Down the Frozen River

Tag: Buffalo Sabres

  • Pastrnak and Grzelcyk score a pair in B’s, 5-1, win over Devils

    David Pastrnak and Matt Grzelcyk had a pair of goals in the Boston Bruins’, 5-1, victory over the New Jersey Devils Tuesday night at Prudential Center.

    Tuukka Rask (9-2-2 record, 2.06 goals against average, .930 save percentage in 13 games played) made 25 saves on 26 shots against for a .962 SV% in the win for the Bruins.

    Devils goaltender, Mackenzie Blackwood (7-5-3, 2.94 GAA, .899 SV% in 15 GP) stopped 23 out of 28 shots faced for an .821 SV% in the loss.

    Boston maintained the Atlantic Division lead, while improving to 13-3-5 (31 points) on the season and 6-3-1 on the road.

    New Jersey fell to 7-9-4 overall (18 points) and slipped to last place (8th) in the Metropolitan Division.

    The Bruins were without the services of Kevan Miller (knee), John Moore (shoulder), Karson Kuhlman (fractured tibia), David Backes (upper body), Torey Krug (upper body) and Zach Senyshyn (lower body) on Tuesday.

    Meanwhile, Boston welcomed Jake DeBrusk and Brett Ritchie back to the lineup after the pair of forwards missed the last five games due to injuries.

    Patrice Bergeron (lower body) was a game-time decision and did not participate in warmups. As a result, he missed his 2nd consecutive game this season.

    With a laundry list of injuries hampering the lineup, Paul Carey and Trent Frederic were reassigned to the Providence Bruins (AHL) on Sunday.

    Urho Vaakanainen was originally sent down as well in a paper transaction, but later recalled from Providence on Monday.

    Brendan Gaunce joined Vaakanainen on Monday’s recall as the forward was added as an extra body for the B’s in their short trip to New Jersey in case DeBrusk or Ritchie were not ready to go.

    Gaunce has four goals and three assists (seven points) in 11 games with Providence this season and signed with the Bruins as an unrestricted free agent on July 1, 2019.

    He was later reassigned to Providence before warmups in New Jersey.

    Bergeron and Krug did not practice on Monday, but Krug skated earlier in the morning before Monday’s full practice group. He is likely to return later this week.

    With Bergeron out of the lineup for the second game in a row, David Krejci resumed his status as the first line center with Brad Marchand and Pastrnak as his wings.

    Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, left Anders Bjork with Charlie Coyle and Danton Heinen on the second line.

    Par Lindholm remained in charge of centering the third line with DeBrusk on the left side and Ritchie on the right side in their return to game action, while Joakim Nordstrom, Sean Kuraly and Chris Wagner comprised the fourth line as usual.

    Cassidy left his defensive pairings alone from Saturday night’s, 3-2, shootout loss to the Washington Capitals, while Steven Kampfer remained the only healthy scratch for Boston on Tuesday.

    Midway through the opening frame, DeBrusk tripped up Pavel Zacha and was assessed a minor infraction at 12:12 of the first period.

    New Jersey’s ensuing power play did not go as planned.

    After Boston killed off DeBrusk’s minor, the Devils found themselves trapped in their own zone as a fresh from the box– fresh off a quick change– Bruins team pounced.

    Grzelcyk (1) fired a shot from the point that rang the iron, bounced off of Blackwood’s back and ended up in the twine to give Boston the game’s first goal.

    Marchand (20) and Krejci (10) had the assists on Grzelcyk’s goal as the Bruins jumped out to a, 1-0, lead at 14:26 of the first period.

    New Jersey barely had enough time to reset before Boston was again on the offensive– this time with Marchand setting up Pastrnak (18) for a one-timer blast that gave the Bruins a two-goal lead at 14:40.

    Marchand (21) and Krejci (11) had the assists once more as the B’s took a, 2-0, lead with a pair of goals in 14 seconds.

    Seven seconds after Pastrnak scored, Heinen tripped up Blake Coleman and was sent to the penalty box at 14:47.

    The Devils didn’t convert on the ensuing skater advantage.

    With less than two minutes left in the first period, pending-unrestricted free agent, Taylor Hall, caught Charlie McAvoy with an errant stick and tripped the Boston defender, yielding a power play for the Bruins for the first time of the night at 18:06.

    Through one period in New Jersey, the Bruins led, 2-0, on the scoreboard and held the advantage in shots on goal (6-5), hits (5-2) and faceoff win percentage (59-41), while the Devils led in blocked shots (4-3) and giveaways (9-2) entering the first intermission.

    Both teams had two takeaways aside heading into the second period as New Jersey was 0/2 on the power play and the Bruins were 0/1.

    An almost uneventful (on the event sheet anyway) second period wrapped up with a late goal in the middle frame from Coleman (5).

    New Jersey defender, Will Butcher, led a rush up-ice and completed a short pass to Nikita Gusev as the Devils entered the attacking zone.

    Gusev found Coleman as Coleman cut to the low slot– where he was able to ring a shot off the post and in over Rask’s blocker side to cut Boston’s lead in half and put New Jersey on the scoreboard, 2-1.

    Gusev (3) and Butcher (5) tallied the assists on Coleman’s goal at 18:11 of the second period.

    After 40 minutes of play, the Bruins led on the scoreboard, 2-1, and in shots on goal, 18-16– including a, 12-11, advantage in the second period alone.

    Boston also maintained an advantage in blocked shots (10-7), takeaways (5-4) and faceoff win% (56-44), while the Devils led in giveaways (14-5) and hits (12-11).

    New Jersey was still 0/2 on the skater advantage and the B’s were still 0/1 on the power play as there were no penalties called in the middle period.

    Early in the final frame of regulation, P.K. Subban tripped up Pastrnak and was assessed a minor penalty at 3:11 of the third period.

    Eight seconds later, Pastrnak (19) scored his 2nd goal of the game with a one-timer blast from the point on the power play.

    The B’s won the ensuing faceoff, moved the puck quickly to Marchand along the boards, then flipped it back to Pastrnak for the one-timer goal at 3:19.

    Marchand (22) tallied his third assist of the night, while Coyle (7) picked up the secondary assist and the Bruins led, 3-1.

    Midway through the third period, Grzelcyk (2) danced around Subban while entering Boston’s offensive zone, then snapped a shot bardown over Blackwood’s glove to make it, 4-1, Bruins.

    McAvoy (7) had the only assist on Grzelcyk’s 2nd goal of the night at 10:33– marking the first two-goal game of Grzelcyk’s NHL career.

    A few minutes later, Connor Clifton (2) rocketed a slap shot from the point while preventing the puck from clearing the zone– sending it over Blackwood’s glove, off the iron and into the twine in the process.

    Clifton’s unassisted goal made it, 5-1, for Boston at 13:42 as the New Jersey native notched a goal in his home state.

    At the sound of the final horn, the Bruins had won, 5-1, and finished the night leading in shots on goal, 28-26, despite both teams amassing ten shots on net aside in the third period.

    The Devils finished the game leading in giveaways (15-6) and hits (18-15), while the Bruins wrapped up the action with the advantage in blocked shots (14-7) and faceoff win% (60-40)

    New Jersey went 0/2 on the power play, while Boston finished 1/2 on the skater advantage Tuesday night.

    With his goal in the first period, Pastrnak (341 games) became 2nd fastest to score 150 goals with the Bruins among players who made their NHL debuts with the franchise. Only Barry Pederson (316 games) did it faster.

    The Bruins improved to 11-2-3 when scoring first this season, 10-1-0 when leading after the first period and 8-0-2 when leading after two periods.

    Boston begins a two-game homestand against the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday and hosts the Minnesota Wild on Saturday.

    The B’s close out November with back to back nights in Montreal (Nov. 26th) and Ottawa (Nov. 27th) before finishing the month at home against the New York Rangers in a Black Friday matinee on Nov. 29th.

  • Washington capitalizes on, 3-2, shootout win in Boston

    Braden Holtby and the Washington Capitals came back to beat the Boston Bruins, 3-2, in a shootout on Saturday at TD Garden.

    Holtby (10-1-3 record, 2.98 goals against average, .904 save percentage in 15 games played) is now 13-1-0 in his last 14 starts against Boston and made 21 saves on 23 shots against (.913 SV%) in the win for the Caps.

    Jaroslav Halak (4-1-3, 2.57 GAA, .924 SV% in eight games played) stopped 42 out of 44 shots faced for a .955 SV% in the shootout loss.

    Prior to puck drop, the Bruins held a moment of remembrance for Worcester firefighter, Jason Menard, who was killed while battling a fire on Wednesday.

    Menard rescued a probationary firefighter and another member of his crew before a mayday was called around 1:32 in the morning after conditions worsened on the third floor of the three-decker building.

    https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

    The Bruins fell to 12-3-5 (29 points) on the season, but remain 1st in the Atlantic Division after the loss.

    Meanwhile, Washington is still in command of 1st place in the Metropolitan Division with a 15-3-4 record and 34 points on the season so far.

    Boston fell to 7-0-4 at home as a result of Saturday’s loss.

    Steven Kampfer served as Boston’s only healthy scratch with Kevan Miller (knee), John Moore (shoulder), Karson Kuhlman (fractured tibia), David Backes (upper body), Jake DeBrusk (lower body), Brett Ritchie (upper body), Torey Krug (upper body) and Zach Senyshyn (lower body) out of the lineup due to injury.

    Joining them in the press box Saturday night was Patrice Bergeron (lower body), who sustained some discomfort during Friday night’s matchup in Toronto.

    As a result, Paul Carey was recalled from the Providence Bruins (AHL).

    The 31-year-old center has 13 points (seven goals, six assists) in 17 games with Providence this season and skated in his 100th career NHL game as a result of being recalled on Saturday.

    Krug, in the meantime, was placed on the injured reserve on Saturday, despite skating earlier in the morning with Ritchie, DeBrusk and Moore.

    Of the injured Bruins, Ritchie is the closest to returning to the lineup, according to B’s head coach, Bruce Cassidy.

    Cassidy juggled his lines from Friday night to Saturday night thanks to Bergeron’s day-to-day status, moving David Krejci up to center the first line with Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak as his wings, while reuniting Anders Bjork, Charlie Coyle and Danton Heinen as a trio on the second line.

    Boston’s usual fourth liners– Joakim Nordstrom, Sean Kuraly and Chris Wagner– were promoted to third line duties, while Trent Frederic, Par Lindholm and Carey comprised of the new fourth line for Saturday night’s action.

    The defensive pairings remained the same from Friday night against the Maple Leafs to Saturday night against the Capitals.

    Midway through the opening period, Pastrnak hooked Jakub Vrana and was sent to the penalty box. The Caps didn’t convert on the ensuing power play at 8:03 of the first period.

    In the vulnerable minute after special teams play, Heinen worked the puck deep into Boston’s attacking zone, then sent a pass to Coyle (4) as Coyle crashed the net and redirected the puck through Holtby’s five-hole– giving the Bruins a, 1-0, lead at 11:32 of the first period.

    Heinen (5) and Charlie McAvoy (5) notched the assists on the goal.

    The goal extended Coyle’s current point streak to four games (a career-high).

    Moments later, Travis Boyd (1) tipped in a shot from the point while standing in front of Halak, tying the game, 1-1, in the process.

    John Carlson (24) and Brendan Leipsic (5) tallied the assists on Boyd’s goal at 14:27.

    With less than a minute remaining in the opening frame, Radko Gudas hooked Marchand and was sent to the sin bin, leaving Washington shorthanded into the second period as Boston couldn’t score on the skater advantage before time expired in the first period.

    After one period in Boston, the score was tied, 1-1, while the Capitals led in shots on goal, 18-9. It was the most shots allowed by the Bruins in the first period at any point this season, but the B’s led in blocked shots (4-0) and takeaways (4-3) to make up for it.

    Washington also managed the advantage in giveaways (9-3), hits (13-11) and faceoff win percentage (72-28) entering the first intermission.

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

    The Capitals killed off the remainder of Gudas’ penalty early in the second period as things resumed at TD Garden.

    Early in the period, McAvoy missed an empty net, sending the puck wide and off the endboards, whereby Pastrnak (17) gathered the carom and banked the puck into the twine to give Boston the lead, 2-1, at 3:30 of the second period.

    McAvoy (6) and Krejci (9) picked up the assists on the goal as the Bruins surged out of the gate for the middle frame before falling back on a heavy defensive presence in their own zone for the remainder of the period.

    About a minute later, Heinen hooked Leipsic and was sent to the box at 4:42.

    Washington did not convert on the resulting skater advantage and responded with a penalty of their own midway through the period.

    Holtby tripped up Carey as the Bruins forward skated by the crease, yielding a minor infraction for the Capitals goaltender that was served by Leipsic at 10:05.

    With 16 seconds left in the period, Evgeny Kuznetsov cross checked McAvoy and was charged with a minor penalty at 19:44, meaning the B’s would still be on the power play into the third period if they couldn’t score by the end of the second period.

    Boston didn’t score and carried their advantage into the third period as the Bruins led, 2-1, through 40 minutes of action Saturday night.

    The Caps led in shots on goal, 30-15, after two periods– including a, 12-6, advantage in the second period alone– and held the advantage in takeaways (9-8), giveaways (11-9), hits (21-16) and faceoff win% (72-28), while the Bruins led in blocked shots (10-0).

    Washington was 0/2 on the power play through two periods and Boston was 0/3 on the skater advantage in that same span.

    Midway through the final frame of regulation, Tom Wilson tried to mix things up with McAvoy after each player had big hits in the third period.

    Wilson grabbed hold of McAvoy’s stick– but was not penalized for holding the stick– and exchanged words with the young defender until Bruins captain, Zdeno Chara, skated over to offer his opinion on the subject matter– at which point, Wilson fell over and the two (Chara and Wilson) were assessed roughing minors at 13:59 of the third period.

    The two teams survived 4-on-4 action unscathed for two minutes before returning to full strength.

    With 1:22 left in the third period, Capitals head coach, Todd Reirden, pulled his goaltender for an extra attacker and it was very effective.

    T.J. Oshie (10) blasted a one-timer from the low slot over Halak’s glove side to tie the game, 2-2, at 19:01 of the third period.

    Kuznetsov (11) and Nicklas Backstrom (13) had the assists on Oshie’s goal as Washington force overtime.

    After regulation, the score was tied, 2-2, and the Caps led the B’s in shots on goal, 41-21– including an, 11-6, advantage for Washington in the third period alone.

    Boston led in blocked shots (11-5), while Washington led in takeaways (14-12), giveaways (20-13), hits (28-23) and faceoff win% (66-34).

    The Capitals finished the night 0/2 on the power play and the Bruins finished 0/3 on the skater advantage as there were no more penalties called after 60 minutes of play.

    Kuznetsov, Carlson, Wilson, Coyle, Marchand and McAvoy were the starters in overtime for both teams as the two squads couldn’t get the job done in the five-minute allotted extra frame of 3-on-3 action.

    Washington led in shots on goal, 3-2, in overtime alone, bringing their shot total advantage to, 44-23.

    Boston finished the night leading in blocked shots (11-5), but trailing the Capitals in giveaways (20-15), hits (28-23) and faceoff win% (67-33).

    In the shootout, the B’s elected to shoot second, yielding Oshie as the shootout’s first shooter for Washington.

    Oshie skated his way in toward Halak and tried to fire one past the Bruins netminder’s glove, but Halak made the save.

    Coyle followed up with Boston’s first attempt of the shootout and slid one through Holtby’s five-hole to give the Bruins a, 1-0, advantage after one shootout round.

    Kuznetsov hit the post to the right of Halak and couldn’t muster the puck into the twine, leaving Pastrnak with the chance to win it as Boston’s second shooter.

    Instead, Pastrnak went for the gaping five-hole that Holtby quickly squeezed his pads together to close after poking the puck off of Pastrnak’s stick and letting the rubber biscuit slide through his legs with just enough time to cover it comfortably.

    Next up, Backstrom wired a shot into the back of the net on Halak’s glove side– keeping Washington’s shootout hopes alive.

    With the game on his stick, Marchand tried to do exactly what every Bruin has done in just about every shootout attempt this season– aim for the five-hole.

    Marchand was unsuccessful.

    In the fourth round of the shootout, the Caps sent in their best shot– Alex Ovechkin.

    Ovechkin tried to sneak it past Halak, low on his glove side, but the Boston goaltender dove in desperation and robbed the Washington captain– barely getting his glove around the puck before Ovechkin could sneak it over the goal line.

    In response, Cassidy sent Krejci out to try to win the game with the last shot in the fourth round of the shootout.

    But Krejci also opted for the predictable five-hole and did not score, leaving the fate of the game undecided.

    Vrana opened the fifth round of the shootout with a toe-drag that left Halak doing the splits, which was just enough to let Vrana elevate the puck over Halak’s leg pads and into the net.

    Boston had to score on their next shot or else the shootout (and the game) would be over.

    As such, Wagner was presented the opportunity to extend the shootout, but he too, tried to go five-hole on Holtby, who didn’t face much pressure on the shot as the puck trickled through the crease and wide of the goalframe.

    The Capitals had won.

    Washington improved to 3-1 in shootouts this season, while Boston fell to 0-4 in such instances.

    Holtby improved to 25-14 overall in shootouts in his career as Halak stumbled to 32-33 in shootouts.

    The Bruins fell to 7-0-2 when leading after two periods this season and 10-2-3 when scoring the game’s first goal.

    Boston travels to New Jersey to take on the Devils next Tuesday (Nov. 19th) before a two-game homestand against Buffalo (Nov. 21st) and Minnesota (Nov. 23rd).

    The B’s close out November with back to back nights in Montreal (Nov. 26th) and Ottawa (Nov. 27th) before finishing the month at home against the New York Rangers in a Black Friday matinee on Nov. 29th.

  • Marchand’s two-goal game lifts Bruins over Leafs, 4-2

    After blowing a four-goal lead heading into the third period against the Florida Panthers before losing, 5-4, in a shootout on Tuesday, the Boston Bruins entered Scotiabank Arena on a four-game losing streak.

    The B’s snapped their four-game losing streak with a, 4-2, victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday.

    Brad Marchand had a pair of goals in his 700th career National Hockey League game en route to the win, while Tuukka Rask (8-2-2 record, 2.14 goals against average, .927 save percentage in 12 games played) made 29 saves on 31 shots against for a .935 SV% in the win for the Bruins.

    Maple Leafs goaltender, Frederik Andersen (9-4-3, 2.74 GAA, .912 SV% in 16 GP) stopped 30 out of 33 shots faced for a .912 SV% in the loss.

    Boston maintained 1st place in the Atlantic Division, while improving to 12-3-4 (28 points) on the season.

    Toronto fell to 9-8-4 (22 points) and remained 4th in the Atlantic as a result of the loss.

    The Bruins improved to 5-3-1 on the road this season and snapped their first four-game losing streak since Nov. 2017 in the process.

    Once more the Bruins were without the services of Kevan Miller (knee), John Moore (shoulder), Karson Kuhlman (fractured tibia), David Backes (upper body), Jake DeBrusk (lower body), Brett Ritchie (upper body) and Torey Krug (upper body) due to various injuries.

    Zach Senyshyn (lower body) joined them on the long list of players out of the lineup against Toronto on Friday after being injured in Tuesday night’s matchup against the Panthers. He will be re-evaluated in approximately four weeks.

    As a result, Trent Frederic was recalled from the Providence Bruins (AHL) and inserted on the third line left wing alongside Par Lindholm and Danton Heinen.

    Frederic has five assists in 15 games with Providence this season and skated in 15 games with Boston last season.

    Boston head coach, Bruce Cassidy, left his lines the same as Tuesday night with the exception of Frederic’s addition in place of Senyshyn.

    Urho Vaakanainen was paired with Connor Clifton on the third defensive pairing while Matt Grzelcyk was bumped up to the second pairing with Brandon Carlo, as well as the first power play unit.

    Zdeno Chara and Charlie McAvoy remained together on the first pairing, while Steven Kampfer was the only healthy scratch for the Bruins against the Maple Leafs.

    Midway through the first period, Bjork sent Grzelcyk behind the goal whereby the Bruins defender then flipped a pass from the trapezoid to Coyle (3) as No. 13 in black-and-gold ripped a shot high past Andersen’s glove on the short side to give Boston a, 1-0, lead.

    The goal was Coyle’s first in seven games and was assisted by Grzelcyk (4) and Bjork (1) at 13:48 of the first period.

    Less than a minute later, David Pastrnak was assessed an interference minor after bumping John Tavares while the Leafs captain did not have possession of the puck at 14:09.

    Toronto did not convert on the ensuing power play.

    Shortly after exiting the penalty box, Pastrnak was held by Nicholas Shore, resulting in a minor infraction for Shore at 16:37 and a power play for Boston.

    The Bruins weren’t able to capitalize on the skater advantage.

    After one period of play at Scotiabank Arena Friday night, Boston led Toronto, 1-0, on the scoreboard, despite trailing in shots on goal, 9-8.

    The B’s led in blocked shots (9-2) and hits (16-9), while the Maple Leafs held the advantage in giveaways (7-2) and faceoff win percentage (74-26) entering the first intermission.

    Both teams had two takeaways each and were 0/1 on the power play entering the second period.

    Toronto announced that forward, Trevor Moore (shoulder), would not return to the night’s action prior to the end of the first period and was short a skater for the remainder of the game.

    Jake Muzzin let go of a shot from the point that was redirected by Auston Matthews (14) and found its way past Rask to tie the game, 1-1, at 9:20 of the second period.

    The ref closest to the goal ruled it a goal, while the ref farthest away from the action deemed it “no goal” thinking Matthews altered the direction of the puck with a high stick, but after an official review, the call on the ice (the one made by the ref at the goalframe) stood.

    Muzzin (8) and William Nylander (9) tabbed the assists on Matthews’ goal as the Leafs tied the game midway through the middle frame.

    Moments later, Andreas Johnsson tripped up McAvoy– yielding a power play for Boston at 11:11.

    The Bruins did not capitalize on their second power play opportunity of the night and instead took a penalty of their own late in the period.

    Patrice Bergeron took a skate to the sin bin for slashing Tavares at 16:52 and the Maple Leafs went on the power play.

    Toronto did not score on the ensuing skater advantage, despite heavy pressure in the attacking zone.

    Through 40 minutes of play, the game was tied, 1-1.

    The Leafs led in shots on goal, 24-19, after two periods– including a, 15-11, advantage in the second period alone. Toronto also led in giveaways (9-5) and faceoff win% (63-37) entering the second intermission.

    Boston led in blocked shots (20-6) and hits (24-18) after two periods, while both teams had three takeaways each and were 0/2 on the power play heading into the third period.

    Marchand (12) pocketed his own rebound on a quick break off the opening faceoff to begin the final frame of regulation with a goal 11 seconds into the third period.

    Carlo (5) and Bergeron (11) had the assists as the Bruins took a, 2-1, lead.

    Less than four minutes later, Kasperi Kapanen (6) tied the game with a catch-and-release shot from point blank while Rask performed a split from one side of the crease to the other.

    Tavares (8) and Zach Hyman (1) notched the assists on Kapanen’s goal at 3:56 of the third period and the two teams swapped a pair of goals in a 3:45 span.

    Marchand (13) tallied his 2nd goal of the game after once again gathering his own rebound and finding the back of the twine– this time after a quick shot that was stopped by Anderson’s glove initially, but rebounded to the Bruins forward as Marchand crashed the slot, picked up his own rebound and slid the rubber biscuit under Andersen’s leg pad for the eventual game-winning goal at 5:08.

    Coyle (6) and David Krejci (8) collected the assists on Marchand’s 2nd goal as Boston pulled ahead with a, 3-2, lead just 1:12 after Toronto tied the game.

    The two teams combined for three goals in a 4:57 span.

    With 1:51 remaining in regulation, Maple Leafs head coach, Mike Babcock, pulled his goaltender for an extra attacker in a last ditch effort to tie the game.

    It did not go as planned, however, as Sean Kuraly sent the puck deep into the offensive zone, fished it out from along the wall and forced the play back to Chara as the seconds ticked down.

    The Bruins captain then blasted a shot from the point for his 4th goal of the season as Chara (4) notched the empty net goal at 18:27 of the third period on an unassisted effort.

    Boston sealed the deal on a, 4-2, victory that was ensured at the sound of the final horn.

    The B’s finished the night leading in shots on goal, 34-31, and led in shots on net in the third period alone, 15-7.

    Boston also wrapped up the action with the advantage in blocked shots (22-10) and hits (35-24), while Toronto finished the game leading in giveaways (13-8) and faceoff win% (63-37).

    The two teams finished 0/2 on the power play Friday night as no penalties were called in the third period.

    The Bruins are now 10-2-2 when scoring the game’s first goal this season and 9-1-0 when leading after the first period.

    Boston returns home to take on the Washington Capitals on the second day of back to back games on Saturday. The Bruins then travel to New Jersey to take on the Devils next Tuesday (Nov. 19th) before a two-game homestand against Buffalo (Nov. 21st) and Minnesota (Nov. 23rd).

    The B’s close out November with back to back nights in Montreal (Nov. 26th) and Ottawa (Nov. 27th) before finishing the month at home against the New York Rangers in a Black Friday matinee on Nov. 29th.

    Of note, per the NHL’s PR team, Chara is now the fourth defender in NHL history to record a point streak of three or more games at the age of 42 or older, joining Chris Chelios (four games in 2003-04 with the Detroit Red Wings, and again over three games with Detroit in 2006-07), Tim Horton (three games in 1972-73 with the Buffalo Sabres) and Doug Harvey (three games in 1968-69 with the St. Louis Blues).

    Meanwhile, Marchand is the first player in NHL history to score a goal in the opening 15 seconds of a period on seven occasions (including OT).

  • DTFR Podcast #179- Short and Sweet Power Rankings

    DTFR Podcast #179- Short and Sweet Power Rankings

    This week’s DTFR Power Rankings are here! A quick look at the standings and a few tidbits of news from the week.

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

  • DTFR Podcast #178- Another Day, Another Dollar

    DTFR Podcast #178- Another Day, Another Dollar

    Zdeno Chara surpassed 1,500 career games, Claude Julien reached 1,200 games behind the bench, the Toronto Maple Leafs are facing injuries and backup goaltender struggles, Taylor Hall reportedly won’t sign an extension with the New Jersey Devils, the 2019 NHL Global Series happened and the 2020 NHL Global Series was announced.

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

  • DTFR Podcast #177- And A Dollar Short

    DTFR Podcast #177- And A Dollar Short

    2020 Winter Classic sweater reviews, a standings update and Top-10 NHL power rankings.

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

  • DTFR Podcast #176- A Day Late

    DTFR Podcast #176- A Day Late

    The new format of the DTFR Podcast is introduced as Dustin Byfuglien is out for an extended period of time, Louis Domingue was traded, Scott Sabourin suffered a scary injury and the New York Islanders are on a nine-game winning streak.

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

  • Five different Bruins score in, 5-2, win over Senators

    Five different players scored a goal in the Boston Bruins’, 5-2, victory over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night at TD Garden as the B’s extended their current win streak to five games.

    Tuukka Rask (7-0-1 record, 1.49 goals against average, .949 save percentage in eight games played) made 30 saves on 32 shots faced for a .938 SV% in the win for Boston.

    Meanwhile, Senators goaltender, Craig Anderson (2-5-0, 3.09 GAA, .900 SV% in eight games played) stopped 27 shots out of 32 shots against for an .844 SV% in the loss.

    Boston improved to 10-1-2 (22 points) and remained in control of the Atlantic Division with their 1st place standing over the Buffalo Sabres, who lost, 1-0, to the New York Islanders on Saturday.

    Ottawa, meanwhile, fell to 3-8-1 (7 points) and remained in 8th place (last) in the Atlantic.

    And now it’s time for the long injury report and lineup changes made by Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, prior to Saturday night’s matchup with the Sens.

    Kevan Miller (knee) is practicing with the team this week in a red no-contact sweater and remains on track for a return soon, meanwhile fellow defender, John Moore (shoulder) is still on track for a mid-November return to the lineup.

    Karson Kuhlman (fractured right tibia) is still out, joined by forwards, Joakim Nordstrom (infection, elbow), Par Lindholm (upper body) and Brett Ritchie (infection) in the press box.

    Nordstrom’s infected elbow will keep him out of the next three games according to Cassidy, while Ritchie’s infection is similar to Nordstrom’s, but shouldn’t keep him out of the lineup for nearly as long.

    As a result of all the injuries, Peter Cehlarik was recalled from the Providence Bruins (AHL) on an emergency basis.

    Cehlarik has six goals and four assists (10 points) in seven games with Providence this season and will suit up on the right side of the third line with Anders Bjork and Charlie Coyle.

    On defense, Cassidy is giving Connor Clifton the night off and inserting Steven Kampfer on the third pairing with Matt Grzelcyk to keep the 31-year-old veteran fresh. Clifton was Boston’s only healthy scratch on Saturday.

    Less than a minute into the action, the Senators forgot how basic counting works and had too many skaters on the ice, yielding the first power play of the game to the Bruins 46 seconds into the first period.

    About 30 seconds later, Torey Krug cleared the puck off the endboards from his own end and presented David Pastrnak (13) with the chance for a breakaway after Pastrnak entered the zone and received the cross-corner dump before burying the puck in the net for his 8th power play goal of the season.

    Krug (9) had the only assist on the goal and the B’s led, 1-0, at 1:17 of the first period.

    A few minutes later, however, the game came to a screeching halt when Ottawa fourth liner, Scott Sabourin, tried to make a hit on Boston fourth liner, David Backes.

    Sabourin’s head collided with Backes’ head, leaving the Sens forward apparently unconscious while falling to the ice before smashing face-first into the ground.

    Blood pooled as Backes was the first player to wave to both benches for immediate medical assistance, while Sabourin laid motionless on the ice.

    Trainers from both teams and medical responders in the building worked quickly to assess and deal with the situation as a stretcher was wheeled out from the ice resurfacer entrance.

    Backes– along with the rest of the players for Boston and Ottawa– appeared visibly shaken and lined up to salute Sabourin with their sticks as the Sens forward was eventually put onto the stretcher and wheeled off the ice.

    Sabourin gave the TD Garden crowd a thumbs up and was brought to a local hospital for further evaluation.

    After about an 11 minute stoppage, play resumed with 16:52 remaining in the period as Backes was seen leaving the B’s bench and headed down the tunnel– whether it was related to being in a state of shock from Sabourin’s injury or due to concussion protocol was not immediately known.

    The Senators later provided an update on Sabourin, stating that he “was conscious and communicating with the attending doctors at the time of leaving the arena”.

    Almost midway through the opening frame, Coyle interfered with Nick Paul and was sent to the penalty box with a minor infraction at 7:40.

    Ottawa did not convert on the ensuing skater advantage, but caught Boston on a sloppy play a few minutes after the special teams action.

    Charlie McAvoy pinched in from the point to make an offensive play, but Boston’s plans backfired and the Sens caught the B’s heading the other way down the ice.

    Ottawa entered their attacking zone with a 3-on-1 as Zdeno Chara was the lone defender for the Bruins, then maintained the pressure and control of the puck in the offensive zone after a failed one-timer attempt.

    Logan Brown found Anthony Duclair (5) in the low slot to tie the game, 1-1, as Duclair elevated a shot high over Rask’s short side at 12:04.

    Brown (2) and Mark Borowiecki (3) tallied the assists and the Senators were right back in the game.

    In the closing moments of the first period, Brown went to make a hit on Danton Heinen, but couldn’t pull it off and instead went down the tunnel with an injury.

    After one period of action, the score was tied, 1-1, with the Bruins holding the advantage in shots on goal, 11-6.

    Boston also led in blocked shots (8-4) and faceoff win percentage (54-46), while Ottawa led in takeaways (2-1), giveaways (4-2) and hits (11-10) entering the first intermission.

    The Senators were 0/1 on the skater advantage and the B’s were 1/1 on the power play heading into the second period.

    Neither Backes, nor Brown were back for the start of the second period.

    Both the Bruins and the Senators would provide updates on each player early in the middle frame, indicating that each skater wouldn’t be back for the rest of the game with an upper body injury.

    Less than two minutes into the middle period, Pastrnak found Patrice Bergeron (6) in the low slot for a one-timer goal as Anderson split the pads while trying to break up the pass.

    Bergeron’s goal was assisted by Pastrnak (13) and Brad Marchand (15) as the B’s jumped ahead, 2-1, at 1:51 of the second period.

    But just as easy as the Bruins took the lead like they did in the first period, they gave up a quick answering goal in the second period as Connor Brown (2) banked a shot from about the goal line through Rask’s five-hole, tying the game, 2-2.

    Borowiecki (4) and Dylan DeMelo (3) were credited with the assists at 3:04 of the second period as the Sens fought their way back into the game.

    Moments later, Boston had too many skaters on the ice and were assessed a bench minor penalty, which was served by Cehlarik at 5:03.

    About a minute after that, with the action on the ice getting chippy, a scrum after the whistle resulted in Marchand racking up six penalty minutes on a hooking minor and a spearing double-minor at 6:08.

    The Bruins managed to survive the abbreviated 5-on-3 action and the ensuing extra long 5-on-4 power play for Ottawa, much to the delight of the fans at TD Garden.

    Midway through the second period, Borowiecki slashed Pastrnak and was sent to the sin bin at 13:53.

    Less than two minutes after the Sens killed off Borowiecki’s minor, the Senators defender found himself skating back to the box at 17:20– this time due to a tripping infraction after he caught Marchand and brought the Bruins forward down in Boston’s attacking zone.

    The B’s did not convert on either Borowiecki infraction.

    Through 40 minutes of play in Boston, the game was tied, 2-2, and the shots on goal were even, 21-21– despite Ottawa holding a, 15-10, advantage in shots on net in the second period alone.

    The Bruins led in blocked shots (13-5) and faceoff win% (54-46), while the Senators led in takeaways (4-3), giveaways (7-5) and hits (21-13).

    Ottawa was 0/5 on the power play, while Boston was 1/3 on the advantage entering the third period.

    Early in the final frame of the game, Heinen (3) scooped up a loose puck and cut to the front of the net, wrapping the rubber biscuit around Anderson and into the twine.

    Heinen’s individual effort put Boston ahead, 3-2, at 5:43 of the third period and was unassisted as No. 43 in black-and-gold had a strong game all night and walked away with the game-winning goal as a result.

    Less than a minute after Heinen put the Bruins ahead on the scoreboard, Borowiecki was making his way back to the penalty box at 6:11 as the Sens defender hooked Bergeron.

    Just 39 seconds into the ensuing skater advantage for Boston, Marchand (8) received a pass from Pastrnak from behind the goal line, through the crease and into the low slot– whereby Marchand was waiting to convert on the one-timer while crashing the net, giving the B’s another power play goal and the game’s first two-goal lead of the night, 4-2.

    Pastrnak (14) and Bergeron (8) tallied the assists on Marchand’s power play goal at 6:50 of the third period.

    With the primary assist on the goal, Pastrnak picked up a three-point night, including his 27th of the season through 13 games. That’s the most by a Bruin this far into a season since Bobby Orr had 27 points through 13 games in the 1974-75 season.

    Orr wound up with 46 goals and 89 assists (135 points) in 80 games that season– his last full NHL season in his career– setting a career-high in goals as a result.

    Meanwhile, with the secondary assist on Marchand’s goal, Bergeron picked up the 500th assist of his career, becoming the 6th player in Bruins franchise history to reach the career milestone, joining Ray Bourque, Johnny Bucyk, Orr, Phil Esposito and Wayne Cashman.

    Almost ten minutes later, Heinen stole the puck and worked it over to Jake DeBrusk (2) for a one-timer goal from point blank to give the Bruins a three-goal lead, 5-2, at 16:16.

    Heinen (3) had the only assist on DeBrusk’s goal as the B’s sealed the deal on their victory Saturday night over Ottawa.

    At the final horn, Boston had defeated the Sens, 5-2, despite both teams finishing with 32 shots on goal.

    Both teams had 11 shots on net in the third period alone, while the Bruins finished the game leading in blocked shots (16-10).

    The Senators, meanwhile, finished the action leading in giveaways (11-9), hits (26-17) and faceoff win% (52-48), while going 0/5 on the skater advantage.

    The B’s finished 2/4 on the power play Saturday.

    Boston is now 6-0-1 at home and 8-1-1 when scoring the game’s first goal this season.

    The Bruins conclude their current three-game homestand (2-0-0) on Monday against the Pittsburgh Penguins, then head up to Montreal to face the Canadiens the following night (Nov. 5th) before traveling to Detroit on Nov. 8th.

  • 2019-20 League Forecast Entering November

    For the first time this season, the calendar is flipped to a new month– and with a new month comes new expectations.

    All 31 National Hockey League teams are starting to find a rhythm– for better or worse– and it’s time to acknowledge the general trends of what to expect based on what’s already happened for the first 1/8th of the season (approximately).

    American Thanksgiving is still around the corner, which means that any team in a playoff position by Nov. 28th is more likely to qualify for the playoffs by April 4th.

    There’s enough time between now and then for a lot to change.

    As always, that means it’s time for a new forecast based on what we’ve seen so far and what we may see in the future.

    In other words, here’s an educated guess based on a formulaic approach thanks to the wonderful world of spreadsheets.

    This isn’t an exact science. It takes into account everything from the last few seasons, as well as every little detail through the end of Oct. 31, 2019.

    Anything can happen. It’s a long road to April.

    Projected Standings After One Month

    Eastern Conference

    Atlantic Division

    1. p-Boston Bruins, 110 points (12 games played entering November 1st)
    2. x-Tampa Bay Lightning, 106 points (12 GP)
    3. x-Montreal Canadiens, 92 points (13 GP)
    4. Florida Panthers, 91 points (13 GP)
    5. Toronto Maple Leafs, 91 points (14 GP)
    6. Buffalo Sabres, 82 points (13 GP)
    7. Detroit Red Wings, 79 points (13 GP)
    8. Ottawa Senators, 74 points (11 GP)

    The Boston Bruins are off to a hot start thanks to Tuukka Rask’s stellar goaltending (6-0-1 record, 1.42 goals against average, .951 save percentage in seven games played) and David Pastrnak’s hot stick (12-12–24 totals in 12 games played).

    Bruce Cassidy’s leadership behind the bench has steered the B’s away from a Stanley Cup Final appearance hangover and towards another playoff berth for what would be the fourth year in-a-row.

    Meanwhile, after a slow start to their season, Jon Cooper and the Tampa Bay Lightning casually waltz into home ice advantage in at least the First Round of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs and Claude Julien re-enters the postseason frame with the Montreal Canadiens as if it’s 2004 again (granted, Julien and the Habs made it in 2017, but only after Julien replaced Michel Therrien as head coach for the second time).

    Joel Quenneville’s first season as head coach of the Florida Panthers led to an improvement, but not quite enough to get them back into the postseason, while another Stanely Cup winning coach took his team in a different direction.

    That coach is Mike Babcock and that team is the Toronto Maple Leafs, who trudged through the middle of the road all season and ended up just outside of a wild card spot in the Eastern Conference (unless Kyle Dubas and Brendan Shanahan decide to stray from the “Shanaplan”).

    Though the Buffalo Sabres are hot right now, it seems history repeats itself. Buffalo’s great October, November and/or December wasn’t enough to sustain themselves through the winer months of January, February and March, but overall the team improved and should be a playoff contender next season.

    At least the Sabres aren’t the Detroit Red Wings (still a few years away from being a contender) or the Ottawa Senators (they say they’ll spend money in 2021, but…).

    Metropolitan Division

    1. y-Washington Capitals, 110 points (14 GP)
    2. x-Pittsburgh Penguins, 102 points (13 GP)
    3. x-New York Islanders, 95 points (11 GP)
    4. wc1-Carolina Hurricanes, 92 points (12 GP)
    5. wc2-Columbus Blue Jackets, 91 points (12 GP)
    6. Philadelphia Flyers, 89 points (11 GP)
    7. New York Rangers, 87 points (10 GP)
    8. New Jersey Devils, 81 points (10 GP)

    Alex Ovechkin continues his annual quest for the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy and likely succeeds unless Pastrnak has anything to say about it.

    In the meantime, the Washington Capitals continue to take home the regular season crown in the Metropolitan Division because somehow they always seem to do that no matter the postseason outcome.

    The Pittsburgh Penguins avoid major missteps without Evgeni Malkin in the lineup for most of October due to injury and turned things on for the duration of the second half of the season as they always do, yielding 2nd place in the Metropolitan Division.

    Barry Trotz’s leadership with the New York Islanders has keep things tight-knit and playoff bound, but unless every 2020 Stanley Cup Playoff home game for the Isles is played at NYCB Live/Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, then it’s not worth it.

    Rod Brind’Amour is the best coach for the Carolina Hurricanes and he continues to climb the ranks of “best head coaches in franchise history” with another wild card appearance, at least, and what should be yet another thrilling playoff run for the Canes.

    Meanwhile, somehow the Columbus Blue Jackets pieced together enough wins to snag the last wild card spot in the Eastern Conference before bowing out in the First Round due to a lack of depth.

    Finally, the Philadelphia Flyers, New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils are all near the bottom of the division, but only with a few points spread between them– meaning that anything after 1st or 2nd place in the division is realistically up for grabs as long as a team goes on a perfectly timed run.

    Western Conference

    Central Division

    1. z-Nashville Predators, 104 points (13 GP)
    2. x-St. Louis Blues, 101 points (13 GP)
    3. x-Winnipeg Jets, 93 points (13 GP)
    4. wc1-Colorado Avalanche, 92 points (12 GP)
    5. Chicago Blackhawks, 87 points (11 GP)
    6. Dallas Stars, 86 points (14 GP)
    7. Minnesota Wild, 85 points (13 GP)

    In the Western Conference, the Nashville Predators are going to pounce on the competition as the leaders of the West in the regular season. The only trouble is, they still might blow it in the last second of overtime or something.

    The defending champion St. Louis Blues are content to finish 2nd in the Central Division, but remain hungry in their quest for another Cup.

    After a slow start to the season, Paul Maurice and the Winnipeg Jets somehow right the ship and earned themselves the last divisional spot in the Central Division.

    But the Colorado Avalanche hold a wild card spot in the latest forecast as the real wild card of the entire Western Conference. Injuries could hold them back in the regular season, but they’ve shown they can make noise in the playoffs last spring.

    Otherwise, if the Avs can stay healthy for longer periods of time, then Colorado could climb in the standings.

    Finally, the Chicago Blackhawks are still trending in the wrong direction– facing the existential crisis of holding onto the old guard or continuing to dismantle their Cup-winning core– while the Dallas Stars and Minnesota Wild compete for the worst of the former and/or current Minnesota franchises this season.

    Spoiler alert, it’s the Wild.

    Pacific Division

    1. y-Vegas Golden Knights, 101 points (14 GP)
    2. x-Anaheim Ducks, 96 points (14 GP)
    3. x-San Jose Sharks, 92 points (13 GP)
    4. wc2-Calgary Flames, 91 points (15 GP)
    5. Vancouver Canucks, 89 points (12 GP)
    6. Edmonton Oilers, 84 points (14 GP)
    7. Arizona Coyotes, 82 points (12 GP)
    8. Los Angeles Kings, 82 points (13 GP)

    Nothing is going how things were expected to go in the Pacific Division and as a result, there’s still no conclusive results.

    The Vegas Golden Knights are good and could likely win the Pacific Division regular season title, but the Anaheim Ducks aren’t bowing out of playoff contention just yet.

    Meanwhile, the San Jose Sharks are as bad as the Los Angeles Kings, so this forecast will be further fine-tuned next month as the Sharks continue to slip from dominant to dormant in the standings.

    The Calgary Flames, Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers all might take a stab at playoff contention, yet the Arizona Coyotes are on the rise.

    At the very least, this is the most unpredictable division in the league that not even our current forecast can make any definitive claims.

    Check back next month for further separation in the spread, as well as a more realistic view of where each team should likely land within the range of standings.

  • Bruins take bite out of Sharks, 5-1

    There were a lot of goals, a lot of penalty minutes, 11 players with at least a point and a lot of heart on Hockey Fights Cancer Night at TD Garden as the Boston Bruins defeated the San Jose Sharks, 5-1, Tuesday night.

    Three-year-old Weymouth, Massachusetts native, “The Mighty Quinn” Waters, took part in a special ceremonial puck drop, whereby his fellow Weymouth neighbor, Charlie Coyle, posed for a photo alongside Quinn, his father and Sharks captain, Logan Couture, prior to the game as part of the Bruins’ honoring of those who have fought or are currently fighting various forms of cancer.

    Bruins goaltender, Tuukka Rask (6-0-1 record, 1.42 goals against average, .951 save percentage in seven games played), made 16 saves on 17 shots faced for a .941 SV% in the win.

    Sharks netminder, Martin Jones (2-6-1, 3.57 GAA, .890 SV% in nine games played) stopped 36 out of 41 shots faced for an .878 SV% in the loss.

    Boston improved to their best start since 1929-30, with a 9-1-2 record (20 points) and tied the Buffalo Sabres for 1st in the Atlantic Division with the win on Tuesday night.

    Meanwhile, San Jose fell to 4-8-1 (9 points) overall and remained in 7th place in the Pacific Division.

    The B’s also improved to 5-0-1 at home this season and extended their current winning streak to four games.

    Kevan Miller (knee) and John Moore (shoulder) are still sidelined by injuries and have yet to make their season debuts for Boston.

    Meanwhile, David Krejci and Chris Wagner were back in the lineup against San Jose after missing some time due to injury (Krejci missed the last five games, Wagner missed the last game).

    Karson Kuhlman (fractured tibia), Joakim Nordstrom (infection, elbow) and Par Lindholm (upper body) also missed Tuesday night’s action against the Sharks.

    Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, provided an update on Nordstrom before the game and told reporters that the forward “needs to let [his elbow infection] calm down”. Maybe he should try listening to Taylor Swift.

    After making his season debut on Sunday, Peter Cehlarik was returned from his emergency recall to the Providence Bruins (AHL).

    As a result of all the lineup changes, Cassidy reunited Danton Heinen on the second line right wing with Jake DeBrusk and Krejci, while moving Anders Bjork to the left of Coyle and keeping Brett Ritchie on Coyle’s right side– only this time on the third line.

    Wagner, Sean Kuraly and David Backes made up the fourth line, with “The Perfection Line” was untouched as usual.

    Steven Kampfer served as Boston’s only healthy scratch.

    Joe Thornton may have played his final game in Boston over his 22-year NHL career with the Bruins and Sharks, but then again he may never retire, so see you next year, “Jumbo Joe”!

    Early in the opening frame, Barclay Goodrow tripped Brad Marchand and was sent to the box at 6:15 of the first period, presenting the B’s with their first power play of the night.

    It didn’t take long before DeBrusk made a great play behind the net while on the skater advantage, freeing the puck to Patrice Bergeron for a bump pass over to David Pastrnak (12) for the wide-open one-timer power play goal.

    Bergeron (7) had the only assist on Pastrnak’s goal and the Bruins led, 1-0, at 7:49 of the first period.

    Despite a coach’s challenge from San Jose’s bench boss, Peter DeBoer, the call on the ice stood and the Sharks were charged with a delay of game penalty for falsely arguing that Boston was offside leading up to Pastrnak’s league-leading 12th goal of the season.

    Pastrnak, of note, is on a 10-game point streak (12-12–24 totals in that span)– two games shy of his career-high set from Nov. 22nd to Dec. 18, 2017– and is the third player in Bruins franchise history to score 12 or more goals in the month of October, joining Phil Esposito (14-10–24 totals in 10 games played in 1973) and Charlie Simmer (12-7–19 totals in 10 games played in 1985).

    Lukas Radil served San Jose’s delay of game infraction.

    The Bruins weren’t able to convert on their second skater advantage of the night– especially after Matt Grzelcyk was penalized for holding Couture at 9:18, resulting in 30 seconds of 4-on-4 play before the Sharks had an abbreviated 5-on-4 power play.

    Late in the first period, Tomas Hertl caught Charlie McAvoy with a high stick and was assessed a minor penalty at 16:25.

    This time around, it took about 90 seconds for the Bruins to work the puck around the attacking zone while on the power play, first with Marchand passing it back to Torey Krug, then Krug finding Krejci (1) in Pastrnak’s usual spot in the faceoff circle for the one-timer blast past Jones– giving Boston a two-goal lead and Krejci his first goal of the season in his first game back from injury.

    Krejci’s power play goal made it, 2-0, Bruins and was assisted by Krug (8) and Marchand (14) at 17:51.

    After 20 minutes of domination by the B’s, Boston carried a, 2-0, lead into the first intermission and a, 16-6, advantage in shots on goal.

    The Bruins also led in hits (9-7) and faceoff win percentage (53-47), while the Sharks led in blocked shots (6-1), takeaways (5-2) and giveaways (4-1).

    San Jose was 0/1 on the skater advantage heading into the second period, while Boston was 2/3 on the power play.

    Less than a minute into the middle period, Krejci was caught hooking Erik Karlsson and sent to the penalty box 52 seconds into the middle frame.

    It didn’t take long for Brent Burns (3) to cut Boston’s lead in half with a power play goal on a wrist shot from the point over Rask’s blocker side while Evander Kane screened the Bruins goaltender.

    Karlsson (8) and Hertl (8) recorded the assists on Burns’ goal at 1:31 of the second period and the Sharks were on the scoreboard, 2-1.

    It wasn’t much longer, however, before San Jose cracked under Boston’s tremendous pressure.

    First, Hertl tripped Pastrnak and was sent to the sin bin at 3:09.

    Then– just seconds after the Sharks killed off Hertl’s minor– Coyle (2) redirected a pass from Krejci into the back of the twine to put Boston up by two goals once more, 3-1, at 5:21.

    Krejci (2) and Heinen (2) tallied the assists on Coyle’s goal.

    About three minutes later, Backes flipped a pass up through the neutral zone to Wagner (1) whereby the Bruins fourth liner broke into the offensive zone all alone, deked and scored with a backhand shot through Jones’ five-hole to extend Boston’s lead to three goals.

    Backes (1) had the only assist on Wagner’s goal at 8:31 and the B’s led, 4-1.

    About a minute later, the Bruins went back on the power play when Radil tripped Grzelcyk at 9:36. This time, however, Boston couldn’t capitalize on the skater advantage.

    Brandon Carlo (2) was the last player to get on the scoreboard with a floating shot from the point that flew over heavy traffic in the slot and over Jones’ glove side shoulder into the net to make it, 5-1, Boston.

    Wagner (3) and Zdeno Chara (2) collected the assists on Carlo’s second goal in three games at 16:50.

    The B’s went back into the dressing room for the second intermission with a four-goal lead– dominating the Sharks, 5-1, on the scoreboared– and with a heavy advantage in shots on net (34-12) after 40 minutes of play, including a, 18-6, shot total for the second period alone.

    At least San Jose led in blocked shots (9-6), takeaways (5-4), giveaways (7-4) and hits (23-12), while Boston held onto the faceoff win% advantage, 54-46, entering the third period.

    The Sharks were 0/2 on the power play and the Bruins had fallen to 2/5 on the skater advantage heading into the final frame of the game.

    Just 68 seconds into the third period, Kane delivered a stick to McAvoy’s face, catching the attention of Chara in the process, who then tried to fight Kane.

    Luckily for Kane, there was no rematch from back in February, as Brendan Dillon stepped between the two and attempted to take on Chara himself before an official stepped in and handed out a high sticking penalty to Kane and roughing minors to Chara and Dillon.

    Moments later, McAvoy was again the victim of a high stick, only this time it was from Radil at 5:44 of the third period.

    Boston’s power play was short-lived as DeBrusk inadvertently tripped up Sharks defender, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, at 6:02.

    Both teams managed to survive their special teams chances and things started to cool off for a little bit.

    It didn’t last long.

    After making a good, clean, check along the boards on Kane, Ritchie found himself dropping the gloves with Goodrow at 12:39 of the third period.

    The two players exchanged fisticuffs with Ritchie getting a good rally going before the two received fighting majors and ten-minute misconducts.

    It was the first fight of the season for the Bruins and Goodrow’s first fight of the year for San Jose.

    Less than a minute later, Couture and Marchand found themselves tangled in each other’s arms before settling for an embrace and roughing minors, plus misconducts at 13:25.

    With the number of players on the bench dwindling in the game, Backes made a clean hit on Kane against the glass that Radil felt as though he had to respond in some manner.

    As such, Radil earned a roughing minor, Kane was charged with a misconduct– as well as Backes– and even DeBoer was thrown out of the game because of something the Sharks head coach must have said to an official at 15:42.

    With the seconds counting down, Timo Meier thought it’d be the perfect time to land one more cheap shot on Grzelcyk along the endboards– right about where the Bruins defender was knocked out of Game 2 of the 2019 Stanley Cup Final with a concussion.

    Grzelcyk quickly tackled his perpetrator as the rest of the skaters on the ice quickly found dancing partners in case a brawl was about to breakout.

    Meier received an interference penalty and an early invitation to the dressing room showers, while Grzelcyk picked up a roughing penalty and went to Boston’s dressing room at 19:43.

    At the sound of the final horn, the Bruins had won, 5-1, and finished the night leading in shots on goal, 41-17– including a, 7-5, advantage over San Jose.

    The Sharks finished Tuesday night’s action leading in blocked shots (12-8), giveaways (10-7) and hits (28-16), while going 1/3 on the power play.

    The B’s, meanwhile, went 2/8 on the skater advantage and split faceoff win% evenly with San Jose, 50-50.

    San Jose’s 17 shots on goal was the fewest allowed by Boston this season as the Bruins finished the month of October with a 9-1-2 record.

    The Bruins begin the month of November with a home game against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday, followed by the conclusion of their current three-game homestand next Monday against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The B’s head up to Montreal to face the Canadiens the following night (Nov. 5th) before traveling to Detroit on Nov. 8th.