Down the Frozen River

Tag: Anders Bjork

  • New B’s help Bruins over Stars, 4-3

    The Boston Bruins beat the Dallas Stars, 4-3, Thursday night at TD Garden in a game that had a little bit of everything.

    Jaroslav Halak (17-6-6 record, 2.44 goals against average, .917 save percentage in 30 games played) turned aside 31 out of 34 shots faced for a .912 SV% in the win for the Bruins.

    Stars goaltender, Ben Bishop (21-14-4, 2.49 GAA, .921 SV% in 42 games played), made 24 saves on 28 shots against for an .857 SV% in the loss.

    Boston improved to 40-13-12 (92 points) on the season and remain in command of 1st place in the entire league, while Dallas fell to 37-21-6 (80 points) on the season, but remained in 3rd place in the Central Division.

    The B’s also improved to 22-3-9 at home this season.

    The Bruins were without the services of Kevan Miller (knee) and Connor Clifton (upper body) on Thursday.

    New acquisition, Ondrej Kase, made his Boston debut on the second line with David Krejci at center and Nick Ritchie at left wing.

    As a result, Bruce Cassidy moved Jake DeBrusk down to the third line left wing with Charlie Coyle and Anders Bjork– just like how he swapped DeBrusk and Ritchie during Tuesday night’s, 5-2, loss to the Calgary Flames.

    Cassidy made no other changes to the lineup, while Joakim Nordstrom, John Moore, Anton Blidh and Karson Kuhlman served as Boston’s healthy scratches against Dallas.

    Midway through the opening frame, Tyler Seguin tripped up Chris Wagner and was assessed a minor in fraction at 13:07 of the first period.

    Boston did not score on the ensuing power play– their first skater advantage of the night.

    Moments later, Matt Grzelcyk hooked Radek Faksa and was sent to the penalty box at 17:04.

    Dallas converted on the resulting power play when John Klingberg snapped a shot from the point that looked was tipped in by Jamie Benn (19) for his 300th career goal.

    Klingberg (25) and Joe Pavelski (16) had the assists on Benn’s goal, which made it, 1-0, for Dallas at 17:38.

    Benn became the fourth player in Dallas/Minnesota North Stars franchise history to amass at least 300 career regular season goals, joining Mike Modano (557 career goals), Brian Bellows (342) and Dino Ciccarelli (332).

    It marked the 18th time this season that Boston gave up the game’s first goal on home ice and the fifth straight game that Boston’s opponent scored first– regardless of the building.

    Less than a minute later, Andrew Cogliano was punished for slashing Coyle and sent to the sin bin at 18:18.

    While on the ensuing power play, Torey Krug sent a shot on goal from the point that rebounded off of Bishop and into Coyle’s strikezone whereby Coyle (16) batted the puck out of the air and into the twine for the home run power play goal.

    Krug (35) and Brad Marchand (55) tallied the assists and the B’s tied the game, 1-1, at 19:44 of the first period.

    Entering the first intermission, the score was even at, 1-1, while the Bruins led the Stars in shots on goal, 10-9.

    Boston also held the advantage in faceoff win percentage (53-47), while Dallas led in blocked shots (5-3), takeaways (3-1) and hits (9-8).

    Both teams had three giveaways each.

    The Stars were 1/1 on the power play and the Bruins were 1/2 on the skater advantage heading into the middle period.

    Things came to a crescendo when Krejci and Pavelski dropped the gloves and exchanged fisticuffs at 11:24 of the second period.

    The two players each received five-minute majors for fighting and play continued without any other major disruptions.

    A few minutes later, Charlie McAvoy tossed a pass from about the goal line to Marchand (26) in the slot for a point blank one-timer.

    McAvoy (24) and David Pastrnak (44) had the assists on Marchand’s goal and the Bruins led for the first time of the night, 2-1, at 14:44.

    Less than a couple minutes later, Boston went up by two-goals as Ritchie (9) scored his first goal as a Bruin after snapping a shot from the high slot through net front traffic, off of Seguin and past Bishop.

    Ritchie’s goal was unassisted and made it, 3-1, for the Bruins at 16:01 of the second period.

    Late in the period, Wagner tackled Mattias Janmark after a whistle in defense of a teammate, but received a roughing minor for his retaliatory actions at 18:49.

    Dallas didn’t score on the ensuing power play.

    Through 40 minutes of action, Boston was in command of the scoreboard, 3-1, and in shots on goal, 22-19.

    The Bruins also led in blocked shots (8-7), takeaways (4-3), giveaways (11-9) and faceoff win% (54-46), while the Stars held the advantage in hits (19-16).

    Both teams were 1/2 on the power play heading into the third period.

    Wagner wasn’t available to start the third period for the Bruins and later deemed “unlikely to return” to the game with an “upper body injury” by Boston’s media team.

    Meanwhile, Dallas cut Boston’s lead in half, 3-2, after Esa Lindell fired a shot that deflected off of Denis Gurianov’s (19) stick, then off of Krug’s leg and past Halak at 1:18 of the third period.

    Lindell (20) and Jason Dickinson (12) had the assists on Gurianov’s goal.

    Boston responded with a goal of their own when Pastrnak broke into the attacking zone on a rush with Ritchie, sent Ritchie a pass, then received a shot that Pastrnak (46) intentionally redirected into the open twine.

    Ritchie (12) and Jeremy Lauzon (1) notched the assists on Pastrnak’s goal and the B’s led, 4-2, at 3:53.

    Stars head coach, Rick Bowness, pulled Bishop for an extra attacker with less than three minutes remaining in the game.

    After Marchand missed the open net from just inside the blue line, Dallas charged down the length of the ice and sustained pressure in the attacking zone, while Boston was forced to defend.

    Miro Heiskanen (8) ripped a shot that rebounded off of Halak, but clipped Bruins captain, Zdeno Chara’s, skate at just the right angle to bounce off of the Bruin and slip between the post and the Boston goaltender to make it a one-goal game.

    Benn (18) and Seguin (33) tallied the assists on Heiskanen’s goal, but the Bruins still led, 4-3, at 17:36 of the third period.

    Dallas pulled their goaltender once more with 1:58 remaining in regulation, but despite their best efforts, Boston’s defense wasn’t about to make the same mistake twice and held on to the, 4-3, victory at the final horn.

    The Bruins won, 4-3, but finished the night trailing in shots on goal to the Stars, 34-28.

    Dallas also wrapped up Thursday night with the advantage in hits (28-25) and faceoff win% (51-49), while Boston finished the game leading in blocked shots (14-9).

    Both clubs had 11 giveaways and were 1/2 on the power play on Thursday.

    The Bruins are now 12-2-6 when tied after one period and 25-1-6 when leading after two periods this season.

    The Stars are 9-8-4 when tied after one period and 9-16-1 when trailing after two periods this season.

    Boston wrapped up their two-game homestand (1-1-0) on Thursday and finishes the month of February on the road against the New York Islanders on Saturday afternoon.

  • DTFR Podcast #183- Loyalty Loyalty Loyalty

    DTFR Podcast #183- Loyalty Loyalty Loyalty

    Nick talks a little about why Joe Thornton didn’t get traded and the moves the Boston Bruins made leading to the trade deadline.

    Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and/or on Spotify. Support the show on Patreon.

  • Analysis: Heinen trade inevitable for Bruins

    The Boston Bruins made one trade at Monday’s trade deadline, sending Danton Heinen to the Anaheim Ducks for Nick Ritchie.

    Yes, Brett Ritchie’s brother.

    Bruins General Manager, Don Sweeney, is confident in his group of players and added more size to his lineup with the acquisition of Ritchie, while saving about $1.300 million in cap space in the transaction.

    Fans in Boston were split on Heinen– with those in favor citing his ability to move the puck and generate chances in the offensive zone and those opposed citing his lack of confidence and lack in body mass for a physical game among the bottom-six forwards.

    One thing’s for sure, however, with Karson Kuhlman and Anders Bjork emerging onto the scene this season, somebody was going to end up getting a ticket out of the city between Heinen, Kuhlman and Bjork.

    Could Sweeney have gotten more in return on Heinen? Sure, if other assets might have been involved or Heinen’s recent cold streak not occurred, but speculation is just that– speculation.

    For now, Sweeney did his best at improving Boston’s chances at making another deep run and leaving more of an impression on their opponents than last season’s Stanley Cup Final run.

    In the long run, the Ducks are hoping a change of scenery will help Heinen’s confidence in his own game return and blossom into what Boston currently has going for them– hopes for another long postseason.

    Ritchie, 24, had eight goals and 11 assists (19 points) in 41 games with Anaheim this season and has 78 penalty minutes in that span.

    The 6-foot-2, 230-pound native of Orangeville, Ontario was originally drafted by the Ducks in the first round (10th overall) of the 2014 NHL Draft and has 43-66–109 totals in 287 career games (all with the Ducks).

    He is signed through the 2020-21 season.

    Heinen, 24, had seven goals and 15 assists (22 points) in 58 games this season with Boston and eight penalty minutes in that span.

    The 6-foot-1, 188-pound native of Langley, British Columbia was originally drafted by the Bruins in the fourth round (116th overall) of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft and has 34-69–103 totals in 220 career NHL games (all with the B’s).

    He is a pending-restricted free agent at season’s end.

  • B’s comeback to win, 4-3, in Calgary

    After giving up two quick goals in the first period, the Boston Bruins came back to defeat the Calgary Flames, 4-3, on Friday night at Scotiabank Saddledome.

    Jaroslav Halak (16-6-6 record, 2.33 goals against average, .920 save percentage in 28 games played) made 18 saves on 21 shots against for an .857 SV% in the win.

    Flames goaltender, Cam Talbot (9-10-1, 2.83 GAA, .914 SV% in 23 games played) stopped 19 out of 23 shots faced for an .826 SV% in the loss.

    The Bruins improved to 39-11-12 (90 points) on the season and remain in 1st place in the Atlantic Division, while Calgary fell to 31-25-6 (68 points) and remained in 4th place in the Pacific Division.

    Boston also improved to 18-9-3 on the road this season with the victory and the B’s have now won 11 out of their last 12 games.

    For just the seventh time in NHL history, a team that gave up three goals in the opening four minutes of a game came back to win as Calgary scored three goals in a little over three minutes into Friday’s action, but lost.

    The Bruins were without the services of Kevan Miller (knee) on Friday, while Connor Clifton (upper body) is still with the Providence Bruins (AHL) on a conditioning stint.

    B’s head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made a few minor changes to his lineup from Wednesday night’s, 2-1, overtime win in Edmonton– swapping Danton Heinen and Karson Kuhlman on the second and third line right wings (reuniting Heinen with Jake DeBrusk and David Krejci and Kuhlman with Anders Bjork and Charlie Coyle in the process).

    Cassidy also re-inserted Anton Blidh on the fourth line left wing while scratching Joakim Nordstrom in the process.

    Earlier in the day on Friday, Boston General Manager, Don Sweeney, made a trade with Anaheim Ducks GM, Bob Murray– sending David Backes, defensive prospect, Axel Andersson and Boston’s 2020 1st round pick to the Ducks for Ondrej Kase.

    Boston retained 25% of Backes’ contract ($1.500 million through the 2020-21 season) in the transaction. Kase won’t join the team until Monday, when the Bruins are back from their current road trip and back to practice at Warrior Ice Arena.

    Kase has not played since Feb. 7th with “flu-like symptoms”, but resumed skating on Thursday with the Ducks (prior to being traded on Friday).

    Meanwhile, Nordstrom, Par Lindholm and John Moore served as healthy scratches for the Bruins on Friday.

    Calgary charged into the attacking zone and fired a shot off the post in the opening seconds of Friday night’s action.

    The puck rebounded right to the blade of Mikael Backlund (11), who promptly shot the puck past Halak as the Bruins netminder was committed to the initial shot off the iron and couldn’t recover in time.

    Rasmus Andersson (15) and Noah Hanifin (14) had the assists on Backlund’s first goal of the game 20 seconds into the first period and the Flames had the game’s first lead, 1-0.

    About two minutes later, Backlund (12) scored again on a one-timer as a result of a saucer pass from Tobias Rieder on a two-on-one break with Zdeno Chara as the lone defender for Boston.

    Rieder (6) and Matthew Tkachuk (31) tallied the assists on Backlund’s second goal of the game and Calgary jumped out to a, 2-0, lead at 2:24 of the first period.

    Not to be outdone, Patrice Bergeron (28) responded quickly after a shot from the point was deflected wide and caromed off the end boards to Bergeron in the slot for the backhand goal 24 seconds after the Flames extended their lead to two-goals.

    David Pastrnak (42) and Charlie McAvoy (22) notched the assists on Bergeron’s first goal of the night as the B’s cut Calgary’s lead in half, 2-1, at 2:58 of the first period.

    Less than a minute later, Johnny Gaudreau (15) beat Halak with a backhand shot and put the Flames back in command of a two-goal lead.

    Elias Lindholm (22) had the only assist on Gaudreau’s goal at 3:23 and Calgary led, 3-1.

    Then for a short period of time (less than three minutes) neither team scored a goal.

    But Bergeron wasn’t done scoring for the night as the lively boards at Scotiabank Saddledome worked in his favor once more and Bergeron (29) pocketed his second goal of the night on Talbot to pull the B’s within one-goal once more.

    Pastrnak (43) and Brad Marchand (53) were credited with the assists on Bergeron’s second goal and the Bruins trailed, 3-2, at 6:12 of the first period.

    Less than 30 seconds after the ensuing faceoff after Bergeron’s goal, Matt Grzelcyk leveled Rieder with a huge hit in the neutral zone, but was dealt a minor infraction for elbowing– yielding the first power play of the game to the Flames at 6:33.

    Calgary didn’t convert on their first power play opportunity of the night.

    Midway through the opening frame, Kuhlman sent Coyle into the attacking zone on a breakaway, whereby Coyle (15) deked backhand to forehand and wired a shot over Talbot’s glove to tie the game, 3-3, at 12:20 of the first period.

    Kuhlman (5) and Bjork (10) tallied the assists on Coyle’s goal as the tow teams entered the first intermission deadlocked, 3-3, on the scoreboard, despite Boston leading in shots on goal, 12-6.

    The Bruins also held the advantage in blocked shots (7-2) and faceoff win percentage (62-38), while the Flames led in giveaways (6-3) and hits (7-6).

    Both teams had one takeaway aside, while Calgary was 0/1 on the power play. Boston did not see any time on the skater advantage in the entire game.

    Less than a minute into the middle frame, Marchand (24) redirected a shot from Brandon Carlo and gave Boston their first lead of the night, 4-3, at 52 seconds of the second period.

    Carlo (14) and Torey Krug (33) had the assists on Marchand’s goal and both teams combined for seven goals in the game in the first 21 minutes of action.

    Nobody scored again for the rest of the night, however.

    Midway through the second period, Jeremy Lauzon dropped the gloves with Tkachuk and the two players were sent to the box with fighting majors at 10:17 of the middle frame.

    It was the 14th fight this season for Boston and the first career fighting major for the rookie Bruins defender, Lauzon.

    Through 40 minutes of play in Calgary, the B’s led the Flames, 4-3, on the scoreboard and, 17-11, in shots on goal.

    Boston also held the advantage in blocked shots (12-6) and giveaways (9-8), while Calgary held the advantage in takeaways (5-4) and faceoff win% (55-45).

    Both teams had 16 hits aside and the Flames were still 0/1 on the power play.

    Early in the final frame, Bergeron tripped up Derek Ryan and was assessed a minor infraction at 5:55 of the third period.

    Calgary didn’t score on the ensuing power play.

    There were no goals and no more penalties scored in the final frame of regulation as both teams swapped chances and both goaltenders found their rhythm.

    Flames interim head coach, Geoff Ward, pulled Talbot for an extra attacker with about a minute left in the game, but it was to no avail as the Bruins won, 4-3, at the final horn.

    Boston finished Friday night’s effort leading in shots on goal (23-21), blocked shots (19-9), while Calgary ended the night leading in hits (22-20) and faceoff win% (54-46).

    Both teams had 11 giveaways each and the Flames ended the night 0/2 on the power play.

    The Bruins have now won 11 out of their last 12 games and improved to 11-2-6 when tied after one period and 24-1-6 when leading after two periods this season.

    Boston also improved to 16-4-4 when allowing the game’s first goal this season, while Calgary fell to 17-7-3 when scoring the game’s first goal this season.

    The Flames also fell to 10-10-2 when tied after one period and 7-24-2 when trailing after two periods this season.

    Boston wraps up their four-game road trip (3-0-0) on Saturday against the Vancouver Canucks.

    The B’s return home for a two-game homestand on Feb. 25th and Feb. 27th for meetings with the Flames and Dallas Stars, respectively, before wrapping up the month of February with a road game against the New York Islanders on Feb. 29th.

  • Pastrnak’s hat trick propels Bruins over Habs, 4-1

    For the second time this season, David Pastrnak recorded a hat trick against the Montreal Canadiens as the Boston Bruins defeated the Habs, 4-1, at TD Garden on Wednesday night.

    Pastrnak regained the lead as top goal scorer in the league with 41 goals so far this season and became the first player since Gordie Howe to score multiple hat tricks against Montreal in the same season (Howe did so back in 1951-52).

    Bruins goaltender, Tuukka Rask (21-5-6 record, 2.11 goals against average, .930 save percentage in 33 games played), made 28 saves on 29 shots against for a .966 SV% in the win.

    Canadiens netminder, Carey Price (24-20-4, 2.73 GAA, .913 SV% in 48 games played) stopped 34 out of 37 shots faced for a .919 SV% in the loss.

    Boston improved to 35-11-12 (82 points) on the season and remained atop the entire league, while Montreal fell to 27-25-7 (61 points) and stayed put in 5th place in the Atlantic Division.

    The B’s also improved to 20-2-9 at home this season and have won eight out of their last ten games.

    The Bruins were without the services of Kevan Miller (knee), Connor Clifton (upper body) and Jeremy Lauzon (suspension) on Wednesday.

    Lauzon wrapped up his two game suspension from last Saturday’s, 4-2, win against the Arizona Coyotes for an illegal hit to the head of Coyotes forward, Derek Stepan.

    Meanwhile, Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made a few minor changes among his forwards against the Canadiens.

    Joakim Nordstrom was back in the lineup after missing the last four games due to allergy related complications and resumed his usual role on the fourth line left wing– reuniting the Nordstrom, Sean Kuraly and Chris Wagner trio.

    Cassidy moved Danton Heinen to the third line right wing with Anders Bjork at left wing and Charlie Coyle down the middle.

    As a result, Par Lindholm joined Anton Blidh as Boston’s only healthy scratches against Montreal as Urho Vaakanainen was reassigned to the Providence Bruins (AHL) late Sunday night after being recalled on an emergency basis.

    Wednesday night marked the 750th all time regular season matchup between the B’s and Habs. Montreal has won 363 of those matches, while Boston has now won 284 of them. The two clubs tied in 103 times in that span.

    Almost midway through the opening frame, Brad Marchand snaked his way into the attacking zone and through Montreal’s defense before curling a pass to Pastrnak (39) for a one-timer into the back of the twine– giving Boston the game’s first lead, 1-0.

    Marchand (47) had the only assist on Pastrnak’s goal– his 39th of the season, which established a new career-high in goals for No. 88 in black and gold– at 6:59 of the first period.

    The pair of wingers on Boston’s first line each have amassed at least 70 points in the last four seasons– marking the 10th time a Bruins player has recorded 70-plus points in four or more consecutive seasons.

    Just past the midpoint of the first period, the Canadiens made an error in judgment and had too many skaters on the ice– yielding the first power play of the night to the Bruins at 10:32, but Boston did not convert on the ensuing legal skater advantage.

    Late in the opening frame, Marchand got tangled up with Jeff Petry in front of the Montreal net as the two players exchanged shoves and roughing penalties (with Marchand earning an extra slashing minor in the process).

    The Canadiens had their first power play of the night at 18:48 of the first period while Heinen served Marchand’s extra minor in the box.

    Montreal’s power play would extend into the second period as the two teams entered the first intermission with the B’s in the lead on the scoreboard, 1-0, and in shots on goal, 11-10.

    After one period of play, Boston held the advantage in blocked shots (6-2) and takeaways (2-0), while the Habs led in hits (12-11) and faceoff win percentage (53-47).

    Both teams had four giveaways aside and were 0/1 on the power play heading into the middle frame.

    The Habs began the second period with 48 seconds remaining on their power play, but their special teams were no match for Boston’s penalty kill fresh off the intermission as the Bruins killed off Marchand’s minor.

    Moments later, Pastrnak (40) tallied his second goal of the game after Kuraly fed Pastrnak with pass while on a two-on-one break-in that led to Pastrnak deking and scoring top-shelf while Price dove in desperation.

    Kuraly (15) had the only assist on Pastrnak’s goal and the B’s led, 2-0, at 4:16 of the second period.

    For the first time since Glen Murray tallied 44 goals in the 2002-03 season, a Bruin recorded 40 or more goals in a season as Pastrnak reached and surpassed the 40-goal plateau.

    He also required the fewest games (58) by a Bruins player to score 40 goals in a season since Cam Neely reached 40 goals in 36 games played in 1993-94 (which is also the fastest in franchise history to reach 40 goals).

    Less than a minute later, Marco Scandella ripped a shot from the point that went off of Nick Suzuki’s (12) hip and past Rask– cutting Boston’s lead in half, 2-1, and putting the Habs on the scoreboard.

    Scandella (8) had the only assist on Suzuki’s unintentional redirection goal at 4:52 of the second period.

    Shortly thereafter, Heinen slashed Artturi Lehkonen and was sent to the box at 5:38.

    Prior to the ensuing faceoff on the power play for Montreal, Zdeno Chara and Brendan Gallagher exchanged pleasantries with Chara promptly delivering a swift cross check to Gallagher and Gallagher receiving a roughing minor as the two were sent to their respective penalty boxes with Heinen already in Boston’s sin bin at 5:38 of the middle frame.

    The Canadiens didn’t convert on the resulting power play.

    Late in the second period, the nastiness continued with Jonathan Drouin and Wagner exchanging shoves and receiving roughing infractions at 14:32.

    While on the ensuing 4-on-4 action, Joel Armia took a penalty for roughing against Torey Krug at 15:14 and yielded a 4-on-3 advantage for Boston for an abbreviated 1:19 span.

    Montreal failed to clear a rebound in the resulting zone time for the Bruins as Patrice Bergeron battled Petry’s net front presence before the loose puck ended up on Pastrnak’s stick.

    Pastrnak (41) slid the rubber biscuit through Price’s five-hole into the far side of the goal for his fourth hat trick of the season and first since Jan. 9th against the Winnipeg Jets.

    Pastrnak’s hat trick goal was unassisted at 15:45 of the second period as Pastrnak joined Washington Capitals prolific goal scorer, Alex Ovechkin, as the only other active player to score nine hat tricks (including regular season and playoffs) prior to his 24th birthday.

    Pastrnak’s third goal of the game was also his eighth goal against Montreal this season and left him second to Phil Esposito in Bruins franchise history for the most hat tricks in a single season– Pastrnak has four thus far, while Esposito notched seven hat tricks in the 1970-71 season for Boston.

    Shortly after play resumed, Kuraly bumped into his own defender, Charlie McAvoy, and went down the tunnel, but returned to play unharmed ahead of the third period.

    Entering the second intermission, the B’s led the Habs, 3-1, on the scoreboard and, 26-19, in shots on goal through 40 minutes of play.

    Boston held the advantage in blocked shots (11-2) and takeaways (4-1), while Montreal led in giveaways (8-6) and faceoff win% (56-44).

    Both teams recorded 17 hits aside after two periods of action. The Canadiens were 0/2 on the skater advantage, while the Bruins were 1/2 on the power play heading into the final period.

    Early in the final frame, McAvoy sent the puck off the boards and out of play, but received an automatic delay of game penalty despite the on-ice officials convening to determine if the puck had gone clearly out of play or otherwise (it was evident via replay that the puck glanced off the boards, changed direction and traveled out of the playing surface, but alas, delay of game penalties of this nature cannot be subject to video review).

    So the Canadiens went on the power play at 4:19 of the third period, but the Habs continued to struggle on the skater advantage.

    Gallagher tried to get under the skin of Bruins defender, John Moore, in the dying seconds of Montreal’s power play in effort to yield an extension on the advantage, but Moore was not biting and Gallagher actually caught the B’s defender with a high stick at 6:18, reversing the skater advantage from the Habs to Boston.

    Despite being presented with another power play opportunity of the night, the Bruins failed to convert while Gallagher was in the box.

    With about 2:34 remaining in the game, Canadiens head coach, Claude Julien, pulled Price for an extra attacker to try to muster a pair of goals for his team in the dying minutes of the game.

    Despite using his team’s timeout after a stoppage with 43.7 seconds remaining, Montreal’s last ditch effort was no match for Boston’s strong defense and forward progression.

    Pastrnak flipped the puck down the ice whereby Marchand won a battle along the boards and was able to free the puck to Bergeron (24) for the empty net goal that sealed the deal on Boston’s, 4-1, victory.

    Marchand (48) had the only assist on Bergeron’s empty netter at 19:40 of the third period and finished the night with a pair of helpers.

    At the final horn the Bruins had won and finished the night leading in shots on goal, 38-29, with the final score reading as a, 4-1, win over the Canadiens.

    Boston wrapped up Wednesday night ahead of Montreal in blocked shots (13-6), as well, while the Habs finished the game leading in giveaways (10-8), hits (27-25) and faceoff win% (58-42).

    The Canadiens went 0/3 on the skater advantage and the B’s went 1/3 on the power play in Wednesday night’s matchup.

    Rask extended his franchise record for longest point streak to open a season at home– improving to 13-0-6 at TD Garden this season with the win.

    The Bruins also improved to 20-5-3 when leading after the first period, 20-1-6 when leading after two periods and 21-7-8 when scoring the game’s first goal this season.

    Boston wraps up their two-game homestand against the Detroit Red Wings next Saturday (Feb. 15th) before going on a four-game road trip with stops against the New York Rangers, Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks.

  • McAvoy lifts B’s over Blackhawks, 2-1, in OT

    Charlie McAvoy scored his first goal of the season to lift the Boston Bruins over the Chicago Blackhawks, 2-1, in overtime Wednesday night at United Center.

    Boston goaltender, Jaroslav Halak (14-6-6 record, 2.36 goals against average, .921 save percentage in 26 games played), made 21 saves on 22 shots against for a .955 SV% in the overtime win.

    Meanwhile, Chicago netminder, Robin Lehner (15-8-5, 2.83 GAA, .923 SV% in 30 games played) stopped 38 out of 40 shots faced for a .950 SV% in the overtime loss.

    The Bruins improved to 33-10-12 (78 points) and took over 1st place in the entire league standings, while maintaining their 1st place standing in the Atlantic Division.

    The Blackhawks, meanwhile, fell to 25-21-8 (58 points) and moved into 4th place in the Central Division.

    Boston improved to 15-8-3 on the road this season as Bruce Cassidy earned his 150th win behind the bench as head coach of the Bruins.

    The B’s are now on a five-game winning streak and have won six out of their last seven games.

    Once more, Kevan Miller (knee), Connor Clifton (upper body) and Joakim Nordstrom (allergy complications) were out of the lineup for Boston on Wednesday.

    Meanwhile, Danton Heinen (undisclosed/healthy scratch) also remained out of the lineup as Cassidy made no changes to his lineup from Tuesday night’s, 4-0, victory over the Vancouver Canucks in Boston to Wednesday night’s matchup with the Blackhawks in Chicago.

    John Moore was the only healthy scratch for the B’s (if Heinen technically wasn’t a healthy scratch for the 2nd game in a row).

    Late in the opening frame, Blackhawks defender, Slater Koekkoek, was guilty of holding Bruins forward, Sean Kuraly, and assessed a minor penalty at 15:56 of the first period.

    Boston did not convert on the ensuing power play opportunity– their first skater advantage of the night.

    After one period of play at United Center on Wednesday, the score was still tied, 0-0, while the Bruins led in shots on goal, 16-5.

    Chicago held the advantage in blocked shots (7-2), giveaways (4-1) and faceoff win percentage (61-39), while Boston led in hits (14-5). Both teams had five takeaways aside entering the first intermission.

    The Blackhawks had yet to see time on the skater advantage and the Bruins were 0/1 on the power play heading into the middle frame.

    Early in the middle period, David Krejci boarded Adam Boqvist and sent the young Blackhawks skater out of the game as Chicago’s media relations crew would later tweet that Boqvist was done for the night with a right shoulder injury.

    Chicago went on the power play at 6:13 of the second period and took less than a minute to capitalize on the skater advantage.

    Patrick Kane pinched along the boards to cut off a clearing attempt by Brad Marchand and stole the puck in the process.

    Kane sent the rubber biscuit towards the net where Kirby Dach got a chance before Alex DeBrincat (13) pocketed a rebound off Halak and through the Bruins goaltender’s seven-hole to give the Blackhawks the game’s first goal at 6:50 of the second period.

    DeBrincat’s power play goal was assisted by Dach (10) and Kane (41) and gave Chicago the, 1-0, lead.

    Almost a few minutes past the midpoint of regulation, Kuraly (5) skated wide around the net and threw the puck towards the goal whereby the puck bounced off of Lehner’s stick and went through the Blackhawks netminder’s five-hole– tying the game, 1-1, in the process.

    Matt Grzelcyk (14) and Anders Bjork (9) tallied the assists on Kuraly’s goal at 12:49 and the B’s were on the scoreboard.

    Moments later, Jeremy Lauzon caught Kane with an errant stick and was assessed a high sticking minor at 16:43.

    Chicago did not score on the ensuing power play.

    Both teams entered the second intermission tied on the scoreboard, 1-1, despite the Bruins leading in shots on goal, 27-13.

    Through 40 minutes of action, the Blackhawks led in blocked shots (14-9) and giveaways (6-3), while Boston held the advantage in takeaways (11-10), hits (21-12) and faceoff win% (51-49).

    Chicago was 1/2 on the power play and the Bruins were 0/1 entering the third period.

    Brandon Saad opened the final frame of regulation with a slashing penalty against Bjork at 5:53 of the third period.

    Boston did not score on the ensuing power play.

    Midway through the third period, Alexander Nylander tripped up David Pastrnak, but Pastrnak embellished the call and the two skaters received minor penalties– yielding 4-on-4 action for two minutes at 11:41.

    Three minutes later, Chris Wagner was called for slashing against Dach while the Blackhawks forward nearly had a breakaway at 14:41.

    This time, however, Chicago was not able to convert on the skater advantage.

    Less than a few minutes later, Zack Smith delivered an illegal check to the head of Torey Krug along the glass just about in the neutral zone near the penalty box and received a minor penalty at 17:34.

    Seconds into Boston’s power play, Ryan Carpenter received a misconduct from the officials at 17:48 for something he did or said that only the refs would know about.

    Almost 90 seconds into Boston’s power play, Krug tripped up Olli Maatta as the Blackhawks defender appeared to deliver a hand pass to move the puck through the neutral zone, which led to what otherwise might have been a goal for Chicago had it not been immediately waved off.

    Regardless, the Bruins’ skater advantage was no more, resulting in an abbreviated 4-on-4 stint at 18:55 of the third period before the Blackhawks would go on an abbreviated power play to close out regulation time.

    After three periods of play at United Center on Wednesday, the two teams required overtime as the game was deadlocked, 1-1, on the scoreboard.

    Boston held the advantage in shots on goal (38-22) and hits (25-16) through 60 minutes of play, while Chicago led in blocked shots (18-14), giveaways (10-5) and faceoff win% (51-49).

    Both teams had 13 takeaways aside as the Blackhawks were 1/4 on the power play and the B’s were 0/3 entering the extra frame.

    Chicago began the overtime period with about 55 seconds left on the power play and a 4-on-3 advantage to begin what is usually 3-on-3 action in overtime (except for when there’s a power play involved).

    Cassidy elected to start Patrice Bergeron, Zdeno Chara and Brandon Carlo in overtime, while Blackhawks head coach, Jeremy Colliton, matched Boston’s skaters with Jonathan Toews, Kane, DeBrincat and Erik Gustafsson.

    Shortly after killing off Krug’s minor, the Bruins raced up-ice on a give-and-go.

    Jake DeBrusk flung the puck towards the slot where McAvoy (1) was awaiting the perfect chance to redirect the rubber biscuit with his blade from the edge of the crease to give the B’s the, 2-1, overtime victory with his 3rd career regular season overtime goal.

    DeBrusk (16) and Krejci (25) notched the assists as Boston finished the night off with the win at 1:19 of the overtime period.

    The Bruins finished the night leading in shots on goal (40-22) and hits (25-16), while the Blackhawks left Wednesday night’s matchup with the lead in blocked shots (18-14), giveaways (11-5) and faceoff win% (52-48).

    Chicago went 1/4 on the power play on Wednesday and Boston went 0/3.

    The Bruins, in the meantime, improved to 9-1-6 when tied after one period, 10-2-3 when tied after two periods and 4-5 in overtime this season. The B’s are now 4-12 past regulation overall.

    Chicago fell to 4-4 in overtime this season and 7-8 past regulation overall.

    Boston returns home for a matchup with the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday before traveling to Detroit to face the Red Wings on Sunday.

  • Rask, Bruins shutout Canucks, 4-0

    The Boston Bruins extended their current winning streak to four games with a, 4-0, shutout victory over the Vancouver Canucks Tuesday night at TD Garden.

    Tuukka Rask (19-4-6 record, 2.15 goals against average, .929 save percentage in 30 games played) made 25 saves on 25 shots against in the win for his 3rd shutout this season (48th career shutout).

    In addition, Rask tied Gilles Gilbert’s Bruins franchise record set in 1970-71 for the longest home point streak to start a season. Rask is 11-0-6 through 17 individual games played on home ice this season.

    Canucks goaltender, Jacob Markstrom (20-14-3, 2.74 GAA, .917 SV% in 37 games played), stopped 38 out of 42 shots faced for a .905 SV% in the loss.

    Boston improved to 32-10-12 (76 points) on the season and remained in command of 1st place in the Atlantic Division, while Vancouver fell to 30-19-5 (65 points), but held onto their 1st place standing in the Pacific Division.

    The B’s have won five out of their last six games and also improved to 18-2-9 at home this season as a result of the win.

    Editor’s note: Welcome back to our regular coverage of Bruins recaps after a little extended vacation on both ends of the All Star break. It might happen again, possibly forever. Stay tuned.

    If you weren’t already aware, Boston defeated the Vegas Golden Knights (3-2, on Jan. 21st at TD Garden), as well as the Winnipeg Jets (2-1, on Jan. 31st at Bell MTS Place) and the Minnesota Wild (6-1, on Feb. 1st at Xcel Energy Center) while our coverage was on holiday.

    The Bruins were without the services of Kevan Miller (knee), Connor Clifton (upper body) and Joakim Nordstrom (allergy complications) against the Canucks on Tuesday.

    Boston head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made minor changes to his lineup from Saturday night’s win in Minnesota.

    The first line comprised of the usual “Perfection Line” trio of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak, while the second line featured Jake DeBrusk at left wing, David Krejci at center and Karson Kuhlman on the right wing.

    Sean Kuraly was back in the lineup on the left side of the third line with Charlie Coyle down the middle and Anders Bjork on the right side, while Anton Blidh, Par Lindholm and Chris Wagner made up the fourth line.

    On defense, Zdeno Chara and Charlie McAvoy continued to serve as the top pairing with Torey Krug and Brandon Carlo filling out the rest of the top-4 defenders.

    Matt Grzelcyk suited up on the third pairing alongside Jeremy Lauzon, while John Moore and Danton Heinen served as Boston’s only healthy scratches Tuesday night.

    Late in the opening frame, Coyle (10) scooped up a loose puck on a rebound and elevated a quick backhand over Markstrom’s glove to give Boston the game’s first goal.

    McAvoy (18) and Bjork (8) tallied the assists on Coyle’s goal at 14:24 of the first period and the Bruins led, 1-0.

    But there was a catch (sort of).

    Canucks head coach, Travis Green, used his coach’s challenge on the basis that Vancouver was asking to review whether or not McAvoy had entered the zone offside– therefore negating the play that ultimately led to the goal, thus getting rid of the goal.

    However, after review, it was determined that the call on the ice stood and the Bruins had indeed scored a good goal when the officials confirmed via video that McAvoy did not actually skate over the blue line with the puck on his stick while Kuraly was making an effort to get back onside.

    McAvoy had somehow sidestepped for a split second while Kuraly checked up, then proceeded to touch the puck after assuring that he and his teammate were in the clear.

    Boston led, 1-0, and Vancouver was charged with a bench minor for delay of game at 14:24. Jake Virtanen served the time in the box for the Canucks.

    Entering the first intermission, the B’s were ahead on the scoreboard, 1-0, and led in shots on goal, 13-6.

    The Bruins also held the advantage in takeaways (4-3), giveaways (5-3), hits (9-7) and faceoff win percentage (53-47). The Canucks led in blocked shots (4-2) after one period.

    Vancouver had yet to see any time on the skater advantage, while Boston was 0/1 on the power play through 20 minutes of action Tuesday night.

    Early in the middle frame, Troy Stecher sent the puck over the glass and out of the playing surface– yielding an automatic delay of game minor infraction at 5:45 of the second period.

    The Canucks followed up their already shorthanded bid with another penalty about a minute later after Alexander Edler tripped up Marchand at 6:46.

    Boston had an abbreviated 5-on-3 advantage, but could not convert on the power play.

    Instead, the Bruins followed suit with a minor penalty of their own in the vulnerable minute after their advantage as Bjork hooked Canucks captain, Bo Horvat, at 9:48 of the second period.

    Vancouver did not capitalized on their first power play opportunity of the night.

    Late in the second period, Grzelcyk kickstarted a play from his own zone through the neutral zone whereby Marchand sent the puck to Bergeron for a quick redirection to McAvoy as the Bruins defender was gathering speed into the attacking zone.

    McAvoy then sent the puck back to Bergeron who then found Marchand (23) to give Boston a two-goal advantage at 15:35.

    Bergeron (21) and McAvoy (19) had the assists and the B’s led, 2-0.

    Less than 30 seconds later, Wagner cut a rut to the penalty box for hooking against Oscar Fantenberg and presented Vancouver with another power play opportunity at 15:57.

    Once more, the Canucks were denied on the skater advantage, however, and the Bruins carried a, 2-0, lead into the second intermission, as well as a, 30-15, advantage in shots on goal through 40 minutes of play.

    Boston dominated in takeaways (6-4) and hits (20-17), while Vancouver led in blocked shots (12-6), giveaways (11-6) and faceoff win% (51-49) heading into the final frame of regulation.

    The Canucks were 0/2 on the skater advantage and the B’s were 0/3 entering the third period.

    Midway through the final frame of the game, Krug slashed Virtanen and was promptly sent to the sin bin at 12:38 of the third period.

    Canucks rookie defender, Quinn Hughes, slashed Kuraly about a minute later and yielded 4-on-4 action for a 1:01 span before the Bruins had an abbreviated 5-on-4 power play.

    While at even strength with four skaters aside, Boston extended their lead to three goals after Krejci sent Kuraly into the corner before No. 52 in black and gold fished the puck back out to Krejci (13) in the slot whereby No. 46 sent a shot past Markstrom’s glove side at 14:09 of the third period.

    The Bruins led, 3-0, as Kuraly (14) and Carlo (13) collected the assists on Krejci’s goal.

    About a minute later, Jay Beagle didn’t make an effort to avoid contact with Rask and bowled into the Boston goaltender at 15:11– receiving the ire of McAvoy, a goaltender interference minor and a misconduct at the same time.

    As a result, the B’s had about 28 seconds worth of a 5-on-3 advantage until Tyler Myers sent the puck over the glass at 16:22 and reset the 5-on-3 advantage clock to 50 seconds worth of a two-skater advantage for Boston.

    While on the advantage, Coyle fired a shot towards the net that Kuhlman (1) redirected in the slot off a Canucks defender before the puck caught Markstrom’s leg pad and strolled over the goal line for his first goal of the season.

    Coyle (19) and Grzelcyk (13) tallied the assists on Kuhlman’s goal and the Bruins led, 4-0, at 18:10.

    At the final horn, Boston secured the shutout victory and finished the night leading in shots on goal, 42-25.

    The B’s also wrapped up Tuesday night’s action with the advantage in hits (29-27), while Vancouver left TD Garden with the lead in blocked shots (14-9), giveaways (12-9) and faceoff win% (54-46).

    The Canucks went 0/3 on the power play and the Bruins went 1/6.

    Boston improved to 3-0-0 out of the All Star break and bye week, while outscoring their opponents, 12-2, in that span.

    The Bruins also improved to 20-7-8 when scoring the game’s first goal, 19-5-3 when leading after the first period and 17-1-6 when leading after two periods this season.

    The B’s take on the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center in Chicago on Wednesday before returning home for a matchup with the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday before traveling to Detroit to face the Red Wings on Sunday.

  • Penguins rally for four unanswered in, 4-3, win over Boston

    For the third time this season, the Boston Bruins blew a three-goal lead and lost, 4-3, on Sunday– this time to the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena.

    Matt Murray (15-6-4 record, 2.84 goals against average, .900 save percentage in 27 games played) made 34 saves on 37 shots against for a .919 SV% in the win for the Pens.

    B’s goaltender, Jaroslav Halak (11-6-6, 2.49 GAA, .918 SV% in 23 games played) stopped 18 out of 22 shots faced for a .918 SV% in the loss.

    Boston fell to 28-10-12 (68 points), but remained in command of the Atlantic Division. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh improved to 31-13-5 (65 points) and maintained their 2nd place status in the Metropolitan Division.

    The Bruins also fell to 12-8-3 on the road this season and dropped to 2-1-0 in the season series against the Penguins (won, 6-4, at Boston on Nov. 4th, won, 4-1, at Boston on Jan. 16th and lost, 4-3, at Pittsburgh on Jan. 19th).

    The Bruins were without the services of Kevan Miller (knee), Connor Clifton (upper body), Tuukka Rask (concussion) and David Krejci (upper body) on Sunday afternoon in Pittsburgh.

    Miller has yet to make his season debut, while Clifton and Krejci are considered “day-to-day”. Rask, on the other hand, remains on the injured reserve since sustaining a concussion in Columbus on Jan. 14th.

    B’s head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made no changes to his lineup from Thursday night’s, 4-1, win over the Penguins in Boston, but Bruins General Manager, Don Sweeney, made a couple minor transactions.

    First, Sweeney placed David Backes on waivers for the purpose of assignment to the Providence Bruins (AHL) on Friday. Backes had one goal and two assists (three points) in 16 games with Boston this season and cleared waivers on Saturday.

    The Bruins saved about $1.075 million in cap space as a result of the transaction.

    Finally, Sweeney made paper transactions over the course of Friday and Saturday assigning Dan Vladar to Providence and recalling Maxime Lagace on an emergency basis before reassigning Lagace and calling up Vladar on an emergency basis ahead of Sunday’s matinee.

    Vladar once again served as the backup goaltender for Halak against Pittsburgh.

    Steven Kampfer and Anton Blidh were the only healthy scratches for Boston on Sunday.

    Shortly after puck drop, Patrice Bergeron (21) waltzed into the attacking zone and fired a shot through Murray’s five-hole after Brad Marchand connected on a pass with Bergeron.

    Bergeron’s goal gave Boston the, 1-0, lead 11 seconds into the first period and was assisted by Marchand (44) and David Pastrnak (33).

    Less than two minutes later, Anders Bjork (8) sniped a shot over Murray’s glove into the top-corner of the twine to make it, 2-0, for the Bruins at 2:02 of the first period.

    Charlie Coyle (17) and Jake DeBrusk (14) notched the assists on Bjork’s goal as the B’s scored two goals in a span of 1:51.

    Murray received a “Bronx cheer” from his home crowd after stopping an ensuing dump-in by Boston and was nearly spotless until late in the first period when Pastrnak (37) spun and threw a puck towards the net hoping to connect on a pass to Marchand, but instead deflected the puck off of Jack Johnson and behind the Penguins goaltender.

    Pastrnak’s goal was unassisted and gave Boston a three-goal lead, 3-0, at 15:07 of the first period.

    About 90 seconds later, the Pens responded and showed a sign of life when Sidney Crosby sent a pass from behind the net to Dominik Simon (6) for a one-timed shot from the goal line that beat Halak on the glove side– cutting into Boston’s lead and putting Pittsburgh on the scoreboard, 3-1.

    Crosby (16) and Patric Hornqvist (8) tallied the assists on Simon’s goal at 16:34.

    Almost two minutes later, Teddy Blueger was sent to the penalty box for hooking against Brandon Carlo and the Bruins went on the power play for the first time of the afternoon at 18:23.

    Boston didn’t convert on the ensuing power play, which spilled over into the second period.

    After one period in Pittsburgh, the Bruins led the Penguins, 3-1, on the scoreboard and, 13-6, in shots on goal.

    The B’s also held the advantage in takeaways (1-0), hits (12-11) and faceoff win percentage (72-28), while the Pens led in blocked shots (8-3) and giveaways (3-0).

    Pittsburgh had yet to see time on the skater advantage, while Boston was 0/1 on the power play heading into the first intermission.

    Early in the middle frame, Marchand turned the puck over to the Penguins– giving Kris Letang a free puck that he sent off the endboards for Crosby to scoop up and send between his legs to Blueger (7) for the goal that cut Boston’s lead to one.

    Crosby (17) and Letang (21) had the assists on Blueger’s goal 33 seconds into the second period and the Pens trailed, 3-2.

    Despite amassing five shot attempts on the power play, the Bruins failed to record a shot on goal while on the advantage.

    Midway through the second period, Chris Wagner was penalized for interference at 12:09 and presented Pittsburgh with their first power play of the afternoon.

    Less than a minute later, Letang and Marchand got tangled up and received matching roughing minors at 13:00 of the second period, but Pittsburgh’s 5-on-4 advantage was unchanged.

    Through 40 minutes of play, the Bruins still led the Penguins, 3-2, on the scoreboard and in shots on goal, 23-18– despite being outshot by the Pens, 12-10, in the second period alone.

    Pittsburgh held the advantage in blocked shots (13-5) and giveaways (8-1), while Boston led in takeaways (4-2), hits (24-22) and faceoff win% (58-42).

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

    Just 20 seconds into the third period, Letang was sent to the sin bin for elbowing Marchand, but instead of capitalizing on the ensuing power play, Boston’s special teams was powerless and allowed a shorthanded goal against.

    Johnson (3) blasted a shot from the point and beat Halak under the blocker on the short side while the Bruins defense looked on and watched it unfold as Bergeron had to draw back and defend alongside Torey Krug.

    Brandon Tanev (12) had the only assist on Johnson’s goal at 1:41 of the third period and the Penguins tied it, 3-3.

    Midway through the third, despite Boston doing everything they could to slip another puck past Murray, Pittsburgh made the most of their opportunities as Bryan Rust (21) sent home a one-timer goal over Halak’s blocker while Halak was lost and the B’s defense was out of position.

    Evgeni Malkin (35) forced the initial turnover by Charlie McAvoy and sent the pass to Rust for the only assist on the game-winning goal as the Penguins led, 4-3, at 12:35 of the third period.

    With 2:19 remaining in regulation Cassidy pulled his goaltender for an extra attacker, but it was to no avail as Matt Grzelcyk received a tripping infraction at 19:04.

    Despite using his timeout with 55.5 seconds left in the game, Cassidy’s crew couldn’t get the puck out of their own zone and struggled to free Halak from his crease for an extra skater in the dying dozen seconds or so as the final horn sounded and the Penguins had completed the comeback.

    At the end of the afternoon, Pittsburgh had won, 4-3, despite trailing in shots on goal, 37-22– including a, 14-4, advantage for Boston in the third period alone.

    The Pens finished the game leading in blocked shots (22-7), giveaways (12-3) and hits (37-28), while the Bruins led in faceoff win% (58-42).

    Both teams went 0/2 on the power play on Sunday.

    Boston fell to 18-7-8 when scoring the game’s first goal, 17-5-3 when leading after the first period and 15-1-6 when leading after two periods this season.

    The B’s have won six out of their last ten games against Pittsburgh, but are on a six-game losing streak at PPG Paints Arena.

    The Bruins fell to 200-2-6 when leading by at least three goals since 2010-11.

    Boston returns home for their last game prior to the All-Star break next Tuesday against the Vegas Golden Knights. The Bruins resume play on Friday, Jan. 31st in Winnipeg thereafter.

  • B’s complete effort yields, 4-1, win over Pens

    Four different players scored for the Boston Bruins in their, 4-1, victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins Thursday night at TD Garden.

    Bruins goaltender, Jaroslav Halak (11-5-6 record, 2.42 goals against average, .921 save percentage in 22 games played) made 29 saves on 30 shots against for a .967 SV% in the win.

    Penguins goaltender, Tristan Jarry (16-7-1, 2.16 GAA, .929 SV% in 24 games played) stopped 26 out of 29 shots faced for an .897 SV% in the loss.

    Boston improved to 28-9-12 (68 points) on the season and remained in command of the Atlantic Division, while Pittsburgh fell to 29-13-5 (63 points), but maintained their status in 2nd place in the Metropolitan Division.

    The B’s also improved to 16-2-9 at home this season.

    Boston was without the services of Kevan Miller (knee), Connor Clifton (upper body), Tuukka Rask (concussion) and David Krejci (upper body) on Thursday.

    Rask was placed on the injured reserve and likely will not play again until after the All Star break, while Krejci was a game-time decision, but didn’t participate in pregame warmups.

    Brett Ritchie was placed on waivers for the purpose of assignment to the Providence Bruins (AHL) on Wednesday and cleared waivers without any issues on Thursday. He had two goals and four assists (six points) in 27 games with Boston before being sent down to Providence.

    As a result, Karson Kuhlman was recalled from Providence and suited up in his first game with Boston since being injured in Toronto on Oct. 19th.

    Kuhlman missed 32 games with a fractured tibia before being assigned to Providence and amassing 2-1–3 totals in four games with the P-Bruins since returning to play. He had no points in eight games with Boston this season entering Thursday.

    With Rask out for at least a week, Dan Vladar was called up from Providence to be Halak’s backup for the time being.

    Vladar has a 6-5-2 record with a 1.84 GAA, a .935 SV% and two shutouts in 12 games with Providence so far this season. He has yet to make an NHL appearance in his career since being drafted by Boston in the 3rd round (75th overall) of the 2015 NHL Draft.

    Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, had to make some adjustments to his lineup from Tuesday night’s, 3-0, loss in Columbus to Thursday night’s matchup with Pittsburgh.

    Cassidy left his first and fourth lines alone, but bumped up Charlie Coyle to center the second line in Krejci’s absence, while Par Lindholm was re-inserted in the lineup as the third line center in Coyle’s spot.

    Danton Heinen remained on the third line left wing, while Kuhlman made his return to the B’s lineup on the right side of Heinen and Lindholm.

    On defense, Matt Grzelcyk returned to the left side of the third pairing with John Moore on his right, while Steven Kampfer went back up to the press box on level nine of TD Garden as a healthy scratch.

    Kampfer was joined by David Backes and Anton Blidh as Boston’s trio of healthy scratches against the Penguins while Blidh looks to return from an injury sustained in the preseason.

    Prior to the action, the Bruins held a ceremony to honor Rask for surpassing 500 career NHL games earlier in the season.

    Shortly after puck drop, Sidney Crosby (7) received the puck, broke into the attacking zone and rocketed a slap shot under Halak’s glove to give the Penguins a, 1-0, lead 24 seconds into the first period.

    Dominik Simon (14) and Jack Johnson (7) had the assists on Crosby’s goal. Johnson’s secondary assist was the 300th point of his NHL career.

    Boston allowed the game’s first goal on home ice for just the 13th time this season in the process.

    Less than a minute later, Zach Aston-Reese received a roughing minor for trying to engage Charlie McAvoy in a battle after McAvoy hit Brandon Tanev along the boards.

    The Bruins went to the power play at 1:16, but did not convert on the ensuing skater advantage.

    About seven seconds after resuming even strength play, the Penguins were shorthanded again when John Marino boarded Chris Wagner at 3:23.

    Boston’s power play was powerless on their second opportunity of the game.

    Moments later, Kris Letang and Wagner each received roughing infractions after Wagner delivered a huge hit on Tanev near the boards at 7:33.

    In the vulnerable minute after the ensuing 4-on-4 action, Sean Kuraly (4) squeaked a shot past Jarry to tie the game, 1-1.

    Kuhlman (1) and McAvoy (17) had the assists on Kuraly’s goal at 10:03 of the first period and the B’s surged in momentum.

    Almost a couple minutes later, Kuhlman was once again involved in a goal when he intentionally shot the puck from the high slot in Lindholm’s direction for Lindholm (3) to redirect the rubber biscuit past Jarry at 12:16.

    Kuhlman (2) had the only assist– his 2nd of the night– as Lindholm’s goal gave the Bruins their first lead of the night, 2-1.

    Boston managed to score a pair of goals in a 2:13 span, then followed it up with a tripping penalty when Patrice Bergeron got his stick caught under Evgeni Malkin and brought down the Pens forward at 13:19 of the first period.

    Pittsburgh was unsuccessful on the resulting power play.

    After one period of action on Thursday, the Bruins led the Penguins, 2-1, on the scoreboard and, 12-10, in shots on goal.

    Boston also held the advantage in hits (14-6) and faceoff win percentage (57-44), while Pittsburgh led in blocked shots (7-4), takeaways (4-2) and giveaways (3-1).

    The Pens were 0/1 on the power play heading into the first intermission and the B’s were 0/2.

    Early in the middle frame, Wagner tripped Marino and was sent to the penalty box with a minor infraction at 1:39 of the second period.

    Pittsburgh did not score on the resulting power play.

    Midway through the second period, Anders Bjork slashed Dominik Kahun and was sent to the sin bin at 9:47. Once again, the Penguins did not convert on the ensuing skater advantage.

    Late in the period, Patric Hornqvist and Torey Krug exchanged words and got into a bit of a shoving match that elicited roughing penalties at 16:08.

    A few seconds after each player was released from the box and both teams resumed 5-on-5 action, Hornqvist and Krug dropped the gloves and exchanged fisticuffs in what was just the 9th fight this season for Boston.

    Both players received five-minute majors for fighting at 18:11 of the second period and got an early start on the second intermission.

    Less than a minute later, Marcus Pettersson was guilty of holding David Pastrnak and presented the Bruins with another power play at 18:41, but the B’s didn’t convert on the ensuing advantage– despite Bergeron’s best efforts of bringing a puck down from mid-air to the ice with his glove.

    Bergeron unintentionally gloved the puck over Jarry and across the goal line, but the call on the ice was “no goal” and the call stood after review.

    Meanwhile, on the ensuing power play, McAvoy fanned on a shot from the point and had to give chase to a charging shorthanded bid for the Penguins going the other way.

    Halak stood tall and denied five quick shots on goal from the Pens in the dying dozen seconds or so of the middle frame.

    Through 40 minutes of action in Boston, the Bruins led the Penguins, 2-1, on the scoreboard and, 24-20, in shots on goal.

    The B’s also led in hits (21-15) and faceoff win% (54-46), while Pittsburgh held the advantage in blocked shots (11-7), takeaways (8-4) and giveaways (10-4).

    Both teams were 0/3 on the power play entering the second intermission.

    Early in the final frame of regulation, Pastrnak dropped a pass to Bergeron (20) as the veteran first line center entered the attacking zone with speed and sent a wrist shot over Jarry’s glove and into the back of the net.

    Pastrnak (31) had the only assist on Bergeron’s goal and Boston extended their lead to two-goals at 3:19 of the third period.

    Bergeron’s goal made it, 3-1, for Boston and gave him his 11th season with 20 or more goals in his 16-year NHL career.

    Midway through the final frame, the Penguins had too many skaters on the ice and sent Hornqvist to serve the bench minor at 11:42.

    The Bruins didn’t convert on the ensuing legal skater advantage.

    With 2:28 remaining in the game, Pittsburgh’s head coach, Mike Sullivan, pulled Jarry for an extra attacker in a last ditch effort to score two quick goals to tie the game.

    The Pens followed it up with a timeout after a stoppage with 1:14 left, but the B’s held off the Penguins and their late action dominance– eventually working the puck out of the zone whereby Pastrnak had a chance to end it, but selflessly sent the puck over to Marchand (21) for the empty net goal at 19:07.

    Pastrnak (32) had the only assist on Marchand’s goal and the Bruins finished off the Penguins, 4-1.

    At the final horn, Boston secured the win in regulation and finished tied in shots on goal, 30-30, after Pittsburgh rallied to a, 10-6, advantage in shots on goal in the third period alone.

    The Penguins left TD Garden with the advantage in blocked shots (14-12), giveaways (15-6) and hits (30-23), while the Bruins finished the night leading in faceoff win% (53-47).

    Pittsburgh went 0/3 and Boston went 0/4 on the power play on Thursday.

    With the loss, the Pens fell to 19-3-2 when scoring the game’s first goal this season.

    As a result of the win, the Bruins improved to 17-4-3 when leading after the first period and 15-0-6 when leading after two periods this season.

    Boston travels to Pittsburgh to wrap up their home-and-home with the Penguins on Sunday before returning home for their last game prior to the All-Star break next Tuesday against the Vegas Golden Knights. The Bruins resume play on Friday, Jan. 31st in Winnipeg thereafter.

  • Rask injured in, 3-0, shutout in Columbus

    Three players scored their 4th goal of the season as the Columbus Blue Jackets shutout the Boston Bruins, 3-0, Tuesday night at Nationwide Arena.

    Elvis Merzlikins (6-6-4 record, 2.53 goals against average, .921 save percentage in 18 games played) made 34 saves on 34 shots against for his 2nd consecutive shutout– becoming the first rookie Blue Jackets goaltender since Steve Mason to record back-to-back shutouts in consecutive appearances (Dec. 27-31, 2008).

    Meanwhile, Bruins goaltender, Tuukka Rask (17-4-6, 2.27 GAA, .925 SV% in 28 games played) was injured 1:12 into the action after Emil Bemstrom delivered an elbow to Rask’s head.

    Rask sustained a concussion on the play and was replaced by Jaroslav Halak (10-5-6, 2.49 GAA, .925 SV% in 27 games played), who made 24 saves on 27 shots faced for an .889 SV% in the loss.

    Boston fell to 27-9-12 (66 points) on the season, but remained in 1st place in the Atlantic Division, while Columbus improved to 23-16-8 (54 points) on the season and remained steady in 6th place in the Metropolitan Division.

    The Bruins also fell to 12-7-3 on the road this season.

    The Bruins were without the services of Kevan Miller (knee) and Connor Clifton (upper body) on Tuesday night as Boston visited Columbus for the first time since defeating the Blue Jackets in Game 6 of their 2019 Second Round matchup.

    Bruce Cassidy made no changes to his forwards, but replaced Matt Grzelcyk with Steven Kampfer on the blue line alongside John Moore on the third defensive pairing.

    Par Lindholm and David Backes joined Grzelcyk as healthy scratches for the B’s in Columbus, while David Krejci tied Terry O’Reilly for the 7th most games played as a Bruin in franchise history (891 games).

    Rask was replaced by Halak at 1:12 of the first period after Bemstrom struck the Bruins goaltender with an errant elbow.

    Moments later, Pierre-Luc Dubois was sent to the penalty box with a cross checking infraction, yielding the first power play of the night to Boston at 5:53.

    The Bruins did not convert on the ensuing skater advantage.

    Almost midway through the opening frame, David Savard thought he scored a goal when he crashed the net and bumped into Halak, but the play was blown dead and there was no goal as a result due to goaltender interference that occurred.

    Some harm, no foul– in a way. No goal, but no minor penalty either.

    Past the midpoint of the first period, Alexander Wennberg (4) let go of a weak shot that slipped through Halak’s five-hole and reached the back of the twine– giving the Blue Jackets a, 1-0, lead.

    Wennberg’s soft goal was assisted by Vladislav Gavrikov (5) and Nathan Gerbe (4) at 13:27.

    Late in the period, Charlie McAvoy was guilty of holing against Gustav Nyquist and Columbus received their first power play opportunity at 18:59.

    The Blue Jackets did not score on the resulting advantage, despite the fact that the power play overlapped into the second period.

    After one period in Columbus, the Blue Jackets led the Bruins, 1-0, on the scoreboard and, 9-7, in shots on goal.

    The B’s led in takeaways (2-1), hits (11-7) and faceoff win percentage (53-47), while the Blue Jackets had the advantage in blocked shots (5-4).

    Both teams had two giveaways aside and were 0/1 on the power play heading into the middle frame.

    Boston announced that Rask would not return to the game in a tweet after the puck dropped on the second period.

    Midway through the middle frame, Gavrikov held Anders Bjork and was sent to the sin bin with a minor infraction at 9:36 of the second period.

    Boston’s power play was powerless as Columbus killed off Gavrikov’s minor with ease.

    A few minutes later, Joakim Nordstrom tried to engage Bemstrom in response for his elbow to Rask’s head that knocked Boston’s starting goaltender out of action, but Dubois stepped in between the two skaters and both Nordstorm and Dubois ended up receiving roughing minors at 12:35.

    After two minutes of 4-on-4 action, the two teams resumed full strength play for the remainder of the period.

    Through 40 minutes at Nationwide Arena, Columbus still held onto their, 1-0, lead over Boston and a, 22-21, advantage in shots on goal– despite the Bruins leading in second period shots alone, 14-13.

    The Blue Jackets led in blocked shots (14-6), takeaways (7-1) and giveaways (7-3), while the B’s led in hits (19-14) and faceoff win% (56-44).

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

    Early in the final frame of regulation, Sonny Milano slashed Charlie Coyle at 1:34 of the third period and presented the Bruins with another power play that did not yield a goal on the advantage.

    A few minutes later, Brad Marchand caught Gavrikov with a high stick at 4:41 and presented Columbus with a skater advantage.

    About a minute into the ensuing power play, Kevin Stenlund (4) blasted a one-timer over Halak’s blocker side and gave the Blue Jackets a two-goal lead with a power play goal.

    Nick Foligno (14) and Bemstrom (7) notched the assists on Stenlund’s goal at 5:46 of the third period and Columbus led, 2-0.

    Three seconds after resuming play, Eric Robinson interfered with Bjork off the ensuing faceoff and was sent to the penalty box at 5:49.

    Midway through the third period, Riley Nash (4) capitalized on an individual effort and gave the Blue Jackets a, 3-0, lead on an unassisted goal over Halak’s blocker side at 13:05.

    At the final horn, Columbus had won, 3-0, despite trailing in shots on goal, 34-27.

    Though Boston had held the advantage in third periods shots on net alone, 13-5, the Bruins failed to find the back of the net on any of their shots.

    The Blue Jackets finished Tuesday night with the advantage in blocked shots (19-8) and giveaways (10-7), while the B’s left Nationwide Arena with the advantage in hits (28-17) and faceoff win% (55-45).

    The Blue Jackets went 1/2 on the power play on the night and the Bruins finished 0/4.

    Columbus handed Boston their first shutout of the season as the Bruins fell to 1-4-3 when trailing after one period and 4-7-4 when trailing after two periods this season.

    Boston finished their three-game road trip (1-1-1) and returns home for a home-and-home series with the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday at TD Garden and Sunday in Pittsburgh at PPG Paints Arena.

    After the Bruins swing through Pittsburgh, the B’s finish their game action before the All-Star break with a home game against the Vegas Golden Knights on Jan. 21st.