Down the Frozen River

Tag: Brandon Carlo

  • Penguins end Bruins’ point streak with 4-2 win

    The Pittsburgh Penguins’ special teams got the job done in their, 4-2, win over the Boston Bruins on Sunday night at PPG Paints Arena as the Pens scored a shorthanded goal and a power play goal en route to end Boston’s point-streak at 19 games.

    Jared McCann had two goals in the effort, while Nick Bjugstad and Jake Guentzel also scored for Pittsburgh. David Krejci and John Moore had the only goals for Boston.

    The Bruins suffered their first loss in regulation since Jan. 19th and are now 15-1-4 in their last 20 games.

    Matt Murray (23-11-3 record, 2.77 goals against average, .917 save percentage in 38 games played) made 39 saves on 41 shots against for a .951 SV% in the win for the Penguins.

    B’s goaltender, Jaroslav Halak (18-10-4, 2.34 GAA, .924 SV% in 34 GP) stopped 33 out of 36 shots faced for a .917 SV% in the loss.

    Boston fell to 42-18-9 (93 points) on the season, but remained in control of 2nd place in the Atlantic Division, while Pittsburgh improved to 37-23-9 (83 points) on the season and surged into 3rd place in the Metropolitan Division.

    Pittsburgh won the season series against the B’s, 2-0-1. The Penguins have also won in their last five home games against Boston as the Bruins fell to 15-11-6 on the road this season and 4-1-0 in the month of March.

    Bruce Cassidy indicated that Jake DeBrusk (lower body) and Marcus Johansson (lung contusion) may be nearing returns to the lineup, while it is not likely Kevan Miller (upper body) and David Pastrnak (left thumb) will join the Bruins on their ongoing three-game road trip.

    Cassidy adjusted his forward lines, placing Peter Cehlarik at left wing on the second line with Krejci and Lee Stempniak, while bumping up Sean Kuraly to the third line with Charlie Coyle and David Backes.

    Joakim Nordstrom was demoted to the fourth line with Noel Acciari and Chris Wagner.

    Steven Kampfer remains the only healthy scratch in the Bruins lineup from night-to-night currently.

    Bjugstad (10) kicked things off early in the action after the Bruins turned the puck over in their own zone. Patric Hornqvist generated a rebound off Halak and Bjugstad pounced on the loose puck to give the Penguins the lead, 1-0, at 1:33 of the first period.

    Hornqvist (16) and Dominik Simon (18) tallied the assists on the goal as the Pittsburgh crowd came to life.

    Boston was penalized for too many men on the ice, leaving Cehlarik to serve the bench minor at 3:41.

    The Pens did not convert on their first power play chance of the night, nor did they score on their second skater advantage opportunity when Matt Grzelcyk hooked Bjugstad at 9:01 of the opening frame.

    Justin Schultz sent the puck over the glass and out of play for an automatic delay of game infraction at 13:07, resulting in Boston’s first power play of the evening. It did not go well.

    McCann (15) received a breakout pass and quickly worked his way behind the Bruins defenders and scored on Halak on a breakaway.

    Teddy Blueger (2) had the only assist on McCann’s shorthanded goal and the Penguins led, 2-0, at 13:54 of the first period.

    Moments later, Wagner went to the penalty box for tripping Marcus Pettersson at 15:19, but was quickly followed by Evgeni Malkin for tripping Charlie McAvoy at 16:12, resulting in 4-on-4 action for about 1:07.

    McCann appeared on the event sheet one last time before the first intermission for an inference penalty at 19:26, as the Penguins finished the first 20 minutes of play leading on the scoreboard, 2-0, and in shots on goal, 15-8.

    Pittsburgh also led in takeaways (1-0) and hits (12-7), while the Bruins led in blocked shots (7-4) and face-off win percentage (58-42). Both teams had five giveaways aside and were 0/3 on the power play prior to the start of the second period.

    Early in the second period, Hornqvist checked Grzelcyk along the boards, leaving the Bruins defender favoring his right arm as it awkwardly collided with the Penguins forward and the glass.

    Grzelcyk would not return to the action with an upper body injury.

    Former Bruin, Zach Trotman, slashed Acciari at 3:31 of the second period and presented Boston with a power play opportunity.

    Similar to how the Pens scored their first goal, the B’s got on the scoreboard and cut the lead in half after Heinen flung a puck off Murray over to Krejci (19) for the rebound and easy tally.

    Heinen (18) and Brad Marchand (54) picked up the assists on Krejci’s power play goal at 4:32 of the second period and Boston trailed, 2-1.

    Almost two minutes later, Patrice Bergeron sent the puck over the glass and received an automatic delay of game minor penalty at 6:43.

    Pittsburgh did not score on the ensuing power play, but it was only a matter of time as Boston would find out when Brandon Carlo tripped up Blueger at 16:10.

    Just 22 seconds into the resulting power play for the Penguins, Sidney Crosby caught the B’s on a shorthanded turnover and sent the puck to Guentzel (34) for a two-on-one power play goal at 16:32.

    Pittsburgh led, 3-1, as Crosby (57) and Pettersson (19) picked up assists on the goal.

    After 40 minutes of play, the Penguins led in shots on goal (23-22), takeaways (5-3), giveaways (8-4), hits (19-15) and face-off win% (51-49), while the Bruins led in blocked shots (13-12).

    The Pens were 1/5 on the power play after two periods and the B’s were 1/4 heading into the third period.

    Trotman trotted to the sin bin for the second time of the night at 4:33 of the third period for interference, but the Bruins couldn’t muster anything on the resulting skater advantage.

    Cassidy pulled his netminder with over 2:30 remaining in regulation to try to pull within one-goal, let alone score two quick goals to tie the game.

    Pittsburgh struggled to find the open net at first, yielding a slap shot from Moore (4) to find its way past Murray, bringing the game to within one at 18:59.

    Coyle (19) and Heinen (19) tabbed the assists on Moore’s goal as the Bruins trailed, 3-2. Coyle’s assist was his first point as a Bruin, but the celebration didn’t last long.

    Halak vacated the crease again for an extra attacker, but the Penguins were successful in finding the empty twine at 19:39, as McCann (16) pocketed his second goal of the night to make it 4-2, Pittsburgh.

    Guentzel (31) had the only assist on McCann’s empty netter.

    Despite losing, 4-2, Boston finished the night with more shots on goal, 41-37, and leading in face-off win% (53-47). Pittsburgh finished the night with the advantage in giveaways (15-10) and hits (28-20).

    Both teams had 16 blocked shots each and went 1/5 on the power play.

    The Bruins swing through Columbus to take on the Blue Jackets on Tuesday before finishing up their three-game road trip against the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday. Boston returns home to square off with the Blue Jackets again on March 16th.

  • Krejci tips Bruins past Senators, 3-2, in final minute

    For the second game in-a-row, the Boston Bruins came from behind in the third period and won with a game-winning goal in the final minute of regulation to extend their 2nd longest point-streak in franchise history to 19 games with a, 3-2, win over the Ottawa Senators.

    Brad Marchand, Chris Wagner and David Krejci had goals for the Bruins, while Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Brady Tkachuk scored for the Senators.

    Tuukka Rask (24-8-5 record, 2.30 goals against average, .921 save percentage in 38 games played) made 17 saves on 19 shots against en route to the win for Boston on Saturday night at TD Garden.

    Rask is now 16-0-3 in his last 19 appearances, while the Bruins are 15-0-4 in their last 19 games.

    Ottawa goaltender, Craig Anderson (14-23-4, 3.53 GAA, .903 SV% in 43 GP) stopped 28 out of 31 shots faced for a .903 SV% in the loss and fell to 0-11-1 in his last 13 starts.

    Boston improved to 42-17-9 (93 points) on the season and maintained 2nd place in the Atlantic Division, while the Senators fell to 23-40-6 (52 points) and remained last in the division.

    The Bruins improved to 4-0-0 in the month of March and finished their six-game homestand with a perfect, 6-0-0, record. Likewise, the B’s improved to 27-5-5 on the season when scoring first in a game and 21-3-5 overall since Jan. 1st.

    Kevan Miller (upper body), David Pastrnak (left thumb), Jake DeBrusk (lower body) and Marcus Johansson (lung contusion) remained out of the lineup due to injury, while Steven Kampfer was the only healthy scratch for Boston.

    The B’s recalled Lee Stempniak on emergency basis from the Providence Bruins (AHL) hours before the game on Saturday and Bruce Cassidy inserted the NHL veteran winger on the second line with David Krejci and Joakim Nordstrom.

    Peter Cehlarik took over for Nordstrom on the third line to start the game, though Cassidy adjusted his lines during the 60-minute effort, placing Danton Heinen alongside Krejci and sitting Stempniak in the closing minutes of regulation.

    Heinen opened the event sheet with a minor penalty for slashing at 4:32 of the first period. Ottawa’s ensuing power play was cut short when Zack Smith was penalized for high-sticking Brandon Carlo at 6:28.

    The resulting abbreviated skater advantage for Boston didn’t even see it’s full tenure as Charlie McAvoy tripped Brian Gibbons at 8:07 and gave the Sens another chance on the power play.

    In the final seconds of the opening frame, Anthony Duclair was called for holding and sent to the penalty box at 19:58 of the first period.

    Boston’s ensuing power play would carry over into the second period, while both teams entered the first intermission tied on the scoreboard, 0-0.

    The B’s led in shots on goal (12-6), takeaways (5-2) and face-off win percentage (59-41) after 20 minutes of play, while the Senators led in blocked shots (5-0), giveaways (4-2) and hits (10-6).

    Both teams were 0/2 on the power play entering the seconds period.

    Early in the middle frame, Grzelcyk was sent to the sin bin for high-sticking Ottawa winger, Bobby Ryan, at 2:27 of the second period.

    The Sens did not convert on the ensuing power play.

    Magnus Paajarvi hooked Noel Acciari at 9:04 of the second period and the Bruins went on the power play for the third time of the night.

    Almost a minute into the power play, the B’s were dominating possession in the attacking zone, yielding a chance from Torey Krug over to Marchand, whereby Marchand (28) settled the puck and unloaded a shot past Anderson to make it, 1-0, Bruins at 10:11.

    Krug (41) and Patrice Bergeron (38) had the assists on Marchand’s power play goal. Boston recorded six shots on goal (including Marchand’s goal) on the power play.

    Less than a minute later, Pageau (3) capitalized on a defensive breakdown by the Bruins and snuck into the slot all by himself to receive a pass from Tkachuk and tie the game, 1-1, at 11:08.

    Tkachuk (20) had the only assist on the goal.

    Both teams entered the second intermission, tied, 1-1, on the scoreboard, while the Bruins led in shots on goal (26-14– including a, 14-8, advantage in the second period alone).

    Ottawa held onto the advantage in blocked shots (9-5) and hits (17-10) after 40 minutes of play. Meanwhile, Boston controlled the game in takeaways (9-5) and face-off win% (58-42). Both teams had seven giveaways each.

    The Sens were 0/3 on the power play through two periods and the B’s were 1/3 on the skater advantage heading into the final frame of regulation.

    Almost three minutes into the third period, Boston bungled a chance to clear the puck out of their own zone, leading to a giveaway right to the tape of Tkachuk’s stick in front of Rask.

    Tkachuk (16) pounced on the chance and gave the Senators their first lead of the night, 2-1, at 2:46 of the third period.

    Chris Tierney (35) had the only assist on Tkachuk’s goal.

    Dylan DeMelo and Marchand received matching minor penalties at 6:54 and momentum drifted towards the Bruins’ way.

    Krug fired a shot from the point that Wagner (11) redirected past Anderson to tie the game, 2-2, at 8:47 of the third period. Krug (42) and McAvoy (17) had the assists on Wagner’s 5th goal in his last 11 games.

    In the final minute of regulation, Krejci (18) tipped a shot from Heinen into the twine to give the Bruins the lead, 3-2, and help secure the victory without needing overtime at 19:15.

    Krejci not has 8-11–19 totals in his last 17 games, while Heinen (17) and Grzelcyk (14) notched the assists.

    The final total in shots on goal read in favor of the Bruins, 31-19, as did giveaways (15-8, Boston) and face-off win% (51-49, Boston). Ottawa finished the night leading in blocked shots (13-8) and hits (25-22).

    The Sens went 0/3 on the power play, while the B’s finished 1/3 on the skater advantage.

    Boston has come from behind to win 13 times over the course of their 19-game point streak.

    Bruins defender, John Moore, participated in his 500th career NHL game and recorded a shot on goal in 14:41 time on ice.

    The Bruins travel to PPG Paints Arena to take on the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday before swinging through Columbus to face the Blue Jackets on Tuesday (March 12th) and Winnipeg on Thursday (March 14th) before returning home to face the Blue Jackets again on March 16th.

  • Krejci and DeBrusk’s chemistry shines in B’s, 4-3, OT win

    An incredible pass from Jake DeBrusk to David Krejci harpooned the Carolina Hurricanes’ chances of emerging victorious– clad in Hartford Whalers throwback sweaters– at TD Garden on Tuesday as the Boston Bruins won, 4-3, in overtime.

    Jaroslav Halak (18-9-4 record, 2.31 goals against average, .924 save percentage in 33 games played) made 34 saves on 37 shots against for a .919 SV% in the overtime win for the Bruins.

    Carolina goaltender, Curtis McElhinney (17-7-2, 2.31 GAA, .921 SV% in 26 GP) stopped 34 out of 38 shots faced for an .895 SV% in the overtime loss.

    Sebastian Aho had two goals for the Hurricanes, while Justin Williams also had a goal for Carolina.

    Chris Wagner, DeBrusk, Patrice Bergeron and Krejci had goals for the B’s.

    Boston improved to 40-17-9 (89 points) and remained 2nd in the Atlantic Division standings, while the Hurricanes fell to 36-23-7 (79 points), but remained 3rd in the Metropolitan Division.

    Carolina is tied in points with the Pittsburgh Penguins, but leads in regulation-plus-overtime wins (35-34 this season over Pittsburgh).

    The Bruins have only dropped three games in regulation since the start of 2019 and have not lost in regulation since Jan. 19th. In fact, since Jan. 1st, the Bruins are 19-3-5 (Carolina is 20-6-2 in that same span).

    The B’s are 4-0-0 on their current six-game homestand and 2-0-0 in the month of March. They’re also 8-0-0 in their last eight home games dating back to Feb. 5th.

    Kevan Miller remains out of the lineup and is now week-to-week with an upper body injury, while David Pastrnak (left thumb) started skating with a stick in his hands at practice. Pastrnak is closer to a return, but still not yet available for the Bruins.

    Sean Kuraly (concussion protocol), in the meantime, is progressing well and should take part in Wednesday’s practice before likely returning to action Thursday night against the Florida Panthers for Boston.

    Those updates were provided by B’s head coach, Bruce Cassidy, prior to Tuesday night’s matchup with the Hurricanes.

    Cassidy made no adjustments to his lineup from Saturday night against the New Jersey Devils as Miller (upper body), Pastrnak (left thumb) and Kuraly (concussion protocol) remained out of the lineup due to injury and Steven Kampfer was the only healthy scratch.

    Things started to look like an old Adams Division rivalry matchup when Carolina forward Micheal Ferland laid out a massive hit on Bruins winger Marcus Johansson.

    Johansson was leveled by the clean hit and nursing his shoulder as he struggled to get up and was helped off the ice by Boston’s athletic trainer, Don DelNegro, about three minutes into the game.

    Less than a minute later, David Backes stood up for his fallen teammate and fought Ferland. Both received five-minute major penalties for fighting at 3:53 and Ferland actually left the game with an upper body injury as a result of the fight.

    It was Backes’ 3rd fighting major in 54 games this season– including three fights in his last four games.

    Things did not settle down after the fisticuffs, however, as both teams exchanged pleasantries during play and after the whistle throughout the remainder of the first period.

    Calvin de Haan intentionally fired a shot off of Aho (28) in front of the goal, seeking a deflection and gave the Hurricanes the first lead of the night, 1-0.

    Aho’s goal was assisted by de Haan (12) and Trevor van Riemsdyk (11) at 6:30 of the first period.

    Having misread the numbers on the back of a Hurricanes sweater, John Moore took out his frustrations less than a minute later on Brock McGinn with a cross check that was penalized at 7:02.

    Carolina went on their first power play of the night, but it was short lived after Williams hooked Brandon Carlo at 7:44 of the opening frame.

    The soon-to-be abbreviated power play for Boston after Moore’s minor was set to expire didn’t come to fruition as Charlie McAvoy tripped up Warren Foegele during the 4-on-4 action at 8:27.

    The Canes still couldn’t convert on the resulting skater advantage and didn’t take full advantage of Boston’s bench minor for too many men on the ice at 13:49.

    After 20 minutes of play, the Hurricanes led, 1-0, on the scoreboard, while the Bruins led, 12-11, in shots on goal.

    Entering the first intermission, Boston held the advantage in blocked shots (5-3) and giveaways (6-5), while Carolina led in takeaways (6-4) and hits (13-8). Both teams were even in face-off win percentage (50-50), while the Hurricanes were 0/3 on the power play.

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    Aho (29) had a breakaway about 70 seconds into the second period and pulled Halak far enough out of the crease to expose his five-hole, thereby slipping the puck through the goaltender to give Carolina a two goal lead at 1:10 of the middle frame.

    Nino Niederreiter (24) and Justin Faulk (18) tallied the assists on the goal as Aho picked up his eighth point in his last six games.

    Prior to trailing, 2-0, on Tuesday, the last time the Bruins trailed by multiple goals in a game this season was on Jan. 16th.

    Moments after the Canes scored, Bergeron tripped up Jaccob Slavin and was assessed a minor infraction at 3:50 of the second period.

    Jordan Staal followed up with a slashing penalty of his own against Bergeron at 9:43 and the Bruins went on the power play for the first time of the night. They did not convert on the ensuing skater advantage.

    Boston did respond in the vulnerable minute after special teams play, however, as Carlo threw the puck on goal to generate a rebound while Wagner (10) collected the garbage in the low slot to but the B’s on the board and cut the lead in half, 2-1.

    Carlo (6) had the only assist on the goal at 12:28 of the second period.

    Wagner now has four goals in his last nine games for Boston.

    Late in the period, Krejci moved the puck through the neutral zone and forced a rebound for DeBrusk (22) to bury behind McElhinney and tie the game, 2-2, at 18:12.

    Krejci (41) had the only assist on DeBrusk’s goal.

    Through two periods of play, the game was tied, 2-2, while the Bruins led in shots on goal (27-21). Boston also led in blocked shots (9-6), while Carolina led in giveaways (14-11), hits (21-13) and face-off win% (52-48).

    Both teams had nine takeaways aside, while the Hurricanes were 0/4 on the power play and the Bruins were 0/1.

    The Bruins were again penalized for too many men on the ice at 2:14 of the third period.

    While shorthanded, Brad Marchand led a two-on-one with Bergeron, whereby Marchand sent a quick pass over to the 15-year NHL veteran for the one-timer goal from one knee.

    Bergeron (23) had given Boston their first lead of the night, 3-2, at 2:45 of the third period while shorthanded. The goal was Boston’s fourth shorthanded goal this season (two for Bergeron and two for Marchand).

    Marchand (50) had the only assist on the effort and reached the 50-assist plateau for the 2nd consecutive season.

    As for Bergeron, the goal was his 794th career point with the Bruins, putting him in sole command of 6th all-time in Bruins franchise history in points ahead of Wayne Cashman (793 points with Boston).

    Next on the list to reach for Bergeron is 5th place, Bobby Orr, who had 888 career points in the spoked-B.

    Past the midpoint of the final frame of regulation, Williams (19) sent a shot from the face-off circle to left of Halak past the Bruins goaltender as Halak was deep in the crease and certainly not square enough to the shooter.

    Jordan Martinook (6) and Brett Pesce (14) had the assists on Williams’ game-tying goal at 12:17.

    At the end of regulation, the game remained tied, 3-3, with shots on goal even at 36-36.

    Hurricanes head coach, Rod Brind’Amour sent out Teuvo Teravainen, Staal and Slavin to begin the overtime period, while Cassidy matched Carolina with Charlie oyle, Wagner and Moore.

    Almost two minutes into the 3-on-3 overtime period, DeBrusk shook off a Canes defender, then worked a spin move pass over to Krejci as No. 46 in black-and-gold was crashing the slot– catching McElhinney in desperation.

    Krejci (16) deked and pocketed the puck in the empty twine with McElhinney fully out of position to give Boston the overtime victory, 4-3.

    DeBrusk (12) had the only assist on the goal at 1:46 of overtime.

    At the final horn, the Bruins won the game and finished the night leading in shots on goal (38-37), blocked shots (14-9) and giveaways (16-15). Carolina led the night in hits (28-24) and face-off win% (52-49).

    The Hurricanes finished the night 0/5 on the power play, while Boston went 0/1.

    Boston improved to 8-6 on the season in overtime and Carolina fell to 4-5 in games that end before a shootout– but past regulation– this season.

    The Hurricanes’ five-game winning streak was snapped and the club fell to 27-6-3 when scoring first this season as Boston overcame a two-goal deficit to win in overtime.

    The Bruins improved to 13-2-4 when tied after two periods this season.

    Boston continues their six-game homestand on Thursday against the Florida Panthers. Boston wraps up their homestand with a Saturday night matchup against the Ottawa Senators before traveling to Pittsburgh to face the Penguins Sunday night at PPG Paints Arena.

    The B’s take on the Columbus Blue Jackets next Tuesday (March 12th) and Winnipeg Jets next Thursday (March 14th) before returning home to face Columbus on March 16th.

  • Marchand scores only goal in B’s, 1-0, shutout over Devils

    Brad Marchand scored the only goal, while Tuukka Rask picked up his 3rd shutout of the season, in the Boston Bruins’, 1-0, win on Saturday night against the New Jersey Devils.

    Rask (22-8-5 record, 2.29 goals against average, .922 save percentage in 36 games played) made 20 saves en route to the shutout– the 44th shutout of his career– for the Bruins, while Mackenzie Blackwood (6-6-0, 2.25 GAA, .931 SV% in 15 GP) made 29 saves on 30 shots against for a .967 SV% in the loss for New Jersey.

    Boston improved to 26-4-5 when scoring first this season and 25-1-3 when leading after two periods, while also improving to 3-0-0 on their current six-game homestand.

    The Bruins have also earned at least a point in their last 16 games (12-0-4 record in that span), while Rask became the second goaltender in league history to post multiple point streaks of at least 17 decisions (Pete Peeters accomplished the feat with the Philadelphia Flyers over 27 games in 1979-80 and again with the Bruins in 21 games in 1982-83).

    The B’s improved to 39-17-8 (87 points) on the season and remain in control of 2nd place in the Atlantic Division standings. Meanwhile, the Devils fell to 25-33-8 (58 points) and are still in the basement (8th place) of the Metropolitan Division.

    Bruce Cassidy made one adjustment to his lineup from Thursday night to Saturday night with Sean Kuraly in concussion protocol.

    Cassidy placed Peter Cehlarik on the third line left win alongside Charlie Coyle and David Backes, while moving Joakim Nordstrom to Kuraly’s spot on the fourth line with Noel Acciari and Chris Wagner.

    Kuraly (concussion protocol) joined Kevan Miller (upper body) and David Pastrnak (left thumb) as the only Bruins injured and out of the lineup on Saturday, while Steven Kampfer remained Boston’s only healthy scratch.

    Kenny Agostino bumped into Rask at 2:23 of the first period and was assessed a two-minute minor penalty for goaltender interference, yielding a power play for the Bruins.

    It only took 14 seconds on the ensuing power play for Boston to strike.

    Jake DeBrusk knocked a puck out of the air to Patrice Bergeron, who sent a pass along to Brad Marchand (27) for the blocker side wrist shot past Blackwood.

    Bergeron (37) and DeBrusk (11) had the assists on the game’s only goal at 2:37 of the first period.

    With his assist on the goal, Bergeron tied Wayne Cashman for 6th all-time in points (793) in Bruins franchise history.

    Almost midway through the first period, while Marchand was on a breakaway, Damon Severson hooked the Bruins winger in a last-ditch effort that resulted in a penalty shot.

    Marchand was denied by Blackwood and fell to four-for-seven in his career on penalty shots at 7:16 of the opening frame.

    Late in the period, Brandon Carlo took a quick trip to the box for slashing Michael McLeod at 16:52, but the Devils did not convert on the resulting skater advantage.

    After one period of play, Boston led, 1-0, on the scoreboard and in shots on goal, 13-10. The B’s also led in giveaways (4-2) and face-off win percentage (53-47), while New Jersey held the advantage in blocked shots (6-5), takeaways (6-4) and hits (12-8).

    The Devils were 0/1 on the power play, while the Bruins were 1/1 heading into the second period.

    The only event on the scoresheet in the middle frame was a penalty against Boston at 15:15 of the second period. Cehlarik was guilty of tripping recent new Devils acquisition, Connor Carrick, and served a two-minute minor in the penalty box.

    Through 40 minutes of play, the B’s still led, 1-0, on the scoreboard and in shots on goal, 23-14. New Jersey maintained an advantage in blocked shots (9-8), takeaways (9-7) and hits (24-16), while the Bruins led in giveaways (9-5) and both teams were even in face-off win% (50-50).

    The Devils were 0/2 on the skater advantage, while Boston was still 1/1 on the power play heading into the second intermission.

    There were no penalties and no scoring in the third period, resulting in New Jersey pulling their goaltender with about 1:32 remaining in regulation, then using their timeout with 37.4 seconds left after a stoppage in play.

    Time expired as the Bruins struggled to find an empty net goal and the Devils maintained pressure in the attacking zone in the closing seconds.

    Boston had defeated New Jersey, 1-0, on a goal in the first three minutes of the game.

    The Bruins finished the night leading in shots on goal (30-20) and giveaways (14-5), while the Devils wrapped up Saturday night’s action with the lead in blocked shots (14-12), hits (30-22) and face-off win% (58-42).

    The Bruins continue their six-game homestand on Tuesday against the Carolina Hurricanes. The Hurricanes will be wearing their Hartford Whalers throwbacks. Boston takes on the Florida Panthers next Thursday (March 7th) and the Ottawa Senators next Saturday (March 9th) before hitting the road to Pittsburgh on March 10th.

  • Boston’s singing the Blues, lose 2-1 in shootout to St. Louis

    Two red-hot teams collided at Enterprise Center on Saturday afternoon, whereby the home team, St. Louis Blues topped the Boston Bruins, 2-1, in a shootout. The Blues have won 12 out of their last 13 games and the Bruins’ seven-game winning streak was snapped.

    Jordan Binnington (14-2-1 record, 1.70 goals against average, .934 save percentage in 19 games played) made 31 saves on 32 shots against (.969 SV%) in the shootout victory for St. Louis, while Boston goaltender, Tuukka Rask (20-8-5, 2.40 GAA, .920 SV% in 34 GP) turned aside 28 out of 29 shots faced (.966 SV%) in the loss.

    Binnington is the sixth goaltender in NHL history to earn wins in each of his first six-plus career regular season home starts (joining Martin Jones, 6-0-0 with the Los Angeles Kings from Dec. 3-21, 2013, Bob Froese, 6-0-0 with the Philadelphia Flyers from Jan. 8-27, 1983, Wayne Thomas, 7-0-0 with the Montreal Canadiens from Jan. 14-27, 1973, Ken Dryden, 8-0-0 with the Canadiens from March 14-April 3, 1971 and Frank McCool, 8-0-0 with the Toronto Maple Leafs from Oct. 28-Nov. 11, 1944).

    Boston’s seven-game winning streak was their longest stretch of consecutive victories since 2013-14 (12-0-0). The Bruins are now 9-0-2 in the month of February and finished their five-game Western Conference road trip, 4-0-1, earning nine out of a possible ten points in the standings.

    The B’s fell to 36-17-9 (81 points) on the season, but remain in 2nd place in the Atlantic Division, while the Blues improved to 33-23-5 (71 points) this year and remain 3rd in the Central Division.

    Charlie Coyle made his debut for the Bruins since being acquired on Wednesday from the Minnesota Wild in exchange for a conditional 2019 5th round pick and Ryan Donato.

    Coyle centered the third line as Bruce Cassidy inserted Peter Cehlarik to the left of Coyle and David Backes on his right. Cehlarik returned to the lineup for the first time after missing the last two games with a lower body injury and was recalled from the Providence Bruins (AHL) on Thursday.

    Trent Frederic was reassigned to Providence in Cehlarik’s place after Cehlarik was originally sent down on Wednesday to accommodate the acquisition of Coyle’s cap hit.

    Cassidy left the rest of his lines the same, as Joakim Nordstrom joined John Moore and Steven Kampfer as the B’s healthy scratches. David Pastrnak (left thumb) remains out of the lineup, but is progressing well, according to Cassidy.

    Almost midway through the first period, Alex Steen (7) capitalized on a give-and-go off a Bruins turnover and fired a shot past Rask to give St. Louis the lead, 1-0.

    Oskar Sundqvist (12) had the only assist on Steen’s goal at 7:15 of the first period.

    Late in the opening frame, Colton Parayko slashed Jake DeBrusk and sent Boston onto their first power play of the afternoon at 18:16. The B’s skater advantage was cut short after Torey Krug tripped up Ivan Barbashev at 19:29.

    An abbreviated 4-on-4 scenario unfolded heading into the second period, whereby a short power play would commence for the Blues thereafter.

    Through one period of play, St. Louis led Boston, 1-0, on the scoreboard and, 9-8, in shots on goal. The Bruins held the advantage in blocked shots (5-1) and hits (10-9), while the Blues led in takeaways (7-1), giveaways (2-0) and face-off win percentage (58-42).

    Boston was 0/1 on the power play entering the first intermission and St. Louis had yet to see any time on the skater advantage heading into the second period.

    Early in the middle frame, after killing off Krug’s minor, the Bruins caught the Blues behind the play as Krug dished a pass up-ice to Kevan Miller through the neutral zone.

    Miller found Chris Wagner (9) bolting down the right side in open ice and connected with the B’s winger on a tape-to-tape pass. Wagner promptly fired a shot past Binnington’s short side to tie the game, 1-1, at 5:12 of the second period.

    Miller (6) and Krug (37) notched the assists on Wagner’s third goal in his last seven shots.

    Moments later, Coyle was penalized for hooking St. Louis’ top star, Vladimir Tarasenko, at 7:28 of the second period. Boston killed off the penalty with ease as the Blues failed to convert on the skater advantage.

    Late in the second frame, Brad Marchand took a trip to the penalty box for holding Ryan O’Reilly and St. Louis went back on the power play at 15:32.

    The Blues did not convert on their third power play of the evening, but still fired four shots on goal.

    After 40 minutes of play, the score remained tied, 1-1, with the Bruins leading in shots on goal (19-16) and blocked shots (15-4). St. Louis held onto the lead in takeaways (12-4), giveaways (6-0), hits (16-14) and face-off win% (63-38).

    Boston was still 0/1 on the power play, while the Blues were 0/3 on the skater advantage heading into the second intermission.

    Though the game was still tied in the third period, only one event was noted on the scoresheet– a penalty against Boston at 11:57. Brandon Carlo received a two-minute minor for tripping Sammy Blais– the eventual shootout game-winning goal scorer.

    Through regulation, the Bruins led in shots on goal (30-23) and blocked shots (22-6), while the Blues led in takeaways (14-6), giveaways (10-1), hits (29-17) and face-off win% (54-46).

    St. Louis finished the game 0/4 on the power play, while Boston went 0/1 on the skater advantage. No penalties were called in the overtime period.

    Speaking of overtime, Cassidy started Sean Kuraly, Coyle and Charlie McAvoy, while Blues interim head coach, Craig Berube, sent out Jaden Schwartz, Tyler Bozak and Parayko to kick off the five-minute, 3-on-3, action.

    Cassidy soon was quickly rotating two defenders and one forward as the Bruins were trapped in their own zone, playing for a shootout. Rask made six saves in overtime, including a few heartbeat elevating stops on Tarasenko and gifted scorers for St. Louis.

    After overtime wasn’t enough to settle a, 1-1, game, things would be decided with a shootout.

    But first, a quick– final– review… Boston led in shots on goal (32-29) after 65 minutes of play and in blocked shots (23-6), while St. Louis led in giveaways (10-1), hits (30-17) and face-off win% (54-46).

    In the first round of the shootout, Bozak scored high, blocker side, on Rask after flying in with speed, then slowing himself down to snipe his shot.

    DeBrusk, on the other hand, was stopped by Binnington– in fitting fashion, after his five-game goal scoring streak was snapped once time expired in overtime.

    Tarasenko’s backhand shot went wide in the second round of the shootout, while Marchand straight-up missed the net with his own backhand.

    O’Reilly was stopped with the first shot of the third round, but Coyle scored after deking Binnington out of position and sliding the puck just past his outstretched leg pad to force the shootout into extra, sudden death, rounds.

    Steen, David Backes, Robert Thomas and Patrice Bergeron were all stopped by their opposing goaltender, while Blais roofed the puck into the twine in the sixth round after Rask sprawled to make a poke-check in desperation.

    With the game on his stick, Danton Heinen, had to score. Instead, he rushed his shot entering the zone and firing wide of the net to drop to 0-for-5 in his shootout career.

    St. Louis had won the shootout, 2-1, after six rounds and took home the extra point, as well as the final score, 2-1.

    For the fifth time in the last eight games for Boston, bonus hockey had been required. The Bruins fell to 2-3 in shootouts this season, while the Blues improved to 1-1.

    Boston fell to 12-2-4 when tied after two periods this season, but earned nine out of a possible ten points on their five-game road trip (4-0-1) as St. Louis has now won 12 out of their last 13 games.
    The Bruins return home with a 4-0-1 record on their five-game road trip and take on the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday and Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday to wrap up their schedule in the month of February.

  • Boston Bruins 2018-19 Forecast Through 60 Games

    The Boston Bruins and the rest of the NHL are nearing the annual trade deadline. Through 60 games played, the Bruins are currently 2nd in the Atlantic Division with a 35-17-8 record (78 points) behind the Tampa Bay Lightning (46-11-4, 96 points).

    Wednesday night, the B’s will play their 61st game of the season when they visit the Vegas Golden Knights (new forecast coming soon for that club too), but before they do that, here’s a quick review and a glimpse of what could be based on this latest forecast with 22 games remaining in the 2018-19 regular season for Boston.

    After getting off to a quick start in October, despite a blowout on Opening Night, the Bruins fell into a bit of a lull in November and December.

    Jaroslav Halak (15-9-4 record, 2.35 goals against average, .923 save percentage in 30 games played) helped carry the weight through November, before regressing towards the end of December into January. As long as the wins rolled in, the team was making progress.

    Tuukka Rask (20-8-4, 2.45 GAA, .918 SV% in 33 GP) has not lost in regulation in his last 15 starts as the B’s carry a six-game winning streak into Vegas for Wednesday night’s matchup.

    Though Halak is expected to start against the Golden Knights, Rask and his counterpart have formed a solid 1A/1B option for the Bruins all season long– considering league scoring is up and the B’s have allowed the 3rd fewest goals against (155) in the league, behind only the New York Islanders (138) and Dallas Stars (154).

    The Bruins went 7-7-0 in December and improved to 6-3-3 in January.

    Yes, I know that’s still a .500 win-percentage, but points percentage wise, that’s 14 out of 28 possible points in December and 15 out of a possible 24 points in January (progress!).

    Yet, by the end of January and through all of February thus far, the B’s have been starting to reach another gear.

    The first line has been consistent all year, while General Manager Don Sweeney is in search of the last missing piece among top-six forwards to complete the second line.

    Meanwhile, Sweeney was working the trade deals on Wednesday, acquiring Charlie Coyle (10-18–28 totals in 60 games played this season, 91-151–242 totals in 479 career games) from the Minnesota Wild in exchange for Ryan Donato (3-6–9 totals in 34 games, 11-7–18 totals in 46 career NHL games) and a conditional 2019 5th round pick.

    If the Bruins advance to the Second Round of the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs, then the 5th round pick becomes a 2019 4th round pick (originally belonging to the New York Rangers, previously acquired by the Bruins along with Steven Kampfer in exchange for Adam McQuaid on Sept. 11, 2018).

    Coyle will boost Boston’s third line and can play second line minutes if necessary, but isn’t the end-all, be-all solution for a Cup run.

    Anyway, without further ado, here’s a look at the latest Bruins forecast– keeping in mind there are many variables that can and will change things, like injuries and/or being called up, assigned, traded, lucky or unlucky.

    This forecast is a glimpse at expected outcomes.

    If a player does better, then they exceeded expectations. If said player does worse, then they didn’t meet expectations (for one reason or another).

    My degree is in communication– not math– and hockey is naturally steeped in context and holistic unpredictability. Nothing can account for sheer puck luck, the odd bounce or a blown call.

    Whatever’s on the scoresheet every night can indicate general trends that can be deciphered to make educated guesses.

    Boston Bruins Forecast Through 60 Games Played (20 Games Remaining)
    I really miss the days of making a nice gallery, but WordPress messed around with that feature…

    First, I know what you’re thinking, “but Nick, how come you still have Donato on the roster still and haven’t included Coyle?”

    There’s two parts to my answer: 1) I ran this forecast after the conclusion of Monday night’s, 6-5, overtime win against the San Jose Sharks, so 2) the Coyle-Donato trade was made early in the writing of this post, so Coyle’s forecast will be reflected at a later date.

    Second, I know you’re also looking at Jake DeBrusk’s expected stats saying “uh, there’s only 20 games left, he can’t possibly score 21 more goals and amass 16 more assists for a total of 65 points this season” and you’re right.

    With DeBrusk’s recent scoring stretch over the last 20 games, his latest forecast gives a bit of a look at what could have been if he hadn’t been going through streaks like he has.

    The same can be applied to David Pastrnak’s expected 32-37–69 totals. Prior to getting injured, Pastrnak’s last forecast had him around the 40-goal plateau.

    After his left thumb surgery– in addition to having missed the last few games, as well as his recent decline in goal scoring over the last 20 games– his numbers are more in line with what to expect when he returns, whenever that is.

    At best, Pastrnak misses the “at least” two weeks he was supposed to miss, makes his return and picks up as close to where he left off as possible.

    At worst, he only scores a few more goals this season after returning later than expected (in the best-case scenario), but is back to being his normal self in a postseason run.

    Anyway, Boston’s offense looks like it’ll be led by Brad Marchand with 85 points on the season. Marchand also looks to lead the team in assists with 58 expected apples, topping Patrice Bergeron (49 expected assists), Torey Krug (48) and David Krejci (47).

    In goal scoring, Pastrnak remains supreme with 32 expected goals, leading Bergeron (28 expected goals), Marchand (27) and Krejci (16).

    On defense, Krug (9-48–57 expected totals) dominates the two-way aspect of the game from the blue line, despite missing a chunk of time due to injury earlier in the season.

    Meanwhile, Charlie McAvoy (7-22–29 expected totals) and Matt Grzelcyk (2-18–20 expected totals) continue to be vital assets alongside their captain and anchor, 41-year-old (soon to be 42-years-old on March 18th), Zdeno Chara (5-11–16).

    In goal, Rask is destined to settle in with a 2.37 GAA and a .921 SV%, while Halak backstops the team to a 2.40 GAA, as well as a .921 SV% himself.

    That’s some consistent goaltending in the crease and plenty to smile about if Sweeney can add more offensive prowess in secondary scoring and perhaps add a depth blue line asset for the playoffs.

  • Thornton’s hat-trick measures short, B’s beat Sharks, 6-5, in OT

    Messy officiating was a theme of the night, but at the end of the night, Charlie McAvoy scored the game-winning overtime goal to lift the Boston Bruins over the San Jose Sharks, 6-5, on Monday night at SAP Center.

    San Jose’s ageless wonder, 39-year-old Joe Thornton had his fifth career hat trick (and first since Oct. 27, 2010) and united the hockey world in his quest for four goals in one game that was ultimately unsuccessful due to the loss.

    Tuukka Rask (20-8-4 record, 2.45 goals against average, .918 save percentage in 33 games played) made 33 saves on 38 shots against for an .868 SV% in the overtime win for Boston.

    Sharks goaltender, Martin Jones (28-11-5, 2.95 GAA, .896 SV% in 45 GP) turned aside 14 out of 20 shots faced for a .700 SV% in the overtime loss.

    The B’s improved to 35-17-8 (78 points) on the season and remained in 2nd place in the Atlantic Division, while the Sharks fell to 35-17-8 (78 points) on the season and stayed in 2nd place in the Pacific Division.

    Boston improved to 23-4-5 when scoring first this season and 11-2-3 when tied after two periods. San Jose fell to 4-4-3 when tied after two periods this season.

    In addition, the Bruins are now 14-10-5 on the road this season and 3-0-0 on their current five-game road trip.

    The Bruins are also on a six-game winning streak (their longest of the season) and are now 8-0-1 in the month of February.

    Peter Cehlarik did not take part in morning skate on Monday, as Bruce Cassidy reassured reporters after practice that Cehalrik sustained a lower body injury in Saturday night’s matchup with the Los Angeles Kings and would be out against San Jose.

    Karson Kuhlman took over Cehlarik’s spot on the second line right wing alongside Jake DeBrusk and David Krejci, while David Backes took Kuhlman’s spot from Saturday on the fourth line with Joakim Nordstrom and Trent Frederic.

    Bruins defender, Steven Kampfer rejoined the NHL club in San Jose on a recall after a three-game conditioning stint with Boston’s AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins.

    Other changes to Cassidy’s lineup included swapping Brandon Carlo and Kevan Miller on the second and third defensive pairings, respectively.

    Carlo took the ice alongside Torey Krug, while Miller laced them up with Matt Grzelcyk.

    Cehlarik (lower body), John Moore (healthy scratch), Kampfer (healthy scratch) and David Pastrnak (left thumb) were the only Bruins out of the lineup against the Sharks on Monday.

    From puck drop to the first whistle, the Bruins and Sharks played a consecutive span of 10:13– negating the first media timeout altogether.

    In fact, the networks carrying the game Monday night couldn’t even go to break after the first whistle as it came on an icing call.

    As the frantic postseason-infused pace settled in, San Jose defender Marc-Edouard Vlasic saved the puck from crossing the line just in the nick of time. Or did he?

    An overhead view from the crossbar might have indicated that Boston was robbed of a goal, but since the call on the ice was “no goal” and the other camera angles were inconclusive– the original call stood.

    Midway through the first period, Tomas Hertl was penalized for high-sticking Sean Kuraly at 10:56.

    While shorthanded, Evander Kane broke free from the Bruins blue liners, beat Rask and rang the post with his shot.

    Moments later, after killing off the Hertl infraction, Kane got a stick up high on Grzelcyk, sending the B’s back on the power play at 13:04 of the opening frame.

    After failing to generate any offense on their first power play chance of the night, Boston capitalized on their second extra skater advantage.

    45 seconds into their second power play, Krug (6) blasted a slap shot while moving into the face-off dot to Jones’ right side, while Erik Karlsson partially screened his own goaltender, as the puck went high, glove side, into the twine.

    Krejci (36) and Patrice Bergeron (35) tallied the assists on Krug’s power play goal at 13:49 as Boston jumped out to a, 1-0, lead.

    With his assist on the goal, Krejci became the fourth Bruin to reach at least 50 points this season.

    A few minutes later, Kuraly won a face-off in the attacking zone back to Zdeno Chara (6) whereby the 6-foot-9 defender rocketed his patented slap shot past Jones for his 199th career goal.

    Kuraly (11) had the only assist on Chara’s goal at 16:26 and the Bruins led, 2-0.

    Less than two minutes later, Boston continued to strangle the momentum pendulum into their metaphorical side.

    DeBrusk lobbed an aerial pass on a two-on-one to Kuhlman (1) as Jones was caught behind the play, giving Kuhlman his first career NHL goal and a three-goal lead for the Bruins.

    Kuhlman’s goal was assisted by DeBrusk (9) and Krejci (37) at 18:24 of the first period as Boston led, 3-0.

    As the seconds ticked down before the first intermission, Joe Thornton (11) put the Sharks on the scoreboard to make it a two-goal game.

    Joe Pavelski had the initial shot on goal, but Thornton found the rebound in the crease and sent it home to make it, 3-1, Boston at 19:57 of the first period.

    Pavelski recorded his 22nd assist of the season on Thornton’s first goal of the game.

    Entering the first intermission, the Bruins led, 3-1, on the scoreboard, but both teams recorded eight shots on goal aside.

    The B’s led in takeaways (3-2), hits (8-6) and face-off win percentage (63-37), while the Sharks led in blocked shots (4-2) and giveaways (4-2) after one period of play. San Jose had yet to see any time on the power play, while the Bruins were 1/2 on the skater advantage heading into the second period.

    Early in the middle frame, Miller sent the puck over the glass and received an automatic delay of game penalty– leaving Boston shorthanded at 1:40 of the second period.

    Almost 30 seconds later, Pavelski (32) redirected an initial shot from the point off Rask, whereby the Bruins goaltender made the initial save, but the puck took an odd bounce and went over his shoulder and into the four-by-six frame behind him.

    Brent Burns (54) and Logan Couture (33) picked up the assists on Pavelski’s power play goal at 2:24 of the second period.

    Couture followed up his assist on Pavelski’s goal with a hooking penalty at 4:43.

    Late in the ensuing power play for Boston, DeBrusk (18) entered the attacking zone on a breakaway with speed and beat Jones to make it, 4-2, Bruins.

    In the last four games, DeBrusk has 4-4–8 totals.

    Danton Heinen (11) and Backes (9) notched the primary and secondary assists, respectively, on DeBrusk’s power play goal at 6:30 of the second period.

    Midway through the middle frame, Justin Braun caught Kuraly with a clean hit along the boards that Chris Wagner did not view as clean as it was.

    Wagner and Braun tussled for a few seconds with the gloves off before the linesmen got in-between the two and separated them.

    Despite not actually fighting, Wagner and Braun each received five-minute majors for doing more than what otherwise would have been considered roughing at 10:25.

    Late in the second period, whatever tilt in the ice there was took a tank (at the Shark Tank, get it?) as San Jose made it a one-goal game at 16:03, thanks to another garbage goal collected by Thornton (12).

    For the second time of the night, Thornton banged home the rebound to record his first two-goal game in his 51st game this season and fourth since 2013.

    Shortly thereafter, Thornton took a trip to the penalty box for high-sticking Bruins winger, Brad Marchand.

    While shorthanded, Couture split the Boston defense and charged into the offensive zone while the B’s were caught changing lines.

    As Couture neared Rask, Marchand hooked the Sharks forward and the puck didn’t cross the goal line, despite the quick string of confusing signals indicated by the referee.

    Instead of waving off the goal that wasn’t (alas, the puck almost reached the goal line), then pointing towards the center-ice face-off dot to award the ensuing penalty shot, the ref closest to the goal appeared to change his mind and indicated a goal had been scored.

    Except he hadn’t, technically.

    To the dismay of those in attendance, the ref had simply misdirected his followup signal to the washout and should have pointed towards center-ice as Couture was to follow up with a penalty shot, regardless.

    The official call was that Rask had made the save on the initial breakaway while Marchand had hooked Couture, illegally disrupting the scoring chance and thus resulting in a penalty shot.

    On the ensuing penalty shot, Couture (22) fired one into the twine at 19:35 of the second period, resulting in yet another last minute goal for San Jose– this time tying the game, 4-4.

    As a result, Couture became just the fourth player in Sharks franchise history to score a shorthanded penalty shot goal.

    Through 40 minutes of play, both teams were tied, 4-4, on the scoreboard, despite San Jose’s distinct advantage in shots on goal in the middle frame alone (14-4).

    Entering the second intermission, San Jose led in shot on goal (22-12), blocked shots (7-3), giveaways (7-3) and hits (20-17), while Boston led in face-off win% (54-47). Both teams had five giveaways each after two periods.

    The Sharks were 1/1 on the power play, while the Bruins were 2/4 on the skater advantage heading into the third period.

    After not changing lines quick enough, the refs decided to charge the Bruins with a bench minor for delay of game at 1:57 of the third period.

    Sure, that’s an actual thing, but given the standard (or lack thereof) of the night, well…

    Too many men on the ice was something that went overlooked and two goals (one that was that wasn’t and one that wasn’t that was) were both miscalled as some of the bigger takeaways for next season’s “what not to do” officiating training video.

    Jokes aside, it was a poorly officiated game.

    Backes served the delay of game bench minor for Boston, but the Sharks weren’t able to capitalize on the power play.

    Finally, in a moment the hockey world had been waiting to see in almost nine years, Thornton (13) scored his third goal of the game, notching a hat trick on the first lead change of the night.

    San Jose led, 5-4, at 13:32 of the third period.

    Pavelski (23) and Braun (13) tallied the assist’s on Thornton’s goal as the game’s momentum completely shifted to the Sharks’ favor.

    Chara and Pavelski exchanged pleasantries and slashed each other with their sticks, yielding matching slashing minors at 15:42.

    Late in the ensuing 4-on-4 action, Carlo sent a shot on goal that rebounded high into the air.

    Wagner (8) batted the puck down with a seemingly high stick, then swung his stick along the ice at the puck tying the game, 5-5.

    That’s right, Wagner scored the game-tying goal after playing the puck with a high stick.

    Going to review is not an option for a goal that is thought to be scored as a result of knocking the puck down with a high stick, then scoring the goal from a legal elevation.

    The problem with the goal was that the play should’ve been whistled dead as soon as Wagner knocked the puck out of the air with his stick above his shoulder.

    Whether it was seen or not from the angle on the ice, we’ll never know (it’s not the NHL’s nature to make refs explain why a call was made or not– in fact, it’s never happened for anything that’s not reviewable).

    Carlo (4) and Noel Acciari (4) had the assists on Wagner’s goal, which set a new career-high in goals in a season for the Walpole, Massachusetts native at 17:11 of the third period.

    At the end of regulation, the Bruins and Sharks were tied, 5-5.

    San Jose led in shots on goal (33-19) and in blocked shots (8-7), giveaways (9-5), hits (23-22) and face-off win% (54-46) after three periods of play.

    Both teams had ten takeaways aside. The Sharks finished the night 1/2 on the skater advantage as Boston went 2/4 on the power play.

    Peter DeBoer was coaching in his 800th career game on Monday and rolled out line after line of All-Star quality 3-on-3 overtime lines, especially after Cassidy started Kuraly, Grzelcyk and McAvoy in the five-minute overtime period.

    Trouble is, one of those starters actually turned out to be the right one. *foreshadowing*

    After Kane entered the zone with a virtual 3-on-0 for San Jose, the play was blown dead as the net behind Rask had come off its moorings and was not properly fixed even though the ref behind the play should have gone over and readjusted it while the puck was at the opposite end of the ice.

    It’s either the goaltender’s responsibility or the referee’s job to fix the net if it’s off its pegs, but not enough to immediately disrupt play.

    If it’s fixable, the ref must fix it as long as the puck is completely out of the zone.

    Officiating be damned, Kane’s surefire scoring chance was killed.

    On a 3-on-2 back the other way, DeBrusk worked the puck to Krejci for the perfect pass to McAvoy (4), who ripped a bullet past Jones to win the game for Boston, 6-5, in overtime.

    Krejci (38) and DeBrusk (10) collected the assists on McAvoy’s game-winning goal at 3:59 of the overtime period, as the Bruins improved to 7-6 in overtime this season.

    The Sharks fell to 6-5 past the 60-minute mark, but before having to go to a shootout, this season, despite finishing Monday night’s action with the advantage in shots on goal (38-20, including a 5-1 advantage in overtime alone), giveaways (10-6) and face-off win% (52-48).

    Boston finished the night leading in blocked shots (11-8).

    Both teams recorded 24 hits aside.

    The Bruins travel to Las Vegas for a Wednesday night battle with the Vegas Golden Knights before finishing up their current five-game road trip on Saturday in St. Louis against the Blues. Boston returns home to close out February with a Tuesday (Feb. 26th) night matchup with the Sharks and a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Feb. 28th.

  • Bruins stone Kings, 4-2, at Staples Center

    Charlie McAvoy scored the game-winning goal late in the third period on a tremendous give-and-go as the Boston Bruins defender snuck in from the point en route to Boston’s, 4-2, win over the Los Angeles Kings at STAPLES Center on Saturday.

    Tuukka Rask (19-8-4 record, 2.37 goals against average, .920 save percentage in 32 games played) made 23 saves on 25 shots against for a .920 SV% in the win for the Bruins.

    Los Angeles goaltender, Jack Campbell (7-10-0, 2.23 GAA, .928 SV% in 19 GP), stopped 20 out of 24 shots faced for an .833 SV% in the loss.

    The Bruins improved to 34-17-8 (76 points) on the season and surpassed the Toronto Maple Leafs for 2nd place in the Atlantic Division standings. The Kings fell to 23-29-6 (52 points) and remained in 8th place in the Pacific Division.

    Boston also improved to 22-4-5 when scoring first this season and 22-1-3 when leading after two periods. Los Angeles stumbled to 1-23-1 when trailing after 40 minutes of play this season.

    The B’s are now 2-0-0 on their current five-game road trip and 7-0-1 in the month of February.

    With the win on Saturday night, the Bruins have matched their longest winning streak of the season (five games), while handing the Kings their fourth-straight loss.

    Two skaters made their NHL debuts in Saturday night’s matchup as Karson Kuhlman took part in his first career NHL game for the Bruins, while Matt Roy participated in his first NHL game with the Kings.

    Kuhlman suited up alongside Joakim Nordstrom and Trent Frederic on the third line for Boston. Roy skated on the third defensive pair for Los Angeles.

    Inserting Kuhlman on the third line was the only lineup change among the forwards that Bruce Cassidy made. As a result, David Backes was a healthy scratch.

    Also returning to the lineup for Boston was blue liner, Matt Grzelcyk, who replaced John Moore alongside Brandon Carlo in Saturday’s lineup.

    Moore, Backes, Steven Kampfer (healthy scratch, AHL conditioning loan) and David Pastrnak (left thumb) were all out of the lineup for the B’s against the Kings.

    Jeff Carter returned to Los Angeles’ lineup for the first time in five games, while Jonathan Quick was slated to get the nod in goal, but did not appear in warmups.

    Instead, Quick received medical attention for “flu-like symptoms” and was sent home, leaving Willie Desjardins with no choice but to start Campbell and with an emergency goaltender as his potential backup.

    Rask got the start on Saturday night after Jaroslav Halak posted a 30-save shutout against the Anaheim Ducks on Friday.

    Grzelcyk kicked off the action with a high-sticking infraction against Austin Wagner at 2:59 of the first period. Los Angeles did not convert on their first power play opportunity of the evening.

    Moments later, Jake DeBrusk (17) sent the puck past Campbell to give the Bruins the lead, 1-0, at 5:31 of the opening frame thanks to a great pass from Peter Cehlarik.

    Cehlarik (2) and David Krejci (34) tallied the assists on DeBrusk’s goal as No. 74 in black-and-gold set a new career-high in goals in a season with his 17th in his 50th game played (DeBrusk had 16 goals in 70 games played last season, his rookie year).

    DeBrusk also has scored at least a goal in Boston’s last three games (he has 3-3–6 totals since Feb. 12th).

    Past the midpoint of the first period, Roy interfered with Brad Marchand and was assessed a minor penalty at 11:25. The Bruins did not convert on their first skater advantage of the night.

    Entering the first intermission, Boston led, 1-0, on the scoreboard as both teams each recorded eight shots on goal in the first period. The B’s led in blocked shots (6-4), giveaways (4-0) and face-off win percentage (59-41) after 20 minutes of play, while the Kings led in takeaways (3-1) and hits (14-6).

    Both clubs were 0/1 on the power play heading into the second period.

    Carl Hagelin hooked Marchand at 5:26 of the second period, but the Bruins couldn’t muster a goal on the power play.

    Shortly after the skater advantage ended for Boston, McAvoy hooked Wagner and sent Los Angeles on the power play at 8:55 of the middle frame.

    Late in the ensuing power play, Ilya Kovalchuk (12) held the puck and worked his magic, firing a shot past Rask’s glove side as a teammate was screening the Bruins goaltender to tie the game, 1-1, at 10:37.

    Anze Kopitar (26) and Drew Doughty (27) notched the assists on Kovalchuk’s goal.

    Zdeno Chara followed up McAvoy’s penalty with a holding penalty of his own against Kopitar at 12:22, but the Kings couldn’t convert on their second-straight power play opportunity.

    Shortly after killing off Chara’s minor, the Bruins gave up a two-on-one, leaving Alex Iafallo with a surefire high-quality scoring chance that Rask denied while sprawling in desperation– kicking the puck out of mid-air with his leg pad extended while on his back.

    On a face-off win in the attacking zone by Patrice Bergeron, the puck ended up on Marchand’s stick as the Bruins winger sent a rocket of a wrist shot past Campbell’s glove side from the face-off dot.

    Marchand (23) gave Boston the lead, 2-1, with Bergeron (34) tabbing the only assist at 16:15 of the second period.

    About 90 seconds later, Noel Acciari high-sticked Kovalchuk and was assessed a minor infraction. Los Angeles did not convert on the ensuing power play.

    Through 40 minutes of play, the Bruins led, 2-1, on the scoreboard and trailed the Kings, 19-17, in shots on goal. Boston led in blocked shots (15-6), giveaways (7-2) and face-off win% (55-45) after two periods, while Los Angeles held the advantage in takeaways (4-2) and hits (21-11).

    The Kings were 1/4 on the power play through two periods, while the Bruins finished 0/2 on the skater advantage on the night as Los Angeles did not take another penalty in the third period.

    Late in the third period, a flurry of goals made Saturday night’s hockey game feel like the last few minutes of a basketball game as Iafallo (12) collected a rebound to set a new career-high in goals and tie the game, 2-2.

    Paul LaDue (1) and Adrian Kempe (12) had the assists on Iafallo’s goal at 15:37 of the third period.

    Less than a minute later, Marchand went to the penalty box for hooking Carter at 16:00. Boston’s penalty killing units successfully killed off the minor infraction and caught the Kings in the vulnerable minute after Los Angeles’ power play.

    McAvoy (3) dished the puck to DeBrusk while penetrating the attacking zone and kickstarted the give-and-go as he entered the slot to receive the pass back from DeBrusk and riffled a shot into the twine behind Campbell.

    DeBrusk (8) and Krejci (35) picked up the assists on McAvoy’s goal at 18:47 of the third period as Boston took the lead, 3-2, with less than two minutes remaining in regulation.

    In the final minute of the game, Bergeron (21) one-handed a loose puck past Campbell with an almost poke-check maneuver to secure the victory for Boston, 4-2.

    Bergeron’s goal was unassisted at 19:23 of the final frame.

    Boston swept the Kings in their season series, 2-0-0, with the, 4-2, victory on Saturday night despite trailing in shots on goal, 25-24.

    The Bruins finished the night with the advantage in blocked shots (17-9), giveaways (8-6) and face-off win% (60-40), while Los Angeles led in hits (29-19).

    The Kings went 1/5 on the power play Saturday night, while the B’s finished 0/2.

    The Bruins continue their five-game road trip Monday night against the San Jose Sharks before journeying to visit the Vegas Golden Knights (Feb. 20th) and St. Louis Blues (Feb. 23rd). Boston is 2-0-0 on their current road trip and plays their next home game this month on Feb. 26th against the Sharks.

  • Halak, B’s, shutout Ducks, 3-0

    Jaroslav Halak stopped all 30 shots he faced and Chris Wagner had the empty net goal against his former team in the Boston Bruins’ 3-0 shutout victory over the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center on Friday.

    Halak (15-9-4 record, 2.35 goals against average, .923 save percentage in 30 games played) earned his 4th shutout of the season (46th career shutout) and became the 14th goaltender in Bruins franchise history to record at least four shutouts in his first season with the club.

    Byron Dafoe was the last Boston goaltender to do so in his first season with the B’s, recording six shutouts in 1997-98.

    Noel Acciari and Jake DeBrusk also had goals for Boston in the win.

    Kevin Boyle (1-1-0, 1.52 GAA, .955 SV% in three games played) made 26 saves on 28 shots against for a .929 SV% in the loss for Anaheim.

    Boston improved to 33-17-8 (74 points) on the season and remains in 3rd place in the Atlantic Division, while the Ducks fell to 22-27-9 (53 points) thus far and stayed in 7th in the Pacific Division.

    The Bruins improved to 21-4-5 when scoring first this season, as well as 21-1-3 when leading after two periods. With Friday’s win, the B’s are now 12-10-5 on the road this season (including 1-0-0 on the current road trip) and 6-0-1 in the month of February.

    Anaheim is now 3-16-4 since Dec. 18th with the loss on Friday. The Ducks also trailed on the scoreboard after two periods for the 29th time this season and fell to 6-21-2 in that span.

    Bruce Cassidy didn’t make any changes to his lineup from Tuesday, but indicated prior to Thursday’s practice in Anaheim that Karson Kuhlman would make his NHL debut on Saturday against the Los Angeles Kings and Matt Grzelcyk (lower body) would return to the lineup as well.

    Kuhlman was recalled from the Providence Bruins (AHL) prior to the B’s departure for their current road trip with David Pastrnak (left thumb) out of the action.

    Steven Kampfer remains on conditioning loan to Providence and technically a healthy scratch for the Bruins on Friday.

    Early in the first period, Brandon Carlo ripped a slap shot from the point that was tipped in by Acciari (2) to give Boston the, 1-0, lead at 5:31 of the opening frame.

    Carlo (3) and Sean Kuraly (9) had the assists on the goal.

    Entering the first intermission, despite leading on the scoreboard, the B’s trailed the Ducks, 11-8, in shots on goal.

    Rickard Rakell was assessed a holding infraction at 4:58 of the second period for tying up Patrice Bergeron, sending the Bruins on their first power play of the night.

    Nine seconds into the ensuing skater advantage, DeBrusk (16) buried a rebound to give Boston a two-goal lead on the power play.

    David Krejci (33) and Torey Krug (36) had the assist’s on DeBrusk’s power play goal at 5:07 of the second period.

    DeBrusk tied his career-high in goals– set last season– and now has goals in back-to-back games after a 13-game goalless drought prior to Tuesday night against the Chicago Blackhawks.

    14 seconds after Boston capitalized on their first power play of the night, Brandon Montour got a stick up high on Peter Cehlarik and cut a rut to the penalty box, leaving the B’s with their second power play opportunity of the game.

    The Bruins were not able to convert on Montour’s penalty.

    Moments later, Wagner was penalized for interference at 8:57 of the middle frame, giving the Ducks their first look on the power play of the night.

    With two seconds left on Wagner’s minor, John Moore hooked Max Jones and presented Anaheim with a brief 5-on-3 advantage at 10:55, before returning to an abbreviated 5-on-4 skater advantage.

    The Ducks amassed three shots on goal through almost four minutes on the power play and could not beat Halak.

    Through 40 minutes of play, the Bruins led, 2-0, on the scoreboard, despite trailing Anaheim in shots on goal (22-17). Boston held the advantage in giveaways (12-7) and face-off win percentage (61-39), while the Ducks led in blocked shots (12-8) and hits (19-16).

    Both teams had four takeaways aside as Anaheim went 0/2 and Boston went 1/2 on the power play heading into the 3rd period.

    Derek Grant jumpstarted the action in the third period with a holding penalty at 1:13, but the Bruins were not able to convert on the resulting power play.

    Past the midpoint of the final frame of regulation, Hampus Lindholm was penalized for interfering with Brad Marchand at 10:56. Boston did not score on the ensuing power play.

    Instead, shortly after the power play expired, Moore bumped into Boyle and received a two-minute fraction for goaltender inference at 13:05 of the third period.

    The Ducks did not muster any offense on the ensuing power play.

    Interim head coach (and current Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Ducks), Bob Murray, pulled his goaltender with about two minutes remaining in regulation for the extra attacker, but it was too little, too late.

    Especially more so after Wagner (7) put the game away with his empty net goal at 18:29. Kuraly (10) and Zdeno Chara (6) collected the assists on Wagner’s goal against his former team.

    The goal also tied Wagner’s career-high for most goals in a season (seven) and was the 13th empty net goal allowed by the Ducks in the 2018-19 regular season.

    At the final horn, Boston had defeated Anaheim, 3-0.

    Though the Ducks actually led the Bruins all night in shots on goal (finishing with a, 30-29, advantage), they could not beat the B’s defense and Halak.

    Anaheim finished the night leading in blocked shots (16-13) and hits (27-22), while Boston led in giveaways (14-12) and face-off win% (65-35).

    The Ducks went 0/3 on the skater advantage and the B’s finished Friday 1/4 on the power play.

    The Bruins are now on a four-game winning streak as they continue their two-week road trip against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday, then pay a visit to the San Jose Sharks on Monday, before swinging through the Vegas Golden Knights (Feb. 20th) and St. Louis Blues (Feb. 23rd).

    Boston’s next home game this month is Feb. 26th against the Sharks.


  • Halak, Bruins let another one slip away, 4-3, in shootout

    The New York Rangers took home the, 4-3, shootout victory on Wednesday night against the Boston Bruins at Madison Square Garden after allowing three unanswered goals in the second period.

    New York mounted a comeback in the third period to tie the game, 3-3, then after an entertaining, high-action, three-on-three overtime period was not enough, the Rangers put it away in seven rounds of a shootout.

    Alexandar Georgiev (7-9-0 record, 3.24 goals against average, .897 save percentage in 18 games played) made 27 saves on 30 shots faced for a .900 SV% in the shootout win as the Rangers improved to 9-1-0 in their last 10 regular season battles with Boston.

    Bruins goaltender, Jaroslav Halak (13-9-4, 2.50 GAA, .918 SV% in 28 GP) recorded 36 saves on 39 shots against for a .923 SV% in the shootout loss and fell to 18-8-1 in his career against the Rangers.

    Boston fell to 19-2-1 when leading after two periods this season and is now 2-0-1 so far in February.

    The B’s fell to 29-17-8 (66 points) on the season, but improved to 3rd place in the Atlantic Division standings, while the Rangers improved to 23-22-8 (54 points), but remain in 7th place in the Metropolitan Division.

    Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, juggled his lines– reinserting Danton Heinen on the fourth line in place of David Backes, but later jumbling every forward line except for the Sean Kuraly–Noel Acciari–Chris Wagner trio.

    By the end of the night, Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and Heinen made up the first line with Peter Cehlarik, David Krejci and David Pastrnak filling out the top-six forwards.

    Joakim Nordstrom, Trent Frederic and Jake DeBrusk were relegated to fourth line duties with Nordstrom coming up strong in breaking up some crucial plays in overtime.

    Cassidy kept his same defensive pairings from Tuesday, with John Moore, Backes and Steven Kampfer serving as the B’s healthy scratches on Wednesday.

    Given it was the second night of back-to-back games, Halak got the start in goal over Tuukka Rask, who picked up the, 3-1, win against the New York Islanders on Tuesday.

    Bergeron tripped up Rangers forward, Mika Zibanejad at 1:11 of the first period and handed New York their first power play opportunity of the night early in the action.

    The Rangers did not convert on the ensuing skater advantage and followed up with a penalty of their own– Marc Staal for cross-checking Kuraly– at 13:39.

    Boston did not succeed in their first skater advantage opportunity of the night.

    Moments later, Zibanejad (22) let go of a snipe-shot from the point that had eyes and beat Halak to give New York the lead, 1-0.

    Mats Zuccarello (21) recorded the only assist on Zibanejad’s goal at 17:45.

    Will less than a minute remaining in the opening frame, Kuraly bumped into Boo Nieves while both players weren’t looking at each other and drew the ire of Jimmy Vesey at 19:08.

    Vesey was dealt a cross-checking minor against Wagner, while Kuraly received a roughing minor against Nieves. Both penalties were handed out with 51 seconds remaining until the first intermission and would yield 4-on-4 action into the second period.

    After one period of play, the Rangers led, 1-0, on the scoreboard and in shots on goal, 12-9.

    Boston maintained the advantage in blocked shots (5-4) and takeaways (6-3), while New York led in giveaways (5-4), hits (15-10) and face-off win percentage (55-46).

    Both clubs were 0/1 on the power play entering the 2nd period.

    Kevan Miller cross-checked Vladislav Namestnikov at 2:16 of the second period, but the Rangers didn’t convert on the ensuing skater advantage.

    Cassidy restructured his lines almost midway through the middle frame and it provided instant results.

    On a face-off in the offensive zone, Marchand worked the puck back to Matt Grzelcyk for the shot towards the goal that was tipped by Heinen (7) for his first goal in his first game back since being a healthy scratch for the last few games.

    Grzelcyk (13) and Marchand (41) tallied the assists on Heinen’s goal at 10:37 of the second period and the game was tied, 1-1.

    Just 72 seconds later, Pastrnak (31) redirected a pass from Krejci behind Georgiev to give the Bruins their first lead of the night, 2-1, at 11:49 of the middle frame.

    Krejci (31) and Miller (5) were tabbed with the primary and secondary assists, respectively.

    Less than 30 seconds later, Bergeron took his second trip to the penalty box– this time for slashing Zuccarello– at 12:12.

    Shortly after New York’s power play expired, Tony DeAngelo was guilty of tripping Bergeron at 14:22, resulting in a power play for Boston.

    Less than a minute into the skater advantage, Bergeron (19) tipped a shot from Torey Krug past the right leg of the Rangers goaltender as Georgiev attempted to make a butterfly save.

    Krug (31) and Marchand (42) had the assists on Bergeron’s power play goal at 15:11 of the second period and the B’s led, 3-1.

    Late in the period, Brandon Carlo and Zuccarello got tangled up with each other and received matching roughing minors at 16:34.

    Entering the dressing room after 40 minutes of action, Boston led, 3-1, on the scoreboard, but trailed New York, 22-20, in shots on goal. The Bruins did, however, lead in second period shots on goal alone– with a slight advantage– 11-10.

    The Bruins led in blocked shots (7-6), while the Rangers led in just about everything else, including takeaways (10-9), giveaways (12-6) and hits (30-16) entering the final frame of regulation.

    Both teams went 50-50 in face-off win% after two periods and the Rangers were 0/3 on the power play entering the third period. Boston was 1/2 on the skater advantage.

    Kevin Hayes (12) made it a one-goal game at 9:24 of the third period.

    Pavel Buchnevich received a pass up the middle and threw a shot on goal that Vesey chased down the rebound for in order to send the puck to Hayes for the goal.

    Vesey (14) and Buchnevich (8) had the assists and the Rangers trailed, 3-2.

    Charlie McAvoy took a horrendous boarding penalty at 12:05 of the third period. It was horrendous, because it ultimately proved costly.

    Filip Chytil (10) pocketed a rebound that Halak failed to control after Buchnevich fired the initial shot.

    Buchnevich (9) and DeAngelo (10) had the assists on Chytil’s power play goal for New York at 12:42 and the Rangers tied the game, 3-3.

    Through 60 minutes of regulation, both teams were still tied, 3-3, on the scoreboard, despite the Rangers leading in shots on goal (33-29), blocked shots (10-9), giveaways (20-11) and hits (41-25).

    Boston, in the meantime, escaped regulation with the lead in takeaways (13-11) and face-off win% (53-47).

    The Rangers finished the night 1/4 on the power play, while the Bruins went 1/2 as no penalties were called in the five-minute, three-on-three overtime period.

    Cassidy started Pastrnak, Krejci and Krug in overtime for the Bruins as both teams got off to a frantic pace, leading to chance after chance and save after save.

    Eventually, both teams attempted their fair share of trick shots and odd banks off of pads, sticks and whatever they could find to try to will the puck into the twine.

    But, Georgiev and Halak stood tall, leading to a shootout after five minutes of overtime was not enough.

    As an aside, the Rangers had six shots on goal in overtime, compared to Boston’s one shot on net (officially).

    New York finished the night leading in shots on goal (39-30), blocked shots (12-10), giveaways (21-11) and hits (42-26), while the Bruins led in face-off win% (55-45).

    In the shootout, David Quinn elected to have his home team Rangers shoot first on Halak, but Zuccarello was denied by the outer post.

    Cassidy sent out Cehlarik as his first shooter, but Georgiev made the save.

    Kevin Shattenkirk was denied by Halak, as Pastrnak failed to muster a shot off his stick in the second round of the shootout.

    Zibanejad deked and roofed the puck to give New York the, 1-0, advantage in the third round of the shootout, but was matched by Marchand’s nifty dangle-turned-five hole squib-shot to even it, 1-1, after three rounds.

    Hayes was turned aside by Halak and McAvoy had the puck poke checked away by the Rangers netminder in the fourth round.

    Chytil rang the post and DeBrusk’s shot was saved by Georgiev in the fifth round.

    Vesey nailed the crossbar and Heinen was stopped in the sixth round.

    Finally, DeAngelo mustered enough stick work on the puck to get Halak to commit to a sprawling position, as DeAngelo then elevated the puck for what became the game-winning shootout goal in the seventh round after Krejci fired his shot wide.

    New York improved to 6-2 in shootouts on the season, while Boston fell to 1-2 past overtime this season.

    The Rangers had won, 4-3, officially on the scoreboard after the shootout and stole the extra point past regulation.

    Call it Adam McQuaid‘s revenge or whatever, but Wednesday night’s game was the 54th game of the regular season for Boston.

    The Bruins venture back home for a three-game homestand at TD Garden starting Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. ET with a matchup against the Los Angeles Kings.

    Boston will honor Bergeron prior to puck drop for participating in his 1,000th career regular season NHL game on Tuesday.

    Sunday afternoon, the B’s take on the Colorado Avalanche, then wrap things up at home with a tilt against the Chicago Blackhawks next Tuesday.

    Cassidy’s crew swings through the three teams in California, the Vegas Golden Knights and St. Louis Blues on a roadtrip from Feb. 15th through the 23rd.