the second intermission, the Caps led, 3-1, on the scoreboard, but the Bruins led, 34-17, in shots on goal, including a, 15-10, advantage in the second period alone.

    Boston also led in faceoff win% (53-47), while Washington held the advantage in blocked shots (16-8), giveaways (6-4) and hits (27-9).

    Both teams had six takeaways each.

    The Capitals were 1/1, while the Bruins were 1/2 on the skater advantage entering the final frame of regulation.

    Brad Marchand (5) fired a shot over Vanecek’s blocker side from point blank early in the third period to pull the Bruins to within one.

    Off of an icing, Boston won the ensuing attacking zone faceoff and worked the puck from Bergeron to Charlie McAvoy then over to Marchand for the goal to make it, 3-2, at 6:03 of the third period.

    McAvoy (6) and Bergeron (5) nabbed the assists on Marchand’s goal.

    Less than a minute later, Jakub Vrana caught Jeremy Lauzon with a high stick and was sent to the box at 6:43, but the Bruins couldn’t convert on the resulting power play.

    Late in the period, the Capitals lost count of their skaters and had too many on the ice with possession, thus rendering an automatic delay of game infraction at 14:04.

    Conor Sheary served Washington’s bench minor, but Boston couldn’t tie the game on the resulting power play.

    With 1:24 remaining in regulation, Rask vacated his net for an extra attacker.

    Seconds later, Boston hacked away at the puck until McAvoy (1) slipped it through Vanecek for his first of the season at 19:02 of the third period– tying the game, 3-3, in the process.

    Pastrnak (1) and Bergeron (6) tallied the assists on McAvoy’s game-tying goal as the Bruins forced overtime.

    At the end of regulation, the game was tied, 3-3, despite the Bruins outshooting the Capitals, 43-22, including a, 9-5, advantage in the third period alone.

    Washington led in blocked shots (25-10), takeaways (11-8) and hits (38-15), while Boston held the advantage in faceoff win% (55-45).

    Both teams had nine giveaways each, while the Capitals finished the night 1/1 on the power play and the Bruins went 1/4 on the skater advantage as there were no penalties called in overtime.

    Peter Laviolette sent out Backstrom, Ovechkin and John Carlson to start in overtime, while Cassidy matched with Krejci, Pastrnak and McAvoy.

    The puck hadn’t even been on the ice for 30 seconds in overtime before Ovechkin (2) skated from his own end on a drop pass from Backstrom to the attacking end and ripped a shot over Rask’s blocker side from just after the blue line to win the game for Washington.

    Backstrom (8) and Carlson (7) notched the assists on Ovechkin’s game-winning goal 28 seconds into the overtime period as the Capitals sealed the deal on the, 4-3, victory.

    Boston never had possession in overtime prior to what was the 24th career regular season overtime game-winning goal for Ovechkin.

    The Bruins finished the night leading in shots on goal, 43-23, despite trailing Washington in shots in overtime alone, 1-0.

    Washington finished the night leading in blocked shots (26-10) and hits (38-15), while Boston led in faceoff win% (55-45).

    Both teams finished Saturday night’s effort with nine giveaways aside.

    The Capitals improved to 1-1 in overtime this season (2-3 overall past regulation), while the Bruins fell to 1-2 in overtime this season (3-2 past regulation).

    Boston also fell to 0-0-2 when trailing after the first period, 1-0-1 when trailing after the second period and 1-1-2 when allowing the game’s first goal this season.

    Despite all that, the B’s have not lost a game by more than one goal this season.

    The Bruins continue their four-game road trip (0-0-1) with another matchup with the Capitals on Monday (Feb. 1st) before venturing to Philadelphia for two games against the Flyers on Feb. 3rd and Feb. 5th prior to returning home to Boston on Feb. 6th against the Buffalo Sabres.

  • Bergeron notches pair in Boston’s, 4-1, win against Penguins

    Bergeron notches pair in Boston’s, 4-1, win against Penguins

    Patrice Bergeron had a pair of goals to provide some insurance for the Boston Bruins in their, 4-1, win against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night at TD Garden.

    Jaroslav Halak (2-0-1, 1.30 goals against average, .938 save percentage in three games played) made 16 saves on 17 shots against for a .941 SV% in the win for Boston.

    Pittsburgh goaltender, Tristan Jarry (2-3-1, 3.93 GAA, .859 SV% in six games played), stopped 16 out of 20 shots faced for an .800 SV% in the loss.

    The Bruins improved to 5-1-1 (11 points) on the season, while the Penguins fell to 4-3-1 (nine points) overall. Boston remained in command of 2nd place, while Pittsburgh remained 4th in the MassMutual NHL East Division.

    Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made several changes to his lineup from Tuesday night’s, 3-2, overtime win against Pittsburgh.

    With Jake DeBrusk (lower body) out of the lineup due to injury, Craig Smith took over the first line right wing spot, while Charlie Coyle moved up to the second line right wing.

    Par Lindholm made his season debut on the third line with Trent Frederic and Jack Studnicka, while Anders Bjork and Chris Wagner were remained on the wings of Sean Kuraly’s fourth line.

    On defense, Matt Grzelcyk (lower body) returned to the second defensive pairing with Brandon Carlo after Grzelcyk missed the last two games due to an injury he sustained on Jan. 21st against the Flyers.

    In net, Halak got the start as expected, while Dan Vladar served as Boston’s backup with Tuukka Rask (lower body) in the press box for a night after laboring a bit, but playing through the rest of Tuesday night’s game.

    Once more, David Pastrnak (hip) and Ondrej Kase (upper body) missed Thursday night’s action, though the former may make his season debut on Saturday at the earliest.

    Pastrnak, Kase, DeBrusk and Rask were out of the lineup due to injury, while John Moore, Connor Clifton, Greg McKegg, Urho Vaakanainen and Callum Booth were all listed as healthy scratches and/or taxi squad members against the Penguins on Thursday.

    Jarry tripped up Patrice Bergeron 52 seconds into the first period as the Penguins goaltender reached outside his crease and caught the Bruins captain with his stick while Bergeron was chasing a loose puck in the near vicinity.

    Boston did not convert on the ensuing skater advantage.

    Moments later, Wagner (1) buried a rebound to give the Bruins the, 1-0, lead at 6:10 of the first period. Wagner’s goal was unassisted.

    Less than a minute later, Coyle was guilty of holding against Penguins defender, John Marino, and presented Pittsburgh with their first power play opportunity of the night.

    The Pens were not successful on the ensuing skater advantage.

    Late in the opening frame, Cody Ceci (1) worked his way into the attacking zone and fired a shot past Halak’s blocker side from the slot to tie the game, 1-1.

    Bryan Rust (4) and Teddy Blueger (3) tallied the assists on Ceci’s goal at 15:03 of the first period as the Penguins breathed a sign of life.

    It did not last that long.

    Bjork sent a chip shot off of Blueger that led to a wacky bounce through Pittsburgh defender, Kevin Czuczman’s legs, before redirecting off of Kuraly and into the twine.

    Kuraly (1) was credited with his first goal of the season– having been the last Bruin to touch the rubber biscuit before it ended up in the back of the net– while Bjork (1) had the only assist as the B’s retook the lead, 2-1, at 18:53.

    After one period of action in Boston on Thursday, the Bruins led, 2-1, on the scoreboard and, 9-6, in shots on goal.

    The B’s also held the advantage in faceoff win percentage (67-33), while the Pens led in blocked shots (6-3), giveaways (7-2), as well as hits (12-7).

    Both teams had two takeaways and were 0/1 on the power play entering the first intermission.

    Almost midway through the middle frame, Bergeron (4) slipped a backhand shot under Jarry’s blocker side while falling to his knees from point blank to extend Boston’s lead to two-goals.

    Grzelcyk (3) and Coyle (2) had the assists on Bergeron’s first goal of the night and the Bruins led, 3-1, at 8:13 of the second period.

    Moments later, Jeremy Lauzon was called for interference as he knocked Drew O’Connor into Halak away from the puck at 13:40.

    Pittsburgh’s power play was powerless as Boston’s penalty kill got the job done.

    Grzelcyk cut a rut to the sin bin at 18:35 of the second period after earning an infraction for holding Jake Guentzel.

    The Bruins defender went to the box to serve his minor penalty, but would not return for the third period of play, as Boston later tweeted that Grzelcyk would not return to the action with a lower body injury.

    Through 40 minutes of play on Thursday, the Bruins led, 3-1, on the scoreboard and, 16-11, in shots on goal, including a, 7-5, advantage in the second period alone.

    Boston also led in takeaways (5-4) and faceoff win% (67-33) after two periods, while Pittsburgh held the advantage in blocked shots (9-5) and hits (21-15).

    The two clubs each had nine giveaways entering the second intermission, while the Penguins were 0/3 on the power play and the Bruins were still 0/1 on the skater advantage.

    Less than a minute into the final frame, Marino was assessed an interference minor for tying up Smith away from the puck 55 seconds into the third period.

    Late in the ensuing power play, the Bruins worked the puck around the attacking zone in an umbrella formation– Charlie McAvoy to David Krejci, Krejci back to McAvoy, McAvoy to Brad Marchand and finally Marchand to Bergeron at the bumper.

    Bergeron (5) one-timed a shot past Jarry to give the Bruins a three-goal lead with a power-play goal at 1:40 of the third period.

    Marchand (6) and McAvoy (5) tallied the assists on Bergeron’s power-play goal as the Bruins took a, 4-1, lead in Bergeron’s 47th career two-goal game.

    Shots were in short supply in the third period, as was just about everything else on the event sheet as time winded down and the final horn sounded.

    Boston won, 4-1, and finished the night leading in shots on goal, 20-17, despite trailing Pittsburgh in shots on goal in the third period alone, 6-4.

    The Penguins left TD Garden with the advantage in giveaways (14-10) and hits (26-20), while the Bruins departed with the victory and the advantage in faceoff win% (63-37).

    Both teams had nine blocked shots each after 60 minutes of action.

    Pittsburgh finished the night 0/3 on the power play, while Boston went 1/2 on the skater advantage on Thursday.

    With the victory assured, the Bruins improved to 4-0-0 when leading after the first period, 4-0-0 when leading after the second period and 4-0-0 when scoring the game’s first goal this season.

    Boston is now on a four-game winning streak coinciding with their four-game homestand (4-0-0). The B’s hit the road for a four-game road trip in Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia starting on Saturday when they take on former captain, Zdeno Chara, and the Washington Capitals.

    The Bruins face the Caps again on Feb. 1st before venturing to the “City of Brotherly Love” to face the Flyers on Feb. 3rd and Feb. 5th.

  • 11 Bruins earn at least a point in, 6-1, rout of Flyers

    11 Bruins earn at least a point in, 6-1, rout of Flyers

    Boston Bruins captain, Patrice Bergeron, and teammate, Brad Marchand, each had two goals and three points in a, 6-1, win over the Philadelphia Flyers Saturday night at TD Garden.

    Two B’s earned their first career National Hockey League point, while another scored their first as a Bruin in the outburst of offense as Jaroslav Halak (1-0-0, 1.44 goals against average, .938 save percentage in two games played) made 16 saves on 17 shots faced for a .941 SV% in the win for Boston.

    Flyers goaltender, Carter Hart (2-2-1, 4.19 GAA, .880 SV% in five games played) stopped 20 out of 26 shots faced for a .769 SV% in the loss.

    Boston improved to 3-1-1 (seven points) on the season and took command of 2nd place in the MassMutual NHL East Division, bumping Philadelphia (now 3-2-1, seven points) to 3rd place in the division.

    The Bruins also improved to 2-0-0 at home (two games) this season, while Claude Giroux took part in his 610th game as the captain of the Flyers– tying Bobby Clarke for the most games as captain in franchise history.

    Bruce Cassidy made a few changes to his Bruins lineup, swapping Anders Bjork with Trent Frederic– promoting Frederic to the third line and demoting Bjork to the fourth line in the process.

    On defense, Cassidy replaced Matt Grzelcyk (lower body) with Connor Clifton, who made his season debut alongside Brandon Carlo on the second pairing.

    Greg McKegg, Par Lindholm, John Moore, Urho Vaakanainen, Dan Vladar and Karson Kuhlman all were healthy scratches and/or taxi squad members on Saturday night.

    Meanwhile, Ondrej Kase (upper body) missed his third game since being injured in New Jersey on Jan. 16th, David Pastrnak (hip) missed his fifth and has yet to make his season debut and Grzelcyk (lower body) missed his first game this season due to an injury in Thursday night’s, 5-4, shootout win over the Flyers.

    Almost midway through the opening frame, Mark Friedman hooked Frederic and was assessed a minor infraction at 7:55 of the first period.

    It didn’t take Boston’s power play unit that long to find the back of the net as Bergeron (2) pounced on a rebound and slipped the puck past Hart to give the Bruins a, 1-0, lead.

    Nick Ritchie (2) and David Krejci (4) tallied the assists on Bergeron’s power-play goal at 8:09 of the first period.

    After one period of action Saturday night, the B’s led, 1-0, on the scoreboard and, 10-4, in shots on goal.

    Boston also held the advantage in blocked shots (7-2), takeaways (4-1) and hits (11-8), while Philadelphia led in giveaways (3-2) and faceoff win percentage (68-32).

    The Flyers had not yet seen any time on the skater advantage heading into the first intermission, while the Bruins were 1/1 on the power play.

    About a minute into the middle frame, the B’s had a great scoring chance that just didn’t pan out.

    Instead, Philadelphia emerged with a rush the opposite way, in which Jakub Voracek sent a shot pass from the boards to Kevin Hayes (3) for the tip-in past Halak.

    Hayes’ goal tied the game, 1-1, at 1:14 of the second period and was assisted by Voracek (6).

    But the game wouldn’t remain tied for long as Charlie Coyle got a backhand spin pass through the low slot to Craig Smith (1) as the Boston winger pounced on the puck and hit the twine while Hart was out of position.

    Smith’s goal– his first as a Bruin– was assisted by Coyle (1) and Jeremy Lauzon (1) at 2:30 of the second period– marking a span of 1:16 between Hayes’ tying goal and Smith’s eventual game-winning goal.

    Almost midway through the middle frame, Voracek received a roughing minor and was sent to the penalty box at 7:28, but Boston’s power play wasn’t able to convert on the ensuing skater advantage.

    Moments later, the Coyle tripped Giroux and cut a rut to the sin bin at 12:37, presenting a skater advantage to the Flyers.

    Philly was unsuccessful on the resulting power play, however.

    Late in the period, Frederic setup Coyle (2) for a one-handed deflection goal over Hart’s glove side and under the crossbar to give Boston their first two-goal lead of the season.

    Frederic (1) had the primary assist, while Smith (2) had the secondary assist on Coyle’s goal and the Bruins led, 3-1, at 17:50 of the second period.

    With an assist on the goal, Frederic officially registered his first point in the NHL.

    Entering the second intermission, the Bruins led, 3-1, on the scoreboard and, 16-12, in shots on goal, despite the Flyers holding an, 8-6, advantage in the second period alone.

    Boston held the advantage in blocked shots (12-7), takeaways (8-4) and hits (22-13) through the first 40 minutes of action, while Philadelphia led in giveaways (5-4) and faceoff win% (58-43).

    The Flyers were 0/1 and the Bruins were 1/2 on the power play after two periods.

    Marchand (2) kicked off the scoring in the final frame after initially sending a shot wide of the net before Jake DeBrusk kept the puck low in the attacking zone, whereby Bergeron scooped it up before passing it to Marchand for the close range one-timer past Hart.

    Bergeron (3) and DeBrusk (1) notched the helpers on Marchand’s first goal of the game and the Bruins extended their lead to, 4-1, at 4:13 of the third period.

    About a couple of minutes later, Friedman earned unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for some heated words and shoving aimed at Frederic after a stoppage in play and presented Boston with another power play at 6:54 of the third period.

    65 seconds later, the Bruins converted on the ensuing skater advantage when Marchand (3) fired a shot under Hart’s glove into the twine from the faceoff dot to the Philadelphia netminder’s left side.

    Ritchie (3) picked up his second assist of the night, while Jakub Zboril (1) earned the secondary assist, which was also the first point of his NHL career.

    Marchand’s second goal of the night gave the B’s a, 5-1, lead at 7:59 of the third period, while on the power play.

    Less than a minute later, Bjork hooked Michael Raffl and set the Flyers up with their last power play of the night.

    Philly’s power play was powerless as the Bruins made the kill.

    Later, James van Riemsdyk tripped Coyle at 13:17, presenting Boston with yet another skater advantage.

    This time, Bergeron (3) finished the night’s scoring with Boston’s third power-play goal on yet another rebound that the Bruins captain banked off of the Flyers goaltender and into the net.

    Marchand (4) and Charlie McAvoy (1) had the assists on Bergeron’s power-play goal at 13:33 of the third period and the Bruins led, 6-1.

    At the sound of the final horn, Boston had won, 6-1, and finished the night leading in shots on goal, 26-17, including a, 10-5, advantage in the final frame alone.

    The Bruins wrapped up Saturday night with the final advantage in blocked shots (14-10) and hits (26-24), while the Flyers ended the game leading in giveaways (6-4) and faceoff win% (54-46).

    Philadelphia went 0/2 on the power play, while Boston notched a 3/4 success rate on the skater advantage in the 60-minute effort.

    With Bergeron wracking up another three-point night in his career, he became the 11th player in Bruins franchise history to record at least 50 games with three or more points.

    Phil Esposito has the club record for more games (140) with at least three or more points.

    Boston improved to 11-0-3 in their last 14 regular season home games against Philadelphia, which is also their longest active point streak at home against any opponent.

    The Bruins improved to 2-0-0 when scoring the game’s first goal, 2-0-0 when leading after the first period and 2-0-0 when leading after two periods this season.

    Boston continues their four-game homestand (2-0-0) with two games against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Jan. 26th and Jan. 28th before hitting the road down to D.C. on Jan. 30th and Feb. 1st, then Philadelphia on Feb. 3rd and Feb. 5th.

  • DeBrusk aims high in Boston’s, 5-4, shootout win over Flyers

    DeBrusk aims high in Boston’s, 5-4, shootout win over Flyers

    Jake DeBrusk dragged his foot before letting go of a chip shot over Carter Hart to give the Boston Bruins a, 5-4, shootout victory Thursday night at TD Garden.

    It was Boston’s home opener and second shootout win of the season– just their second shootout win since beating the Vegas Golden Knights, 3-2, in a shootout victory on the road on Feb. 20, 2019, as the club went 0-7 last season in shootouts.

    Tuukka Rask (2-1-0, 2.23 goals against average, .892 save percentage in three games played) made 22 saves on 26 shots against for an .846 SV% in the shootout win.

    Hart (2-1-1, 3.66 GAA, .902 SV% in four games played) stopped 39 out of 43 shots faced for a .907 SV% in the shootout loss for Philadelphia.

    The Bruins improved to 2-1-1 (five points) on the season and jumped from 6th in the MassMutual NHL East Division to 5th place, while the Flyers fell to 3-1-1 (seven points) on the season and remained in command of the MassMutual NHL East Division.

    Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made no changes to his lineup from Monday’s, 1-0, loss to the Islanders in New York.

    As such, Greg McKegg, Par Lindholm, John Moore, Urho Vaakanainen, Connor Clifton, Dan Vladar and Karson Kuhlman remained out of the lineup as taxi squad and healthy scratches.

    David Pastrnak missed his fourth game since undergoing a right hip arthroscopy and labral repair on Sept. 16th, while Ondrej Kase missed his second game of the season due to an upper body injury sustained in New Jersey on Jan. 16th.

    Early in the opening frame, Claude Giroux tripped DeBrusk and presented Boston with the first power play of the night at 3:42 of the first period.

    The Bruins did not convert on the resulting skater advantage, however.

    A few minutes later, Sean Kuraly was penalized for holding Mark Friedman at 6:57, yielding the Flyers their first power play of the game.

    Philadelphia was also unsuccessful on their first skater advantage of the night.

    Late in the period, Nicolas Aube-Kubel slashed B’s defender, Kevan Miller, and cut a rut to the penalty box as a result at 18:13.

    Boston couldn’t muster anything on the power play as time winded down, expired and signaled the start of the first intermission.

    After 20 minutes of action, the game remained tied, 0-0, though the Bruins outshot the Flyers, 14-3.

    The B’s also had the advantage in blocked shots (4-3), takeaways (5-4) and faceoff win percentage (77-24), while the Flyers led in giveaways (4-1).

    Both teams had eight hits aside.

    Philadelphia was 0/1 and Boston was 0/2 on the power play entering the dressing room for the first intermission.

    David Krejci caught Nolan Patrick with a high stick and cut a rut to the sin bin at 4:45 of the second period.

    Late in the ensuing power play Giroux (1) fired a snap shot from the faceoff circle over Rask’s blocker on the short side while Patrick screened the Bruins goaltender to give the Flyers the first lead of the night.

    Ivan Provorov (1) had the only assist on Giroux’s power-play goal as Philadelphia took a, 1-0, lead at 6:17 of the second period.

    It was the first goal allowed by Boston’s penalty kill this season, ending their run of 14 consecutive successfully killed infractions.

    Miller was assessed a minor for holding six seconds after Philadelphia scored the game’s first goal. With Miller in the box at 6:23, the Bruins went back on the penalty kill.

    This time the Flyers weren’t able to capitalize on the skater advantage.

    Midway through the period, Friedman initiated a wrestling match with Brad Marchand in the open ice of the neutral zone before falling awkwardly, bleeding and exiting the game.

    No penalty was called as a result of a usual event when two players get near each other while going for a line change without realizing they were charted on a collision course that ultimately went wrong.

    Though Friedman did not return to the game, Flyers head coach, Alain Vigneault, noted that he was held out as a precaution and should be fine.

    Anders Bjork hooked Jakub Voracek at 15:24 of the second period and was assessed a minor penalty.

    In the vulnerable minute after special teams action, the Flyers caught the Bruins behind the play as Voracek sent a pass to James van Riemsdyk (2) that was promptly redirected from its sloppy off-speed original path to one that guided the puck to the back of the net from point blank.

    Voracek (3) and Kevin Hayes (4) tallied the assists as Philadelphia jumped out to a two-goal lead, 2-0, at 17:31.

    Through two periods of action, the Flyers led, 2-0, despite trailing the B’s in shots on goal, 18-11.

    Philadelphia held the advantage in shots on goal in the second period alone, 8-4, while both teams had eight blocked shots and six takeaways each.

    The Flyers led in giveaways (5-4), while Boston led in hits (17-15) and faceoff win% (62-38).

    Philly was 1/4 and Boston was 0/2 on the power play heading into the second intermission.

    Less than a minute into the final frame of regulation, Jack Studnicka (1) redirected a pass from Krejci off of Hart’s leg pad before gathering his own rebound and pocketing it in the twine while crashing the net.

    Krejci (2) and Nick Ritchie (1) notched the assists on Studnicka’s first career NHL goal 57 seconds into the third period and the Bruins cut Philadelphia’s lead in half, 2-1.

    It was also the first goal at 5-on-5 for Boston this season.

    A mere 69 seconds later, Charlie Coyle (1) spun and fired home a rebound from inside the faceoff dot to the right of the Flyers netminder– tying the game, 2-2, in the process.

    Craig Smith (1) recorded his first point as a Bruin with the primary assist, while Miller (1) tallied his first point in almost two years with the secondary helper on Coyle’s goal at 2:06 of the third period.

    The game didn’t remain even for long as Voracek fired an intentional shot off of Travis Sanheim’s (1) skate past Rask to give Philly the lead once again, 3-2, at 7:13.

    Voracek (4) and Patrick (3) had the assists on Sanheim’s goal.

    Moments later, Scott Laughton cross checked Jakub Zboril at 13:04 of the third period and presented Boston with another power play opportunity.

    It didn’t take long for Patrice Bergeron to find Ritchie (2) wide open in the low slot, banking a shot off of Hart’s glove and into the open net behind the Flyers goaltender.

    Bergeron (2) and Krejci (3) had the assists on Ritchie’s power-play goal as the Bruins pulled even, 3-3, at 13:22.

    Less than two minutes later, Brandon Carlo (1) rocketed a slap shot from the point under the crossbar to give Boston their first lead of the night, 4-3, at 15:18 of the third period.

    Matt Grzelcyk (2) and Marchand (3) notched the assists on Carlo’s goal, but despite taking their first lead of the night, the B’s didn’t hold onto it for long.

    Kuraly delivered a cross check on Giroux and was assessed a penalty at 15:24.

    van Riemsdyk (3) went unchecked by Charlie McAvoy and Carlo before connecting on a power-play goal from in front of the net to tie the game, 4-4.

    Voracek (5) and Hayes (5) each picked up another assist while the Flyers knotted the game up with another power-play goal at 16:28.

    Boston led for all of 70 seconds in regulation.

    With 20.4 seconds left in the third period, Vigneault used his timeout, but the Flyers weren’t successful in the execution of whatever plan they drew up to win the game in the dying seconds.

    Overtime was necessary for the third time this season for the Bruins and for the first time for the Flyers.

    After 60 minutes, with Boston leading in shots on goal, 40-21, including a, 22-10, advantage in the third period alone, the game remained tied, 4-4.

    Philadelphia led in blocked shots (13-8), takeaways (9-7) and giveaways (8-5), while the Bruins held the advantage in hits (24-19) and faceoff win% (61-39) going into overtime.

    As no penalties were called in the extra frame, the Flyers finished Thursday night 2/5 on the power play, while the Bruins went 1/3 on the skater advantage.

    Vigneault started Giroux, Laughton and Provorov in overtime, while Cassidy countered with Bergeron, Marchand and McAvoy.

    In the end, Boston mustered just three shots on goal in the five minutes of 3-on-3 action, while Rask stood tall– denying Hayes on a one-timer with an aerial leg pad save.

    After overtime, the score remained, 4-4, while Boston finished the night leading in shots on goal, 43-26, despite trailing, 5-3, in shots in OT.

    Philadelphia finished the night leading in blocked shots (15-9) and giveaways (8-5), while the Bruins wrapped up Thursday’s action leading in hits (24-21) and faceoff win% (63-37).

    A shootout was necessary to determine a winner and Cassidy opted for his team to shoot first.

    He sent out Smith to get things going for Boston, but Smith’s shot was stopped by Hart as he tried to sneak one in through the five-hole.

    Voracek was Vigneault’s first round response, but despite his off-speed approach, Rask stoned him cold with a pad save on Voracek’s backhand shot.

    Coyle kicked things off in round two of the shootout with a shot wide on Hart’s glove side.

    Travis Konecny answered back with a shot that grazed Rask’s glove and also went wide.

    Finally, DeBrusk hit the back of the net with a chip shot over Hart’s blocker side after a nifty toe-drag approach to give the Bruins a, 1-0, advantage in the shootout.

    All that was left was for Rask to make a save and Boston would win.

    Vigneault sent out Giroux.

    Giroux waltzed his way into the attacking zone for his attempt, feigned a slap shot, slowed up and went for Rask’s glove side, but the Bruins goaltender denied him with a save.

    Boston emerged victorious with the, 5-4, shootout win.

    The B’s improved to 2-0 in shootouts this season and 2-1 past regulation overall, while the Flyers fell to 0-1 in both categories.

    Boston also improved to 1-1-0 when tied after the first period, 1-0-0 when trailing after two periods and 1-1-1 when allowing the game’s first goal this season.

    The Bruins began their four-game homestand with a, 5-4, shootout victory against Philadelphia on Thursday and will host the Flyers again on Saturday before hosting the Pittsburgh Penguins on Jan. 26th and Jan. 28th.

  • Varlamov, Islanders shutout Bruins, 1-0

    Varlamov, Islanders shutout Bruins, 1-0

    Semyon Varlamov earned his league-leading 2nd shutout this season in as many games as the New York Islanders beat the Boston Bruins, 1-0, Monday night at Nassau Live at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

    Varlamov (2-0-0, 0.00 goals against average, 1.000 save percentage in two games played) made 27 saves en route to the shutout win for New York.

    Boston goaltender, Tuukka Rask (1-1-0, 1.46 GAA, .923 SV% in two games played) stopped 16 out of 17 shots faced for a .941 SV% in the loss.

    The Bruins fell to 1-1-1 (three points) on the season and dropped to a tie for 4th place in the MassMutual NHL East Division, while the Islanders improved to 2-1-0 on the season (four points) and moved up to a tie for 2nd place with the Philadelphia Flyers– at least temporarily, as the Flyers were in action Monday night.

    Boston also fell to 18-3-1 in their last 22 games against New York in the regular season.

    Prior to puck drop, the Islanders aired a National Hockey League produced video on the Jumbotron celebrating the 63rd anniversary of when Willie O’Ree broke the league’s color barrier on Jan. 18, 1958, with the Bruins.

    All 31 teams have been sporting O’Ree decals on their helmets with the words “Celebrating Equality” emblazoned on a profile of O’Ree wearing his famous fedora for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day weekend.

    O’Ree will have his No. 22 retired by Boston ahead of their matchup with the New Jersey Devils on Feb. 18th this season. They will honor him again as soon as possible whenever fans will be allowed at TD Garden.

    Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made a few changes to his lineup with Ondrej Kase (upper body) out against the Islanders on Monday.

    Patrice Bergeron centered the first line with Brad Marchand in his usual spot on the left wing, while Jake DeBrusk was moved up to the first line right wing.

    Nick Ritchie took DeBrusk’s usual spot on the second line left wing with David Krejci at center and Jack Studnicka on the right wing.

    Charlie Coyle centered the third line with Anders Bjork to his left and Craig Smith to his right, while the fourth line remained untouched.

    On defense, Jeremy Lauzon and Charlie McAvoy remained paired, while Matt Grzelcyk was partnered with Brandon Carlo and Jakub Zboril had Kevan Miller by his side.

    Monday night marked 300 career NHL games for Carlo and 200 career NHL games for Grzelcyk. Both defenders have spent their entire careers with Boston thus far.

    Kase missed his first game this season due to injury after taking a stick up high in Saturday afternoon’s, 2-1, overtime loss in New Jersey, while David Pastrnak missed his third straight game and is yet to make his season debut after offseason hip surgery.

    Pastrnak remains ahead of schedule, however, and is likely to return before his original prognosis of Feb. 16th.

    Greg McKegg, Par Lindholm, John Moore, Urho Vaakanainen, Connor Clifton and Dan Vladar were in the press box as healthy scratches and taxi squad members Monday night.

    Almost midway through the opening frame, Carlo cross checked Matt Martin and presented the first power play of the evening to the Islanders at 7:25 of the first period.

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

    Late in the period, Isles forward, Casey Cizikas, knocked down Coyle without the puck and earned a trip to the penalty box for interference at 16:40.

    Boston was not able to score on the resulting power play.

    Entering the first intermission, the game remained tied, 0-0, while the Bruins were leading in shots on goal, 11-3.

    New York held the advantage in blocked shots (7-3), takeaways (3-1) and hits (9-6), while both teams had three giveaways each, were 50-50 in faceoff win percentage and 0/1 on the power play after 20 minutes on Monday.

    Adam Pelech was guilty of holding Marchand 53 seconds into the second period and presented the Bruins with their second power play opportunity of the night.

    Boston’s skater advantage was cut short, however, as Ritchie slashed Scott Mayfield and earned a trip to the sin bin at 1:43 of the middle frame.

    New York earned a short power play after an abbreviated 4-on-4 sequence, but the Isles still weren’t able to score on the power play.

    The Islanders lost count at one point and had too many skaters on the ice, resulting in a bench minor that was served by Jordan Eberle at 6:53.

    Boston’s power play was powerless and New York got by unscathed.

    Late in the period, Smith clipped Varlamov in the skate with his stick, which Varlamov embellished for dramatic affect, but was goaltender interference nonetheless.

    The Islanders went back on the power play with Smith in the box for goaltender interference at 15:45, but Boston’s penalty kill held their ground.

    Through 40 minutes of action on Monday, the game was still tied, 0-0, despite the Bruins outshooting the Islanders, 17-10.

    New York, however, actually led in shots on goal in the second period alone, 7-6, as well as in blocked shots (11-10), takeaways (7-1), giveaways (8-4), hits (20-15) and faceoff win% (60-40) heading into the second intermission.

    Both teams were 0/3 on the power play prior to the final frame of regulation.

    Marchand cross-checked Eberle to kick things off with a trip to the penalty box at 1:17 of the third period.

    Once again, though, Boston’s penalty kill did not concede to New York’s power play.

    Moments later, Eberle tripped Grzelcyk while the two players were tied up– causing Grzelcyk to fall awkwardly to the ice and leave the game with an upper body injury (he was favoring his left arm, for the record).

    Trent Frederic served Grzelcyk’s interference infraction, while Eberle was assessed a tripping minor at 5:43, resulting in 4-on-4 action for a pair of minutes early in the period.

    Late in the period, Jean-Gabriel Pageau (1) hit a home run on a puck that was floating in mid-air as Pelech fired a shot that deflected off of Bergeron’s stick before Pageau whacked it into the twine above Rask’s blocker side.

    Pelech (1) and Ryan Pulock (1) tallied the assists on the game’s first and only goal at 15:51 of the third period.

    The Islanders took the, 1-0, lead and that was enough for the final result on Monday.

    Less than a minute later, McAvoy was called for holding against Anthony Beauvillier at 16:07, but once again New York’s power play was powerless.

    With 1:35 remaining in the game, Rask vacated his net for an extra attacker.

    The Bruins used their timeout after a stoppage with 51.4 seconds left in the action, but it was to no avail.

    At the final horn, the Islanders had won, 1-0, and Varlamov recorded the shutout.

    Boston finished the night leading in shots on goal, 27-17, including a, 10-7, advantage in the third period alone, while New York wrapped up Monday night’s action leading in blocked shots (17-12), hits (31-26) and faceoff win% (51-49).

    The Bruins held the final advantage in giveaways (10-9) on Monday.

    The Islanders finished the game 0/5 on the skater advantage, while the B’s went 0/3 on the power play.

    The Bruins finished their three-game road trip 1-1-1 to start the 2020-21 56-game regular season.

    Boston returns home to face the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday and Saturday for their first two home games of the season at TD Garden. The B’s then host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Jan. 26th and 28th before hitting the road again.

    For the first time since Nov. 2, 2013, the Islanders beat the Bruins on home ice. New York beat Boston, 3-1, that day.

  • Sharangovich’s 1st lifts Devils over Bruins in overtime, 2-1

    Sharangovich’s 1st lifts Devils over Bruins in overtime, 2-1

    You always remember your first time and Yegor Sharangovich will certainly always remember his first career National Hockey League goal, since he scored it with about two seconds left in overtime on Saturday to give the New Jersey Devils a, 2-1, victory over the Boston Bruins at Prudential Center.

    New Jersey goaltender, Mackenzie Blackwood (1-0-1, 1.85 goals against average, .954 save percentage in two games played), made 27 saves on 28 shots against for a .964 SV% in the overtime win.

    Bruins netminder, Jaroslav Halak (0-0-1, 1.85 GAA, .954 SV% in one game played) stopped 29 out of 31 shots faced for a .935 SV% in the loss.

    Boston fell to 1-0-1 (three points) on the season and remains tied for 3rd place in the MassMutual NHL East Division with New Jersey– now 1-0-1 on the season (also three points).

    The Bruins dropped to 14-6-4 all time in 24 games at Prudential Center, outscoring the Devils, 69-48, in that span.

    Bruce Cassidy made a few lineup changes as Craig Smith made his Bruins debut after missing the season opener on Thursday night in New Jersey due to a lower body injury.

    Smith was placed in his expected role on the third line right wing with Nick Ritchie and Charlie Coyle, while Anders Bjork was moved up to the first line right wing with Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron.

    As a result, Jack Studnicka was a healthy scratch on Saturday afternoon.

    No other lineup changes were made, leaving Studnicka in the press box with Greg McKegg, Par Lindholm, John Moore, Urho Vaakanainen, Connor Clifton, Dan Vladar and David Pastrnak (hip).

    Kevan Miller and Miles Wood exchanged fisticuffs just 19 seconds into the action on Saturday afternoon as Wood was expected to respond for running into Bruins goaltender, Tuukka Rask, twice on Thursday night.

    Cassidy made it clear to his team that he didn’t want to see opponents start a trend of getting friendly with his goaltender, so Miller was compelled to exchange pleasantries with the Devils forward.

    Both players received fighting majors– the first fight of the season for Boston and the first fight for Miller since Jan. 29, 2019, when No. 86 in black and gold fought Winnipeg Jets center, Adam Lowry.

    About five minutes later, Charlie McAvoy tripped up Jack Hughes and was assessed a minor penalty at 5:45 of the first period, yielding the first power play of the game to New Jersey.

    The Devils were not able to convert on their first skater advantage of the afternoon.

    Moments later, Matt Tennyson was called for holding against Coyle at 9:02 and presented the Bruins with their first power play of the game.

    Boston’s power play spent more time chasing the puck outside of their attacking zone than they did at setting up anything on the ensuing power play.

    Late in the opening frame, Ty Smith fired a shot from the point that Wood (2) tipped while screening Halak in the slot to give the Devils the, 1-0, lead.

    Smith (1) and Hughes (3) tallied the assists on Wood’s goal at 16:15.

    With the primary assist, Smith became the fourth defender in New Jersey’s franchise history to record a point in each of his first two career games, joining Viacheslav Fetisov (1989-90), Les Auge (1980-81) and Barry Beck (1977-78) in the process.

    About a minute later, Sean Kuraly and Kyle Palmieri exchanged slashes and receiving minor penalties, resulting in 4-on-4 action for a pair of minutes at 17:34.

    Entering the first intermission, the Devils led, 1-0, on the scoreboard and, 8-7, in shots on goal.

    New Jersey held the advantage in blocked shots (5-1), takeaways (3-2), giveaways (4-3) and hits (10-3), while Boston led in faceoff win percentage (65-35) after 20 minutes of action Saturday afternoon.

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

    Matt Grzelcyk fired a shot that Ritchie redirected past Blackwood, but the would-be goal was immediately waved off due to incidental contact with the New Jersey goaltender.

    Smith appeared to bump into Blackwood, despite Boston’s protest as Cassidy used a coach’s challenge on the grounds that he thought his player was pushed by a Devils defender into Blackwood.

    Nevertheless, the call on the ice stood. The Bruins hadn’t scored and were instead assessed a bench minor for delay of game.

    Jake DeBrusk served the infraction against Boston at 16:01 of the second period, but New Jersey wasn’t able to score on the ensuing power play.

    Instead, the Bruins worked a little magic while shorthanded.

    Marchand worked his way around Palmieri and into the attacking zone before setting up Bergeron (1) for his 18th career shorthanded goal.

    Marchand (2) had the only assist on Bergeron’s snap shot goal as the B’s tied the game, 1-1, at 17:16 of the second period.

    At some point in the middle frame, Ondrej Kase took a stick up high from Wood in a corner battle and did not return to the action.

    Entering the second intermission, the score was tied, 1-1, despite the Bruins outshooting the Devils, 20-16, including a, 13-8, advantage in the second period alone.

    New Jersey led in blocked shots (5-4), takeaways (5-3), giveaways (9-5) and hits (17-11), while Boston led in faceoff win% (64-36).

    The Devils were 0/2 and the Bruins were 0/1 on the power play after 40 minutes of action.

    Less than a minute into the final frame of regulation, P.K. Subban held and wrestled Trent Frederic to the ground resulting in a minor infraction for holding 28 seconds into the third period.

    Boston did not convert on the resulting skater advantage, however.

    Late in the period, Grzelcyk hooked Janne Kuokkanen and cut a rut to the penalty box at 18:36. The Devils used their timeout to draw up a game-winning plan on the power play, but it was to no avail.

    New Jersey couldn’t score before the horn, which meant they would have a 4-on-3 skater advantage to begin what would usually be five minutes of sudden death 3-on-3 overtime.

    After 60 minutes of gameplay, the score remained tied, 1-1, with the Devils outshooting the Bruins, 27-25, including an, 11-5, advantage in the third period alone for New Jersey.

    The Bruins had taken control of blocked shots (9-7), but the Devils still held the advantage in takeaways (6-5), giveaways (13-5) and hits (23-14).

    Boston continued to dominate faceoff win% (64-36), however.

    As no penalties were called in overtime, New Jersey finished the afternoon 0/3 on the power play, while the B’s went 0/2 on the skater advantage.

    Cassidy rolled out Bergeron, McAvoy and Miller to start overtime while on the penalty kill.

    Devils head coach, Lindy Ruff, started Hughes, Palmieri, Damon Severson and Subban.

    Neither team could score until Sharangovich (1) ended it in the dying seconds after the Devils forced a turnover in the attacking zone and Sharangovich broke free from Coyle and Grzelcyk while the two Bruins were rushing back to defend.

    Sharangovich slid the puck through Halak’s gaping five-hole and won the game at 4:58 of the overtime period.

    Severson (1) and Palmieri (1) had the assists on Sharangovich’s first career NHL goal as the 22-year-old forward continued an impressive start to a decent 2020-21 season in professional hockey.

    He had 17-8–25 totals in 34 games with Dinamo Minsk (KHL) prior to quarantining for the NHL’s 56-game season with New Jersey.

    The Devils finished the afternoon with the, 2-1, overtime victory while leading in shots on goal, 31-28, including a, 4-3, advantage in the extra frame alone.

    New Jersey wrapped up Saturday’s action with the advantage in giveaways (13-6) and hits (23-15), while Boston left town with the advantage in blocked shots (10-7) and faceoff win% (65-35).

    The Devils improved to 1-0 in overtime this season as the B’s fell to 1-0 in OT.

    Both teams are now 1-1 past regulation this season.

    Boston is now 0-0-1 when trailing after the first period, 0-0-1 when tied after the second period and 0-0-1 when allowing the game’s first goal this season.

    The Bruins wrap up their three-game road trip (1-0-1) to start the 2020-21 season at Nassau Coliseum on Monday against the New York Islanders. Boston returns home to face the Philadelphia Flyers on Jan. 21st for their first home game of the season at TD Garden.

    There will be no fans in attendance in Boston for the foreseeable future as COVID-19 restrictions remain in place in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

  • Marchand helps Bruins beat Devils, 3-2, in shootout victory

    Marchand helps Bruins beat Devils, 3-2, in shootout victory

    The Boston Bruins kicked off the 2020-21 regular season with a, 3-2, shootout win against New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on Thursday night.

    Tuukka Rask (1-0-0, 1.85 goals against average, .909 save percentage in one game played, one start) made 20 saves on 22 shots faced in the shootout win for the Bruins.

    Mackenzie Blackwood (0-0-1, 1.85 goals against average, .946 save percentage in one game played, one start) turned aside 35 out of 37 shots against in the shootout loss for the Devils.

    Boston improved to 1-0-0 (two points) on the season, while New Jersey fell to 0-0-1 (one point) on the season.

    B’s head coach, Bruce Cassidy, improved to 162-66-34 in 262 games with Boston.

    Devils head coach, Lindy Ruff, kicked off his new gig with a shootout loss as both teams will face each other seven more times this season in the temporarily realigned MassMutual NHL East Division for the 2020-21 season.

    For the first time in franchise history (97 seasons), the Bruins will not face the Montreal Canadiens at all in the regular season due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and resulting temporary division realignment with the United States’ border with Canada currently closed.

    Prior to Thursday night’s action in New Jersey, Patrice Bergeron was named the 20th captain in franchise history on Jan. 6th, replacing Zdeno Chara, who served as the club’s captain from 2006-20, before departing for the Washington Capitals in free agency on Dec. 30, 2020.

    David Krejci and Brad Marchand will serve as alternate captains for Boston this season.

    Krejci has been an alternate captain since the 2013-14 season, while Marchand has worn an “A” on his jersey off-and-on since the 2018-19 season.

    As a result of the ongoing global pandemic, teams are allowed to carry extra players on a “taxi squad” that will not count against their daily salary cap limit.

    The Bruins have not announced who they will utilize on their “taxi squad” this season, but Trent Frederic, Urho Vaakanainen, Jack Studnicka, Dan Vladar and Greg McKegg all made the trip to New Jersey with the team.

    David Pastrnak (hip surgery in the offseason) was out of the lineup against the Devils Thursday night, but is expected to return to play ahead of schedule since his original prognosis when he underwent a right hip arthroscopy and labral repair on Sept. 16th.

    Craig Smith (lower body injury) missed Thursday night’s action and is yet to make his B’s debut since signing a three-year contract worth $3.100 million per season on Oct. 10th.

    Cassidy made a few adjustments to his lines as a result of the injuries and free agency departures in the offseason.

    The first line consisted of Marchand at left wing, Bergeron at center and Studnicka on right wing.

    Rounding out the top-six forwards on the second line were Ondrej Kase, David Krejci and Jake DeBrusk.

    Charlie Coyle centered the third line with Nick Ritchie at his left side and Anders Bjork on his right side, while Sean Kuraly centered the fourth line with Frederic and Chris Wagner as his wings.

    On defense, Cassidy started Matt Grzelcyk and Kevan Miller– honoring Miller in his first game back in 651 days since multiple knee injuries dating back to April 2019.

    Jeremy Lauzon was paired with Charlie McAvoy and Jakub Zboril was partnered with Brandon Carlo.

    Karson Kuhlman remains in COVID protocol, while Par Lindholm, John Moore and Connor Clifton were healthy scratches. Smith and Pastrnak were out of the lineup due to their injuries.

    Early in the opening frame, Jesper Boqvist slashed Frederic and presented the Bruins with their first power play opportunity of the night at 6:14 of the first period.

    Boston’s skater advantage didn’t last long as Grzelcyk caught Yegor Sharangovich with a slash at 7:16.

    After an abbreviated period of 4-on-4 action followed by a short New Jersey power play, neither team could muster anything on the scoresheet.

    McAvoy laid out Sharangovich with a crushing hit at 13:19, but was too far from the puck and assessed a minor infraction for interference.

    The Devils were not successful on the ensuing power play, however.

    Late in the first frame, Miles Wood collided with Rask and cut a rut to the box with a goaltender interference infraction at 17:02.

    Boston didn’t waste much time getting to work on the resulting power play as Marchand (1) one-timed a redirection past Blackwood from just outside the crease to give the Bruins the first lead of the night, 1-0.

    Krejci (1) and Bergeron (1) notched the assists on Marchand’s power-play goal at 17:40 of the first period.

    Entering the first intermission, the Bruins were dominating in possession, on the scoreboard, 1-0, and in shots on goal, 16-4.

    The B’s also held the advantage in faceoff win percentage, 67-33.

    New Jersey, meanwhile, led in blocked shots (7-3), giveaways (8-2) and hits (12-5), while both teams had one takeaway each in the first 20 minutes of game action.

    The Devils were 0/2 and the Bruins were 1/2 on the power play entering the middle frame.

    Kuraly tripped Sharangovich at 2:41 of the second period and presented New Jersey with an early skater advantage in the period, but Boston’s penalty kill remained strong.

    McAvoy was guilty of hooking Janne Kuokkanen at 7:56, but once again New Jersey’s power play couldn’t score.

    Midway through the game, the Devils committed a bench minor for too many skaters on the ice at 10:53.

    Newcomer, Andreas Johnsson, (acquired in the offseason via a trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs) served the penalty while Boston’s power play went powerless.

    Through 40 minutes of play on Thursday, the Bruins held onto the, 1-0, lead and led in shots on goal, 26-11– including a, 10-7, advantage in the second period alone.

    New Jersey led in blocked shots (10-6), takeaways (6-2), giveaways (16-4) and hits (20-8), while Boston led in faceoff win% (63-37) after two periods.

    The Devils were 0/4 on the power play, while the B’s were 1/3 entering the dressing room for the second intermission.

    Kuokkanen was penalized for holding Kuraly and yielded another power play to Boston at 6:18 of the third period.

    Shortly after killing off the infraction, Wood (1) broke free from the Bruins’ defense and snapped a shot over Rask’s blocker side to tie the game, 1-1, at 8:51 of the final frame of regulation.

    Jack Hughes (1) had the only assist on Wood’s goal.

    Moments later, Krejci hooked Travis Zajac and was sent to the sin bin at 10:14, but New Jersey’s power play didn’t last long as Wood ran into Rask again and picked up another goaltender interference infraction at 11:13.

    The two clubs had about a minute of 4-on-4 action before an abbreviated power play followed for the Bruins.

    Ritchie (1) scored a close range goal similar to Marchand’s to put the B’s back on top, 2-1, with a power-play goal of his own.

    Marchand (1) and Grzelcyk (1) tallied the assists on Ritchie’s goal at 13:12, but Boston didn’t hold the lead for long as they surrendered a wacky goal 34 seconds later.

    Ty Smith (1) scored his first career National Hockey League goal as the last Devils player to touch the puck before it bounced off of McAvoy, then Lauzon, Lauzon’s stick, McAvoy again and finally floated over Rask and into the twine.

    The fluke goal tied the game, 2-2, and was assisted by Matt Tennyson (1) and Hughes (2) at 13:46 of the third period.

    At the end of regulation, the score remained even, despite Boston outshooting the Devils, 35-18.

    The Bruins had a, 9-7, advantage in shots on goal in the third period alone, while New Jersey led in blocked shots (13-6), takeaways (11-3), giveaways (19-6) and hits (26-13) after regulation.

    Boston led in faceoff win%, 58-42, entering overtime.

    As no penalties were called in the extra frame, the Bruins finished the night 2/5 on the power play, while the Devils went 0/5 on the skater advantage.

    The two teams swapped chances in overtime– including a couple of heart-stopping moments where the Devils nearly completed the comeback, but neither side could seal the deal on an overtime win.

    Despite Cassidy’s best efforts starting Coyle, DeBrusk and McAvoy in overtime, as well as Ruff’s lineup of Hughes, Kyle Palmieri and P.K. Subban in 3-on-3 OT, a shootout was necessary.

    The Bruins finished the night leading in shots on goal, 37-22, despite being outshot, 4-2, in overtime alone.

    New Jersey finished Thursday’s effort leading in blocked shots (14-7), giveaways (19-6) and hits (26-13), while the Bruins settled for the final advantage in faceoff win% (57-43).

    The Devils elected to shoot first in the shootout and sent Nikita Gusev out to get the job in round one, but Rask stoned him cold as Gusev attempted to go five-hole on the veteran netminder.

    Coyle was denied by Blackwood with a pad save as the Bruins forward tried to pull the New Jersey goaltender out of position.

    Boqvist was stopped by Rask in a routine save while Kase couldn’t sneak one past Blackwood’s blocker side in the second round of the shootout.

    After Hughes lost the puck while attempting to dangle his way into the low slot, Cassidy sent Marchand to try to get the win for Boston.

    Marchand came through for his coach and the rest of the Bruins with an off-tempo shot through Blackwood’s five-hole after getting the New Jersey goaltender to commit to his fake handiwork before taking the shot.

    The Bruins won the shootout, 1-0, after three rounds and clinched the, 3-2, shootout victory over the Devils to start the 2020-21 season.

    It was Boston’s first shootout win since Feb. 20, 2019, when the B’s downed the Vegas Golden Knights on the road in what was also a, 3-2, shootout victory.

    With the win, the Bruins improved to 1-0-0 when leading after the first period, 1-0-0 when leading after the second period, 1-0-0 when scoring the game’s first goal and 1-0 in shootouts (1-0 past regulation) this season.

    Boston continues their three-game road trip on Saturday afternoon with a rematch against the Devils in New Jersey at 1 p.m. ET before heading to Nassau Coliseum on Monday (Jan. 18th) for a game with the New York Islanders.

    The Bruins return to Boston for their home opener at TD Garden on Jan. 21st against the Philadelphia Flyers.

    There will be no fans in attendance in Boston due to COVID-19 restrictions in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.