Down the Frozen River

Tag: Anders Lee

  • Bruins defeat Islanders, 6-3, in final meeting this season

    Bruins defeat Islanders, 6-3, in final meeting this season

    Ten players for the Boston Bruins recorded at least a point in their, 6-3, rout of the New York Islanders Saturday afternoon at TD Garden, while Linus Ullmark made 24 saves on 27 shots against in the win.

    Ullmark improved to 20-9-2 overall with a 2.73 goals-against average and a .909 save percentage in 31 games this season for Boston.

    New York goaltender, Semyon Varlamov (6-13-2, 2.82 goals-against average, .914 save percentage in 22 games played), stopped 38 out of 44 shots faced in the loss.

    At least for the rest of the afternoon until the Toronto Maple Leafs were in action Saturday night, the Bruins moved into sole possession of 2nd place in the Atlantic Division with a 41-19-5 record and 87 points on the season.

    The Islanders, meanwhile, fell to 28-26-9 (65 points) and remained in 6th place in the Metropolitan Division.

    New York won the regular season series against Boston 2-1-0 after the Bruins lost their first two meetings at UBS Arena earlier this season.

    The B’s went 3-3-2 against the Isles last season and 2-0-1 against New York in 2019-20.

    Patrice Bergeron returned to the lineup Saturday afternoon after missing the last four games due to an elbow ailment that Bruins doctors did not want to end up becoming infected.

    He returned to his usual role as the first line center and team captain, while participating in his 1,200th career National Hockey League game since making his league debut with Boston in the 2003-04 season.

    Drafted in the second round (45th overall) by the Bruins in 2003, the L’Ancienne-Lorette, Québec native has 392-571–963 totals in his 1,200 games played, including an assist in Saturday’s win.

    Bergeron ranks third in Bruins history in games played, trailing Ray Bourque (1,518 games) and Johnny Buyck (1,436) for the most and second-most all-time.

    He is the 120th player in NHL history to reach the 1,200-game plateau and 22nd player to do so with the same team.

    Jakub Zboril (right ACL) remained out of the lineup due to injury, while Boston’s head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made no other changes, rendering Mike Reilly, Jack Studnicka, Marc McLaughlin, Josh Brown and Anton Blidh as healthy scratches on Saturday.

    Brandon Carlo sent a shot with purpose towards Craig Smith’s blade whereby No. 12 in black and gold watched as the puck exploded off his stick and caromed off the boards behind the net as an automatic rebound machine.

    Smith (15) then buried the rebound and gave Boston a, 1-0, lead at 4:03 of the first period, while Carlo (8) and Charlie Coyle (24) tallied the assists on the goal.

    About midway in the opening frame, Kyle Palmieri knocked down a shot attempt from the point and bounced the puck over Ullmark’s glove side as a result of the deflection.

    There was one problem, however, the would-be goal was under official review at 11:46 of the first period as the on-ice officials were checking to see if Palmieri had played the puck with a high stick prior to the goal.

    After review it was determined that the puck had been played above the crossbar and thus negated the goal and reversed the call on the ice.

    Boston was still ahead, 1-0, and the Islanders had yet to score.

    Moments later, Anthony Beauvillier hooked Tomáš Nosek and presented the Bruins with their first chance on the power play of the afternoon at 16:02.

    The B’s were unsuccessful on the ensuing skater advantage.

    Shortly after killing off Beauvillier’s infraction, however, New York was back on the penalty kill as Andy Greene tripped Nick Foligno at 19:19 of the opening frame.

    It didn’t take Boston long to capitalize on the power play as they won the ensuing attacking zone faceoff and worked the puck back to Charlie McAvoy at the point.

    McAvoy sent a shot towards the net that Taylor Hall (14) redirected from point blank on the glove side to give the Bruins a two-goal lead.

    McAvoy (33) and Brad Marchand (36) notched the assists on Hall’s power-play goal as the Bruins extended their lead, 2-0, at 19:26 of the first period.

    21 seconds later, however, the Islanders cut Boston’s lead in half after Zdeno Chara rang the iron and Brock Nelson (30) collected the rebound for a garbage goal in the slot at 19:48.

    Chara (10) and Anders Lee (13) had the assists as New York trailed, 2-1, going into the first intermission.

    The Bruins held the lead on the scoreboard, 2-1, and in shots on goal, 19-13, after one period.

    Boston also led in blocked shots (7-1), giveaways (4-2) and faceoff win percentage (53-47), while the Islanders led in hits (12-8). Both teams managed to have three takeaways aside heading into the middle frame.

    The B’s were 1/2 on the power play, while New York had yet to see any action on the skater advantage after 20 minutes of play.

    Hall worked the puck deep and won a battle along the wall– sending the rubber biscuit to Erik Haula, whereby Haula setup David Pastrnak in front of the net as Pastrnak (37) kicked the puck to his blade and wrapped around Varlamov at 2:13 of the second period.

    Haula (23) and Hall (34) had the assists on Pastrnak’s goal, which gave the Bruins a, 3-1, lead on the scoreboard.

    About 90 seconds later, Marchand (28) scooped up a loose puck and wired one into the twine after Bergeron’s initial attempt was blocked.

    Bergeron (29) tallied the only assist on Marchand’s goal, however, as Boston took a three-goal lead, 4-1, at 3:56 of the second period– scoring a pair of goals in a span of 1:43 in the process.

    Curtis Lazar cut a rut to the penalty box at 4:06 for cross checking, while Foligno and Matt Martin exchanged pleasantries as the temperature on the ice began to boil.

    Foligno and Martin each received minor infractions for roughing, though the Islanders remained on the power play as Lazar’s infraction rendered Boston shorthanded.

    About a minute into the power play, Noah Dobson fired a shot on goal that Ullmark failed to corral before Jean-Gabriel Pageau freed it back to Lee (25) for the power-play goal on the short side.

    Pageau (18) and Dobson (27) had the assists on Lee’s goal as New York trailed, 4-2, at 5:12 of the second period as a result.

    A couple minutes later, Trent Frederic closed his hand on the puck and was assessed a delay of game penalty– yielding another power play to the Islanders at 7:11, though this time the Isles weren’t able to convert on the ensuing skater advantage.

    Late in the period, the Bruins entered the attacking zone on a rush led by Hall over to Pastrnak as Haula worked his way into the slot.

    Pastrnak sent a pass to Haula (9) for a one-timer goal as the second line trio completed a “tic-tac-goal” to give Boston a, 5-2, lead at 14:33 with Pastrnak (29) and Hall (35) earning the assists.

    Moments later, Marchand sent a puck off the endboards for Jake DeBrusk to collect as DeBrusk (16) banked it off of Varlamov while trying to move the rubber biscuit to the slot and was on the receiving end of a fortunate bounce off the New York netminder and over the goal line– giving the Bruins a four-goal lead and as many goals in the second period alone.

    Marchand (37) and McAvoy (34) had the assists on DeBrusk’s goal as the B’s took a, 6-2, lead at 18:18 of the second period and into the second intermission with a, 36-22, advantage in shots on goal.

    Boston outshot New York, 17-9, in the second period alone, while maintaining an advantage in blocked shots (14-2) and takeaways (6-4).

    The Islanders led in giveaways (8-5), hits (20-18) and faceoff win% (51-49) heading into the final frame.

    Both teams were 1/2 on the power play after 40 minutes of action.

    Palmieri went to the box for interference at 9:34 of the third period, but the Bruins weren’t able to convert on the resulting power play as they had used up all of their goal scoring abilities by the end of the second period.

    Moments later, Foligno and Martin settled their score for the afternoon with an exchange of fisticuffs at 13:10 of the third period.

    Foligno picked up an extra two-minute infraction for unsportsmanlike conduct, which was served by Smith and put the Islanders on a power play as a result.

    New York made relatively quick work of their skater advantage as Beauvillier faked a shot and sent a pass to Zach Parise (10) for a redirection power-play goal at 14:43 of the third period.

    Beauvillier (21) and Palmieri (12) tabbed the assists on Parise’s goal and the Islanders trailed, 6-3, as a result.

    Late in the period, Nosek tripped Sebastian Aho and presented the Islanders with one more power play for the afternoon at 18:35, but Boston’s penalty kill stood tall as the B’s finished the effort shorthanded at the final horn.

    The Bruins won, 6-3, and finished the matinée matchup leading in shots on goal, 44-27, including an, 8-5, advantage in the third period alone.

    Boston left their own ice with the lead in blocked shots (17-5) and faceoff win% (51-49), while New York left TD Garden with the advantage in giveaways (11-8) and hits (26-22).

    The Isles went 2/4 on the power play on Saturday while the B’s went 1/3 on the skater advantage.

    With the win, the Bruins are now 14-2-1 in their last 17 games– outscoring their opponents, 62-38, in that span.

    Boston improved to 30-7-2 (13-4-1 at home) when scoring first, 24-2-1 (11-1-0 at home) when leading after the first period and 27-1-3 (11-1-1 at home) when leading after the second period this season.

    New York fell to 5-19-4 (0-10-1 on the road) when allowing the game’s first goal, 2-16-5 (0-9-3 on the road) when trailing after one and 1-20-3 (0-12-1 on the road) when trailing after two periods in 2021-22.

    The Bruins continue their five-game homestand (2-0-0) next Tuesday (March 29th) against the Toronto Maple Leafs before hosting the New Jersey Devils next Thursday (March 31st) to close out the month.

    The B’s host the Columbus Blue Jackets to kick off the month of April next Saturday (April 2nd).

  • Islanders down Bruins, 3-1, Varlamov makes 40 saves

    Islanders down Bruins, 3-1, Varlamov makes 40 saves

    Cal Clutterbuck had a pair of goals, while Semyon Varlamov made a season-high 40 saves en route to his first win of the season as the New York Islanders defeated the Boston Bruins, 3-1, at UBS Arena on Thursday.

    Varlamov (1-5-1, 2.99 goals-against average, .900 save percentage in eight games played) turned aside 40 out of 41 shots faced in the win, while Bruins goaltender, Linus Ullmark (7-5-0, 2.52 goals-against average, .922 save percentage in 12 games played) made 25 saves on 27 shots against in the loss.

    Boston fell to 14-10-2 (30 points) on the season and remained in 5th place in the Atlantic Division, while New York improved to 8-12-5 (21 points) overall and stuck in 8th place in the Metropolitan Division.

    The B’s visited UBS Arena for the first time since it opened last month and will visit one more arena that’s new to the National Hockey League circuit when they visit the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena on Feb. 24th.

    Jakub Zboril (lower body) remained out of the lineup while Brad Marchand and Craig Smith were joined in the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol by Patrice Bergeron, Trent Frederic, Anton Blidh, Jeremy Swayman and Oskar Steen, as well as two team staff members.

    The Bruins announced Steen’s addition to the league COVID protocol as both clubs started warming up on Thursday night.

    Due to salary cap constraints, defender, John Moore, was reassigned to the Providence Bruins (AHL) on Wednesday, while Jesper Frödén and Kyle Keyser were recalled from Providence on Thursday.

    Bruce Cassidy was forced to make several lineup changes as Boston went with 11 forwards as a result of losing seven players to COVID protocol ahead of Thursday night’s action.

    Charlie Coyle centered the first line with Taylor Hall at left wing and David Pastrnak at right wing, while Tomáš Nosek centered the second line with Erik Haula and Nick Foligno on his wings.

    Jack Studnicka centered the third line and was flanked by Jake DeBrusk as well as Frödén, who made his NHL debut in the process.

    On the fourth line, Curtis Lazar and Karson Kuhlman took shifts with a rotating cast of wingers to complete the line.

    With Moore out of the lineup, Mike Reilly returned to the third defensive pairing alongside Connor Clifton.

    In net, Keyser served as Ullmark’s backup with Swayman in COVID protocol and Tuukka Rask still unsigned as an unrestricted free agent that’s recovering from major offseason hip surgery.

    Boston’s long list of scratches on Thursday included Swayman, Frederic, Smith, Bergeron, Steen, Marchand, Zboril and Blidh.

    Early in the opening frame Kyle Palmieri slashed Derek Forbort and cut a rut to the penalty box as a result, yielding the night’s first power play to the Bruins at 5:23 of the first period.

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

    Midway through the first period, Matt Martin won a battle along the endboards– utilizing a strong forecheck to free the puck on a turnover from the trapezoid to Clutterbuck (4), who was standing in the right place at the right time in the slot to bury the rubber biscuit and give the Islanders a, 1-0, lead at 11:47.

    Clutterbuck’s first goal of the game was unassisted.

    Less than a minute later, Haula caught Isles defender, Andy Greene with a high stick, but New York failed to capitalize on the resulting power play at 12:00 of the first period.

    Entering the first intermission, the Islanders led, 1-0, on the scoreboard and held a, 10-9, advantage in shots on goal.

    The Bruins, meanwhile, led in blocked shots (5-3), takeaways (1-0), giveaways (11-4) and hits (13-11), while both teams managed to split faceoff win percentage, 50-50, and went 0/1 on the power play after one period.

    Forbort caught Clutterbuck with a high stick six seconds into the second period and it didn’t take the Isles long to score on the resulting power play.

    Anthony Beauvillier (4) sent a shot that might have deflected off of a Bruins skater’s stick and over Ullmark’s glove– just under the bar– to extend New York’s lead to two-goals.

    Robin Salo (1) and Justin Bailey (9) tallied the assists– marking the first career point in just his seventh NHL game for Salo, while giving the Islanders a, 2-0, lead on Beauvillier’s power-play goal at 1:44 of the second period.

    Midway through the middle frame, Foligno and Martin became entangled and exchanged fisticuffs resulting in five-minute majors for each of them, as well as an extra two minutes for Foligno for roughing at 9:22.

    Frödén served Foligno’s minor infraction and Boston suffered no consequences on the resulting penalty kill.

    Through 40 minutes of action at UBS Arena on Thursday, the Islanders led, 2-0, on the scoreboard despite being outshot by the Bruins, 29-22, including a, 21-12, advantage for Boston in the second period alone.

    The B’s led in blocked shots (10-5), takeaways (3-1), giveaways (13-8) and hits (20-16), while New York led in faceoff win% (55-46).

    The Isles were 1/3 and the Bruins were 0/1 on the power play heading into the final frame.

    Early in the third period, Zdeno Chara tripped Hall and presented Boston with another power play at 3:25, but the Bruins’ advantage was short lived.

    A minute after Chara skated to the sin bin, his former defensive partner, Charlie McAvoy, cut a rut to the opposing team’s box for cross checking at 4:25.

    The two teams skated at 4-on-4 for a minute before the Islanders went on an abbreviated 5-on-4 power play.

    New York couldn’t muster anything past Ullmark and, instead, took another penalty when Brock Nelson hooked Matt Grzelcyk at 5:27.

    After a short stint at 4-on-4, Boston had another abbreviated power play that went by the wayside.

    Moments later, Grzelcyk went to the box for interference at 10:25, but the Isles failed to convert on the resulting power play.

    With 2:55 remaining in regulation, Cassidy pulled his goaltender for an extra attacker, but it was to no avail as it didn’t take long for Anders Lee to send a pass across the neutral zone to Clutterbuck (5) for an empty net goal after he crossed into the attacking zone.

    Lee (1) had the only assist on Clutterbuck’s second goal of the game and the Islanders led, 3-0, at 17:43 of the third period.

    In the dying minute of the night’s action, Reilly (3) pinched in from the point and sent a shot over Varlamov’s high glove side after it deflected off of Scott Mayfield– cutting New York’s lead back to two goals.

    Brandon Carlo (3) and Ullmark (1) recorded the assists on Reilly’s goal and the Bruins trailed, 3-1, at 19:06 of the third period.

    With 37.2 seconds remaining in regulation, Ullmark skated to the bench for an extra attacker.

    Clutterbuck sent a shot attempt towards the empty frame that just went wide as it hit the post and prevented hats from raining down from the stands.

    At the final horn, New York had won, 3-1, despite being outshot by Boston, 41-28, including a, 12-6, advantage for the Bruins in the third period alone.

    The B’s exited the building leading in blocked shots (13-11), giveaways (17-12) and hits (26-22), while the Isles led in faceoff win% (58-42).

    New York finished the night 1/5 on the power play, while Boston went powerless on the skater advantage, 0/3.

    The B’s fell to 4-6-2 (1-3-1 on the road) when allowing the game’s first goal, 2-5-1 (0-3-0 on the road) when trailing after the first period and 2-7-2 (0-4-1 on the road) when losing after two periods this season.

    The Islanders, on the other hand, improved to 7-4-4 (1-1-1 at home) when scoring first, 5-1-1 (1-0-0 at home) when leading after one and 8-1-1 (2-0-0 at home) when leading after the second period in 2021-22.

    As of now, the Bruins are scheduled to travel to Montréal to square off with the Canadiens at Bell Centre on Saturday before venturing to Kanata, Ontario to take on the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre on Sunday. 

    Boston returns home next Tuesday to host the Carolina Hurricanes before taking on the Colorado Avalanche on Dec. 23rd in their final game before the league’s three-day Christmas break.

  • Lightning seeking back-to-back trips to the Stanley Cup Final

    Lightning seeking back-to-back trips to the Stanley Cup Final

    There are four teams remaining in the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs and for the first time since 1981, there are no Conference Finals going on.

    Due to the ongoing global pandemic, the National Hockey League was forced to temporarily realign the divisions and get rid of conferences for a season as the league and it’s players’ union did what they could to get an abbreviated 56-game regular season schedule and a full Stanley Cup Playoffs experience in the history books.

    In May, ESPN‘s Greg Wyshynski reported that the league would not award the Prince of Wales Trophy and the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl to the victors of the equivalent third round, but after the Vegas Golden Knights eliminated the Colorado Avalanche in six games to conclude the Second Round of this year’s postseason on Thursday, the league apparently changed its mind.

    With a regular all-Eastern Conference matchup between the Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Islanders, as well as 50% of the teams representing the Western Conference in the other Semifinal series, both trophies will be awarded to the third round series winners after all.

    The winner of the Lightning and Islanders series will take home the Prince of Wales Trophy, while either the Golden Knights or the Montréal Canadiens will win the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl.

    Montréal can join a short list of teams to have won both trophies in franchise history, as only the Detroit Red Wings, Philadelphia Flyers, Chicago Blackhawks and Islanders have won each before.

    How is this possible, you ask?

    Well, for starters, the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl was introduced in the 1967-68 season and awarded to the team that finished with the best regular season record in the West Division (the precursor to the Western Conference in the modern era), while the Prince of Wales Trophy dates back to the 1925-26 season and, you guessed it, eventually became the East Division (pre-Eastern Conference days) equivalent.

    Ahead of the 1981-82 season, however, the league changed its postseason to include a Conference Finals round, thus involving these trophies in the playoffs and eventually leading to the creation of the Presidents’ Trophy for the team with the best regular season record since the 1985-86 season.

    So anyway, the teams mentioned above that won both have changed conferences and divisions over time.

    Now let’s talk about one-half of the Semifinal matchups– the Lightning and the Islanders.

    (2) Tampa Bay Lightning (36-17-3, 75 points) vs (3) New York Islanders (32-17-7, 71 points)

    Tampa: 56 games played, .670 points percentage, 29 regulation wins.

    N.Y. Islanders: 56 games played, .634 points percentage, 24 regulation wins.

    The Tampa Bay Lightning eliminated the Florida Panthers in six games (4-2) in the First Round before taking care of the Carolina Hurricanes in a five-game upset (4-1) to represent the Discover NHL Central Division in the 2021 Stanley Cup Semifinals.

    They’re also the defending Stanley Cup champions looking to be the first team to repeat as such since the Pittsburgh Penguins won back-to-back Cups in 2016 and 2017.

    The Bolts have followed the league’s salary cap rules to a “T”, which enabled them to spend almost $99 million as the playoffs began because Nikita Kucherov had been on the long term injured reserve all season long and due to the fact that the cap ceiling disappears for the postseason.

    Brayden Point led the Lightning in the regular season with 23-25–48 totals in 56 games, while Ondrej Palat (15-31–46 totals in 55 games) and Victor Hedman (9-36–45 totals in 54 games) rounded out the top-three in scoring on the roster in 2020-21.

    Through 11 games this postseason, Kucherov hasn’t missed a beat, leading his teammates with 18 points (five goals, 13 assists) in that span.

    Tampa’s captain, Steven Stamkos, missed the last part of the regular season, but returned in time for the playoffs and has not missed any action due to injury.

    As a result, he’s had 5-8–13 totals in 11 games– good enough for the second-most points by a Lightning skater in the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs, while Point (8-4–12 totals in 11 games) and Alex Killorn (6-6–12 totals in 11 games) are tied for the third-most on the postseason roster.

    In the crease, Andrei Vasilevskiy led Tampa’s netminders with a 31-10-1 record in 42 games played (42 starts), yielding a 2.21 goals-against average, a .925 save percentage and five shutouts in the process.

    Curtis McElhinney served as Vasilevskiy’s backup and amassed a 4-6-2 record in 12 games (12 starts), as well as a 3.09 goals-against average, an .875 save percentage and one shutout in that span.

    Christopher Gibson even got a little time in net, recording a 1-1-0 record in two games (two starts), as well as a 2.65 goals-against average and an .875 save percentage.

    Thus far in the playoffs, Vasilevskiy has yet to be chased from the crease– putting up an 8-3 record in 11 games (11 starts) to go with his 2.24 goals-against average and .934 save percentage.

    Oh and he’s more than doubled his career postseason shutout total– recording two so far in Tampa’s quest for back-to-back rings.

    At the other end of the rink, the New York Islanders beat two teams they’re used to beating in the history of the Stanley Cup Playoffs– defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games (4-2) in the First Round and the Boston Bruins in six games (4-2), as well, in the Second Round to reach the 2021 Stanley Cup Semifinals as the MassMutual NHL East Division’s representation.

    Head coach, Barry Trotz, is still using his modified trap, though New York’s potent offense is actually leading the way in the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs with 43 goals for thus far.

    Vegas is second with 40 goals for, while Tampa sits third with 38 goals for and the best goal differential in the postseason so far with a plus-12 differential.

    Mathew Barzal (17-28–45 totals in 55 games) led the Isles in scoring in the regular season. Josh Bailey (8-27–35 totals in 54 games), Brock Nelson (18-15–33 totals in 56 gmaes) and Jordan Eberle (16-17–33 totals in 56 games) rounded out the top-three in team scoring in 2020-21.

    Through 12 games this postseason, Jean-Gabriel Pageau has emerged at peak performance at the right time of the year to be on top of one’s game, leading the Islanders in playoff scoring with 3-10–13 totals.

    Bailey and Anthony Beauvillier each have 11 points in 12 games, while Nelson has the fourth-most points on the playoff roster with 6-4–10 totals in that span.

    In net, Semyon Varlamov led the way as New York’s starter, amassing a 19-11-4 record in 36 games (35 starts), as well as a 2.04 goals-against average, a .929 save percentage and tied for the league lead in shutouts with Colorado Avalanche netminder, Philipp Grubauer, blanking opponents on the scoreboard seven times each this season.

    Ilya Sorokin’s first season in the NHL was served in a backup role, going 13-6-3 in 22 games (21 starts) and accruing a 2.17 goals-against average, a .918 save percentage and three shutouts in that span.

    Though Sorokin ultimately helped the Islanders get over the Penguins in the First Round, his Game 1 performance against Boston left something to be desired, forcing Trotz to hand the keys to the crease back to Varlamov.

    Varlamov’s gone on to post a 4-3 record in seven games (seven starts) this postseason, notching a 2.62 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage in the process.

    Sorokin, meanwhile, has a 4-1 record in five games (five starts), as well as a 2.32 goals-against average and a .934 save percentage.

    With the way Varlamov’s been playing as of late– recording 40 saves against the Bruins some nights– it’s not likely that Sorokin will see any action against the Bolts.

    Unlike how the Lightning got a key component of their roster in Kucherov back in time for when it counts, New York’s captain, Anders Lee, remains sidelined until the 2021-22 season with a knee injury.

    These two teams are meeting for the fourth time in a playoff series, with the Lightning holding a 3-0 all time advantage, having defeated the Islanders in five games (4-1) in the 2004 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, in five games (4-1) again in the 2016 Second Round, as well as in six games (4-2) in the 2020 Eastern Conference Final.

    For the second year in a row, these two clubs are squaring off in the third round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but unlike last year’s neutral site at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, the home crowds may be a factor in 2021.

    What’s more, these two teams have yet to play each other thanks to the temporary division realignment for 2020-21, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

    If history is any indicator, it’s that Tampa should win the series and extend their all time advantage to 4-0, but New York presented a challenge to the Bolts last year that is sure to be amplified by both rosters’ familiarity with each other, as well as the fact that the Lightning will have to go through the ringer that is known as Nassau Live at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

    This isn’t to say that the fans in attendance at Amalie Arena won’t be just as boisterous, but there’s something to be said about a Long Island crowd this time of year– especially one that’s been longing for their first Stanley Cup title since 1983.

    Not only that, but it’d be a great way to send the building off into retirement as the Islanders move into their new home in Elmont, New York at UBS Arena next season.

    That said, the Lightning have home-ice advantage in this series for the first time this postseason and they’ve been pretty good at stealing games on the road– winning two out of three games in the First Round at BB&T Center against Florida and all three games held at PNC Arena in their Second Round series with Carolina.

    2020 Stanley Cup winning head coach, Jon Cooper, pitted against 2018 Stanley Cup winning head coach in Trotz (then of the Washington Capitals)– this rematch is sure to be one hell of a battle.

    Though the Lightning have cruised thus far, there’s something to be said about the tenacity of the Islanders and the way momentum seems to be working in their favor.

    For the first time, it looks like New York will come out on top against Tampa and they’ll likely do it over seven games of some of the best hockey fans desire leading up to the Stanley Cup Final.

    If it’s anything shorter, it’ll be because Vasilevskiy continued to stay hot and the Islanders gave up too many power plays to the Lightning, but New York was one of the least penalized teams in the regular season.

    If the offense doesn’t sputter, the Isles have their best chance at getting back to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1984, when they lost in five games to the Edmonton Oilers.

    Schedule:

    6/13- Game 1 NYI @ TBL 3 PM ET on NBC, CBC, SN, TVAS

    6/15- Game 2 NYI @ TBL 8 PM ET on NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS

    6/17- Game 3 TBL @ NYI 8 PM ET on USA, CBC, SN, TVAS

    6/19- Game 4 TBL @ NYI 8 PM ET on USA, CBC, SN, TVAS

    6/21- Game 5 NYI @ TBL 8 PM ET on NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS*

    6/23- Game 6 TBL @ NYI 8 PM ET on NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS*

    6/25- Game 7 NYI @ TBL 8 PM ET on NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS*

    *If necessary

  • Pastrnak scores hat trick as Boston opens Second Round with a, 5-2, win

    Pastrnak scores hat trick as Boston opens Second Round with a, 5-2, win

    David Pastrnak joined the likes of Phil Esposito, Cam Neely, Johnny Bucyk and David Krejci as one of five players to record two or more postseason hat tricks in a Boston Bruins uniform in Saturday night’s, 5-2, victory over the New York Islanders in Game 1.

    17,400 fans were in attendance at TD Garden to watch as the Bruins took a 1-0 series lead in their 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs Second Round matchup with the Islanders as the Commonwealth of Massachusetts lifted all COVID-19 restrictions in the state on Saturday.

    Tuukka Rask (5-1, 1.84 goals-against average, .937 save percentage in six games played) made 20 saves on 22 shots against in the win for Boston.

    New York netminder, Ilya Sorokin (4-1, 2.33 goals-against average, .934 save percentage in five games played) stopped 35 out of 39 shots against in the loss for the Islanders.

    The Bruins were without the services of Ondrej Kase (upper body), Kevan Miller (upper body) and John Moore (hip) on Saturday, while Jeremy Lauzon returned to the lineup from an upper body injury.

    Lauzon replaced Jarred Tinordi on the third defensive pairing and was slotted alongside Connor Clifton, while B’s head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made no other changes to his lineup.

    Boston’s long list of healthy scratches included Nick Wolff, Trent Frederic, Greg McKegg, Zach Senyhsyn, Jack Studnicka, Moore, Kase, Jaroslav Halak, Steven Kampfer, Cameron Hughes, Jack Ahcan, Urho Vaakanainen, Oskar Steen, Jakub Zboril, Callum Booth, Dan Vladar, Anton Blidh, Karson Kuhlman, Tinordi and Miller.

    Notable New York forward and captain, Anders Lee, is out for the postseason with a knee injury.

    Midway through the opening frame, Charlie McAvoy hooked Brock Nelson and cut a rut to the penalty box as a result, yielding the game’s first power play to the Islanders at 11:02 of the first period.

    It didn’t take New York that much time to capitalize on the skater advantage as Anthony Beauvillier (4) deflected a shot through Rask underneath the blocker to give the Isles the night’s first lead, 1-0.

    Noah Dobson (3) and Jordan Eberle (2) tallied the assists on Beauvillier’s power-play goal at 11:48 of the first period.

    Late in the period, Andy Greene caught Charlie Coyle with a high stick and presented the Bruins with their first power play of the night at 19:27 of the first period.

    Special teams were wild as Pastrnak (3) picked up a rebound, held the puck for a second while Sorokin kept sliding across the crease, then buried the rubber biscuit on the far side over the glove.

    Krejci (3) and Patrice Bergeron (2) notched the assists on Pastrnak’s power-play goal as Boston tied the game, 1-1, at 19:36.

    Entering the first intermission, the scoreboard was even at, 1-1, while the Bruins led in shots on goal, 18-8.

    Boston also held the advantage in giveaways (8-4) and faceoff win percentage (53-47), while New York led in blocked shots (4-2), takeaways (7-2) and hits (21-13).

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

    Nick Ritchie hooked Travis Zajac at 2:37 of the second period, but the Islanders weren’t able to score on the ensuing power play.

    Midway through the middle frame, Pastrnak (4) sent a shot off of Islanders defender, Ryan Pulock, and over Sorokin’s blocker to give Boston their first lead of the night, 2-1.

    Bergeron (3) and Brad Marchand (1) notched the assists on Pastrnak’s second goal of the night at 11:08 of the second period.

    The Bruins did not hold their first lead of the night for long, however, as Adam Pelech (1) knotted things up, 2-2, with a one-timer over Rask’s glove– bar down– from downtown at the point at 12:34.

    Through 40 minutes of action, the Bruins and Islanders were tied, 2-2, on the scoreboard, despite Boston leading in shots on goal, 30-12, including a, 12-4, advantage in the second period alone.

    The B’s also led in giveaways (11-6) and faceoff win% (54-46), while the Isles led in blocked shots (7-4), takeaways (9-3) and hits (36-28) after two periods.

    New York was 1/2 and Boston remained 1/1 on the power play heading into the final frame.

    Boston botched a line change early in the third period, resulting in a bench minor for too many skaters on the ice at 4:02.

    The Bruins managed to kill off the infraction and capitalized on a surge in momentum in the vulnerable minute thereafter as McAvoy (1) blasted a shot from the point– about where Pelech had scored his goal for the Islanders– and gave Boston a, 3-2, lead as a result.

    Sean Kuraly and Ritchie worked the forecheck, while Krejci setup McAvoy for the one-timer while Ritchie screened Sorokin on the doorstep as the Bruins pulled ahead and never looked back at 6:20 of the third period.

    Krejci (4) had the only assist on McAvoy’s goal, however.

    Moments later, the Bruins tweeted that Craig Smith (lower body) would not return to the game, while Cassidy had already begun rotating wingers on the second line with Krejci and Taylor Hall.

    Late in the period, Pastrnak (5) completed his hat trick on an individual effort as the Islanders turned the puck over in the neutral zone– leading No. 88 in black and gold to deke past a New York skater, cut to the middle and sent his shot over the blocker while Hall crashed the net as a screen.

    The Bruins led, 4-2, as a result at 15:50 of the third period as Pastrnak notched his first hat trick in the postseason since amassing a six-point night in a, 7-3, victory in Game 2 of Boston’s 2018 First Round matchup with the Toronto Maple Leafs on April 14, 2018.

    With about 3:50 remaining in the action, Islanders head coach, Barry Trotz, pulled his goaltender for an extra attacker.

    Shortly thereafter, Mathew Barzal tripped Clifton and cut a rut to the sin bin as a result at 16:43.

    In the dying seconds of the ensuing power play, Hall (3) buried the puck into the empty net at 18:35 for a power-play goal to seal the deal on Boston’s, 5-2, victory in Game 1.

    Krejci (5) and Mike Reilly (3) tallied the assists as Hall didn’t give up on the play– giving Krejci three assists on the night in the process.

    At the final horn, Boston had won, 5-2, and taken a 1-0 series lead as a result.

    The Bruins finished Saturday night leading in shots on goal, 40-22, despite both teams managing to fire 10 shots on net each in the third period.

    New York wrapped up the night’s action leading in blocked shots (9-7) and hits (49-42), while Boston led in giveaways (14-11) and faceoff win% (52-48).

    The Isles went 1/3 and the B’s went 2/2 on the power play on Saturday.

    Having won Game 1, the Bruins lead the series 1-0 and look to go up 2-0 in the series in Game 2 on Monday night at TD Garden. Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m. ET and viewers in the United States can catch the action on NBCSN, while those in Canada can tune to SN1 or TVAS.

  • 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs Second Round Preview: MassMutual NHL East Division

    2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs Second Round Preview: MassMutual NHL East Division

    Nobody’s perfect.

    Both in First Round prediction outcomes and in trying (and failing) to deliver predictions for each First Round series ahead of time.

    The short excuse is that the overlap of the 2020-21 regular season and the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs made it difficult to finish compiling stats, writing game recaps and subsequently writing previews for each series that hadn’t already started.

    Then it’s a matter of catching up.

    Plus there’s a few other projects being worked on right now that you’ll hopefully get to see soon.

    Granted, there’s a good chance that if you’re reading this it’s because 1) you’re somehow an oddly dedicated fan of my random musings, 2) you’ve accidentally stumbled upon this blog or 3) you’re a potential employer trying to get a read on if this guy is actually desirable.

    Anyway, the First Round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs is mostly over as only the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montréal Canadiens have yet to sort out who will be taking on the Winnipeg Jets in the Second Round of Scotia NHL North Division action.

    For now, let’s just keep it simple with the MassMutual NHL East Division on the docket for Saturday and the Discover NHL Central Division and Honda NHL West Division on the calendar for Sunday, then we’ll go from there.

    (3) Boston Bruins (33-16-7, 73 points) vs (4) New York Islanders (32-17-7, 71 points)

    Boston: 56 games played, .652 points percentage, 25 regulation wins.

    N.Y. Islanders: 56 games played, .634 points percentage, 24 regulation wins.

    The Boston Bruins eliminated the Washington Capitals in five games (4-1) in the First Round and are poised to be in command of home ice advantage in their Second Round series matchup with the New York Islanders by virtue of being the higher seed as both MassMutual NHL East Division First Round matchups technically resulted in upset victories by the “underdogs”.

    Sure, Boston has had a bit of recent playoff success riding the momentum of their last four consecutive seasons with at least one playoff series victory and New York improved to 5-1 all time against the Pittsburgh Penguins in a Stanley Cup Playoff series, but that’s besides the point.

    The Bruins won the Presidents’ Trophy in 2019-20, having recorded the league’s best regular season record at the time of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, well, officially being declared a pandemic and cutting last year’s regular season short.

    They entered 2020-21 as favorites to not only lead their division at season’s end, but contend for the Presidents’ Trophy in back-to-back seasons for the first time in franchise history.

    That… didn’t pan out, but it might actually be a benefit to the current roster to not be seen as the clear cut favorites on paper.

    To remind everyone that didn’t read the First Round preview for Boston, the Bruins were led by Brad Marchand (29-40–69 totals in 53 games played) in the regular season, with Patrice Bergeron (23-25–48 totals in 54 games) and David Pastrnak (20-28–48 totals in 48 games) rounding out the top-three scorers on the team.

    Through five games this postseason, the B’s look like they could be on the verge of something special as a plausible last hurrah for their current core with David Krejci and Tuukka Rask set to become unrestricted free agents at season’s end and Father Time™️ eventually going to become a factor and catch up with the ageless wonders that are Bergeron and Marchand.

    It’s likely that Rask will be back for another season or two to serve as a mentor for current backup goaltender, Jeremy Swayman, like how Tim Thomas played that role for the franchise’s all-time winningest goaltender in the regular season and playoffs.

    Or if you’re from outside the Boston market– think like what Pekka Rinne just did for the last two seasons in Nashville as Juuse Saros gradually took over as the starter for the Predators.

    Krejci, on the other hand, has a bit more of a clouded future.

    Bruins president, Cam Neely, told reporters earlier in the week that the organization has shelved talks of extensions with Rask and Krejci for after the postseason (a standard for the industry, especially with an expansion draft looming for the Seattle Kraken), but Neely was open to the idea of the two “one team” players spending their entire NHL careers in Boston.

    That said, there’s always the possibility for retirement for Krejci or that he might go spend a few seasons in Czech Republic while winding down the twilight of his professional playing days.

    None of that is relevant for the here and now, however.

    Right now, the Bruins are focused on getting past the Islanders in the Second Round– a team that’s given them a bit of an inconsistent ride to say the least this season.

    Boston dropped the first five games against New York, but won the last three meetings between the two clubs in the regular season.

    That doesn’t actually say as much as one would think, since the Capitals had more recent success as the season progressed against Boston.

    But then again, Washington did lose.

    It’s also not like the B’s didn’t get better as the season went on– especially since they added Taylor Hall, Curtis Lazar and Mike Reilly ahead of the trade deadline in April.

    Boston has a legitimate top-six forward group and interchangeable components that can get the job done in the bottom-six, as well as a defense that has a mix of youth and experience– sans Kevan Miller for Game 1, at least, as Miller is out with an upper body injury, though Jarred Tinordi did fine for a bottom-pairing role in Game 5 against Washington.

    Rask’s save percentage has gone up in each of his first five postseason games so far.

    Through five games in the 2021 postseason, Pastrnak leads the team in scoring with six points (two goals, four assists), while bona fide stallion , Charlie McAvoy, has five assists and Bergeron (3-1–4 totals in five games) round out the top-three in postseason production thus far.

    In the regular season, Rask led the way in the crease for the B’s with a 15-5-2 record in 24 games (24 starts), a 2.28 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage, as well as a pair of shutouts in that span.

    Jaroslav Halak started the season as Boston’s backup, but ended it as the third string netminder with a 9-6-4 record in 19 games (17 starts) for the Bruins with a 2.53 goals-against average, .905 save percentage and two shutouts in 2020-21.

    Swayman emerged as Rask and Halak spent time out of the lineup due to injury, as well as an extended stay in COVID protocol for the latter goaltender (perhaps affecting Halak’s performance as a result).

    But before Swayman amassed a 7-3-0 record in 10 games (10 starts), as well as a 1.50 goals-against average, a .945 save percentage and two shutouts, Dan Vladar made five appearances (all starts) and earned a 2-2-2-1 record to go along with a 3.40 goals-against average and an .886 save percentage.

    Don’t let Vladar’s numbers fool you, however, as one desperate start on the second night of a back-to-back against the Capitals sank otherwise decent stats for the projected backup to Swayman someday on Boston’s depth chart.

    In the postseason, Rask has put up a 4-1 record in five games with a 1.81 goals-against average and a .941 save percentage.

    So in other words, it’s midseason form for No. 40 for the black and gold.

    Gerry Cheevers has faith in Rask.

    At the other end of the rink, the Islanders utilized head coach, Barry Trotz’s, patented trap to stupefy Pittsburgh’s potent offense in Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, while also appearing to not really have to do that much to beat Tristan Jarry in the crease in six games (4-2).

    This time we mean it. Nassau Live at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum is on its last legs.

    Next season, the Isles will be opening up their new home at UBS Arena in Elmont, New York– making the “long” trek from Uniondale, New York to their new address.

    Both TD Garden and the Coliseum are expected to have near full capacity crowds for the entirety of the series, so if you already couldn’t stand Boston and Long Island enough for some reason, expect the crowds to be as loud and as obnoxious as ever.

    That said, we could all use a good laugh and some release from the last year and a half of pain, grief and suffering. Hopefully the cheers and jeers do not veer into the distasteful.

    It is, after all, just a game.

    Anyway, the Islanders were led by Mathew Barzal (17-28–45 totals in 55 games) this season, while Josh Bailey (8-27–35 totals in 54 games), Brock Nelson (18-15–33 totals in 56 games) and Jordan Eberle (16-17–33 totals in 56 games) rounded out the top-three in team scoring in 2020-21.

    In the crease, Semyon Varlamov led the way with a 19-11-4 record in 36 games (35 starts), as well as a 2.04 goals-against average, a .929 save percentage and seven shutouts in the regular season.

    Ilya Sorokin was the backup netminder for New York and amassed a 13-6-3 record in 22 games (21 starts) and had a 2.17 goals-against average, a .918 save percentage and three shutouts in the process.

    Through six postseason games, Anthony Beauvillier (3-4–7 totals) and Jean-Gabriel Pageau (1-6–7 totals) are tied for the team lead in playoff scoring, while Bailey and Nelson rank tied for third on the roster with six points (three goals, three assists for each player).

    Varlamov’s gone 0-2 in two games (two starts) and has a 3.61 goals-against average, as well as a .903 save percentage, while Sorokin has taken over with the hot hands in net– amassing a 4-0 record in four games (four starts) and an equally impressive goal against average (1.95) and save percentage (.943) as Rask’s numbers for Boston thus far in the playoffs.

    Meanwhile, Isles captain Anders Lee remains out of the lineup with a lower body injury that ended his season after 27 games in 2020-21.

    These two teams are meeting for the third time in a series, with the Islanders holding a 2-0 all time record, having defeated the Bruins in five games (4-1) in the 1980 Quarterfinal and in six games (4-2) in the 1983 Wales Conference Final.

    Both times that New York defeated Boston, the Isles went on to win the Stanley Cup.

    In the 2020-21 regular season, however, the Bruins went 3-3-2 in eight games against New York, while the Islanders went 5-2-1 against Boston.

    New York outscored Boston, 21-18, in that span, though the Bruins held the advantage in total shots on goal over the course of their regular season series, 269-216.

    Stellar goaltending has been a constant for both teams, outside of the odd, 7-2, win for the Islanders on Feb. 25th against the B’s.

    The Bruins have Hall, the Islanders have Kyle Palmieri.

    Depth scoring is paramount, especially if New York’s trap can get to Boston’s first line as effective as they were against Pittsburgh’s first line.

    Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, is a dynamic coach, however, while Trotz might continue to go back to the well even if it’s starting to run dry– simply out of the comfort and ease of familiarity.

    This series has all the makings of being a long, grueling battle that could see Boston victorious over the Islanders for the first time in the postseason in seven games when all is said and done.

    Regular season outcomes:

    1-0 NYI at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Jan. 18th

    4-2 NYI at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Feb. 13th

    7-2 NYI at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Feb. 25th

    2-1 F/SO NYI at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on March 9th

    4-3 F/OT NYI at TD Garden on March 25th

    4-1 BOS at TD Garden on April 15th

    3-0 BOS at TD Garden on April 16th

    3-2 F/OT BOS at TD Garden on May 10th

    Schedule:

    5/29- Game 1 NYI @ BOS 8 PM ET on NBC, SN360, TVAS2

    5/31- Game 2 NYI @ BOS 7:30 PM ET on NBCSN, SN1, TVAS

    Games 3 and 4, as well as 5 through 7 (if necessary) have yet to be announced by the league at the time of this writing.

  • 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs First Round Preview: MassMutual NHL East Division

    Sometime in the last however many days (or perhaps years, maybe even centuries, for some, as it felt) the calendar went from reading “March 2020” to “March 2021”, then April and now May.

    Between then and now, the Tampa Bay Lightning were crowned Stanley Cup champions in the 2020 Stanley Cup Final over the Dallas Stars in six games after last year’s playoffs were held inside a bubble (well, technically two bubbles in Edmonton and Toronto before coming together in the former).

    Then a somewhat regular-looking 56-game 2020-21 season took place as the National Hockey League and the rest of the world started returning to a sense of normalcy from January through now– getting vaccinated and seeing the light at the end of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic tunnel.

    Resiliency in life cannot be understated.

    That– even after so much loss and millions of deaths around the world– the course of nature goes on.

    There is still a lot of grieving to be done, a pandemic ongoing and tensions rising around the globe, yet here we are, arguing over who will win one game– the next four games, a series– the Stanley Cup.

    We, as hockey fans, have regressed to the mean. Our veins are pulsing as we hit “tweet” arguing between Toronto Maple Leafs and Montréal Canadiens fans for the first time since 1979.

    Our humanity goes on.

    Make no qualms about it, the 2020-21 season was one of the hardest seasons on all of the players in the NHL.

    Their seemingly lavish lifestyles were disrupted by isolation on road trips, isolation in COVID protocol and isolation from so many family members and friends that may not have been able to go see them play or be around at home due to local rules, regulations or the mere fact that a player is single and living on their own.

    No, there are no heroes. Only people.

    Even hockey players.

    As the dawn of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs arises, we’ll call their clutch goals, big hits and key saves “heroic”, but after all, we’re just watching 10 skaters and two goalies on the ice at any given time play a game at the highest level that so few are ever so privileged to play.

    They’re making memories among their teammates on the ice that we’ll never be able to experience.

    We’ll never be able to see it from their eyes– until, at least, nano camera technology that can be worn in a contact lens becomes mainstream in sports anyway– but we’ll watch the game with our own eyes and try to memorize every little detail of a play as we try to recreate it in driveways, streets and ice rinks in our own town or others.

    It’s time.

    Let’s hockey together, friends.

    Four teams in each division made the postseason.

    The best team facing the fourth best team, the second best team taking on the third best team– the winners of the First Round will face each other in the Second Round staying within their own division as they’ve done through 56 regular season games.

    Each division will produce one winner heading to the Stanley Cup Semifinal in light of a Conference Finals round in usual years.

    The Semifinal will reseed based on how the four remaining teams finished in regular season points standings with the first best team taking on the fourth, as well as the second best team facing the third best team in a series narrowing down the field to the 2021 Stanley Cup Finalists as a result.

    Neither the Prince of Wales Trophy nor the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl will be awarded this year.

    No trophies, just vibes (until the Stanley Cup, that is).

    (1) Pittsburgh Penguins (37-16-3, 77 points) vs (4) New York Islanders (32-17-7, 71 points)

    Pittsburgh: 56 games played, .688 points percentage, 29 regulation wins.

    N.Y. Islanders: 56 games played, .634 points percentage, 24 regulation wins.

    The Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Islanders are facing each other for the sixth time in a Stanley Cup Playoffs series with the Islanders holding the lead in all time series wins, 4-1.

    New York beat Pittsburgh in seven games (4-3) in the 1975 Wales Conference Quarterfinal, in five games (3-2) in the 1982 Patrick Division Semifinal, in seven games (4-3) in the 1993 Patrick Division Final and in four games (4-0) in the 2019 First Round.

    The Penguins beat the Islanders in six games (4-2) in the 2013 Eastern Conference Quaterfinal, meanwhile.

    The Pens are making their 36th postseason appearance, while the Isles enter their 27th postseason in franchise history.

    Pittsburgh was led by Sidney Crosby (24-38–62 totals in 55 games played) in the regular season, with Jake Guentzel (23-34–57 totals in 56 GP) and Kris Letang (7-38–45 totals in 55 GP) rounding out the top-three scorers on the Penguins’ roster in 2020-21.

    Crosby and the Pens cruised to an 8-2-0 record in their last 10 games and an impressive 22-4-2 record on home ice this season, which bodes well for their return to the playoffs after missing out on First Round action last season thanks to an early exit on behalf of the Canadiens in four games (3-1) in the 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifier.

    Among active members of the current roster, Crosby leads the Penguins with 68-121–189 totals in 168 career Stanley Cup Playoff games, while Evgeni Malkin– suffering from a lower body injury as of late– has 63-106–169 totals in 166 career postseason games.

    Letang brings up the rear to round-out the top-three playoff performers currently on the roster with 80 points (21 goals, 59 assists) in 136 playoff games.

    In the regular season, Pittsburgh relied on Tristan Jarry for a 25-9-3 record as a starter in 39 games played (38 starts) and two shutouts, as well as a 2.75 goals-against average and a .909 save percentage.

    Casey DeSmith (11-7-0 in 20 games, 17 starts, 2.54 goals-against average, .912 save percentage, two shutouts) served as Jarry’s backup and even Maxime Lagacé made an appearance, recording a win in his only start, as well as a shutout.

    When it comes to playoff experience, only Jarry has ever touched the ice in a Stanley Cup Playoff game– earning one start in a loss, as well as a 1.02 goals-against average and a .952 save percentage.

    At the other end of the rink, the Islanders were led by Mathew Barzal in scoring with 45 points (17 goals, 28 assists) in 55 games, as Josh Bailey (8-27–35 totals in 54 games) trailed the prolific 23-year-old center with the second-most points on the team in the 2020-21 regular season.

    Brock Nelson (18-15–33 totals in 56 games) and Jordan Eberle (16-17–33 totals in 56 games) were tied for the third-most points in team scoring for New York.

    Isles captain, Anders Lee, had his season cut short by a knee injury that will keep him out of contention through the playoffs.

    Meanwhile, the Islanders went 3-4-3 in their last 10 games as they backed themselves into the postseason.

    Among active players on New York’s current roster, Bailey leads his teammates in postseason scoring with 10-27–37 totals in 52 career Stanley Cup Playoff games, while Nelson (16-13–29 in 48 games) and newcomer, Travis Zajac (11-17–28 totals in 57 games) round out the top-three playoff performers entering the Islanders’ 2021 postseason run.

    Zajac was acquired along with Kyle Palmieri from the New Jersey Devils ahead of the 2021 trade deadline back in April.

    In the crease, Semyon Varlamov led the way for the Islanders with a Vezina Trophy worthy season, amassing a 19-11-4 record in 36 games played (35 starts) to go with seven shutouts, a 2.04 goals-against average a .929 save percentage.

    Varlamov and Colorado Avalanche netminder, Philipp Grubauer, led the league in shutouts in 2020-21, while Vegas Golden Knights duo, Marc-Andre Fleury and Robin Lehner took home the William M. Jennings Trophy, having allowed the fewest goals against this season.

    Meanwhile, Ilya Sorokin served as Varlamov’s backup in his first NHL season and had a 13-6-3 record in 22 games played (21 starts), as well as three shutouts, a 2.17 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage.

    As Sorokin just completed his first season at the game’s highest level of competition, only Varlamov has had postseason experience and is expected to be New York’s starter in their 2021 First Round matchup with Pittsburgh.

    Varlamov has a 24-20 record in 46 career Stanley Cup Playoff games (44 starts), as well as four shutouts, a 2.38 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage in that span.

    The Penguins went 6-2-0, while the Islanders went 2-4-2 in their eight games against one another this season with Pittsburgh outscoring New York, 26-19, in that span.

    That alone should give a good indication of how Pens head coach, Mike Sullivan, is back on his regular routine and how Isles head coach, Barry Trotz, will need to get crafty to drag Pittsburgh’s offense down a bit more to the level of New York’s “defense first” mentality.

    Though it might be easier to slow down Crosby’s game than it is to ease Edmonton Oilers phenom, Connor McDavid, from his carousel around opponents, Pittsburgh has a deeper roster than New York’s stagnant core.

    Jeff Carter alone has made a bigger impact on the Pens so far than Palmieri and Zajac combined for the Islanders.

    That said, New York has the historical high ground over the Penguins in the playoffs– especially in light of their 2019 First Round sweep.

    This time around, however, expect Pittsburgh to get the job done in six games– just long enough to get a rhythm going into an epic clash with either the Washington Capitals or Boston Bruins in the Second Round.

    Regular season outcomes:

    4-3 NYI at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Feb. 6th

    4-3 F/SO PIT at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Feb. 11th

    4-1 PIT at PPG Paints Arena on Feb. 18th

    3-2 PIT at PPG Paints Arena on Feb. 20th

    4-3 F/OT PIT at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Feb. 27th

    2-0 NYI at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Feb. 28th

    6-3 PIT at PPG Paints Arena on March 27th

    2-1 PIT at PPG Paints Arena on March 29th

    Schedule:

    5/16- Game 1 NYI @ PIT 12 PM ET on NBC, SN, TVAS

    5/18- Game 2 NYI @ PIT 7:30 PM ET on NBCSN, SN, CBC, TVAS

    5/20- Game 3 PIT @ NYI 7 PM ET on NBCSN, SN360, TVAS

    5/22- Game 4 PIT @ NYI 3 PM ET on NBC, SN, TVAS

    5/24- Game 5 NYI @ PIT*

    5/26- Game 6 PIT @ NYI*

    5/28- Game 7 NYI @ PIT*

    *If necessary

    (2) Washington Capitals (36-15-5, 77 points) vs (3) Boston Bruins (33-16-7, 73 points)

    Washington: 56 games played, .688 points percentage, 29 regulation wins.

    Boston: 56 games played, .652 points percentage, 25 regulation wins.

    The Washington Capitals and Boston Bruins are meeting each other in a playoff series for the fourth time with the Capitals holding the lead in all time series wins, 2-1.

    Washington beat Boston in six games (4-2) in the 1998 Eastern Conference Quarterfinal and in seven games (4-3) in the 2012 Eastern Conference Final.

    Prior to the last two postseason series meetings between the two clubs, the Bruins swept the Capitals (4-0) in the 1990 Wales Conference Final.

    The Caps are making their 31st appearance, while the B’s are set to embark on their 74th appearance in the postseason in franchise history.

    Washington was led by Nicklas Backstrom (15-38–53 totals in 55 games played) in scoring this season, while John Carlson had the second-most points and T.J. Oshie rounded out the top-three in team scoring.

    Carlson had 44 points (10 goals, 34 assists) in 52 games, while Oshie notched 22-21–43 totals in 53 games for the Capitals in 2020-21.

    While battling injury at times this season, Washington captain, Alex Ovechkin, and Co. went 7-2-1 in their last 10 games of the regular season, amassing a 17-8-3 record on home ice.

    Ovechkin leads his current teammates in active career postseason scoring with 69-62–131 totals in 136 Stanley Cup Playoff games (all with the Capitals), while Backstrom is second and former Bruin captain, turned Washington defender, Zdeno Chara, has the third-most career Stanley Cup Playoff points on the Capitals’ current roster.

    Backstrom has 107 points (36 goals, 71 assists) in 128 career playoff games, while Chara has 18-52–70 totals in 195 career postseason games between the Ottawa Senators (45 games) and Boston (150 games).

    In the regular season, Washington relied on the emergence of Vitek Vanecek as their starter with Ilya Samsonov serving as the Caps backup and Craig Anderson getting a handful of appearances mixed in.

    Vanecek led the team with a 21-10-4 record in 37 games (36 starts), two shutouts, a 2.70 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage, while Samsonov amassed a 13-4-1 record in 19 games (18 starts) as Vanecek’s backup.

    Samsonov had a 2.69 goals-against average and a .902 save percentage to go along with a pair of shutouts, while Anderson went 2-1-0 in four games played (two starts) and yielded a 2.13 goals-against average, as well as a .915 save percentage in that span.

    Though Anderson is the only goaltender on the roster with previous playoff experience– including a 23-22 record in 46 games (46 starts) to go along with four shutouts, a 2.35 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage in the process– Vanecek will likely be the starter for the Caps for the foreseeable future.

    Especially with Samsonov still in COVID protocol on Friday (at the time of this writing).

    Brad Marchand led the Bruins in scoring with 29-40–69 totals in 53 games this season, while Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak were tied for the second-most points with 48 points each.

    Bergeron had 23-25–48 totals in 54 games, while Pastrnak had 20-28–48 totals in 48 games after getting a late start to the season due to offseason surgery.

    Meanwhile, David Krejci, for those wondering, had 8-36–44 totals in 51 games and had the fourth-most points on the roster this season.

    Boston’s current career postseason scoring leaders shapes up to be exactly what you expect– Krejci leads over Bergeron and Marchand.

    Krejci has 40-75–115 totals in 145 career Stanley Cup Playoff games entering 2021, while Bergeron has 111 points (42 goals, 69 assists) in 149 playoff games and Marchand has 95 points (37 goals, 58 assists) in 121 postseason games.

    The trio of Bruins define an era of consistent success not seen since the days of Phil Esposito in the spoked-B and are in search of their second Stanley Cup ring.

    Boston utilized four goaltenders this season due to injury and COVID protocol effecting the season as Tuukka Rask led the team with a 15-5-2 record in 24 games (24 starts)– amassing a 2.28 goals-against average, a .913 save percentage and two shutouts in the process.

    Rask’s “average” season was balanced out by Jaroslav Halak’s “average” season as a backup– posting a 9-6-4 record in 19 games (17 starts), as well as a 2.53 goals-against average, a .905 save percentage and two shutouts in that span.

    Despite Halak’s best efforts, the emergence of Jeremy Swayman has led to Swayman moving up in the depth charts from surefire starter in Providence (AHL) to current NHL backup (with the ultimate goal of taking over for Rask someday as the Bruins transition from their franchise goaltender to their 22-year-old first year professional).

    Swayman had a 7-3-0 record in 10 games (10 starts) and put up a 1.50 goals-against average, two shutouts and a .945 save percentage in his first taste of the NHL.

    Dan Vladar, meanwhile, contributed where it mattered most and, despite one, 8-1, loss on the second night of back-to-back games against Washington, managed to have a 2-2-1 record in five games played (five starts) with a 3.40 goals-against average and an .886 save percentage for Boston.

    With Halak relegated to the third string goaltender role, his 17-20 record in 39 postseason games (37 starts) and 2.48 goals-against average, as well as his .919 career playoff save percentage should remain untouched.

    Sure, Vladar made a relief appearance in the 2020 Second Round, but Rask is Boston’s starter, after all.

    And for good reason too– since Rask has a 51-42 record in 93 career Stanley Cup Playoff games (93 starts), as well as seven shutouts, a 2.20 goals-against average and a .926 save percentage in that span.

    No. 40 in black and gold is two wins away from tying Gerry Cheevers for the most postseason wins in franchise history (53).

    The Capitals went 4-4-0, while the Bruins went 4-2-2 in their eight games against one another this season with Boston outscoring Washington, 26-25, in that span.

    As noted, don’t let too many results in their head-to-head matchups from this season fool you.

    The Bruins dressed the equivalents of their AHL affiliate (Providence Bruins) about two times against the Capitals this season.

    The first time was due to a ton of injuries and the second time happened to be another final night of a back-to-back matchup in Boston’s schedule and the end of the regular season with both teams having clinched a playoff berth and not eligible for mobility in the standings.

    That said, the B’s and Caps are pretty evenly matched.

    Vanecek has the chance to ride the waves of his breakout season, while Rask is the steady hand that’s been the model of consistency in the crease this time of year.

    Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, should get the most out of Krejci, Craig Smith and Taylor Hall to round out his top-six forwards, while Peter Laviolette can rely on Chara’s past knowledge of Boston’s systems to utilize as a strength for Washington.

    That said, the Bruins should try to wrap things up in six games and move on to the Second Round before worrying about what a Game 7 would look like on the road for the first time since 2011.

    Regular season outcomes:

    4-3 F/OT WSH at Capital One Arena on Jan. 30th

    5-3 BOS at Capital One Arena on Feb. 1st

    2-1 F/SO WSH at TD Garden on March 1st

    5-1 BOS at TD Garden on March 5th

    4-2 BOS at Capital One Arena on April 8th

    8-1 WSH at TD Garden on April 11th

    6-3 BOS at TD Garden on April 18th

    2-1 WSH at Capital One Arena on May 11th

    Schedule:

    5/15- Game 1 BOS @ WSH 7:15 PM ET on NBC, SN, CBC, TVAS

    5/17- Game 2 BOS @ WSH 7:30 PM ET on NBCSN, SN, CBC, TVAS

    5/19- Game 3 WSH @ BOS 6:30 PM ET on NBCSN, SNE, SNO, SNP, SN360, TVAS

    5/21- Game 4 WSH @ BOS 6:30 PM ET on NBCSN, SNE, SNO, SNP, SN360, TVAS

    5/23- Game 5 BOS @ WSH*

    5/25- Game 6 WSH @ BOS*

    5/27- Game 7 BOS @ WSH*

  • Preview: Game No. 29– Islanders @ Bruins

    Preview: Game No. 29– Islanders @ Bruins

    For the first time in a week, the Boston Bruins are set to play another game. This time, the B’s will be kicking off the second-half of their 2020-21 56-game regular season schedule against the New York Islanders at TD Garden on Thursday night.

    Boston defeated the Buffalo Sabres, 4-1, at KeyBank Center last Thursday (March 18th) without forward, Sean Kuraly, in the lineup as he had been placed in the league’s COVID protocol earlier that afternoon– jeopardizing that night’s action, when combined with the fact that the Sabres also had a positive test among their coaching staff– but nevertheless, the game went on as scheduled.

    Until after the game.

    Four more Bruins skaters were placed in COVID protocol, including Jake DeBrusk, David Krejci, David Pastrnak and Craig Smith, which forced the postponement of last Saturday’s scheduled matchup with the Sabres in Buffalo and Tuesday’s scheduled home game against the Islanders.

    Boston’s facilities were shutdown until Wednesday, when the team held practice for the first time since March 18th’s game action at 7 o’clock in the evening at Warrior Ice Arena in Brighton.

    Everyone except for DeBrusk and Kuraly came off of the National Hockey League’s COVID protocol list prior to practice on Wednesday night.

    Meanwhile, back in Buffalo last Thursday, Greg McKegg scored his first goal as a Bruin, DeBrusk added his third goal of the season, Smith notched his fifth and Pastrnak tallied his 14th goal of the year.

    Krejci had three assists, surpassing 700 career points (all with Boston) in the process– becoming just the eighth player to do so in a Bruins uniform.

    In 935 career NHL games, Krejci has 208-494–702 totals and trails Wayne Cashman (793 points) for the seventh-most points in a B’s jersey.

    Jaroslav Halak made 23 saves on 24 shots against for a .958 save percentage in the win for Boston last Thursday, while Carter Hutton stopped 33 out of 37 shots faced for an .892 save percentage in Buffalo’s loss.

    Now back to the present.

    Entering Thursday night, the Bruins are 0-3-1 against the Islanders this season, with the most recent loss coming in a shootout, 2-1, on March 9th at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

    New York is riding back-to-back wins against the Philadelphia Flyers on March 20th at home and March 22nd in Philadelphia as they enter Boston for the first time this season.

    Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, provided a pregame update to reporters via Zoom and informed them that he expects Tuukka Rask to return to the lineup and get the start against the Isles on Thursday, while Jarred Tinordi and Trent Frederic will be game-time decisions.

    Boston will be without Ondrej Kase, Kevan Miller, Jeremy Lauzon, Brandon Carlo, John Moore and Zach Senyshyn, though Carlo, Lauzon, Miller and Senyshyn are skating.

    Moore underwent surgery on an undisclosed injury and is out longer-term, while Kase has no set timetable for when he’ll be back since sustaining an upper body injury in the second game of the season back on Jan. 16th in New Jersey.

    Cassidy, meanwhile, is coaching in his 400th NHL game on Thursday night (177-74-38 overall in 289 games with Boston).

    The Bruins (16-8-4, 36 points) are 4th place in the MassMutual NHL East Division as they embark on the second-half of their season, while New York leads the division with a 21-8-4 record (46 points).

    The B’s are 7-3-1 on home ice this season and 5-3-2 in their last ten games, while the Isles enter TD Garden 8-7-2 on the road in 2020-21, as well as 8-2-0 in their last ten games.

    Boston is 92-57-21-6 in 176 regular season meetings against the Islanders all time with 590 goals for and 501 goals against in that span.

    New York is 18-20-2-4 in 44 games at TD Garden since the building was opened in 1995, outscoring the Bruins in that span, 134-113.

    Brad Marchand leads the Bruins in scoring with 12-22–34 totals in 28 games played, while Pastrnak leads the team in goals scored (14), but trails Marchand for the second-most points with 14-12–26 totals in 21 games played this season.

    Bruins captain, Patrice Bergeron, rounds out the top-three scorers with 25 points in 28 games and is four points away from tying Rick Middleton for the fourth most points with Boston in franchise history.

    Bergeron has 362-532–894 totals in 1,117 career games with the Bruins, while Middleton had 898 points in 881 games with Boston from 1976-88.

    Mathew Barzal leads the Islanders in scoring with 9-16–25 totals in 33 games this season, while Anders Lee and Brock Nelson are tied for the team lead in goals with 12.

    Lee’s recent injury has limited him to 27 games and ruled him out for the rest of the season, while Nelson has attained 12-6-18 totals in 33 games.

    Isles defender, Nick Leddy, is second on the team in scoring with 1-20–21 totals in 33 games, while Jordan Eberle and Jean-Gabriel Pageau each have 20 points for the third-most points on New York’s roster.

    Eberle’s recorded 20 points in 33 games, while Pageau has 20 points in 32 games, including 4-1–5 totals in four games against Boston this season.

    Rask (8-4-2, 2.46 goals-against average, .906 save percentage in 14 games played) is expected to get his first start since missing the last six games for Boston due to an undisclosed injury.

    He is one win away from reaching the 300-win plateau and would be the first Bruins goaltender in franchise history to reach that mark.

    Semyon Varlamov (13-6-3, 2.17 goals-against average, .923 save percentage in 22 games played) is likely to get the start in net for the Islanders on Thursday.

    The Bruins kick off a seven-game homestand on Thursday, which is tied for the longest home stretch in team history (Jan. 2-16, 2006).

    For the first time since the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic began last year, fans will be in attendance at TD Garden as the building is limited to 12% seating capacity.

    Roughly 2,100 fans will be at a Bruins home game for the first time since March 7, 2020, instead of the usual sellout crowd of 17,850 since the building’s most recent renovations and development of The Hub on Causeway.

    Expected lineups

    Boston Bruins

    63 Brad Marchand (A) 37 Patrice Bergeron (C) 88 David Pastrnak

    21 Nick Ritchie 46 David Krejci (A) 12 Craig Smith

    10 Anders Bjork 13 Charlie Coyle 83 Karson Kuhlman

    11 Trent Frederic 18 Greg McKegg 14 Chris Wagner

    48 Matt Grzlecyk 73 Charlie McAvoy

    67 Jakub Zboril 75 Connor Clifton

    84 Jarred Tinordi 44 Steven Kampfer

    40 Tuukka Rask

    41 Jaroslav Halak

    Healthy scratches, injured and taxi squad members (officially TBA, below is only a prediction based on last game)

    Zach Senyshyn (upper body), Jack Studnicka, Brandon Carlo (upper body), John Moore (undisclosed), Ondrej Kase (upper body), Sean Kuraly (COVID protocol), Jack Ahcan, Jeremy Lauzon (fractured left hand), Callum Booth, Jake DeBrusk (COVID protocol), Dan Vladar, Kevan Miller (right knee)

    New York Islanders

    7 Jordan Eberle 47 Leo Komarov 13 Mathew Barzal

    28 Michael Dal Colle 29 Brock Nelson (A) 12 Josh Bailey (A)

    18 Anthony Beauvillier 44 Jean-Gabriel Pageau 26 Oliver Wahlstrom

    17 Matt Martin 53 Casey Cizikas 15 Cal Clutterbuck (A)

    3 Adam Pelech 6 Ryan Pulock

    2 Nick Leddy 4 Andy Greene

    34 Thomas Hickey 24 Scott Mayfield

    40 Semyon Varlamov

    30 Ilya Sorokin

    Healthy scratches, injured and taxi squad members (officially TBA, below is only a prediction based on last game)

    Anders Lee (knee), TBA

    Goaltending stats entering Thursday

    Boston Bruins

    40 Tuukka Rask 8-4-2 in 14 GP, 2.46 GAA, .906 SV%, 0 SO

    41 Jaroslav Halak 7-4-2 in 13 GP, 2.06 GAA, .921 SV%, 2 SO

    70 Callum Booth 0-0-0 in 0 GP, 0.00 GAA, .000 SV%, 0 SO

    80 Dan Vladar 1-0-0 in 1 GP, 1.00 GAA, .971 SV%, 0 SO

    New York Islanders

    30 Ilya Sorokin 8-2-1 in 11 GP, 1.97 GAA, .922 SV%, 2 SO

    35 Cory Schneider 0-0-0 in 0 GP, 0.00 GAA, .000 SV%, 0 SO

    40 Semyon Varlamov 13-6-3 in 22 GP, 2.17 GAA, .923 SV%, 3 SO

  • Islanders down Bruins, 2-1, in shootout

    Islanders down Bruins, 2-1, in shootout

    For the fourth time this season the New York Islanders beat the Boston Bruins at Nassau Live at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, but for the first time this season it was in a shootout.

    David Pastrnak opened the game’s scoring in the first period and Brock Nelson tied things up in the second period before the Isles beat the Bruins, 2-1, in a shootout.

    Semyon Varlamov (12-4-3, 2.03 goals against average, .929 save percentage in 19 games played) made 32 saves on 33 shots faced for a .970 SV% in the shootout win for New York.

    Boston goaltender, Jaroslav Halak (5-2-2, 2.08 GAA, .919 SV% in nine games played) stopped 26 out of 27 shots against (.963 SV%) in the shootout loss.

    The B’s fell to 13-6-4 (30 points) and dropped to 4th place in the MassMutual NHL East Division, while the Islanders improved to 16-6-4 (36 points) and remained in command of the division lead.

    New York head coach, Barry Trotz, managed his 1,700th career regular season game from behind the bench on Tuesday.

    He served as the head coach for the Nashville Predators in 1,196 games from 1998-2014 before leading the Washington Capitals in 328 from 2014-18– winning the Stanley Cup in 2018– and joining the Islanders that summer, where he has been from 2018-present in 176 games and counting.

    The Bruins were once again without the services of Ondrej Kase (upper body), Kevan Miller (knee), Jeremy Lauzon (fractured left hand) and Brandon Carlo (upper body) on Tuesday night as Tuukka Rask was also unavailable and did not make the trip to Long Island with the team.

    Rask re-aggravated a lower body injury from earlier in the season in Sunday’s, 1-0, loss against the New Jersey Devils and was scheduled to have Tuesday night off anyway, so he didn’t travel with the club for their one-game excursion on the road before returning home on Thursday.

    Instead, Dan Vladar served as Halak’s backup in New York.

    Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, indicated that Rask’s absence was only “a little maintenance for him” and told reporters that “[h]e’s feeling better, but we just felt why mix in a couple of plane rides when not necessary?” before Tuesday night’s game.

    Cassidy left his defensive pairings alone and made two changes among his forward lines against the Islanders, scratching Jake DeBrusk and replacing him with Jack Studnicka on the right side of the second line while re-inserting Sean Kuraly at center on the fourth line.

    Carlo, John Moore, Kase, Rask, Lauzon, DeBrusk, Miller, Greg McKegg, Steven Kampfer and Callum Booth were all out of the lineup due to injury, being a healthy scratch or being a member of the taxi squad.

    Late in the opening frame, Anders Lee tripped Charlie Coyle and yielded the game’s first power play to Boston at 18:49 of the first period.

    Less than a minute later, Pastrnak (11) blasted a one-timer low past Varlamov’s right pad to give the Bruins a, 1-0, lead.

    Brad Marchand (16) and Matt Grzelcyk (5) tallied the assists on Pastrnak’s power-play goal at 19:32 as the B’s brought their longest power play drought since Feb. 2018, to an end.

    The goal also marked the 400th career point for Pastrnak, becoming the fourth-fastest Bruin in franchise history to reach 400 points with the club in 406 games.

    Bobby Orr amassed 400 points as a Bruin in 333 games, while Barry Pederson did so in 335 games and Ray Bourque completed the feat in 391 games.

    After one period of play at Nassau Coliseum, Boston led New York, 1-0, on the scoreboard and, 12-8, in shots on goal.

    The Bruins also held the advantage in giveaways (5-1), hits (11-7) and faceoff win percentage (59-41), while both teams had five blocked shots and two takeaways each entering the first intermission.

    The Islanders had yet to see any action on the power play while the B’s were 1/1 on the skater advantage.

    Early in the middle frame, Coyle tripped Mathew Barzal and was assessed a minor infraction at 2:51 of the second period.

    New York did not convert on the ensuing power play.

    Almost midway through the period, Oliver Wahlstrom checked Jarred Tinordi behind Boston’s net and was charged with a boarding minor at 9:16.

    The B’s did not score on the resulting power play.

    Moments later, Wahlstrom caught Connor Clifton in a vulnerable position and was assessed another boarding infraction, though not before Marchand jumped on top of Wahlstrom in defense of his teammate without seeing that Clifton had, perhaps, lost an edge leading to his fall before Wahlstrom completed his check.

    Regardless, Marchand earned two roughing minors and presented the Isles with a power play at 14:32 of the second period.

    Craig Smith served Marchand’s minor while Boston was on the penalty kill.

    Almost two minutes later, Nelson (10) buried a one-timer on a “tic-toc-goal” from Barzal to Jean-Gabriel Pageau to Nelson to tie the game, 1-1, at 16:18 of the second period.

    Pageau (8) and Barzal (14) tabbed the assists on the goal.

    Through 40 minutes of play, the Bruins and Islanders were tied, 1-1, on the scoreboard, despite Boston leading in shots on goal, 24-16, after two periods of play– including a, 12-8, advantage in the second period alone.

    The Isles led in blocked shots (11-10) and takeaways (4-2), while the B’s held the advantage in giveaways (9-6) and faceoff win% (54-46).

    Both teams had 15 hits aside and were 1/2 on the power play entering the second intermission.

    There were no penalties and no goals scored in the third period as the two clubs swapped chances, resulting in a, 1-1, score after regulation– necessitating overtime.

    The Bruins led in shots on goal, 28-25, after 60 minutes, despite being outshot, 9-4, by the Islanders in the third period alone.

    Boston also held the advantage in blocked shots (17-16), giveaways (13-8), hits (28-26) and faceoff win% (55-45), while New York led in takeaways (6-3) after three periods.

    As there were no more penalties called in the game, the two teams finished 1/2 on the power play.

    Trotz trotted out Nelson, Nick Leddy and Anthony Beauvillier to start overtime, while Cassidy countered with Patrice Bergeron, Marchand and Charlie McAvoy.

    Neither team could score after five-minutes of blistering fury at 3-on-3.

    After the extra frame, the Bruins finished the night leading in shots on goal, 33-27, including a, 5-2, advantage in the overtime period alone.

    Boston wrapped up Tuesday night’s action leading in blocked shots (17-16), giveaways (13-10), hits (29-27) and faceoff win% (54-47) as the two teams entered the shootout tied, 1-1, on the scoreboard.

    Jordan Eberle used his quick hands to deke and shoot over Halak’s glove side, giving New York a, 1-0 advantage before Pastrnak responded with a shot over Varlamov’s glove that hit the back of the twine, tying the shootout, 1-1, after one round.

    Barzal’s attempt was denied by Halak with a blocker save after the Islanders forward tried to replicate Eberle’s attempt up high– only on the other side.

    Coyle countered with an attempt at beating Varlamov’s five-hole, but the Isles goaltender stopped the shot.

    In the third round of the shootout, Beauvillier put the Islanders ahead after he pulled a deke that left Halak attempting a split while Beauvillier roofed the puck top-shelf on a backhand shot.

    All Varlamov had to do was stop Marchand’s attempt and New York would win.

    He did just that as Marchand went five-hole, but the Islanders goaltender stood tall and turned the shot aside.

    New York took home the, 2-1, victory in both the shootout and final score as Boston fell to 0-3-1 against the Islanders this season.

    The Isles improved to 1-1 in shootouts this season and 1-4 past regulation overall, while the B’s fell to 2-2 in shootouts and 5-4 overall past 60 minutes.

    Boston fell to 9-2-2 (4-2-1 on the road) when scoring the game’s first goal this season, while New York improved to 5-5-2 (5-0-0 at home) when allowing the game’s first goal in 2020-21.

    The Bruins also fell to 7-0-1 (3-0-1 on the road) when leading after the first period and 3-4-3 (3-3-2 on the road) when tied after two periods this season, while the Islanders improved to 3-3-2 (3-0-0 at home) when trailing after one and 8-2-2 (6-0-1 at home) when tied after two periods in 2020-21.

    Boston returns home to finish this week off with a two-game homestand against New York Rangers on Thursday and Saturday.

    The B’s begin a four-game road trip next week with a pair of games in Pittsburgh and Buffalo.

  • Bruins lose big in, 7-2, blowout to Islanders

    Bruins lose big in, 7-2, blowout to Islanders

    The New York Islanders erupted for seven goals on home ice in their, 7-2, victory over the Boston Bruins at Nassau Live at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Thursday night.

    Semyon Varlamov (9-4-2, 2.06 goals against average, .928 save percentage in 15 games played) stopped 34 out of 36 shots faced for a .944 SV% in the win for the Isles.

    Bruins goaltender, Jaroslav Halak (4-2-1, 2.42 GAA, .903 SV% in seven games played) made 30 saves on 37 shots against for an .811 SV% in the loss.

    The former Islanders goaltender was visibly frustrated and broke his stick against the post after allowing four goals.

    Boston fell to 11-4-2 (24 points) on the season, but remained in command of the MassMutual NHL East Division standings.

    New York improved to 10-6-3 (23 points) overall and jumped from 5th in the division to 3rd place in the standings.

    Thursday night marked the 400th career National Hockey League game (all with Boston) for David Pastrnak. Entering Thursday, he had 393 points (189 goals, 204 assists) in 399 games, including 9-5–14 totals in nine games this season.

    The Bruins were without the services of Ondrej Kase (upper body), Matt Grzelcyk (lower body), David Krejci (lower body), Kevan Miller (knee) and Jeremy Lauzon (fractured left hand) against the Islanders Thursday night.

    Boston did, however, see the return of Jakub Zboril to the blue line after Zboril missed the last two games with an upper body injury sustained on Feb. 13th at the Islanders.

    Grzelcyk, meanwhile, skated on Thursday morning and may make his return to the lineup on Friday or Sunday in Manhattan against the New York Rangers. He has missed 11 games so far this season due to a recurring lower body injury originally sustained on Jan. 21st vs. Philadelphia, then re-aggravated on Jan. 28th vs. Pittsburgh and again on Feb. 10th at the Rangers.

    The newest member of Boston’s long list of injuries– Lauzon– played 34 seconds in the 2021 NHL Outdoors at Lake Tahoe game against the Flyers and will be out for approximately four weeks with a fractured left hand.

    Krejci and Miller did not travel with the team to New York for the current three-game road trip.

    Halak earned his first start against the Islanders at Nassau Coliseum since 2014, while Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy made no adjustments to his forward lines, but played with his defensive pairings from Sunday’s, 7-3, win over the Flyers outdoors to Thursday night’s battle indoors on Long Island.

    Urho Vaakanainen earned first pairing minutes with Charlie McAvoy to start the action, while Zboril was placed on the left side of Brandon Carlo on the second defensive pairing.

    Meanwhile, John Moore and Connor Clifton rounded out the six dressed defenders.

    Kase, Krejci, Grzelcyk, Lauzon, Karson Kuhlman, Miller, Greg McKegg, Steven Kampfer and Callum Booth made up Boston’s long list of injuries, healthy scratches and taxi squad members on Thursday.

    Nick Ritchie (7) kicked things off by redirecting a pass through the low slot past Varlamov to give the Bruins the game’s first goal 62 seconds into the action.

    Zboril (3) and Charlie Coyle (3) tallied the assists as Boston led, 1-0, at 1:02 of the first period.

    The B’s didn’t lead for long before Adam Pelech (1) pocketed a rebound past Halak’s blocker side while crashing the net for his first goal in 42 games.

    Pelech’s goal was unassisted as the Islanders tied the game, 1-1, at 3:16 of the opening frame.

    A couple of minutes past the midpoint of the first period, Mathew Barzal (7) burst into the attacking zone with speed and sniped a shot over Halak’s glove side to put New York ahead, 2-1, at 12:39.

    Nick Leddy (10) and Varlamov (1) had the assists on Barzal’s goal as the two teams got off to a fast pace on Thursday.

    Entering the first intermission, New York led Boston, 2-1, on the scoreboard, despite the Bruins holding the, 15-10, advantage in shots on goal.

    The B’s also led in blocked shots (4-3), takeaways (2-1) and faceoff win percentage (53-47) after one period, while the Isles led in giveaways (5-1) and hits (12-5).

    Neither team had seen any action on the skater advantage entering the middle frame.

    Anthony Beauvillier tripped Pastrnak at 1:01 of the second period and yielded the game’s first power play to Boston, but the Bruins weren’t able to convert on the ensuing skater advantage.

    Craig Smith cut a rut to the sin bin for the B’s after hooking Leddy, but the Islanders didn’t capitalize on their first power play of the night as a result.

    In the vulnerable minute after special teams action, Boston capitalized on a shift in momentum when Smith redirected the puck behind his back to his stick with a free hand– never closing his hand on the puck in the process– in the neutral zone before skating into the attacking zone and sending a pass towards Jack Studnicka as Studnicka crashed the net.

    There was just one problem, however, as the puck deflected off of Matt Martin’s stick and fluttered over Varlamov and into the twine– tying the game, 2-2, in the process.

    Smith (4) was credited with the goal while Jake DeBrusk (3) and Vaakanainen (2) earned the assists at 11:36 of the second period.

    Through 40 minutes of play, the scoreboard was even, 2-2, but the Bruins were leading in shots on goal, 28-19, including a, 13-9, advantage in the second period alone.

    The B’s also led in blocked shots (12-5) and faceoff win% (52-48), while the New York led in takeaways (3-2), giveaways (9-3) and hits (20-14).

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

    Beauvillier (1) kicked things off in the third period with the eventual game-winning goal for the Islanders after stealing the puck right off of Trent Frederic’s stick and slipping the rubber biscuit through Halak to give New York a, 3-2, lead at 5:41.

    Then it started.

    The Islanders began an offensive onslaught, first when Barzal sent a pass to Jordan Eberle leading Halak to drop down into the splits while Eberle (8) roofed the puck over Halak’s glove and into the net.

    Barzal (10) and Anders Lee (4) notched the assists on Eberle’s goal and New York took a two-goal lead, 4-2, at 10:45 of the third period.

    Less than a couple of minutes later, Casey Cizikas sent the puck over the glass and received an automatic delay of game infraction at 12:04, but Boston’s power play was once again powerless and instead gave up an ensuing shorthanded goal against.

    That’s right, Jean-Gabriel Pageau (8) emerged with a quick breakout from his own zone that translated into a breakaway into the attacking zone before scoring top-shelf over Halak’s glove side to make it, 5-2, Islanders at 12:24.

    Pelech (4) had the only assist on Pageau’s shorthanded goal as the New York forward scored his third goal in three games against Boston this season.

    About two minutes later, a wacky deflection off of Clifton, then Halak, then Vaakanainen and the post (or the other way around, it doesn’t matter that much) left a loose puck with eyes finding its way to Lee’s stick for Lee (9) to pot his team leading ninth goal of the season to make it a four-goal game.

    Noah Dobson (7) and Leddy (11) had the assists on Lee’s goal and the Isles led, 6-2, at 14:44 of the third period.

    Again, less than two minutes later, after Halak made an initial stop with his shoulder, the puck flew back into the slot whereby Oliver Wahlstrom (2) was waiting and anticipating burying the rebound to make it, 7-2, for New York– capping off five unanswered goals in a span in the third period alone for the Islanders.

    Ryan Pulock (8) and Cizikas (3) were credited with the primary and secondary assists, respectively, at 16:33.

    About a minute later, Frederic delivered a swift cross check to Lee after a stoppage in play and was dealt a minor infraction for cross checking as well as a game misconduct at 17:53.

    Smith served Frederic’s minor as Boston’s penalty kill managed to go unscathed on the final special teams appearance of the night.

    At the final horn, the Islanders handed the Bruins their worst loss of the season thus far on the scoreboard, 7-2.

    It was Boston’s first game since beating the Flyers, 7-3, outdoors, so at least the Bruins managed consecutive games with at least seven goals scored by the winning team– just on both sides of the final result.

    New York finished night leading in shots on goal, 37-36, including an, 18-8, advantage in the third period alone– the most shots allowed by Boston in any third period this season so far.

    The B’s finished the game with the advantage in blocked shots (16-8) and faceoff win% (53-47), while the Isles managed the advantage in giveaways (13-6) and hits (26-24).

    Both clubs went 0/2 on the power play on Thursday.

    Thursday night’s game also marked just the second time this season that Boston lost by more than one goal. Coincidentally, the last time the Bruins did that this season was back on Feb. 13th against the Islanders on Long Island in a, 4-2, loss.

    The Bruins fell to 7-2-0 (3-2-0 on the road) when scoring the game’s first game, while the Islanders improved to 3-5-2 (3-0-0 at home) when allowing the game’s first goal this season.

    Boston also fell to 2-2-2 (2-2-2 on the road) when trailing after the first period and 3-3-1 (3-3-1 on the road) when tied after two periods this season.

    New York, conversely, improved to 7-1-1 (4-0-1 at home) when leading after the first period and 6-2-2 (5-0-1 at home) when tied after two periods this season.

    The Bruins are now 1-3-0 in their last four games and continue their three-game road trip (0-1-0) to close out the month of February (6-3-0) with a pair of games at Madison Square Garden against the New York Rangers on Friday night and Sunday afternoon.

    The Commonwealth of Massachusetts announced earlier on Thursday that fans will be allowed at TD Garden, Fenway Park and Gillette Stadium at about 12% seating capacity as of March 22nd, which means Boston’s first home game with fans at TD Garden is currently scheduled for March 23rd against the Islanders.

    Information regarding ticket sales and more is coming soon. Check your local listings (nhl.com/bruins, preferably).

  • Islanders beat Bruins, 4-2, B’s five-game win streak ends

    Islanders beat Bruins, 4-2, B’s five-game win streak ends

    After winning their last five games (and on the road, too), the Boston Bruins fell to the New York Islanders, 4-2, on Saturday night at Nassau Live at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

    Islanders goaltender, Semyon Varlamov (6-2-2, 1.98 goals against average, .930 save percentage in ten games played) stopped 28 out of 30 shots faced for a .933 SV% in the win.

    Bruins netminder, Tuukka Rask (6-2-1, 2.51 GAA, .906 SV% in nine games played) made 38 saves on 42 shots against for a .905 SV% in the loss.

    Boston fell to 10-2-2 (22 points) on the season, but remained in 1st place in the MassMutual NHL East Division, while New York improved to 6-4-3 (15 points), but stuck in 4th place in the division.

    Ondrej Kase (upper body) missed his 12th game this season due to an injury sustained on Jan. 16th in New Jersey, while Matt Grzelcyk (lower body) missed his eighth game of the season due to a lingering injury originally sustained on Jan. 21st against Philadelphia, then re-aggravated on Jan. 28th against Pittsburgh and again on Feb. 10th in New York (against the Rangers).

    Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made one change to his lineup from Friday night’s, 1-0, win against the Rangers, replacing Connor Clifton on the second defensive pairing with John Moore, who made his season debut.

    Par Lindholm, Clifton, Anton Blidh, Karson Kuhlman, Greg McKegg, Steven Kampfer and Callum Booth served as Boston’s healthy scratches and/or taxi squad members on Saturday night.

    Midway through the opening frame, Brad Marchand (9) fired the puck past Varlamov on the blocker side from the slot on a catch and release shot after Patrice Bergeron fed Marchand with a pass.

    Bergeron (11) and David Pastrnak (4) tallied the assists on Marchand’s goal and the Bruins led, 1-0, at 8:41 of the first period.

    Boston earned a little over a minute of consecutive attacking zone time leading up to Marchand’s goal in a dominant display of possession as Saturday night’s action got going.

    A few minutes later, Islanders defender, Ryan Pulock fed the slot where Jean-Gabriel Pageau hacked at the puck before Leo Komarov (1) put the finishing touch on it– sneaking the puck behind Rask and tying the game, 1-1, in the process.

    Pageau (4) and Pulock (5) notched the assists on Komarov’s first goal of the season at 11:36.

    Almost four minutes later, New York took the lead on a tremendous momentum swing whereby Jordan Eberle (6) rocketed an old-school blast from the faceoff circle off of Rask’s leg pad and through the five-hole at 15:16 of the first period.

    Brock Nelson (3) and Scott Mayfield (1) had the assists on Eberle’s goal and the Islanders led, 2-1.

    Entering the first intermission, New York had the lead on the scoreboard, as well as shots on goal, 15-7.

    The Isles also dominated in blocked shots (6-2) and hits (15-13), while Boston led in faceoff win percentage (65-35).

    Both clubs had two takeaways and two giveaways each after one period of action and had yet to see any time on the skater advantage.

    Prior to the start of the middle period, the Bruins tweeted that defender, Jakub Zboril, would not return to Saturday night’s game with an upper body injury.

    Almost midway through the second period, Adam Pelech cross checked Pastrnak and received a minor infraction at 7:47.

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

    Late in the period, Pastrnak worked the puck up to Marchand through the neutral zone, whereby Marchand then setup Bergeron (7) for another catch and release goal over Varlamov’s blocker side at 16:51.

    Marchand (9) and Pastrnak (5) were credited with the assists on Bergeron’s goal and the Bruins tied the game, 2-2.

    Through 40 minutes of action at the Coliseum, the score was tied, 2-2, despite the Islanders holding a, 30-16, advantage in shots on goal, including a, 15-9, advantage in just the second period alone.

    New York also led in blocked shots (9-7), takeaways (5-2) and hits (29-23), while the B’s led in giveaways (9-5) and faceoff win% (62-38).

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

    Pastrnak hooked Mathew Barzal at 4:09 of the third period and the penalty proved to be costly for the Bruins as New York took full advantage of their only power play of the night.

    Barzal (6) gave the Islanders a go-ahead power-play goal on a one-timer that sailed over Rask’s blocker side from close range.

    Anders Lee (3) and Eberle (3) had the assist’s on Barzal’s goal as the Islanders took a, 3-2, lead at 5:30 of the third period.

    Past the midpoint of the final frame, Eberle caught Jeremy Lauzon with a high stick at 13:37, but the Bruins were no match for New York’s penalty kill.

    In fact, Boston’s power play gave up a goal as Komarov fed Pageau (4) with a short breakaway, leading to a shot past Rask’s glove side into the back of the twine to make it, 4-2, for the Islanders.

    Komarov (2) had the only assist on Pageau’s shorthanded insurance goal at 14:32.

    It was the first shorthanded goal against allowed by Boston this season.

    With 2:40 remaining in Saturday night’s action, Cassidy pulled his goaltender for an extra attacker, but it was to no avail as the Islanders defense stood tall against Boston’s last-ditch effort.

    At the final horn, New York had won, 4-2.

    The Islanders finished the night leading in shots on goal, 42-30, despite trailing, 14-12, in shots in the third period alone.

    The Isles also wrapped up the night leading in blocked shots (13-12) and hits (36-27), while Boston finished the effort leading in giveaways (14-11) and faceoff win% (64-37).

    New York went 1/1 on the power play, while the Bruins finished 0/2 on the skater advantage– reminiscent of their 0-2-0 record on Long Island this season.

    Both of Boston’s regulation losses this season have been against the Islanders at Nassau Live at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

    The Bruins fell to 6-1-0 (3-1-0 on the road) when scoring the game’s first goal, while the Islanders improved to 1-3-2 (1-0-0 at home) when allowing the game’s first goal this season.

    Boston also fell to 2-1-2 when trailing after the first period, as well as 3-2-1 when tied after two periods this season.

    New York, meanwhile, improved to 4-1-1 when leading after the first period and 4-1-2 when tied after two periods this season.

    The B’s were scheduled to face the New Jersey Devils at home on Monday (Feb. 15th), but that game has been postponed due to many of the Devils players being in COVID protocol recently.

    New Jersey is scheduled to return to practice on Monday, which means next Thursday (Feb. 18th) remains on tap for Boston’s next home game (unless it, too, becomes postponed). Boston then travels to Lake Tahoe for an outdoor game against the Philadelphia Flyers on Feb. 21st.