Down the Frozen River

Tag: Canadian Tire Centre

  • Pastrnak caps overtime victory on the road in Ottawa

    Pastrnak caps overtime victory on the road in Ottawa

    David Pastrnak scored the game-winning overtime goal about midway through the extra frame to lift the Boston Bruins over the Ottawa Senators, 3-2, Saturday night at Canadian Tire Centre.

    Jeremy Swayman (10-7-3, 2.14 goals-against average, .923 save percentage in 21 games played) stopped 29 saves on 31 shots faced in the win for Boston as he improved to 3-0-0 against Ottawa in his career (and the Bruins improved to 3-0-0 against the Sens this season as well).

    Senators goaltender, Anton Forsberg (10-8-2, 2.78 goals-against average, .916 save percentage in 23 games played), made 30 saves on 33 shots against in the overtime loss.

    The B’s improved to 28-17-4 (60 points) overall and remain in command of 4th place in the Atlantic Division, while also in command of the second wild card berth in the Eastern Conference.

    Ottawa fell to 18-25-5 (41 points) on the season and stuck in 6th place in the Atlantic Division.

    The Bruins were without Jakub Zboril (right ACL) and Brad Marchand (suspension) against the Senators, while Bruce Cassidy made a few changes to his lineup from Thursday’s, 4-1, loss on the road against the New York Islanders to Saturday night in Ottawa.

    Jack Studnicka centered the third line with Erik Haula at left wing and Nick Foligno at right wing, while Jake DeBrusk was relegated to the fourth line left wing and Anton Blidh joined Derek Forbort in the press box as a pair of healthy scratches against the Senators.

    Urho Vaakanainen was paired with Charlie McAvoy, while Matt Grzelcyk and Brandon Carlo rounded out the top-four defenders.

    By scratching Forbort, Cassidy paired Mike Reilly with Connor Clifton on the third defensive pairing.

    Everything else was left untouched.

    Not much was happening in the first period other than the occasional big hit or two from McAvoy on Connor Brown.

    The two clubs entered the first intermission still tied, 0-0, on the scoreboard despite Boston leading in shots on goal, 11-9.

    The Bruins also held the advantage in blocked shots (5-0) and hits (11-9), while the Senators led in takeaways (4-0), giveaways (7-1) and faceoff win percentage (56-44).

    Both teams had yet to appear on the power play heading into the middle frame.

    DeBrusk (8) received a pass that exploded off of his stick before batting it out of the air on a backhand shot into the twine to give Boston the first lead of the night at 2:37 of the second period.

    Studnicka (2) had the only assist on the goal and the Bruins led, 1-0, as a result.

    Moments later, Tim Stützle (10) responded with a goal of his own while crashing the slot on a rebound– burying the loose puck without any pressure as Boston’s defenders were out of position.

    Austin Watson (2) and Artem Zub (10) notched the assists on Stützle’s goal as the Senators tied the game, 1-1, at 6:45 of the second period.

    Midway through the period, Clifton rocked Parker Kelly with an errant elbow on an open ice hit– drawing the ire of Watson and Kelly and yielding a multitude of penalties to sort through for the official scorer between the penalty boxes.

    Clifton was assessed a minor for elbowing and a minor for roughing at 11:49, while Foligno picked up a roughing infraction as No. 17 became entangled with Kelly and Watson.

    Kelly received two roughing minors, rendering a power play for Ottawa in the process by virtue of Boston’s three total penalties from the scrum to the Sens’ two minor infractions at 11:49.

    Shortly after making the kill, Foligno and Victor Mete exchanged a few words yielding a minor for holding on Mete and an interference infraction for Foligno at 15:59 of the second period.

    The two teams skated at 4-on-4 for a pair of minutes without issue.

    Late in the period, Forsberg flubbed an attempt at snagging the puck along the ice with his glove while Carlo (4) crashed the net and elevated a backhand chip shot into the open net from the doorstep at 18:54.

    Charlie Coyle (12) and Reilly (8) tallied the assists on Carlo’s goal– his first in 20 games– as the Bruins took a, 2-1, lead heading into the second intermission.

    Through 40 minutes of play, Boston outshot Ottawa, 23-20, including a, 12-11, advantage in the second period alone.

    The B’s held the advantage in blocked shots (9-5), while the Sens dominated in takeaways (4-3), giveaways (12-4), hits (19-16) and faceoff win% (52-49).

    The Senators were 0/1 on the power play, while the Bruins had yet to see any action on the skater advantage heading into the final frame of regulation.

    Craig Smith caught Nick Paul with a high stick and presented the Senators with another power play at 4:50 of the third period.

    Ottawa failed to convert on the ensuing skater advantage, however.

    Late in the period, Paul sent a pass to Brown, who fed Nick Holden (4) as the Sens defender pinched in from the point into the high slot and flung a shot through traffic past Swayman to tie the game, 2-2, at 16:06 of the third period.

    Brown (18) and Paul (7) had the assists as the Senators forced overtime on home ice in front of a Saturday night crowd.

    After 60 minutes of action, the B’s and Sens were tied, 2-2, on the scoreboard, while Boston outshot Ottawa, 31-30, overall despite trailing the Senators, 10-8, in shots on goal in the third period alone.

    The Bruins carried the advantage in blocked shots (13-10) and faceoff win% (52-48) heading into overtime, while the Senators led in takeaways (7-4), giveaways (15-9) and hits (28-19).

    As there were no penalties called in the overtime period, Ottawa finished the night 0/2 on the skater advantage while Boston never touched the ice on the power play.

    Cassidy sent out Bergeron, Smith and McAvoy to start the extra frame, while Senators head coach, D.J. Smith countered with Brady Tkachuk, Stützle and Erik Brännström.

    Midway through overtime, Taylor Hall kept the puck in the attacking zone and sent a pass across the high slot to Pastrnak (25) for a one-timer from the top of the faceoff circle to Forsberg’s right side off of the far post and into the back of the net for the game-winner.

    Hall (22) and Reilly (9) notched the assists on Pastrnak’s goal at 2:42 of overtime and the Bruins won, 3-2.

    Boston finished the night leading in shots on goal, 33-31, including a, 2-1, advantage in overtime alone.

    The B’s also exited the building leading in blocked shots (13-11) and faceoff win% (51-49), while the Senators left their own ice leading in giveaways (15-9) and hits (28-19).

    The Bruins improved to 3-2 in overtime, as well as 4-4 past regulation this season, while Ottawa fell to 2-4 in overtime and 3-5 past regulation.

    Boston also improved to 7-5-1 (4-2-1 on the road) when tied after the first period, 19-7-1 (10-3-1 on the road) when scoring first and 20-1-2 (13-0-2 on the road) when leading after two periods this season.

    The Senators fell to 8-11-2 (5-7-2 at home) when tied after one, 5-19-4 (3-11-2 at home) when allowing the game’s first goal and 1-19-1 (0-10-1 at home) when trailing after the second period in 2021-22.

    The Bruins return home after going 2-1-1 on their four-game road trip to host the Colorado Avalanche Monday afternoon before hitting the road again to finish the month of February with a road trip through Seattle, San Jose and Los Angeles. 

    Boston begins the month of March in Anaheim before swinging through Vegas and Columbus.

  • Bruins let another one slip away on Long Island

    Bruins let another one slip away on Long Island

    The Boston Bruins may have scored first, but the New York Islanders scored four unanswered goals to win, 4-1, Thursday night at UBS Arena in Elmont, New York.

    Ilya Sorokin (15-11-5, 2.46 goals-against average, .921 save percentage in 31 games played) made 26 saves on 27 shots against in the win for the Islanders.

    Bruins goaltender, Linus Ullmark (16-8-1, 2.79 goals-against average, .909 save percentage in 26 games played) stopped 25 out of 28 shots faced in the loss.

    Boston fell to 27-17-4 (58 points) overall and remains in command of 4th place in the Atlantic Division, as well as the second wild card berth in the Eastern Conference.

    With the win, New York improved to 18-20-6 (42 points) on the season and stuck in 6th place in the Metropolitan Division.

    Patrice Bergeron returned to action after missing the last three games with an upper body injury (lacerations on the back of his head after being injured on Feb. 8th against Pittsburgh).

    He returned to his usual role as the first line center and was flanked by Taylor Hall and David Pastrnak in the process.

    On defense, Urho Vaakanainen returned to the lineup after missing his fourth game this season with an upper body injury that he sustained on Feb. 1st against the Seattle Kraken.

    Vaakanainen was slotted on the third pairing alongside Derek Forbort– rendering Connor Clifton as a healthy scratch against the Islanders.

    The Bruins were without Jakub Zboril (right ACL) and Brad Marchand (suspension) on Thursday.

    Meanwhile, head coach, Bruce Cassidy, juggled the lines with Bergeron back in action– relegating Erik Haula to third line duties in the process with Jake DeBrusk at left wing and Nick Foligno on right wing.

    Everything else was left untouched from Tuesday night’s, 2-1, shootout loss at the New York Rangers.

    With Vaakanainen activated from the injured reserve and back in the lineup, Jack Ahcan was reassigned to the Providence Bruins (AHL) on Thursday.

    Jack Studnicka, Marchand, Zboril and Clifton served as Boston’s short list of players that were out of Thursday’s action as healthy scratches and/or suspended or injured players.

    Midway through the opening frame, Noah Dobson hooked Bergeron and presented the Bruins with their first power play at 10:57 of the first period.

    Boston couldn’t convert on the ensuing skater advantage and took a penalty of their own moments later when Anton Blidh was penalized for interference at 14:18.

    The Islanders were unsuccessful on the resulting power play.

    About a minute after the B’s killed off Blidh’s infraction, Craig Smith setup Hall as Hall (11) raced towards the net and beat Sorokin on the short side to give the Bruins a, 1-0, lead at 17:26 of the first period.

    Smith (10) and Mike Reilly (7) tallied the assists on Hall’s goal and Boston carried the, 1-0, lead into the first intermission, while outshooting the Islanders, 13-6.

    Both teams had six blocked shots each, zero takeaways and went 0/1 on the power play through one period.

    New York led in giveaways (4-2) and hits (9-4), while the Bruins held the advantage in faceoff win percentage (53-47) heading into the middle frame.

    Haula tripped Oliver Wahlstrom at 10:28 of the second period and yielded a power play to the Islanders as a result.

    It didn’t take the Isles long to strike on the skater advantage as Dobson let go of a shot from the point that dropped to the ice in the crease after Ullmark made the initial save, but Jean-Gabriel Pageau (7) was on the door step to collect the garbage and tie the game, 1-1, at 11:30 of the second period.

    Dobson (14) and Mathew Barzal (21) notched the assists on Pageau’s power-play goal.

    There were no more goals and no more penalties for the rest of the second period as the two teams went into the second intermission tied, 1-1, on the scoreboard.

    Despite New York outshooting Boston, 13-7, in the second period alone, the Bruins led in shots on goal, 20-19, through 40 minutes of action.

    The Islanders led in takeaways (1-0), giveaways (7-6) and hits (24-14), while the B’s held the advantage in blocked shots (10-8) and faceoff win% (56-44).

    The Isles were 1/2 on the power play, while the Bruins remained 0/1 on the skater advantage entering the final frame.

    DeBrusk turned the puck over in his own end while Brock Nelson worked the rubber biscuit around the boards and back to the point where Dobson (8) threw a shot with eyes through traffic past Ullmark to give the Islanders their first lead of the night, 2-1, at 5:50 of the third period.

    Nelson (9) had the only assist on what would become the game-winning goal as the Bruins couldn’t keep up.

    Midway through the third period, Cal Clutterbuck interfered with Trent Frederic and cut a rut to the penalty box as a result at 10:14.

    Boston failed to convert on the ensuing advantage.

    Moments later, Frederic made a big hit on Kieffer Bellows as the puck rebounded and Boston’s defenders were momentarily preoccupied as Ullmark was out of position.

    Barzal (12) (who had just skated around the back of the net to reach the other side) timed it perfectly for a layup goal on the rebound to extend New York’s lead to two-goals.

    Bellows (7) and Adam Pelech (12) had the assists on Barzal’s goal and the Islanders led, 3-1, at 13:32 of the third period.

    With 2:53 remaining in the action, Cassidy pulled his goaltender for an extra skater. It did not go well.

    Zdeno Chara tried to clear New York’s defensive zone and inadvertently sent an indirect pass off the glass to Nelson in the neutral zone, whereby Nelson (16) skated closer to the open frame and buried an empty net goal to give the Islanders a, 4-1, lead at 18:47.

    Chara (7) had the only assist on Nelson’s goal.

    At the final horn, the Islanders sealed the deal on three unanswered goals in the third period to win, 4-1, on home ice.

    New York finished the night leading in shots on goal, 29-27, including a, 10-7, advantage in the third period alone.

    The Isles also held the advantage in blocked shots (15-11) and hits (35-20), while Boston left UBS Arena leading in giveaways (11-9) and faceoff win% (60-40).

    The Islanders finished the night 1/2 on the power play, while the Bruins went 0/2 on the skater advantage.

    The B’s dropped to 19-7-1 against teams currently outside of a playoff spot and 0-2-0 against the Islanders this season.

    Boston fell to 18-7-1 (9-3-1 on the road) when scoring first, 17-2-1 (9-1-1 on the road) when leading after the first period and 5-3-0 (0-2-0 on the road) when tied after the second period this season.

    New York improved to 5-16-2 (5-9-2 at home) when allowing the game’s first goal, 2-14-2 (2-7-1 at home) when trailing after one and 2-2-3 (1-2-3 at home) when tied after two periods in 2021-22.

    The Bruins conclude their four-game road trip (1-1-1) against the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday.

    Boston returns home to host the Colorado Avalanche next Monday in a matinée matchup that was originally scheduled for Dec. 23rd before hitting the road again on a trip through Seattle, San Jose and Los Angeles to wrap up the month of February.

    The B’s open the month of March in Anaheim before visiting Vegas and Columbus.

  • Swayman blanks Senators in shutout victory

    Swayman blanks Senators in shutout victory

    Jeremy Swayman picked up his second shutout of the season in a, 2-0, victory on the road against the Ottawa Senators as the Boston Bruins goaltender stopped all 30 shots that he faced Saturday afternoon at Canadian Tire Centre.

    Swayman (9-7-2, 2.22 goals-against average, .919 save percentage in 19 games played) earned the fourth shutout of his career in the win for Boston, while depth scoring was paramount.

    Senators goaltender, Matt Murray (5-8-2, 2.58 goals-against average, .922 save percentage in 16 games played), made 35 saves on 37 shots against in the loss.

    The Bruins improved to 27-16-3 (57 points) overall and remain in command of 4th place in the Atlantic Division as well as the second wild card berth in the Eastern Conference.

    Ottawa fell to 16-24-4 (36 points) on the season and stuck in 6th place in the Atlantic Division.

    The B’s improved to 2-0-0 against the Sens this season, having won, 3-2, on Nov. 9th at TD Garden earlier this season.

    Saturday marked the first game between the two teams at Canadian Tire Centre since Dec. 9, 2019, when the Senators beat the Bruins, 5-2, prior to the pandemic shortening the end of the 2019-20 regular season and preventing cross-border regular season travel in 2020-21.

    Boston was without the likes of Jakub Zboril (right ACL), Urho Vaakanainen (upper body), Patrice Bergeron (upper body), Brad Marchand (suspension) and Matt Grzelcyk (upper body) on Saturday in Ottawa.

    Grzelcyk took part in warmup, but was not quite ready to return to action after being injured in the second period of Thursday night’s, 6-0, loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.

    Tyler Lewington was reassigned to the Providence Bruins (AHL) on Friday, while Jack Ahcan was recalled from Providence and suited up on the second defensive pairing alongside Brandon Carlo.

    With Grzelcyk out of the lineup, Mike Reilly was promoted to top-pairing duties with Charlie McAvoy.

    Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made no other changes to his lineup beyond Ahcan and Reilly.

    A quick rush from one end of the rink to the other in the opening minute led to some dominant possession in the attacking zone for the Bruins that culminated in the game’s first goal courtesy of Trent Frederic (3).

    Charlie Coyle worked a pass over to Craig Smith for a one-timer that generated a rebound right to where Frederic was crashing the slot on the doorstep to give Boston a, 1-0, lead 45 seconds into the first period.

    Coyle (11) tabbed the only assist on the goal.

    Almost midway into the opening frame, Austin Watson led with a late, high hit on Ahcan after Ahcan dished the puck around the boards in his own zone.

    Watson was charged with a minor for interference, while Anton Blidh took issue with the integrity of Watson’s intent and was assessed a roughing infraction– negating a chance for a Boston power play and instead resulting in two minutes of 4-on-4 action at 8:09 of the first period.

    Shortly thereafter, the Bruins went on a rare 4-on-3 power play for about 27 seconds as Thomas Chabot slashed Ahcan at 9:38.

    Boston wasn’t able to convert on the skater advantage, however.

    Midway through the period, Blidh sent a shot with a purpose off of Murray’s right pad and generated a rebound whereby Curtis Lazar (6) chipped the rubber biscuit over the line to give the B’s a two-goal lead.

    Blidh (7) recorded the only assist on the goal as the Bruins took a, 2-0, lead at 13:26 of the first period.

    Less than a minute later, Reilly cross checked Dylan Gambrell and presented the Senators with their first power play opportunity of the afternoon at 14:00.

    The Sens weren’t able to capitalize on the skater advantage, however.

    Late in the period, Tim Stützle caught Jake DeBrusk with a cross check in the neutral zone at 18:37, but the Bruins couldn’t convert on the power play even as it extended into the middle frame.

    Heading into the first intermission, Boston led, 2-0, on the scoreboard and, 22-8, in shots on goal.

    The B’s also held the advantage in takeaways (3-1) and faceoff win percentage (52-48), while the Sens led in giveaways (2-1) and hits (19-15).

    Both teams amassed five blocked shots each after one period.

    Ottawa was 0/1 and Boston was 0/2 on the power play entering the middle frame.

    Smith tripped Stützle at 8:18 of the second period and yielded a power play to the Senators as a result for the only even of the second period as neither team was able to score, nor draw another infraction.

    Entering the second intermission, the Bruins still led, 2-0, on the scoreboard, as well as in shots on goal, 28-16, despite trailing the Sens in shots on net in the second period alone, 8-6.

    Boston held the advantage in blocked shots (11-10), takeaways (6-1) and faceoff win% (54-46), while Ottawa led in giveaways (5-3) and hits (39-34) through 40 minutes of action.

    As there were no penalties called in the final frame, both teams finished 0/2 on the power play Saturday afternoon.

    Blidh thought he made it, 3-0, when he sent a pass to Lazar entering the attacking zone before following up on a rebound– while Lazar tripped over Murray– and wrapping the rubber biscuit around the Senators goaltender.

    The official call on the ice was that it was a good goal.

    Ottawa’s head coach, D.J. Smith, however, thought it was worthy of a challenge.

    Upon review, the call on the ice was overturned as it was deemed incidental contact between Lazar and Murray that had impeded with Murray’s ability to make a save on Blidh’s attempt– thereby rending it goaltender interference with no minor penalty and no goal.

    With 3:46 remaining in the action, the Senators pulled their goaltender for an extra attacker.

    Murray went back into the net after an icing call with about 90 seconds left in the game, but came back out of the crease shortly thereafter.

    With 30.5 seconds left on the clock, Ottawa used their timeout to rally some semblance of a comeback, but failed to beat Swayman as the Bruins kept sending the puck down the frozen river in search of an empty net goal.

    Boston missed the open twine three times, but it didn’t change the end result as the final horn sounded and signaled a, 2-0, shutout victory for the Bruins.

    The B’s finished the afternoon leading in shots on goal, 37-30, despite being outshot by the Sens, 14-9, in the third period alone.

    Boston wrapped things up leading in blocked shots (19-13) and faceoff win% (56-44), while Ottawa left their own building leading in giveaways (6-4) and hits (44-42).

    The Bruins improved to 18-6-0 (9-2-0 on the road) when scoring first, 17-1-0 (9-0-0 on the road) when leading after one and 19-1-1 (12-0-1 on the road) when leading after two periods this season.

    The Senators fell to 4-18-3 (3-10-1 at home) when allowing the game’s first goal, 1-10-2 (0-5-0 at home) when trailing after the first period and 1-18-0 (0-9-0 at home) when trailing after the second period in 2021-22.

    The Bruins continue their four game road trip (1-0-0) next Tuesday (Feb. 15th) at the New York Rangers before swinging through the New York Islanders next Thursday and returning to Ottawa next Saturday.

    Boston returns home to host the Colorado Avalanche on Feb. 21st before heading back out on the road in Seattle, San Jose and Los Angeles to close out the month of February. The B’s open the month of March in Anaheim before going to Vegas and Columbus.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Clutterbuck’s first goal of the game was unassisted.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • Bruins top Senators in first meeting in almost two years

    Bruins top Senators in first meeting in almost two years

    Bruce Cassidy picked up his 200th win as head coach of the Boston Bruins, while Patrice Bergeron scored the game-winning goal late in the second period to lift the B’s over the Ottawa Senators, 3-2, Tuesday night at TD Garden.

    Jeremy Swayman (3-2-0, 2.22 goals-against average, .906 save percentage in five games played) made 25 saves on 27 shots against in the win for Boston.

    Senators goaltender, Matt Murray (0-4-0, 3.10 goals-against average, .897 save percentage in five games played), stopped 33 out of 36 shots faced in the loss.

    The Bruins improved to 6-4-0 (12 points) overall and moved into 5th place in the Atlantic Division, while Ottawa dropped to 3-8-1 (seven points) on the season and remained in 7th place in the Atlantic.

    Boston is 5-0-0 at home this season, which marks their best start on home ice since the 1990-91 season, when the B’s also went 5-0-0 at home to start the year.

    The longest home winning streak is eight games, set by the 1983-84 Bruins on the old Boston Garden ice.

    Cassidy, meanwhile, became the sixth head coach in franchise history to reach the 200-win plateau with the club, joining Claude Julien (419 wins, 2008-17), Art Ross (387, 1925-45), Milt Schmidt (245, 1955-66), Don Cherry (231, 1975-79) and Gerry Cheevers (204, 1981-85) in doing so.

    Prior to Tuesday night, the last time the Bruins met the Senators in the regular season was on Dec. 9, 2019, in a, 5-2, loss at Canadian Tire Centre.

    Additionally, the last time the Sens won in Boston was on April 6, 2017, in a, 2-1, shootout victory at TD Garden.

    The two teams will face each other three more times this season.

    The Bruins were without the services of Nick Foligno (upper body) and Anton Blidh (upper body) on Tuesday, while Cassidy made a couple of changes to his lineup after Saturday night’s, 5-2, loss in Toronto.

    Jack Studnicka made his return to Boston’s lineup at right wing on the third line with Jake DeBrusk at left wing and Erik Haula at center, while Curtis Lazar took over Karson Kuhlman’s role on the right side of the fourth line.

    Kuhlman joined Jakub Zboril on the short list of healthy scratches for the B’s on Tuesday.

    Taylor Hall turned the puck over in his own zone on a blind pass while trying to generate a rush the other direction, but Ottawa took the puck to the net, generated a rebound and that’s where Zach Sanford (1) came in to clean up the garbage with his first goal of the season– giving the Senators a, 1-0, lead 1:14 into the first period.

    Ottawa’s 10th captain in franchise history, Brady Tkachuk (3) had the only assist on Sanford’s goal in what was the earliest goal against allowed by Boston so far this season.

    About a minute later, Charlie McAvoy cut a rut to the penalty box for holding and presented the Senators with the night’s first power play at 2:47.

    The Sens were not successful on the ensuing skater advantage, however.

    Midway through the opening frame, Drake Batherson caught Charlie Coyle with a high stick and was assessed a minor infraction at 12:43, but Boston’s ensuing power play was cut short when McAvoy tripped up Alex Formenton at 13:14, yielding an allotted span of 4-on-4 action for the next 1:29– until Coyle slashed Nick Paul and went to the box at 13:42, however.

    Ottawa was given a rare 4-on-3 power play for about 1:02 and used their timeout with 5:19 remaining in the first period to rally on the scoreboard, but the Bruins stood tall on the penalty kill as both teams resumed full strength 5-on-5 action shortly thereafter.

    Sens defender, Erik Brännström, tripped Coyle at 16:27 and presented the B’s with another power play opportunity that went by the wayside as the first period came to an end with the Senators leading on the scoreboard, 1-0.

    Through 20 minutes of play, the Bruins led in shots on goal, 14-11, and held the advantage in giveaways (3-2), hits (11-6) and faceoff win percentage (61-39).

    Meanwhile, Ottawa dominated in blocked shots (6-1) and takeaways (4-3) heading into the first intermission.

    The Senators were 0/3 and the Bruins were 0/2 on the power play after one period.

    Six seconds into the second period, David Pastrnak was assessed with a roughing minor after knocking down Thomas Chabot away from the play.

    Ottawa did not convert on the resulting power play, however.

    A few minutes later, Artem Zub delivered a quick, swift, cross check to Pastrnak and earned a couple minutes in the sin bin as a result at 3:46 of the second period.

    This time the Bruins capitalized on the ensuing skater advantage.

    Late in the power play, McAvoy worked the puck to Pastrnak, who wired a shot towards the net off of his teammate, Brad Marchand’s (5) chest and into the twine– tying the game, 1-1, in the process.

    Pastrnak (4) and McAvoy (5) tallied the assists on Marchand’s power-play goal at 5:12 of the second period.

    About five minutes later, the Bruins were dominating attacking zone possession when Hall worked the puck to Coyle, who promptly set up Derek Forbort (2) for a shot from inside the faceoff dot to Murray’s right side– beating the Senators goaltender high, glove side, across the crease while pinching in from the point.

    Coyle (3) and Hall (4) were credited with the assists as Boston snagged their first lead of the night, 2-1, at 10:58.

    Less than a few minutes later, after Paul gingerly made his way off the ice with an apparent leg injury (he’d return to the action in the third period), Nikita Zaitsev (1) skated along the boards to get to a loose puck first and sent a shot through Swayman into the net to tie the game, 2-2, at 13:09.

    Tyler Ennis (6) and Chabot (4) tallied the assists on Zaitsev’s first goal of the season and the Senators were surging.

    A couple minutes later, Trent Frederic went down the tunnel after Josh Brown made a hit in open ice that knocked Frederic out of the rest of Tuesday night’s action with an upper body, as the B’s would later tweet prior to the start of the third period.

    With tensions rising, it didn’t take much for Connor Clifton and Formenton to get tangled up while the puck was making its way to the other end of the ice.

    Clifton and Formenton dropped the gloves and exchanged fisticuffs as a result in what was Boston’s second fighting major of the season– the first since Frederic fought Jacob Middleton on Oct. 24th, when the San Jose Sharks were in town in a, 4-3, win for Boston.

    Rather than heading to the box at 18:10 of the second period, both Clifton and Formenton got a head start in the showers before the second intermission began.

    Shortly after the fight, a scrum ensued when Murray froze the puck, leading Marchand and Chabot into a bit of a shoving match that resulted in roughing minors for each player at 18:24.

    For the next two minutes, the Bruins and Senators would skate at 4-on-4 once more.

    Less than a minute after fisticuffs were exchanged and roughing minors were dealt, Bergeron (5) settled an indirect pass from Pastrnak that ricocheted off of a broken stick before firing the rubber biscuit under Murray’s arm.

    Pastrnak (5) and McAvoy (6) had the assists on Bergeron’s goal and the Bruins led, 3-2, at 18:40 of the second period.

    Entering the second intermission, Boston was atop the scoreboard, 3-2, and in shots on goal, 29-17, including a, 15-6, advantage in shots on net in the second period alone.

    Ottawa held the lead in blocked shots (16-2) and hits (20-16), while Boston led in faceoff win% (58-42) and both teams split takeaways (5-5), as well as giveaways (3-3).

    The Sens were 0/4 on the power play, while the B’s were 1/3 heading into the final frame of regulation.

    There was no scoring in the third period, though there were a pair of minor penalties against Boston as the Bruins looked to hold off the Senators for the win.

    Studnicka tripped up Zub at 2:11 of the third, but the Sens couldn’t muster anything on the ensuing power play.

    Boston’s penalty kill remained effective in doing their job when Hall was sent to the box for hooking Brännström at 11:42.

    Ottawa was down to their last hope with about 1:34 remaining in the game as head coach, D.J. Smith, pulled Murray for an extra attacker.

    Despite his best efforts at hitting the empty net, Pastrnak iced the puck with 1:26 remaining, but Boston went unscathed in the ensuing defensive zone faceoff.

    At the final horn, the Bruins had won, 3-2, and finished the night leading in shots on goal, 36-27, despite trailing the Senators, 10-7, in shots on net in the third period alone.

    Ottawa wrapped up Tuesday night’s action leading in blocked shots (19-4) and giveaways (5-4), while Boston exited their own building with the advantage in hits (27-26) and faceoff win% (58-42).

    The Sens finished the night 0/6 on the skater advantage while the B’s went 1/3 on the power play.

    The Bruins improved to 1-2-0 (1-0-0 at home) when allowing the game’s first goal, 1-2-0 (1-0-0 at home) when trailing after the first period and 4-0-0 (3-0-0 at home) when leading after two periods this season.

    Meanwhile, the Senators fell to 2-4-0 (1-1-0 on the road) when scoring first, 2-3-0 (1-1-0 on the road) when leading after the first period and 0-6-0 (0-3-0 on the road) when trailing after the second period in 2021-22.

    Boston wraps up a two-game homestand on Thursday against the Edmonton Oilers before hitting the road for a Saturday matinee with the New Jersey Devils prior to returning home to face the Montréal Canadiens on Sunday.

  • Duclair scores twice in Sens, 5-2, victory over B’s

    The Boston Bruins kicked off a four-game road trip with a, 5-2, loss to the Ottawa Senators on Monday night at Canadian Tire Centre.

    Anders Nilsson (8-8-1 record, 3.03 goals against average, .913 save percentage in 17 games played) made 38 saves on 40 shots against (.950 SV%) in the win for the Senators.

    Bruins goaltender, Tuukka Rask (13-3-3, 2.19 GAA, .927 SV% in 19 GP) stopped 23 out of 26 shots faced for an .885 SV% in the loss.

    Boston fell to 20-5-6 (46 points) on the season, but remains atop the Atlantic Division, while Ottawa improved to 13-17-1 (27 points) and stayed in 7th place in the Atlantic.

    The B’s fell to 8-4-1 on the road as a result of Monday night’s loss.

    The Bruins were without the services of Kevan Miller (knee), Karson Kuhlman (fractured tibia) and Zach Senyshyn (lower body) on Monday, while Patrice Bergeron returned to the lineup since missing the last seven games with a lower body injury.

    As a result of Bergeron’s return, B’s head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made a few corresponding adjustments to his lineup from Saturday night’s, 4-1, loss to the Colorado Avalanche.

    Bergeron was reunited with Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak as his first line wingers, while David Krejci returned to his role as Boston’s second line center with Jake DeBrusk at left wing and Danton Heinen at right wing.

    Charlie Coyle resumed his third line center duties with Anders Bjork at his left side and Brett Ritchie on his right side, while the fourth line trio of Joakim Nordstrom, Sean Kuraly and Chris Wagner went untouched.

    On defense, the Bruins placed Steven Kampfer on waivers Sunday for the purpose of assignment to the Providence Bruins (AHL). The 31-year-old defender cleared waivers Monday afternoon and was assigned to Providence without issue.

    With John Moore back in the lineup in his regular role as a top-six blue liner, Connor Clifton remained a healthy scratch for the B’s on Monday.

    Clifton was joined by David Backes and Par Lindholm in the press box on Boston’s short list of healthy scratches against Ottawa.

    Artem Anisimov (4) caught the Bruins on a bad line change and charged into the attacking zone, firing the puck past Rask at 1:35 of the first period– giving Ottawa the early, 1-0, lead.

    Dylan DeMelo (5) and Thomas Chabot (16) had the assists on Anisimov’s goal.

    Late in the opening frame, a wacky bounce off the glass behind the Boston net caught Moore off-guard as the puck ended up on Senators forward, Chris Tierney’s stick.

    Tierney quickly flipped the puck to Anthony Duclair (14) for the goal as the Sens forward was streaking into the slot– giving Ottawa a two-goal lead, 2-0.

    Duclair’s first goal of the game was assisted by Tierney (12) at 15:44.

    Roughly a couple minutes later, Marchand sent Pastrnak up-ice on a rush with Bergeron as the Bruins duo broke-in on an unguarded scoring opportunity.

    Pastrnak sent a pass to Bergeron (9) for the one-timer goal in his first game back from injury while Nilsson dove in desperation.

    Bergeron’s goal cut the Senators lead in half, 2-1, and was assisted by Pastrnak (19) and Marchand (27) at 17:48.

    Nevertheless, Ottawa entered the first intermission with the lead on the scoreboard, 2-1, and dominating in shots on goal (14-8), blocked shots (9-2), takeaways (5-2), giveaways (11-4), hits (11-8) and faceoff win percentage (53-47).

    There were no penalties called in the first period.

    The Senators struck once again early in the period when Rask mishandled the puck behind the net and ended up turning possession over to Vladislav Namestnikov.

    Namestnikov slipped the puck over to Tierney (4) for a mostly empty net goal, giving Ottawa a, 3-1, lead at 1:21 of the second period.

    Namestnikov (8) had the only assist on Tierney’s goal.

    About a minute later, Coyle tripped Senators forward, Logan Brown, and was sent to the penalty box at 2:33, presenting Ottawa with the first power play of the night.

    The Sens didn’t convert on their first skater advantage and took a penalty of their own in the vulnerable minute after when Namestnikov tripped Coyle at 5:21.

    Ottawa then took a pair of penalties of their own at 13:08, when DeMelo caught Pastrnak with a high stick and at 17:53, when DeMelo tripped Marchand.

    In both cases, the Bruins failed to convert on the power play.

    Through 40 minutes of action in Ottawa, the Senators led the B’s, 3-1, on the scoreboard, despite an impressive, 16-9, shots on net in the second period alone advantage for Boston.

    The Bruins led in total shots on goal, 24-23, after two periods, while the Sens led in every other statistical category, including blocked shots (16-3), takeaways (8-2), giveaways (13-7), hits (15-14) and faceoff win% (60-40).

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

    Midway through the final frame, Boston’s Brandon Carlo tripped Tyler Ennis and was sent to the sin bin at 9:35 of the third period.

    Ottawa’s ensuing power play didn’t last for long as Chabot caught Charlie McAvoy with a high stick at 9:58, resulting in a 1:37 span of 4-on-4 action for the two clubs, followed by an abbreviated skater advantage for Boston.

    Moments later, Pastrnak tripped Jean-Gabriel Pageau and was charged with a minor in fraction at 14:46.

    Ottawa’s power play was halfway over when Colin White tripped Carlo and presented both teams with another span of 4-on-4 for one minute at 15:46.

    While on the power play with 3:13 remaining in regulation, Cassidy pulled Rask for an extra attacker.

    Seconds later, Pageau (16) notched a shorthanded empty net goal to make it, 4-1, for the Senators.

    Namestnikov (9) and Ron Hainsey (5) had the assists on the goal at 17:02.

    Less than a minute later, DeBrusk (7) slid a loose puck into the net from point blank as both teams scrambled in front of Nilsson at 17:45.

    DeBrusk’s power play goal cut Ottawa’s lead to two-goals and was assisted by Pastrnak (20) and Marchand (28).

    Once more, Boston resorted to pulling their goaltender for an extra skater.

    It did not go well as Duclair (15) tallied his second goal of the night– and second empty net goal for the Sens– officially at 19:59 (but actually with less than one-second left on the clock) of the third period.

    DeMelo (6) and Tierney (13) had the assists as the Senators finished off the Bruins, 5-2.

    Boston finished the night leading in shots on goal, 40-28, including a, 16-5, advantage in the third period alone, while Ottawa led in everything else– except for hits, which were tied, 20-20– including blocked shots (29-6), giveaways (17-9) and faceoff win% (55-45).

    The Senators finished Monday night 0/3 on the skater advantage, while the Bruins went 1/5 on the power play.

    As a result of the loss, Boston is now on a three-game losing streak.

    Meanwhile, in the last four games, Pastrnak has three assists and no goals.

    The Bruins are now 4-4-3 when trailing after two periods this season.

    Boston faces the Washington Capitals and Tampa Bay Lightning on back-to-back nights in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday and in Tampa on Thursday before wrapping up their four-game road trip (0-1-0) in Sunrise, Florida on Saturday in a duel with the Florida Panthers.

  • Chara rockets Bruins over Senators, 2-1

    Former Ottawa Senators defender and current Boston Bruins captain, Zdeno Chara, scored the game-winning goal almost midway through the third period as Tuukka Rask backstopped the Bruins to a, 2-1, win over the Senators at Canadian Tire Centre on Wednesday night.

    Rask (12-2-2 record, 2.10 goals against average, .931 save percentage in 16 games played) made 33 saves on 34 shots against for a .971 SV% in the win.

    Sens goaltender, Anders Nilsson (7-5-1, 2.58 GAA, .927 SV% in 13 GP) turned aside 19 out of 21 shots faced for a .905 SV% in the loss.

    Boston extended their current winning streak to five games and improved to 17-3-5 (39 points) on the season, while holding onto 1st place in the Atlantic Division, as well as the entire league.

    Ottawa fell to an 11-13-1 (23 points) record, but stuck in 7th place in the Atlantic.

    The Bruins also improved to 8-3-1 on the road this season, while the Senators stumbled to 7-5-0 at home.

    Boston was without the services of Kevan Miller (knee), John Moore (shoulder), Karson Kuhlman (fractured tibia), David Backes (upper body), Zach Senyshyn (lower body), Patrice Bergeron (lower body) and Brett Ritchie (upper body) on Wednesday.

    Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made minor changes to his lineup from Tuesday night’s, 8-1, win in Montreal to Wednesday night’s matchup in Ottawa.

    After making his NHL debut against the Canadiens (and playing four games in five nights, split between the NHL and AHL), Jack Studnicka was a healthy scratch on Wednesday with Brendan Gaunce making his Bruins debut against the Sens.

    Gaunce was slated between Jake DeBrusk and Charlie Coyle as the second line center, while the rest of the forward lines were left untouched.

    Steven Kampfer went into the lineup in place of Connor Clifton on the third defensive pairing alongside Matt Grzelcyk.

    Studnicka and Clifton were Boston’s only healthy scratches against the Senators.

    Late Wednesday afternoon, the B’s announced they had signed Coyle and Chris Wagner to multi-year extensions.

    Coyle, 27, signed a six-year extension worth $5.250 million per season and Wagner, 28, signed a three-year extension worth $1.350 million per season.

    At puck drop, David Krejci surpassed Don Marcotte for sole possession of 9th place for most games played as a Bruin, having appeared in his 869th career NHL game on Wednesday.

    Midway through the period, Senators head coach, D.J. Smith, lost count and had too many skaters on the ice, resulting in a minor infraction at 14:50 of the first period that was served by Brady Tkachuk.

    The Bruins did not convert on the ensuing power play.

    Late in the opening frame, Gaunce slashed Jean-Gabriel Pageau at 18:42 and was sent to the box with an infraction.

    The Senators were not successful on the resulting skater advantage.

    Heading into the first intermission, the game was still tied, 0-0, with the Sens outshooting the B’s, 9-3. Ottawa also led in takeaways (4-3) and hits (13-9), while Boston led in blocked shots (13-2), giveaways (3-0) and faceoff win percentage (54-46).

    Both teams were 0/1 on the power play entering the second period.

    There were no goals scored nor any penalties called in the second period, yielding end-to-end action that was dominated by one team or the other at times, as both the B’s and Sens racked up zone time without anything to show on the scoreboard.

    Through 40 minutes of play, Boston and Ottawa were still tied, 0-0, despite the Senators leading in shots on goal, 24-10– including a, 15-7 advantage in the second period alone.

    The Bruins held the advantage in blocked shots (16-12), giveaways (8-4) and faceoff win% (54-46), while the Senators led in hits (25-24).

    Both teams had five takeaways each and remained 0/1 on the power play entering the third period.

    Just 41 seconds into the third period, Chris Tierney caught the Bruins in the midst of a line change and sent Thomas Chabot (3) up-ice and on a breakaway, whereby the Senators defender flipped a shot over Rask’s glove side to give Ottawa the game’s first lead, 1-0.

    Tierney (9) had the only assist on Chabot’s goal.

    Less than two minutes later, Anthony Duclair was penalized for interference and presented Boston with their 2nd power play of the night at 2:09 of the third period.

    Though the B’s didn’t score while on the advantage, they did capitalize in the vulnerable minute as Brad Marchand (18) slipped a shot through Nilsson’s five-hole after dancing around a Sens skater upon receiving a pass from Anders Bjork.

    Bjork (2) and Sean Kuraly (7) tallied the assists on Marchand’s goal as the Bruins tied the game, 1-1, at 5:15.

    About a few minutes later, after Boston’s fourth line went to work deep into the attacking zone, Joakim Nordstrom freed the puck to Gaunce, who then sent the rubber biscuit back to the point where Chara (5) blasted one of his trademark slap shots to give Boston their first lead of the night, 2-1.

    Gaunce (1) and Nordstrom (1) collected the assists on Chara’s game-winning goal at 8:45 of the third period.

    With the primary assist, Gaunce recorded his first point with the Bruins in his Boston debut, while Chara became the oldest defender in NHL history to record a four-game point streak, surpassing Chris Chelios’ previous record with the Detroit Red Wings set in the 2003-04 season.

    At the time Chelios’ streak began, he was 42 years and 62 days old. Chara, on the other hand, was 42 years and 248 days old.

    Fittingly, the Senators and their fans gave Chara a standing ovation for surpassing 1,500 career NHL games earlier this month.

    Midway through the final frame of regulation, Wagner cross checked Tyler Ennis and cut a rut to the sin bin at 8:53.

    The Senators did not convert on the ensuing power play opportunity.

    With 1:39 remaining in regulation, Smith pulled his goaltender for an extra attacker, but Boston’s defense and Rask stood tall, casting aside scoring chance after scoring chance in the dying minute of the action.

    At the final horn, the Bruins had secured the, 2-1, win in Ottawa, despite being outshot by the Senators, 34-21.

    Boston held an, 11-10, advantage in shots on goal in the third period alone and finished the night leading in blocked shots (21-15) and giveaways (11-9).

    Ottawa left their own building with the advantage in hits (34-30) and faceoff win% (51-49).

    Both teams finished the night 0/2 on the power play.

    Boston finished their quick two-game road trip 2-0-0 and returns home to debut their new third jersey against the New York Rangers in a Black Friday matinee in the NHL’s 2019 Discover Thanksgiving Showdown.

  • DTFR Podcast #138- 2019’s Already Going Down

    DTFR Podcast #138- 2019’s Already Going Down

    Nick and Connor recap and react to the 2019 IIHF World Junior Championship so far, review the latest suspensions and injuries, look to the future of the NHL in 2019 and beyond, discuss 2019 All-Star Game captains, Jake Guentzel’s new extension and Jim Lites’ quotes on Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn.

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

  • Krug, Bruins down Sens, 2-1, in OT

    Torey Krug sealed the deal on a game-winning goal in overtime Sunday night at Canadian Tire Centre, as the Boston Bruins beat the Ottawa Senators, 2-1.

    Tuukka Rask (7-6-2, 2.50 goals against average, .917 save percentage in 15 games played) made 27 saves on 28 shots against for a .964 SV% in the overtime win for Boston and improved to 3-0-0 against Ottawa this season.

    The Bruins netminder improved to a career record of 42-18-9 in the month of December.

    Ottawa netminder, Mike McKenna (2-1-2, 3.98 GAA, .899 SV% in six GP), turned aside 42 out of 44 shots faced (.955 SV%) in the loss for the Senators

    Boston improved to 16-10-4 (36 points) on the season and held onto 4th place in the Atlantic Division, as well as the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. The Bruins are two points behind the Buffalo Sabres (0-3-2 in their last five games) for 3rd in the division.

    The Sens fell to 13-14-4 (30 points) on the season, but remained in 7th place in the Atlantic as a result of Sunday’s loss.

    Bruce Cassidy left his lines intact from Saturday night’s, 6-3, victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs at home for Sunday night’s matchup with the Senators on the road with Rask getting the start in goal.

    Jake DeBrusk (not feeling well) didn’t make the trip to Ottawa, but may return next week and Jeremy Lauzon joined Noel Acciari as the only healthy scratches for Boston, while Zdeno Chara (left MCL), Patrice Bergeron (upper body), Urho Vaakanainen (concussion) and Kevan Miller (throat) remained out of the lineup.

    Mark Stone (15) kicked off the game’s scoring with his one-timer goal on a two-on-one rush entering the attacking zone at 12:51 of the first period to give the Senators the lead, 1-0.

    Charlie McAvoy tried to pinch down and protect an errant puck from going the other way, which led to Ottawa’s breakout as the Sens easily sneaked past Matt Grzelcyk for the skater advantage on the rush.

    Colin White (11) and Ben Harpur (1) had the assists on Stone’s goal.

    Late in the period, Chris Wagner cross-checked Thomas Chabot and the Bruins went on the penalty kill for the first time of the night at 18:11 of the first period.

    Less than a minute later, Boston was shorthanded by two skaters thanks to Brad Marchand’s errant elbow delivered up high on Maxime Lajoie at 19:10.

    Ottawa’s abbreviated 5-on-3 power play would carry over into the second period as time expired on the opening frame of the game.

    The Senators led, 1-0, entering the first intermission and the Bruins led in shots on goal, 12-11.

    Boston also held onto the advantage in blocked shots (3-1), while Ottawa maintained the lead in giveaways (9-2), hits (11-9) and face-off win percentage (62-38) after 20 minutes of play. Both teams had three takeaways each and the Sens were 0/2 on the power play.

    Early in the second period, Harpur got into a bit of a shoving match with Bruins fourth liner, Sean Kuraly.

    The two quickly escalated into a battle of the fists at 6:51, in which 
    Harpur delivered a few quick blows that left Kurlay bloodied. Both received five-minute majors for fighting, with Harpur receiving an extra two minutes for instigating and an automatic ten-minute misconduct.

    Boston was on the power play for the first time of the night and sustained quality pressure in the attacking zone– moving the puck around with ease, as Nick Paul served Harpur’s instigator infraction.

    Finally, about a minute into the power play, the Bruins worked the puck around the offensive zone enough to work McKenna out from his crease, leaving a gapping hole for Marchand (8) to fill with a power play goal at 7:49 of the second period.

    David Pastrnak (15) and Krug (15) notched the assists on Marchand’s goal and the game was tied, 1-1.

    Through two periods of play, the game was even, 1-1, and the Bruins were outshooting the Senators, 27-23. Boston outshot Ottawa, 15-12, in the second period alone, as the Sens led in just about every statistical category entering the second intermission.

    Ottawa led in blocked shots (7-6), takeaways (11-4), giveaways (15-8) and face-off win% (56-44) after 40 minutes of play, while Boston led in hits (25-21).

    The Senators remained 0/2 on the power play, while the B’s were 1/1 after two periods.

    Zack Smith jumpstarted the third period with a hooking infraction against Pastrnak, 23 seconds into the final frame of regulation.

    Boston was unable to convert on the ensuing skater advantage.

    Lajoie tripped up Pastrnak at 10:22 of the third period, but the Bruins power play was short-lived as Pastrnak subsequently interfered with Stone at 11:07.

    Pastrnak’s penalty of his own doing came on the heels of a tremendous glove save by Rask as the Bruins netminder worked the net side-to-side on an incoming 2-on-1.

    Great saves were a theme of the evening, as McKenna would later show in overtime by stacking the pads in vintage fashion to deny the Bruins of a surefire game-winner.

    At the end of 60 minutes, the Bruins and Senators were still tied, 1-1. Boston outshot Ottawa, 41-27, through regulation and held a, 14-4, advantage in shots on goal in the third period alone.

    The Sens led in blocked shots (11-9), takeaways (14-5), giveaways (21-9) and face-off win% (57-43) after three periods, while the B’s led in hits (35-26).

    Ottawa went 0/3 on the power play on the night and the Bruins went 1/3 as no penalties were called in overtime.

    Boston worked the cycle to their advantage and rotated the puck through the attacking zone midway through the overtime period.

    A couple of slick back passes led the puck to Marchand’s stick, whereby the Bruins winger held onto it for just long enough to find Krejci working behind the net in Wayne Gretzky’s office.

    Krejci wrapped around the goal to find Krug (2) with a sexy saucer pass for the one-timer goal as the B’s defender was on the doorstep of the crease to the left of McKenna.

    Krug’s game-winner secured the 2-1 victory for Boston in overtime and gave Krejci (19) and Marchand (21) the primary and secondary assists at 3:07 of overtime.

    In the last three games, Krejci now has two goals and two assists (four points).

    The Bruins finished the night leading in shots on goal, 44-28, and outshot the Sens in overtime, 3-1. Ottawa finished Sunday night leading in blocked shots (11-9), giveaways (21-9) and face-off win% (57-43), while the B’s led in hits (36-26).

    As a result of the loss, the Senators fell to 8-6-3 when scoring first this season.

    Boston travels back home for a Tuesday night matchup with the Arizona Coyotes on home ice before traveling to PPG Paints Arena for a Friday night tangle with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

  • KREJCI PASSES NEELY, BRUINS BEAT LEAFS, 6-3

    David Krejci (1-1–2 totals) surpassed Cam Neely for 10th place in the Boston Bruins all-time scoring list with his 591st and 592nd career points with Boston in Saturday night’s, 6-3, victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs at TD Garden.

    Jaroslav Halak (9-4-2, 2.30 goals against average, .930 save percentage in 17 games played) made 29 saves on 32 shots against for a .906 SV% in the win for the Bruins, while Frederik Andersen (16-8-0, 2.50 GAA, .926 SV% in 24 GP) made 22 saves on 28 shots faced (.786 SV%) in 46:10 time on ice in the loss.

    Garret Sparks (4-1-1, 2.84 GAA, .913 SV% in seven GP) replaced Andersen almost midway through the third period for Toronto and turned aside all four shots he faced in the remaining 13:47 TOI.

    Boston improved to 15-10-4 (34 points) on the season and leapt back over the Montreal Canadiens for 4th place in the Atlantic Division and the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.

    The Maple Leafs fell to 20-9-1 (41 points) on the season and remain 2nd in the Atlantic Division– six points behind the Tampa Bay Lightning for the division lead.

    With the win on Saturday, the Bruins are now 1-3-0 in the month of December and are being outscored, 15-10, in that four-game span.

    Bruce Cassidy informed reporters prior to Saturday night’s matchup that Jake DeBrusk will miss the weekend’s games at home and in Ottawa as the young Bruins forward has “not [been] feeling well.”

    DeBrusk had taken a puck to the back of the head on a shot from his own teammate on Nov. 26th in Toronto, which might be contributing to his current ailment, though it was not confirmed.

    As a result of DeBrusk’s injury, Cassidy indicated Saturday night would mark Gemel Smith’s debut (and home debut) as a Bruin.

    With DeBrusk out of the equation on the second line, Cassidy juggled the lines to keep Brad Marchand, Krejci and David Pastrnak together on the first line and Colby Cave centering Danton Heinen and David Backes to round out the top-six forwards.

    Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson started the game on the third line between Ryan Donato and Joakim Nordstrom, while Smith slid in on the left side of Sean Kuraly and Chris Wagner.

    On defense, Torey Krug was paired with Brandon Carlo on the top defensive pair, with Matt Grzelcyk alongside his Boston University teammate, Charlie McAvoy.

    John Moore and Steven Kampfer filled out the bottom defensive pairing for the Bruins with Halak getting the start in goal and Tuukka Rask likely to play Sunday in Ottawa.

    Noel Acciari and Jeremy Lauzon were healthy scratches on Saturday, joining Zdeno Chara (lower body, left MCL), Patrice Bergeron (upper body), Urho Vaakanainen (concussion) and Kevan Miller (throat) in the press box.

    McAvoy was penalized 13 seconds into the game for cross checking Maple Leafs forward, Mitch Marner, and the Leafs went on the power play for the first time of the night.

    Toronto did not convert on the ensuing skater advantage.

    Both teams continued to trade chances until midway in the first period when Krejci and Jake Gardiner got tangled up and received matching roughing minors at 10:07.

    While on the ensuing 4-on-4 action, Pastrnak sent a shot towards the goal for Forsbacka Karlsson to redirect, but Andersen made the initial save– that is, until he let up a rebound, which Forsbacka Karlsson (3) followed up on and poked the puck through the Maple Leafs goaltender to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead.

    Pastrnak (13) and Grzelcyk (8) had the assists on the goal at 11:20 of the first period.

    Entering the first intermission, Boston held onto a 1-0 lead, while Toronto led in shots on goal, 11-8. The Leafs also led in blocked shots (6-3), takeaways (13-3) and hits (11-8), meanwhile the B’s had the advantage in giveaways (4-2) and face-off win percentage (56-44).

    Both teams were 0/1 on the power play.

    Tyler Ennis kicked the action off in the second period with a tripping infraction as Smith went down to the ice at 6:14 of the middle frame. Boston couldn’t convert on the power play, but got a second chance on the skater advantage in the same period about 20 seconds after the first advantage expired.

    Nazem Kadri caught Krejci with a stick and brought the veteran Bruins forward down at 8:34 and the Bruins went back on the power play.

    Just 20 seconds into the ensuing advantage, Backes (3) fired a wrist shot past Andersen’s glove side to give the B’s a two-goal lead, 2-0, at 8:54 of the second period.

    This, of course, after a mad scramble that led to Marchand (18) and Krug (13) being credited with the primary and secondary assists. 

    John Tavares was guilty of slashing Gryzelcyk at 10:06, but the 5-on-4 power play for Boston wouldn’t last long as Backes hooked Maple Leafs defender, Nikita Zaitsev at 11:02.

    For the next 1:05, both teams would play 4-on-4 action– at least, until  Gardiner boarded Krejci at 11:33 of the second period and sent the B’s on a rare 4-on-3 power play for 34 seconds.

    As the string of soft calls started winding down, tempers started to flare on the ice.

    Before long, Carlo and Nazem Kadri were at each other’s throats after a stoppage in play, which led to the exchanging of fisticuffs at 14:32.

    The fight was just the 2nd fighting major of the season for the Maple Leafs, while it was both Kadri and Carlo’s first fight of the season.

    Recently traded to the Vancouver Canucks, forward Josh Leivo  had the other fight for Toronto this season, while Carlo was involved in just the third fight of his young career (about one-a-season, so far).

    Toronto began a short onslaught, but Halak stood tall and momentum swung Boston’s way as the Bruins sustained some attacking zone time and capitalized with a goal from the point.

    Krug (1) wired a wrist shot past Andersen for his first goal of the season– and first goal in 25 games– to give the Bruins a three-goal lead.

    Marchand (19) and Krejci (18) picked up the assists to make it, 3-0, Boston at 17:45 of the second period, marking the first time since Nov. 24th (against the Montreal Canadiens) that the B’s had tallied at least three goals in a game.

    With his assist on the play, Krejci officially surpassed Neely for 10th place on the all-time scoring list in Bruins franchise history. Krejci would add another point in the form of a goal in the third period to further pull away from the current Bruins president’s historical marker of 590 career points with Boston.

    Krejci now has 592 and counting.

    After 40 minutes of play, the Bruins led, 3-0, on the scoreboard and in shots on goal, 23-20, after outshooting the Maple Leafs, 15-9, in the second period alone.

    Toronto led in blocked shots (7-5) and takeaways (23-7) through two periods, while the B’s dominated in giveaways (7-3), hits (19-17) and face-off win% (52-48)

    The Maple Leafs were 0/1 on the power play entering the second intermission and the Bruins were 1/4.

    Heinen (3) kicked off a chaotic third period with his first point in 12 games in the form of a goal at 1:47 into the final frame of regulation.

    Donato (1) and Moore (4) tallied the assists and the Bruins led, 4-0.

    Moments later, Travis Dermott (2) wired a back-footed snap shot from the point past Halak, high-glove side at 4:03 of the third period to put Toronto on the scoreboard, 4-1.

    Auston Matthews (10) and Gardiner (14) had the assists on Dermott’s goal and the Leafs cut the lead to three.

    A mere, 34 seconds later, Krejci (4) collected his second goal in two games on a rush and a give-and-go with Pastrnak to make it, 5-1, Boston.

    Pastrnak (14) and Marchand (20) were tabbed with the assists at 4:37.

    Less than two minutes later, Donato (3) added a goal while being held by Matthews in front of the net and pounding his own rebound behind Andersen to make it, 6-1, Bruins.

    Heinen (4) and Krug (14) had the assists at 6:13 of the third period and Mike Babcock replaced his starting goaltender with Sparks.

    Andersen’s night was done after allowing six goals.

    But the zany game on ice has its ways as Matthews (16) riffled a shot past Halak after Andreas Johnsson freed a loose puck from Carlo to Matthews to make it, 6-2.

    Johnsson (6) and Morgan Reilly (23) had the assists on the goal that made it a four-goal game at 9:30 of the third period.

    Then, 23 seconds later, Zach Hyman delivered a high, late hit, with the elbow to McAvoy behind the play and Grzelcyk, along with the rest of the Bruins took notice.

    Grzelcyk immediately challenged Hyman in effort to standup for his teammate who had just returned this week from a concussion and the two exchanged blows.

    The penalty minutes officially read, Grzelcyk (fighting, major) and a game misconduct at 9:53, while Hyman received a fighting major, a major penalty for interference and a game misconduct.

    Despite Hyman’s interference major, the Bruins were not given a power play advantage.

    This, coupled with soft calls and blown calls from 13 seconds into the game through this point in the third period led to chaos.

    Barely a minute later in playing time, Wagner glided into a high hit on Patrick Marleau in the neutral zone.

    Toronto defender, Ron Hainsey, immediately challenged the Bruins winger to a duel of fists and the two squared off with Wagner getting the wrestling takedown.

    Only Wagner was officially penalized, however, with a minor penalty for charging and a misconduct at 10:55 of the third period.

    As a result, the Bruins would be shorthanded and neither bench was very pleased. Both coaches were furious, but the game continued as the refs failed to contain the emotions of the game.

    Donato served Wagner’s minor penalty, but it wasn’t long before Johnsson (7) capitalized on a deflection that yielded a rebound and collected a power play goal at 12:22.

    Marleau (10) and Gardiner (15) had the assists and the Leafs trailed, 6-3.

    With about two minutes remaining in regulation, McAvoy returned to the Bruins bench after going through concussion protocol.

    At the final horn, Boston had defeated Toronto, 6-3, and improved to 10-2-2 when scoring first this season.

    Both teams finished the night with 32 shots on goal, while the B’s led in blocked shots (13-8), giveaways (12-9) and hits (24-21). The Maple Leafs finished Saturday night ahead in face-off win% (53-47) and were 1/2 on the power play, while Boston was 1/4.

    The Bruins and Maple Leafs will meet once more this season in Toronto on January 12, 2019.

    Until then, Boston travels to Canadian Tire Centre for a Sunday matinee (5 p.m. ET puck drop) with the Ottawa Senators before traveling back home for a Tuesday night matchup with the Arizona Coyotes.

    The Bruins follow up Tuesday’s matchup with another rumble on the road at PPG Paints Arena next Friday against the Pittsburgh Penguins.