Down the Frozen River

Tag: Connor Clifton

  • Wild overcome Bruins in the third, win, 4-2

    Wild overcome Bruins in the third, win, 4-2

    Jordan Greenway scored the go-ahead goal and Ryan Hartman added an empty net goal for insurance in the Minnesota Wild’s, 4-2, victory over the Boston Bruins Wednesday night at Xcel Energy Center.

    Cam Talbot (23-12-1, 2.98 goals-against average, .907 save percentage in 37 games played) made 24 saves on 26 shots faced in the win for the Wild.

    Bruins goaltender, Jeremy Swayman (17-8-3, 2.10 goals-against average, .925 save percentage in 29 games played), stopped 30 out of 33 shots against in the loss.

    The B’s fell to 37-19-5 (79 points) overall and remain in command of 4th place in the Atlantic Division as well as the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.

    Minnesota, meanwhile, improved to 35-20-4 (74 points) on the season and rose to 3rd place in the Central Division.

    Patrice Bergeron (upper body) joined Jakub Zboril (right ACL) and Urho Vaakanainen (undisclosed) on Boston’s short list of players out of the lineup due to injury ahead of Wednesday night’s game in Minnesota.

    Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, told reporters before the game that Bergeron would miss at least two games (Wednesday night in Minnesota and Friday night in Winnipeg) and has returned to Boston for further evaluation as the team doesn’t want to risk the infection of a lingering injury.

    Bergeron may join the team in Montréal on Monday if he is cleared by doctors in Boston.

    Jack Studnicka was recalled from the Providence Bruins (AHL), but could not make it in time to St. Paul, so he’ll join the big Bruins in Winnipeg.

    In the meantime, Anton Blidh re-entered the lineup on the fourth line with Curtis Lazar shifting to center, while Tomáš Nosek was promoted to first line center duties against Minnesota.

    Jack Ahcan was the only healthy scratch for Boston on Wednesday, while Jake DeBrusk took part in his 300th career National Hockey League game and Trent Frederic suited up in his 100th career game.

    Brandon Carlo tripped up Kevin Fiala and presented the Wild with the first power play of the night at 5:40 of the first period.

    It wasn’t that long before Minnesota converted on the skater advantage courtesy of an attacking zone faceoff win that the Wild utilized to work the puck around to Kirill Kaprizov (31) for a left hand shot from the right side, possibly off of a Bruins defender and past Swayman to make it, 1-0.

    Alex Goligoski (26) and Hartman (21) tallied the assists on Kaprizov’s power-play goal and the Wild jumped on the board first at 6:55 of the first period.

    A couple minutes later, Frederic and Brandon Duhaime exchanged fisticuffs as the temperature of the game was rising– crescendoing with five-minute majors for fighting for each player at 8:54.

    Less than a minute later, Boston was back on the penalty kill when Erik Haula tripped Greenway at 9:41, but the B’s managed to kill off Haula’s minor infraction without issue.

    Late in the period, Mats Zuccarello sent a stretch pass to Kaprizov through the neutral zone while Kaprizov was standing at the attacking zone blue line and sent No. 97 on a rush into Boston’s own zone.

    Kaprizov blew past the uprights as Bruins defenders, Charlie McAvoy and Mike Reilly, were caught trailing the play while Kaprizov (32) elevated a shot top-shelf past Swayman to give the Wild a, 2-0, lead at 14:28 of the first period.

    Zuccarello (42) and Jared Spurgeon (21) notched the assists on Kaprizov’s second goal of the game.

    Boston stopped the bleeding shortly thereafter when Frederic sent a shot pass to the slot that deflected off of Matt Dumba’s skate in Craig Smith’s direction as Smith (14) was crashing the net and buried the rebound to cut Minnesota’s lead in half, 2-1, at 16:59.

    Frederic (9) and Carlo (7) had the assists on Smith’s goal.

    About a minute later, Greenway caught Connor Clifton with a high stick and was cut a rut to the sin bin as a result at 18:04.

    Despite Boston’s power play extending into the middle frame, the Bruins were unsuccessful on the skater advantage.

    Entering the first intermission, the Wild led, 2-1, on the scoreboard despite both teams amassing eight shots on net each.

    Minnesota held the advantage in takeaways (1-0), giveaways (4-2), hits (11-8), faceoff win percentage (60-40) and was 1/2 on the power play, while Boston was 0/1 on the skater advantage heading into the middle frame.

    Kaprizov was penalized for holding at 1:15 of the second period and the B’s made quick work of the ensuing power play.

    About 30 seconds after Kaprizov sat on the penalty bench, Brad Marchand (24) riffled a catch and release shot from the high slot underneath Talbot’s glove side and over his leg pad to tie the game, 2-2, with a power-play goal– snapping an eight game goal-scoring drought for No. 63 in black and gold in the process.

    Charlie Coyle (19) and McAvoy (31) had the assists on Marchand’s goal at 1:49 of the second period.

    Almost midway through the period, Smith was sent to the box for slashing Zuccarello while the two battled for the puck in the neutral zone, but Minnesota couldn’t get anything going on the power play at 8:18.

    Through 40 minutes of action, the score was tied, 2-2, despite Boston outshooting Minnesota, 17-15, overall, including a, 9-7, advantage in the second period alone.

    The Wild continued to hold the advantage in blocked shots (10-9), takeaways (6-2), giveaways (6-3) and hits (20-15), while the Bruins led in faceoff win% (54-47).

    Minnesota was 1/3 on the skater advantage, while Boston was 1/2 on the power play heading into the final frame.

    After hacking at the puck for a while, the rubber biscuit sprung loose from the crease and the Wild pounced on it before working it around the attacking zone, whereby Goligoski passed it to Spurgeon along the blue line.

    Spurgeon’s shot from the point went off Swayman before Greenway (6) slipped home the rebound under Swayman’s blocker side as the Bruins goaltender was outstretched in desperation to make a paddle save.

    Minnesota went up, 3-2, at 7:56 of the third period courtesy of Greenway’s goal, while Spurgeon (22) and Goligoski (27) tabbed the assists.

    Late in the period, Smith and Jon Merrill exchanged pleasantries and yielded 4-on-4 action for a pair of minutes as each player received two minutes for roughing in a post-whistle scrum at 15:38.

    With 1:10 remaining in the action, Cassidy pulled his goaltender for an extra attacker.

    After a stoppage with 51 seconds left on the clock, Cassidy used his timeout to rally Boston for a game-tying goal but it was to no avail.

    David Pastrnak turned the puck over off of Hartman in the neutral zone before Hartman (24) raced to the puck first and put the icing on the cake in the empty net at 19:55.

    At the final horn, the Wild won, 4-2, and finished the night with the advantage in shots on goal, 34-26, including a, 19-9, advantage in the third period alone– which marked the most shots that the Bruins allowed in any third period this season.

    The B’s left the building leading in blocked shots (20-13), while Minnesota exited their home ice with the win and the advantage in giveaways (8-4), hits (26-24) and faceoff win% (52-49).

    The Wild finished the night 1/3 on the power play, while the Bruins went 1/2 on the skater advantage on Wednesday.

    Boston fell to 10-12-3 (4-6-2 on the road) when allowing the game’s first goal, 5-12-2 (1-6-1 on the road) when trailing after the first period and 8-4-0 (3-3-0 on the road) when tied after two periods this season.

    Minnesota improved to 22-7-1 (10-2-1 at home) when scoring first, 20-1-1 (10-0-1 at home) when leading after one period and 8-2-0 (6-0-0 at home) when tied after the second period in 2021-22.

    The Bruins continue their four-game road trip (1-1-0) Friday night in Winnipeg before wrapping things up in Montréal next Monday, which also happens to be the same day as the 2022 NHL Trade Deadline (March 21st).

    Boston returns home to host the Tampa Bay Lightning on March 24th.

  • Pastrnak scores game-winner for Boston with 17 seconds left

    Pastrnak scores game-winner for Boston with 17 seconds left

    Sometimes The Hockey Gods work a little poetic justice into an ultimately meaningless game.

    Thursday night at TD Garden, the Boston Bruins beat Chicago, 4-3, courtesy of a game-winning goal from David Pastrnak with 17.2 seconds remaining in the third period– you know, about the same timespan it took Chicago to score a pair of goals in the third period of Game 6 of the 2013 Stanley Cup Final to clinch the series in Boston.

    In the grand scheme of things, Chicago won the Cup in 2013, whereas Boston only got two points in the win column towards the regular season standings in 2022, and it doesn’t even matter that much between the clubs since the two teams play in opposite conferences.

    Regardless, Jeremy Swayman (16-7-3, 2.06 goals-against average, .925 save percentage in 27 games played) made 22 saves on 25 shots against in the win for the Bruins.

    Chicago goaltender, Kevin Lankinen (3-7-4, 3.60 goals-against average, .885 save percentage in 16 games played), stopped 32 out of 36 shots faced in the loss.

    Boston improved to 35-18-5 (75 points) on the season and the B’s remain in command of 4th place in the Atlantic Division, as well as the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference– trailing the Toronto Maple Leafs by four points for 3rd in the Atlantic and Tampa Bay Lightning by five points for 2nd in the Atlantic.

    The Bruins are currently 10 points behind the Florida Panthers for the top spot in their division.

    Meanwhile, Chicago fell to 21-30-8 overall (50 points) and stuck in 7th place in the Central Division– 10 points ahead of the Arizona Coyotes from the basement in their division.

    Boston and Chicago met for the first time in the regular season since the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic began.

    The Bruins won, 2-1, in overtime at United Center on Feb. 5, 2020, in Chicago in their last meeting.

    The B’s are now 1-0-0 against Chicago this season and can sweep the 2021-22 regular season series on the road in Chicago on March 15th.

    The Bruins were without the services of Jakub Zboril (right ACL), Urho Vaakanainen (undisclosed) and Matt Grzelcyk (upper body) on Thursday.

    Vaakanainen may return to the lineup on Saturday, while Grzelcyk remains day-to-day.

    B’s head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made no changes to his lines and defensive pairings from Monday night’s, 3-2, overtime loss against Los Angeles to Thursday night’s win against Chicago.

    Jesper Frödén and Anton Blidh served as the only healthy scratches for the Bruins on Thursday.

    Charlie McAvoy hooked Alex DeBrincat and presented Chicago with the night’s first power play 28 seconds into the first period, but Boston’s penalty killing units did their job as McAvoy was released from the box without issue at 2:28.

    Less than a few minutes later, Connor Clifton pinched in from the point and entered the slot for a shot with purpose on goal that rebounded off of Lankinen to the right dot where Charlie Coyle (13) swooped in and buried the loose puck to give the Bruins a, 1-0, lead.

    Clifton (3) had the only assist on Coyle’s goal at 4:12 of the first period.

    Boston didn’t hold the lead for long as the year of Murphy’s Law (everything that can go wrong, will go wrong) continued to follow Brandon Carlo as the veteran blue liner pinched at the attacking blue line and was caught between the uprights on a Chicago rush the other direction– leading to a 4-on-1 with Jack Ahcan as the only defender left standing in front of Swayman.

    Patrick Kane tossed a pass over to DeBrincat (34) for the one-timer goal as Chicago evened things up, 1-1, at 6:41.

    Kane (46) had the only assist on the goal as Chicago answered back 2:29 after the Bruins took the first lead of the night. His assist also marked his 1,153rd career National Hockey League point– tying Kane for the second-most points in Chicago’s history and trailing only Stan Mikita’s 1,467 points in a Chicago uniform in the process.

    Late in the period, Trent Frederic cut a rut to the penalty box for holding at 14:43, but Boston managed to kill off the minor infraction.

    Entering the first intermission, the score was tied, 1-1, while Chicago outshot the Bruins, 10-8, despite Boston holding a clear advantage in faceoff win percentage, 58-42.

    Early in the middle frame, Chicago took their first lead of the night, 2-1, after Nick Foligno chipped the puck inadvertently off of a linesman in the neutral zone– forcing a turnover to Brandon Hagel in the process.

    Hagel (19) entered the attacking zone with speed and wrapped the puck around Swayman at 4:12 of the second period, while Jonathan Toews (17) and Kirby Dach (14) were credited with the assists on Hagel’s first goal of the game on just the second shot on net in the second period alone.

    About a couple minutes later, Henrik Borgström hooked Pastrnak and presented the Bruins with their first power play of the night at 6:55 of the second period.

    Boston’s power play was powerless, but they got another chance at the skater advantage when Jake McCabe caught Taylor Hall with a high stick at 10:02.

    This time the B’s were successful in their quest for a power-play goal.

    Ahcan (1) pounced on a loose puck and poked it around a Chicago skater while maintaining possession and entering the slot before wiring a shot past Lankinen for his first career NHL goal (and point in the process) in just his eight career NHL game.

    Brad Marchand (34) and Pastrnak (27) tallied the assists on Ahcan’s power-play goal as the Bruins tied the game, 2-2, at 11:57 of the second period as a result.

    Moments later, Connor Murphy cut a rut to the sin bin for interference at 14:31.

    Boston went to work on the power play once again and made quicker work of their efficiency on the skater advantage– this time with McAvoy working the rubber biscuit down deep along the wall before sending a pass through the slot to Pastrnak (32) for a one-timer from his usual spot at the dot.

    McAvoy (29) and Patrice Bergeron (27) notched the assists on Pastrnak’s power-play goal and the B’s took the lead, 3-2, at 15:23 of the second period.

    Through 40 minutes of play, the Bruins led, 3-2, on the scoreboard and, 17-13, in shots on goal– including a, 9-3, advantage in the second period alone. Boston also maintained the advantage in faceoff win%, 51-49.

    Chicago was 0/2 and Boston was 2/3 on the power play heading into the final frame.

    Coyle hooked Dylan Strome to kick things off at 1:25 of the third period by handing a power play to Chicago with relatively fresh ice from the second intermission still intact.

    Chicago rushed up the ice as Kane worked the puck to Strome, who passed it to the other wing where DeBrincat fired a shot at Swayman that dropped to the ice in front of the crease.

    Swayman bungled the puck while trying to cover it with his glove and instead sent a rebound to Hagel as Hagel (20) crashed the net and pocketed the puck on a chip shot power-play goal at 3:24 of the third period.

    DeBrincat (21) and Strome (16) had the assists on Hagel’s second goal of the game– tying things up, 3-3, with plenty of time left in regulation.

    Moments later, the Bruins recorded their first shot on goal in the third period right about at the 7:47 mark.

    Alec Regula tripped up Hall at 11:56 of the third period, but wasn’t the only skater heading to the box as Hall was assessed a minor infraction for embellishment– yielding 4-on-4 action for a pair of minutes past the midpoint of the final frame.

    Neither team could score despite Boston generating momentum as the period continued.

    Chicago iced the puck in the dying minute of the third period.

    Ryan Carpenter won the ensuing faceoff in his own defensive zone and kicked the puck to the corner where Hall stepped in between his opponent and the puck– thereby winning the resulting battle along the boards and working a solid bounce to Pastrnak in the slot.

    Pastrnak (33) chipped it past Lankinen to put the Bruins ahead, 4-3, at 19:42 of the third period. Hall (30) had the only assist on what would be the game-winning goal with 17.2 seconds remaining in the action.

    Chicago’s interim head coach, Derek King, used his timeout to draw up a last-ditch effort, but despite pulling the goalie with 17.2 seconds left there would be no repeat of a miracle in Boston for Chicago.

    At the final horn, the Bruins had won, 4-3, and finished the night leading in shots on goal, 36-25, including a, 19-12, advantage in the third period alone.

    Boston also held an advantage in faceoff win%, 52-48, while Chicago led in every other category including blocked shots (12-11), giveaways (6-5) and hits (28-26).

    Chicago finished the night 1/3 on the power play, while the Bruins left their own ice 2/3 on the skater advantage Thursday.

    With the win, the B’s improved to 8-1-1 in their last ten games while Swayman picked up his eighth win in his last nine games.

    Boston also improved to 25-7-2 (11-4-1 at home) when scoring first, 9-5-2 (4-3-1 at home) when tied after the first period and 24-1-3 (9-1-1 at home) when leading after two periods this season.

    Chicago fell to 4-24-5 (2-12-2 on the road) when allowing the game’s first goal, 10-13-3 (4-3-1 on the road) when tied after one and 2-25-3 (0-12-1 on the road) when trailing through the second period in 2021-22.

    The Arizona Coyotes visit TD Garden on Saturday before the Bruins hit the road for a four-game road trip through Chicago next Tuesday (March 15th), Minnesota next Wednesday (March 16th), Winnipeg next Friday (March 18th) and Montréal on March 21st.

  • Bruins outlast Blue Jackets in shootout victory on the road, 5-4

    Bruins outlast Blue Jackets in shootout victory on the road, 5-4

    Four different goal scorers for each team kept things close Saturday night at Nationwide Arena, while David Pastrnak scored the only goal in the, 5-4, shootout win for the Boston Bruins against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

    Jeremy Swayman (15-7-3, 2.03 goals-against average, .927 save percentage in 26 games played) made 20 saves on 24 shots against in the win for Boston, while spoiling the night’s festivities after the Blue Jackets held a jersey retirement ceremony for Rick Nash prior to the game.

    Columbus goaltender, Elvis Merzlikins (19-14-3, 3.42 goals-against average, .903 save percentage in 36 games played), stopped 28 out of 32 shots faced in the shootout loss.

    The Bruins improved to 34-18-4 (72 points) on the season, while remaining in command of 4th place in the Atlantic Division, as well as the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.

    The Blue Jackets fell to 28-25-2 (58 points) overall and remained 5th in the Metropolitan Division.

    Saturday night marked the first time the two teams met in the regular season since Jan. 14, 2020, before the pandemic shortened the 2019-20 regular season and led to temporary divisional realignment for a condensed 56-game regular season schedule in 2020-21.

    Columbus won, 3-0, at Nationwide Arena in their last game against Boston prior to Saturday’s, 5-4, shootout loss.

    Curtis Lazar returned to the lineup after missing the last four games with an upper body injury.

    As a result, Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made one change to his lineup from Thursday night’s, 5-2, victory in Las Vegas to Saturday night’s action in Columbus.

    Lazar returned to his usual role on the fourth line right wing, while Jesper Frödén joined Anton Blidh and Jack Achan in the press box as Boston’s trio of healthy scratches against the Blue Jackets.

    Jakub Zboril (right ACL) and Urho Vaakanainen (undisclosed) remained out due to injury, though Vaakanainen has resumed skating back in Boston.

    Prior to the game Saturday night, the Blue Jackets retired Nash’s No. 61– marking the first time in franchise history that the club retired a players’ jersey number.

    Nash was drafted by Columbus with the 1st overall pick in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft and spent the first nine seasons of his career in a Blue Jackets uniform before he was traded to the New York Rangers on July 23, 2012.

    He left Columbus as the franchise leader in games played (674), goals (289), assists (258) and points (547).

    After parts of six seasons in New York, he was traded to Boston ahead of the 2018 trade deadline, where he finished the season and playoffs despite missing some time that March with what ultimately became a career-ending concussion and ensuing post-concussion symptoms since then.

    In 1,060 career NHL games with the Blue Jackets, Rangers and Bruins, Nash amassed 437-368–805 totals, appeared in 89 career Stanley Cup Playoff games (18-28–46 career playoff totals)– including the 2014 Stanley Cup Final– and shared Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy winning honors with Jarome Iginla and Ilya Kovalchuk in the 2003-04 season as the league’s leader in goals scored with 41.

    He formally announced his retirement on Jan. 11, 2019, and was named Director of Player Development for the Blue Jackets in June 2021.

    A franchise record 19,434 fans were in attendance for Nash’s Jersey Retirement Night at Nationwide Arena in Columbus as announced by the team on Saturday.

    Midway through the opening frame, Brad Marchand spun and threw the puck to the slot where Jake DeBrusk (15) deflected the rubber biscuit past Merzlikins to give Boston a, 1-0, lead at 10:39 of the first period.

    Marchand (32) and Charlie McAvoy (28) tallied the assists as the Bruins recorded the first goal of the game.

    The B’s didn’t hold the lead for too long, however, as the Blue Jackets roared back with a goal of their own– tying the game, 1-1, at 16:57, courtesy of Gustav Nyquist’s (14), cool, calm and collected reception of a drop pass from Boone Jenner and shot over Swayman’s left shoulder while Boston’s defenders were split like the Red Sea.

    Jenner (21) and Patrik Laine (19) notched the assists on Nyquist’s goal as Columbus surged in momentum.

    A couple minutes later, Vladislav Gavrikov (3) was in the right place in the right time to bury a loose puck as Swayman couldn’t get a paddle on it in desperation– giving the Blue Jackets their first lead of the night, 2-1, in the process at 19:00 of the first period.

    Gavrikov’s goal was unassisted as Columbus recorded a pair of goals in a span of 2:03.

    Entering the first intermission, the Blue Jackets carried a, 2-1, lead into the dressing room, despite being outshot by the Bruins, 12-6, in the first period.

    Columbus held the advantage in faceoff win percentage, 64-36, while neither team had seen any action on the skater advantage heading into the middle frame.

    Marchand took a hit in the neutral zone while Erik Haula (8) scooped up the puck and rushed into the attacking zone before wiring shot through Merzlikins’ five-hole– tying the game, 2-2, in the process at 1:51 of the second period.

    Marchand (33) had the only assist on Haula’s goal in the process.

    Less than a couple minutes later, Dean Kukan cut a rut to the penalty box for holding and presented Boston with the first power play of the night at 3:26 of the second period.

    The Bruins’ power play went by the wayside, however, as the Blue Jackets made the kill and went on their first power play shortly thereafter as Craig Smith tripped up former Bruin, Sean Kuraly, at 5:33.

    Columbus didn’t convert on their first skater advantage, but the Blue Jackets got another crack at special teams play when Charlie Coyle slashed Oliver Bjorkstrand at 13:13 of the second period.

    About a minute later, Zach Werenski (9) pinched in from the point at the top of the faceoff circle and sent a shot inadvertently off of Bruins defender, Charlie McAvoy’s knee and over Swayman’s glove side to give Columbus a, 3-2, lead at 14:28.

    Jakub Voracek (39) and Bjorkstrand (20) had the assists on Werenski’s power-play goal and the Blue Jackets took a, 3-2, lead at 14:28 of the second period.

    Through 40 minutes of action, Columbus led, 3-2, on the scoreboard despite trailing in shots on goal, 19-14. The Blue Jackets, however, held the advantage in shots on net in the middle frame alone, 8-7, and controlled faceoff win% (58-42).

    Boston was 0/1 on the power play, while Columbus was 1/2 on the skater advantage heading into the final frame of regulation.

    Smith (10) buried a one-timer off of Merzlikins’ blocker and into the twine while crashing the net– tying the game, 3-3, at 4:40 of the third period in the process.

    Connor Clifton (2) and Nick Foligno (8) tallied the assists as the latter sent a pass to the former prior to Clifton setting up Smith for the goal– marking four goals in his last two games and nine points (four goals, five assists) in Smith’s last 10 games.

    Late in the period, Bjorkstrand caught Pastrnak with a high stick at 14:23 of the third period, yielding another power play to Boston in the process.

    It didn’t take the Bruins long to go ahead, 4-3, on the scoreboard as Patrice Bergeron (16) nudged a goal on the forehand as the puck sat in the crease after ringing the iron twice and Taylor Hall flubbed an attempt while Merzlikins was sprawled out in desperation.

    Hall (29) and Pastrnak (26) had the assists on Bergeron’s power-play goal at 14:58 of the third period.

    With 1:18 remaining in the action, Brad Larsen pulled his netminder for an extra attacker.

    Foligno hooked Nyuquist at 19:29 and yielded another power play to the Blue Jackets as a result.

    Larsen used the extra few seconds before the ensuing faceoff on the skater advantage to rally his skaters with 30.7 seconds remaining in the action.

    Columbus worked the puck around the attacking zone before Voracek (3) winded up on a half speed slap shot and scored under the blocker– clipping Swayman’s jersey in the process and tying the game, 4-4, with 2.8 seconds remaining in regulation.

    Laine (20) and Kuraly (13) had the assists on Voracek’s power-play goal at 19:57 as the Blue Jackets forced overtime despite trailing Boston in shots on goal, 31-23, including a, 12-9, advantage for the Bruins in the third period alone.

    As there were no penalties called in overtime, Columbus finished the night 2/3 on the power play while Boston went 0/2 on the skater advantage.

    Neither team scored in overtime as both squads recorded one shot on goal each in the extra frame.

    The Bruins finished the night leading in shots on goal, 32-24, as well as in blocked shots (16-12), while the Blue Jackets wrapped up 65 minutes of action leading in hits (28-20) and faceoff win% (51-49).

    Both teams had two giveaways aside.

    Boston shot first in the shootout as Coyle waltzed into the zone from the right side before cutting right at Merzlikins and being denied by a left pad save.

    Laine countered for Columbus with a medium speed effort and a pump fake before pulling the puck to his backhand, but Swayman made the save.

    DeBrusk entered with speed before trying an offspeed shot that Merzlikins cast aside with his blocker.

    Larsen sent out Nyquist to try to get things going as his second shooter, but despite cutting in from wide left to the middle of the ice, Swayman made a routine save on Nyquist’s five-hole shot attempt.

    Finally, Pastrnak skated in wide left before cutting to the middle with speed and coming to a stop prior to elevating the puck into the upper-90 on Merzlikins’ glove side– giving Boston a, 1-0, advantage in the third round of the shootout.

    Voracek had to score on the following attempt or the Bruins would win the game.

    The Blue Jackets forward carried speed towards the net before Swayman made a blocker save to seal the deal on the shootout victory as the B’s were awarded the shootout goal in the final score, 5-4, Saturday night at Nationwide Arena– securing 10 out of 12 possible points in their six-game road trip in the process.

    Boston improved to 2-2 in shootouts this season, while Columbus fell to 3-2 in the best-of-three skills competition.

    The Bruins also improved to 24-7-1 (14-3-1 on the road) when scoring first, 5-11-2 (1-5-1 on the road) when trailing after one and 4-14-2 (1-6-1 on the road) when trailing after two periods this season.

    The Blue Jackets dropped to 14-17-2 (7-6-2 at home) when allowing the game’s first goal, 10-4-1 (4-1-1 at home) when leading after the first period and 15-4-2 (7-2-2 at home) when leading after the second period in 2021-22.

    The Bruins went 5-1-0 on their six-game road trip through the Pacific Division and Columbus and will return home to begin a three-game homestand on Monday.

    Boston will host Los Angeles (March 7th), Chicago (March 10th)  and Arizona (March 12th) before hitting the road again on March 15th.

  • Boston extends win streak to four games after, 3-1, victory in San Jose

    Boston extends win streak to four games after, 3-1, victory in San Jose

    Brad Marchand scored a pair of goals before Patrice Bergeron added the insurance marker as the Boston Bruins beat the San Jose Sharks, 3-1, Saturday night at SAP Center.

    Jeremy Swayman (12-7-3, 2.04 goals-against average, .926 save percentage) made 15 saves on 16 shots faced (.938 save percentage) for his fifth-straight quality start over Boston’s last seven games (Linus Ullmark tended the crease on Feb. 17th and Feb. 24th).

    Meanwhile, San Jose netminder, James Reimer (14-12-5, 2.90 goals-against average, .913 save percentage in 32 games played), stopped 34 out of 37 shots faced in the loss.

    The Bruins improved to 31-17-4 (66 points) on the season and remained in 4th place in the Atlantic Division, while surpassing the Washington Capitals for control of the first wild card berth in the Eastern Conference.

    The Sharks fell to 23-23-6 (52 points) overall and remain in 7th place in the Pacific Division– 15 points ahead of the Seattle Kraken from the basement of the division.

    Boston visited San Jose for the first time since their thrilling, 6-5, overtime victory on Feb. 18, 2019, as the pandemic cut the 2019-20 regular season short before their annual visit to SAP Center and the 2020-21 season featured temporarily realigned divisions with travel limited to within said divisions.

    The B’s have not lost in San Jose since March 15, 2016, when the Sharks beat Boston, 3-2– marking the longest string of games the Bruins have won at SAP Center since then (four games).

    Boston swept their 2021-22 regular season series against San Jose with a 2-0-0 record.

    Curtis Lazar (upper body) joined Jakub Zboril (right ACL) and Urho Vaakanainen (undisclosed) on the list of players that were out of the lineup due to injury for the Bruins Saturday night in San Jose.

    Boston’s head coach, Bruce Cassidy, told reporters on Friday that Lazar would be “day-to-day” and out of the lineup against the Sharks.

    As a result, Jesper Frödén suited up in Lazar’s place on the fourth line right wing.

    Cassidy made no other changes from Thursday night’s, 3-2, overtime victory in Seattle to Saturday night’s action in San Jose.

    Jack Ahcan and Anton Blidh served as Boston’s healthy scratches in the press box at SAP Center.

    Erik Haula caught Tomáš Hertl with a high stick and yielded the first power play of the game to the Sharks at 1:44 of the first period.

    San Jose wasn’t able to convert on the ensuing skater advantage, however, as the Bruins made the kill and Haula re-emerged from the penalty box.

    Late in the period, Haula sent a pass to Jake DeBrusk as DeBrusk entered the attacking zone with Marchand on a 2-on-1, setting up Marchand (22) for a one-timer goal to put the B’s ahead, 1-0, as a result.

    DeBrusk (9) and Haula (14) had the assists on Marchand’s first goal of the game at 14:24 of the first period.

    About a minute later, Boston botched a line change and was assessed a bench minor for too many skaters on the ice at 15:28.

    Craig Smith served the penalty and the Bruins were unscathed on the ensuing penalty kill.

    Entering the first intermission, Boston held a, 1-0, lead on the scoreboard and a, 9-5, advantage in shots on goal.

    The Bruins also held the advantage in blocked shots (10-4), while the Sharks led in takeaways (4-3), giveaways (6-2) and faceoff win percentage (63-38).

    Both teams had nine hits apiece, while San Jose was 0/3 on the power play heading into the middle frame. Boston had yet to see any action on the skater advantage.

    DeBrusk briefly exited the ice after a routine check along the boards left him with a bit of a stinger somewhere in his lower body, but he returned to action without missing a beat as the two teams got underway in the second period.

    Mario Ferraro presented the Bruins with their first power play of the night at 3:34 of the second period as the Sharks forward cut a rut to the sin bin for holding.

    San Jose killed off Ferraro’s minor and wouldn’t see him much more for the rest of the night as about midway through the action, Taylor Hall shoved Ferraro a little too far away from the puck to be assessed an interference minor, while Ferraro lost his footing and went awkwardly into the boards– bending his leg around the ankle in precisely the wrong direction that it is normally supposed to look like.

    Ferraro would not return to Saturday night’s game, while Hall went to the box at 12:03 of the second period.

    It didn’t take the Sharks long to convert on the power play as Brent Burns sent a pass across the slot to Timo Meier (24) for a one-timer goal from the left dot with eyes through Swayman into the twine.

    Burns (31) and Logan Couture (21) tallied the assists on Meier’s power-play goal as San Jose tied things up, 1-1, at 12:50 of the second period.

    A couple of minutes later, the Sharks were guilty of having too many skaters on the ice– sending Ryan Dzingel to serve the bench minor at 14:56 as a result.

    Boston failed to capitalize on the ensuing power play.

    Both teams went into the second intermission with a goal on the scoreboard– tied, 1-1, despite the Bruins dominating shots on goal, 24-9, including a, 15-4, advantage in the middle frame alone.

    The B’s held the lead in blocked shots (13-12), while the Sharks led in takeaways (7-5), giveaways (8-6) and hits (19-14).

    Both teams amassed a, 50-50, faceoff win% through two periods.

    San Jose was 1/4 on the power play, while Boston was 0/2 on the skater advantage heading into the final frame.

    Noah Gregor caught Bergeron with a high stick to kick things off at 1:12 of the third period, yielding a power play to the Bruins as a result.

    Boston nearly converted on the power play, but Gregor was freed from the box about six seconds prior to Marchand’s (23) second goal of the game– this time on a one-timer from the low left circle– below the dot and off of Reimer’s mask and into the twine.

    Hall (26) and Smith (12) tallied the assists as Marchand’s goal put the Bruins ahead, 2-1, at 3:18 of the third period.

    The two teams continued to swap chances as things got a little heated late in the third, resulting in a pair of minutes at 4-on-4 courtesy of Connor Clifton and Jeffrey Viel’s roughing minors at 15:38.

    In the final minutes of the game, San Jose whiffed at a couple of chances on a mostly empty net with Swayman in desperation– making save after save as the Sharks pressed.

    In one instance the Boston goaltender held his glove up in a last-ditch effort while sprawled out across the crease and snagged the puck out of mid-air.

    With less than a minute remaining in regulation, the Sharks didn’t even get a chance to pull Reimer for an extra attacker as the Bruins were in the offensive zone.

    Marchand sent a pass across the width of the ice to David Pastrnak before Pastrnak connected with Bergeron (14) in the bumper to give the B’s an insurance goal and a, 3-1, lead at 19:20 of the third period.

    Pastrnak (23) and Marchand (29) had the assists as the seconds ticked down to Boston’s fourth consecutive win since losing, 4-1, to the New York Islanders at UBS Arena on Feb. 17th.

    The Bruins beat the Sharks, 3-1, and finished Saturday night leading in shots on goal, 37-16, including a, 13-7, advantage in the third period alone.

    Boston left SAP Center with two points in the regular season standings and the advantage in blocked shots (17-15), as well as faceoff win% (55-45), while San Jose vacated their own ice leading in giveaways (12-8) and hits (24-20).

    The Sharks finished the night 1/4 on the power play, while the B’s went 0/3.

    Boston improved to 21-7-1 (11-3-1 on the road) when scoring first, 19-2-1 (10-1-1 on the road) when leading after one period and 7-3-0 (2-2-0 on the road) when tied after two periods this season.

    San Jose fell to 8-19-3 (5-11-1 at home) when allowing the game’s first goal, 4-18-1 (3-10-1 at home) when trailing after the first period and 7-3-3 (4-2-2 at home) when tied after the second period in 2021-22.

    The Bruins continue their six-game road trip (2-0-0) next Monday (Feb. 28th) in Los Angeles before visiting Anaheim next Tuesday (March 1st) to finish up the month of February.

    Boston kicks off March next Thursday (March 3rd) in Vegas and wraps up their road trip in Columbus next Saturday (March 5th) before returning home to host the Kings on March 7th.

  • DeBrusk scores twice in Boston’s first win in Seattle

    DeBrusk scores twice in Boston’s first win in Seattle

    Jake DeBrusk’s scoring streak continued Thursday night at Climate Pledge Arena as the Boston Bruins forward notched a pair of goals– including the game-winning goal 33 seconds into overtime to lift the B’s over the Seattle Kraken, 3-2.

    DeBrusk now has four goals in his last three games and the Bruins have put together a little three-game win streak as a result.

    Linus Ullmark (17-8-1, 2.76 goals-against average, .910 save percentage in 27 games played) made 25 saves on 27 shots against in the win for Boston.

    Kraken goaltender, Philipp Grubauer (12-22-5, 3.17 goals-against average, .888 save percentage in 40 games played) stopped 36 out of 39 shots faced in the overtime loss.

    The Bruins improved to 30-17-4 (64 points) overall and remain in 4th place in the Atlantic Division, but moved to within one point of overtaking the Washington Capitals for the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.

    Seattle, meanwhile, fell to 16-33-5 (37 points) on the season and stuck in 8th place in the Pacific Division, as well as 30th overall in the entire National Hockey League– six points ahead of the 31st place Montréal Canadiens and seven points ahead of the Arizona Coyotes from the basement of the league standings.

    The B’s improved to 2-0-0 all-time against the Kraken in Seattle’s inaugural season and won’t see them again until the 2022-23 regular season calendar.

    After winning, 5-1, on home ice against the Colorado Avalanche on Monday, the Bruins hit the road for Seattle in the middle of the week– practicing in the NHL’s newest market on Wednesday before taking part in their first of six road matchups on Thursday.

    Boston was without Jakub Zboril (right ACL) and Urho Vaakanainen (undisclosed) against the Kraken as Zboril remains out for the rest of the season and Vaakanainen did not travel with the team to Seattle.

    Meanwhile, Brad Marchand returned from his six-game suspension– joining the Bruins ahead of the game on Thursday a day behind the rest of his teammates as he and his wife brought home their new baby daughter.

    Congrats to the Marchand’s on welcoming a newborn!

    Jack Ahcan and Jesper Frödén were recalled from the Providence Bruins (AHL) on Wednesday, while Jack Studnicka was reassigned to the P-Bruins. Neither Ahcan, nor Frödén were in the lineup Thursday night.

    B’s head coach, Bruce Cassidy, welcomed the return of Marchand to the first line left wing alongside Patrice Bergeron, while promoting DeBrusk to the first line right wing.

    Erik Haula was back centering the second line with Taylor Hall and David Pastrnak on his wings as a result of Marchand’s return.

    Cassidy left the third line intact and slid Nick Foligno to the fourth line left wing slot with Tomáš Nosek at center and Curtis Lazar on right wing.

    On defnse, Mike Reilly suited up alongside Charlie McAvoy on the first pairing with Matt Grzelcyk and Brandon Carlo rounding out the top-four pairings while Derek Forbort was partnered with Connor Clifton.

    Anton Blidh joined Frödén and Ahcan in the press box as Boston’s trio of healthy scratches while Zboril and Vaakanainen remain out due to injury on Thursday.

    Kraken captain, Mark Giordano, tripped up Charlie Coyle 20 seconds into the first period, but the Bruins weren’t able to capitalize on their first skater advantage of the night– nor could Boston take control of the scoreboard when– about a minute later– Adam Larsson caught Hall with a high stick at 1:42.

    Larsson was assessed a four-minute double minor as Hall was left bloodied, but despite 38 seconds of a 5-on-3 advantage and an extended 5-on-4 power play, the B’s couldn’t muster anything past Grubauer just yet.

    Instead, Giordano was freed from the box and received a pass from Riley Sheahan after Jamie Oleksiak blocked a shot in the defensive zone.

    The Kraken defender skated in as the Bruins made a poorly timed line change and waltzed to the slot unopposed before Giordano (6) wired a shot past Ullmark to give Seattle a, 1-0, lead on his second shorthanded goal of the season.

    In the process, Giordano became the third defender 38 or older to record at least two shorthanded goals in a season, joining Zdeno Chara (two in 2016-17) and Ray Bourque (two in 2000-01) in doing so.

    Sheahan (8) and Oleksiak (11) tallied the assists on Giordano’s shorthanded goal at 3:29 of the first period.

    Several minutes later, Alex Wennberg intended to avoid a surefire collision in the neutral zone with McAvoy and instead took the Boston defender’s helmet off with the blade of his stick– narrowly avoiding McAvoy’s eyes– as Wennberg tried to wield it away from McAvoy’s body to avoid a trip.

    Thus, after a brief stoppage for the Bruins No. 1 defender to skate off the ice and get checked out down the tunnel for a minute, Wennberg sat in the penalty box for a pair of minutes at 9:02.

    Boston still didn’t score on the resulting power play, though.

    Minutes later, McAvoy was back and caught Jordan Eberle with an errant stick of his own– cutting a rut to the sin bin and presenting the Kraken with a power play at 12:00.

    Boston’s penalty kill stood tall as Seattle’s skater advantage came and went.

    Larsson then went back into the box for interference at 15:24 after he delivered a check on Hall without the puck.

    Seconds after the power play ended, the Bruins caught the Kraken in the vulnerable minute after special teams play.

    Haula chipped the puck over the back of the net, while former Bruins defender turned Seattle expansion draft pick, Jeremy Lauzon, tried to bat the puck out of mid-air and clear of the crease.

    Instead, the rubber biscuit dropped to the goal line where DeBrusk (10) settled for an easy tap-in goal– tying the game, 1-1, in the process.

    Haula (13) and Craig Smith (11) notched the assists as Boston pulled even at 17:33 of the first period with momentum on their side heading into the first intermission.

    After one period, the Bruins and Kraken were tied, 1-1, despite Boston leading in shots on goal, 17-8.

    Seattle held the advantage in blocked shots (7-1) and takeaways (4-1), while the B’s led in giveaways (3-1), hits (6-3) and faceoff win percentage (68-32).

    The Kraken were 0/1 and the Bruins were 0/5 on the power play heading into the first intermission.

    Nosek kicked things off in the second period with a high sticking infraction against former Bruin, Austin Czarnik, at 2:41.

    Seattle wasn’t able to convert on the resulting power play, however.

    Moments after making the kill, Boston won an attacking zone faceoff back to the point where Grzelcyk slid the puck along the blue line to McAvoy for a pass through the high slot to Pastrnak (28) for a one-timer goal on Grubauer’s blocker side at 6:47.

    McAvoy (24) and Grzelcyk (16) recorded the assists as the Bruins took their first lead of the night, 2-1, as a result.

    A few minutes past the midpoint of the action, however, Boston made another bad line change that cost them.

    This time, Marcus Johansson entered the attacking zone on a 2-on-1 that quickly became a de facto 2-on-0 with a pass across the ice to Eberle (15) for the slick move to the backhand while crashing the net before elevating the rubber biscuit on Ullmark’s blocker side– tying the game, 2-2, in the process.

    Johansson (13) and Calle Järnkrok (12) had the assists as the Kraken evened things up at 13:19 of the second period.

    A few minutes later, Nosek was back in the penalty box for catching Järnkrok with a high stick at 16:19, but Seattle couldn’t get another puck past Ullmark as the B’s made the kill and entered the second intermission tied with the Kraken on the scoreboard, 2-2.

    Boston continued to hold the advantage in total shots on goal, 31-18, while also outshooting Seattle, 14-10, in the second period alone.

    The Kraken led in blocked shots (10-8) and takeaways (7-4) after two periods, while the Bruins held the advantage in giveaways (4-3), hits (13-10) and faceoff win% (67-33) through 40 minutes.

    As there were no penalties called for the rest of the night, Seattle finished the action 0/3 on the power play, while Boston went 0/5 on the skater advantage.

    There were no goals and no penalties in the third period as the two teams swapped chances.

    Seattle actually outshot Boston, 9-7, in the third period alone, but the Bruins continued to leading in total shots on goal, 38-27, heading into the extra frame.

    The Kraken led in blocked shots (12-9), takeaways (10-6) and giveaways (6-4), while the B’s held the advantage in hits (19-18) and faceoff win% (60-40).

    Heading into overtime, Cassidy sent out Coyle, DeBrusk and McAvoy. Seattle’s head coach, Dave Hakstol, countered with Johansson, Eberle and Giordano.

    The extra frame did not last long as Boston worked the puck through the neutral zone to DeBrusk with speed entering the attacking zone.

    DeBrusk (11) drove right to the net and sent a shot past Grubauer on the short side underneath the blocker to give the Bruins the, 3-2, victory on his second goal of the game 33 seconds into overtime.

    Coyle (13) and McAvoy (25) had the assists as Boston left Climate Pledge Arena with a win in their debut in the league’s newest market.

    The Bruins improved to 4-2 in overtime this season, while the Kraken fell to 1-4.

    Boston left the ice leading in shots on goal, 39-27– including a, 1-0, advantage in overtime alone– as well as the advantage in hits (19-18) and faceoff win% (61-39).

    Seattle exited their own building leading in blocked shots (12-9) and giveaways (6-4).

    The Bruins improved to 10-10-3 (4-4-2 on the road) when allowing the game’s first goal, 8-5-1 (5-2-1 on the road) when tied after one period and 6-3-0 (1-2-0 on the road) when tied after two periods this season.

    Seattle fell to 8-8-2 (3-4-1 at home) when scoring first, 6-7-5 (3-3-3 at home) when tied after the first period and 7-5-3 (3-3-2 at home) when tied after the second period in 2021-22.

    Boston continues their six game road trip (1-0-0) Saturday night in San Jose before venturing to Los Angeles next Monday to wrap up the month of February and kick off March next Tuesday in Anaheim.

    The Bruins then swing through Vegas next Thursday and Columbus next Saturday before returning home to host the Kings on March 7th.

  • Preview: Game 50- Avalanche @ Bruins

    Preview: Game 50- Avalanche @ Bruins

    Monday afternoon at TD Garden, the Colorado Avalanche visit the Boston Bruins in the conclusion of their regular season series– in which the Avs are in the midst of their second-longest road winning streak in club history at seven games.

    Colorado’s longest road win streak in franchise history was set during the 2019-20 season when the Avs won nine consecutive games on the road from Feb. 4-March 2, 2020.

    The last time the Avalanche won seven straight road games was back in the 1998-99 season, when Colorado won seven games away from home from Jan. 10-Feb. 7, 1999.

    Boston, on the other hand, is coming off of a, 3-2, overtime win in Ottawa on Saturday– having finished their four-game road trip with a 2-1-1 record.

    On Jan. 26th, the Bruins lost, 4-3, in overtime at Ball Arena as the Avalanche continued their franchise record 18-game home win streak in the process.

    B’s head coach, Bruce Cassidy, told reporters after practice on Sunday that Jeremy Swayman would likely get the start in the crease after consulting with goaltending coach, Bob Essensa, and that Derek Forbort would return to the lineup after serving as a healthy scratch in the win against the Senators.

    As a result of Forbort returning to action, Connor Clifton will likely return to the press box for Monday’s matinée matchup.

    The Bruins will be without the services of Jakub Zboril and Brad Marchand as Zboril remains out for the rest of the season due to his right ACL injury, while Marchand will serve the sixth game out of his six-game suspension on Monday for his antics against Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender, Tristan Jarry, back on Feb. 8th.

    Linus Ullmark is expected to serve as Swayman’s backup against Colorado, while Anton Blidh likely remains out of the lineup with Marchand out until Feb. 24th amidst other temporary roster adjustments.

    For instance, Cassidy remains committed to Charlie Coyle as the second line center with Trent Frederic at left wing and Craig Smith on right wing while Taylor Hall is required to fill-in for Marchand on the first line alongside Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak.

    As a result, Erik Haula was slotted on the left side of Jack Studnicka in Ottawa while Nick Foligno served as the third line right wing.

    Jake DeBrusk scored a goal in Saturday’s win and played alongside fourth line regulars, Tomáš Nosek and Curtis Lazar, leaving no room for Blidh to get back into the lineup until Marchand returns, at least.

    In summary, Boston will likely be without Zboril, Marchand, Blidh and Clifton on Monday.

    The Bruins (28-17-4, 60 points) enter Monday 4th place in the Atlantic Division and in command of the second wild card berth in the Eastern Conference, while Coloardo leads the Central Division, Western Conference as well as the entire National Hockey League standings with a 36-9-4 record (76 points).

    Both teams have played in 49 games and will take part in their 50th game of the season against one another.

    Boston is 15-10-1 at home this season and 4-4-2 in their last ten games, while the Avalanche are 15-6-2 on the road and 8-1-1 in their last ten games.

    The Bruins are 73-58-15-3 in 149 regular season games against the Avalanche/Québec Nordiques in franchise history with 557 goals for and 488 goals against in that span.

    Marchand leads the B’s in scoring this season with 21-28–49 totals in 39 games played, while Pastrnak leads the team in goals (25) and ranks second in points (46) in 49 games.

    Bergeron rounds out the top-three in team scoring with 35 points (12 goals, 23 assists) in 45 games.

    A few milestones are within reach in Monday’s matinée meeting with the Avalanche.

    Bergeron (20) is one shorthanded goal away from tying Don Marcotte (21) for the 4th-most shorthanded goals in franchise history, Coyle (198) is two assists away from his 200th career NHL assist and Haula (99) is one goal away from his 100th career NHL goal.

    At the other end of the rink, the Avalanche are 13-2-1-1 in 17 games at TD Garden– outscoring the Bruins, 45-28, in that span– and 4-0-0 in day games this season.

    Colorado is 12-2-1 in matinée games dating back to the start of the 2019-20 season.

    Nazem Kadri leads the Avs in scoring so far this season with 63 points (21 goals, 42 assists) in 46 games, while Mikko Rantanen (26-32–58 totals in 46 games) and Cale Makar (18-32–50 totals in 45 games) round out the top-three on the roster.

    Makar had an assist in Colorado’s, 5-3, win at Buffalo on Saturday and reached the 50-point plateau for his second time in three seasons (he’s yet to appear in 57 or more games in a regular season thus far) and did so in his 45th game of the season.

    He trails only Brian Leetch (38 games in 1991-92, 43 games in 1990-91), Mike Green (43 games in 2008-09), Gary Suter (44 games in 1987-88) and Steve Duchesne (44 games in 1988-89) among defenders aged 23 or younger in reaching 50 points in as few games since 1986-87.

    In the crease, Swayman (10-7-3, 2.14 goals-against average, .923 save percentage in 21 games played) is expected to get the start for the Bruins after making 29 saves on 31 shots faced in Saturday’s, 3-2, overtime win in Ottawa.

    Darcy Kuemper (25-5-2, 2.40 goals-against average, .920 save percentage in 35 games played) is likely to get the start for the Avalanche after making 29 saves on 32 shots faced in Saturday’s, 5-3, win against the Sabres in Buffalo.

    He made 29 saves on 32 shots against in Colorado’s, 4-3, overtime victory against Boston on Jan. 26th, while Ullmark turned aside 37 out of 41 shots faced in the overtime loss for the B’s.

    The Bruins host the Avalanche before embarking on a six-game road trip through Seattle, San Jose, Los Angeles, Anaheim, Vegas and Columbus, while Colorado finishes up a four-game road trip in Detroit on Wednesday after Monday’s matinée in Boston.

    Expected lineups

    Boston Bruins

    BRUINS LINES

    71 Taylor Hall 37 Patrice Bergeron (C) 88 David Pastrnak (A)

    11 Trent Frederic 13 Charlie Coyle 12 Craig Smith

    56 Erik Haula 23 Jack Studnicka 17 Nick Foligno

    74 Jake DeBrusk 92 Tomáš Nosek 20 Curtis Lazar

    58 Urho Vaakanainen 73 Charlie McAvoy

    48 Matt Grzelcyk 25 Brandon Carlo (A)

    28 Derek Forbort 6 Mike Reilly

    1 Jeremy Swayman

    35 Linus Ullmark

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

    John Moore (unlisted), Brad Marchand (suspension), Jakub Zboril (right ACL), Connor Clifton, Anton Blidh

    Colorado Avalanche

    92 Gabriel Landeskog (C) 29 Nathan MacKinnon (A) 96 Mikko Rantanen (A)

    13 Valeri Nichuskin 91 Nazem Kadri 95 Andre Burakovsky

    17 Tyson Jost 37 J.T. Compher 16 Nicolas Aube-Kubel

    43 Darren Helm 18 Alex Newhook 25 Logan O’Connor

    7 Devon Toews 8 Cale Makar

    3 Jack Johnson 49 Samuel Girard

    28 Ryan Murray 6 Erik Johnson

    35 Darcy Kuemper

    39 Pavel Francouz

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

    Bowen Byram (upper body), Stefan Matteau (IR), Kurtis MacDermid

    Goaltending stats entering Monday

    Boston Bruins

    1 Jeremy Swayman 10-7-3 in 21 GP, 2.14 GAA .923 SV%, 2 SO

    35 Linus Ullmark 16-8-1 in 26 GP, 2.79 GAA .909 SV%, 0 SO

    Colorado Avalanche

    35 Darcy Kuemper 25-5-2 in 35 GP, 2.40 GAA, .920 SV%, 3 SO

    39 Pavel Francouz 7-2-0 in 9 GP, 2.39 GAA, .921 SV%, 2 SO

  • 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.

  • Hurricanes sweep season series against Boston for first time in 10 years

    Hurricanes sweep season series against Boston for first time in 10 years

    The Carolina Hurricanes shutout the Boston Bruins, 6-0, Thursday night at TD Garden to sweep their regular season series (3-0-0) against Boston for the first time since the 2011-12 season.

    Andrei Svechnikov had a three-point night (one goal, two assists), while Frederik Andersen (25-6-1, 2.01 goals-against average, .930 save percentage in 32 games played) made 34 saves on 34 shots against for his second shutout of the season.

    Bruins goaltender, Linus Ullmark (16-7-1, 2.78 goals-against average, .910 save percentage in 25 games played) stopped 37 out of 43 shots faced in the loss.

    Dating back to the 2019-20 season– as the two teams did not meet in the temporarily realigned division-based schedules in 2020-21– three out of their last four regular season games have been shutouts with the Hurricanes amassing two shutouts this season against Boston, while the B’s shutout the Canes in their only meeting in 2019-20.

    In 2021-22 alone, Carolina outscored Boston, 16-1.

    The Bruins last beat the Hurricanes, 2-0, on Dec. 3, 2019, at TD Garden as Jaroslav Halak made 24 saves en route to a shutout victory.

    Thursday night in Boston, the Bruins fell to 26-16-3 (57 points) on the season, but remain in 4th place in the Atlantic Division, as well as in command of the second wild card berth in the Eastern Conference.

    Carolina, meanwhile, improved to 32-10-3 (67 points) overall and sit perched atop the Metropolitan Division– two points behind the Florida Panthers for first overall in the entire Eastern Conference– and three points behind the Colorado Avalanche in the race for the 2021-22 Presidents’ Trophy as the Avs beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 3-2, Thursday night.

    The Bruins were without the likes of Jakub Zboril (right ACL), Urho Vaakanainen (upper body), Patrice Bergeron (upper body) and Brad Marchand (suspension) in the, 6-0, loss Thursday.

    34-year-old goaltender, Tuukka Rask, announced his retirement from the National Hockey League after 15 NHL seasons (all with Boston).

    Ultimately, Rask’s body was not responding well enough from offseason hip surgery to continue to play at the level of competition that the Finnish goaltender desired after signing a one-year deal with Boston on Jan. 11th and playing in four games (2-2-0, 4.29 goals-against average, .884 save percentage) this season.

    Rask leaves the game leading the franchise in wins (308), games played by a goaltender (564), saves (14,345), minutes played by a goaltender (32,404:55) and second in career goals-against average (2.28), as well as shutouts (52).

    He is tied with Tim Thomas for the lead in career save percentage as a Bruin (.921) and was a member of the 2011 Stanley Cup championship roster, serving as Thomas’ backup in the 2010-11 and 2011-12 regular seasons after briefly usurping Thomas for the role of the starter in 2009-10.

    Rask was named to the All Star Game in 2017, as well as in 2020, but chose not to go, thereby serving a mandatory one-game suspension in the following game after the All Star break.

    He won the Vezina Trophy as the league’s best goaltender in 2013-14 and shared the honor of winning the William M. Jennings Trophy with Halak in 2019-20.

    Tiny Thompson spent parts of 11 seasons with Boston, while Frank Brimsek played in nine, Gerry Cheevers played in 12 and Thomas spent eight years with the club.

    Rask made his league debut in the 2007-08 season and played in 15 seasons for Boston. All for Boston.

    Thompson was traded to the Detroit Red Wings as Brimsek forced Art Ross’ hand in the 1938-39 season. Brimsek was dealt to Chicago at the twilight of his career prior to the 1949-50 season.

    Cheevers left for a stint in the World Hockey Association in Cleveland from 1972-76, before returning to the Bruins.

    Thomas sat out the lockout shortened 2012-13 season and was subsequently traded to the New York Islanders on Feb. 7, 2013, as a result before making an NHL comeback with the Florida Panthers in 2013-14, prior to being traded to the Dallas Stars at the 2014 trade deadline, where he finished his career.

    The Bruins traded Andrew Raycroft to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Rask on June 24, 2006, after the Leafs selected Rask 21st overall in 2005.

    Rask backstopped Boston to three playoff series wins against Toronto in 2013, 2018, and 2019– leading the Bruins to a pair of Stanley Cup Final appearances in 2013, and 2019.

    The torch in the crease passes as Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman look to compete for the starting role in the years to come.

    As Bergeron and Marchand were out of the lineup on Thursday, the Bruins had no players remaining from the 2011 Stanley Cup Final in the night’s action for just the second time (previous, Dec. 16th at the Islanders in a, 3-1, loss this season while Bergeron and Marchand were in COVID-19 protocol).

    Jack Studnicka and Tyler Lewington were recalled from the Providence Bruins (AHL), while Oskar Steen was reassigned ahead of Thursday night’s loss to Carolina.

    Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, placed Studnicka on the second line with Jake DeBrusk and Craig Smith on his wings– promoting the usual second line to first line duties for the night.

    Meanwhile, Trent Frederic and Anton Blidh returned to action with Frederic at left wing on the third line and Blidh at left wing on the fourth line.

    Charlie Coyle and Nick Foligno joined Frederic on the checking line, while Tomáš Nosek and Curtis Lazar were the usual suspects with Blidh on the fourth line.

    Bergeron, Lewington, Vaakanainen, Marchand and Zboril were all out of the lineup due to injury, suspension or healthy scratch purposes on Thursday.

    Cassidy informed reporters after the game that Bergeron would not be traveling with the team to Ottawa for Saturday’s matinée on the road against the Senators and remains “day-to-day” with a head injury.

    Martin Nečas cross checked Charlie McAvoy and presented Boston with the night’s first power play at 1:29 of the first period on Thursday.

    The Bruins, however, did not convert on the ensuing skater advantage.

    A few minutes later, Ian Cole caught Lazar with a high stick at 4:21, but once again the B’s were powerless on the power play.

    Frederic cut a rut to the box for cross checking Svechnikov at 7:43 of the first period and yielded Carolina their first power play of the game as a result.

    It didn’t take the Hurricanes long before they converted on the skater advantage as Vincent Trocheck (13) stood in the right place at the right time to kick a pass to himself and score on the far side on a rebound.

    Teuvo Teräväinen (22) and Svechnikov (23) tallied the assists on Trocheck’s power-play goal as the Canes pulled ahead, 1-0, at 8:26 of the first period.

    About a minute later, McAvoy unloaded on a clean hit in the neutral zone on Sebastian Aho– drawing the ire and a response from Tony DeAngelo as the two defenders exchanged fisticuffs and received fighting majors at 9:35.

    Moments later, Connor Clifton cut a rut to the sin bin or interference at 13:17, but Teräväinen shortly followed at 14:17 for hooking.

    After one minute of 4-on-4 action and an abbreviated power play for the Bruins, neither team could muster another goal on the scoreboard, despite Carolina receiving a power play that bled into the middle frame courtesy of a high stick from David Pastrnak on Nečas at 18:07 of the first period.

    Entering the first intermission, the Hurricanes led, 1-0, on the scoreboard and, 18-11, in shots on goal.

    The Canes also held the advantage in blocked shots (3-1), takeaways (3-0), giveaways (3-2) and faceoff win percentage (59-41). Meanwhile, the Bruins held the advantage in hits (22-9).

    Carolina went 1/3 and Boston went 0/3 on the power play heading into the middle frame.

    The Bruins failed to clear their own zone and turned the puck over right to Svechnikov (18) for an unassisted shot that had eyes and beat Ullmark high on the blocker side.

    The Hurricanes jumped out to a, 2-0, lead as a result at 2:35 of the second period and kept pouring it on as the period continued.

    Almost midway through the second period, Nečas sent a shot towards the net that Teräväinen deflected off Ullmark and generated a fortunate rebound to Aho (20) as Aho crashed the net in open ice– extending Carolina’s lead to three goals in the process.

    Teräväinen (23) and Nečas (16) notched the assists on Aho’s goal as a result and the Hurricanes pulled ahead, 3-0, at 8:01.

    Late in the period, while dominating attacking zone possession, the Canes generated yet another rebound that Jesper Fast scooped up and dropped a pass back to the point where Brett Pesce (3) fluttered a shot past the Boston netminder to give Carolina a four-goal lead.

    Fast (8) and Jordan Staal (11) had the assists as the Hurricanes took a, 4-0, lead at 14:02 of the second period.

    Minutes later, Svechnikov and Matt Grzelcyk collided awkwardly in the corner as Grzelcyk went down in pain– clutching his right shoulder.

    After a minute on the ice, Grzelcyk skated off on his own power and went down the tunnel, but did not return to the night’s action.

    Through 40 minutes of action Thursday night, the Hurricanes led, 4-0, on the scoreboard, as well as in shots on goal, 29-22, despite both teams amassing 11 shots on net each in the second period alone.

    Carolina held the advantage in blocked shots (7-1), takeaways (4-1) and faceoff win% (52-48), while Boston led in hits (36-26).

    Both teams had eight giveaways each, while the Canes remained 1/3 and the B’s were 0/3 on the power play heading into the final frame.

    Foligno thought he scored a goal and got the Bruins on the board 22 seconds into the third period– only, the on-ice officials quickly waved off the would-be goal.

    The official call on ice was no goal by rule of incidental contact with the goaltender as Foligno’s momentum brought him into touch with Andersen– up close and personal as he bowled into the Hurricanes goaltender.

    Cassidy challenged the call on the ice on the grounds that he believed his Boston forward was pushed by Brady Skjei, which caused Foligno to continue his path towards the net instead of having a last second chance to bail out.

    Video review did not agree with Cassidy’s interpretation of events and the call on the ice was confirmed– no goal.

    The Bruins were assessed a bench minor for delay of game as a result of losing the challenge and sent DeBrusk to serve the infraction in the box.

    Late on the ensuing power play, Teräväinen gathered a pass from Svechnikov, twirled and spun the rubber biscuit over to Aho (21) for Aho’s second goal of the game– giving Carolina a, 5-0, lead on the scoreboard.

    Teräväinen (24) and Svechnikov (24) tallied the assists on Aho’s power-play goal at 1:58 of the third period.

    Shortly thereafter, Steven Lorentz tripped Derek Forbort at 6:50, but Boston’s power play went by the wayside (by now you should probably realize this, since Carolina shutout the Bruins on Thursday).

    There was no change in the number of skaters on the ice when McAvoy and Aho got into a shoving match and exchanged slashing minors at 8:13.

    Things started to quiet down thereafter before Carolina made one more mark on the scoreboard courtesy of a great display of hand-eye coordination from Staal.

    Off of an attacking zone faceoff win, Skjei received a pass at the point and wound up to take a shot.

    Skjei sent the puck fluttering through the air whereby Staal (3) tipped the shot close past Smith and over Ullmark’s glove to give the Hurricanes a, 6-0, advantage on the scoreboard.

    Skjei (12) recorded the only assist on Staal’s goal at 15:24 of the third period.

    After that, there were no more goals and no more penalties for the rest of the night– just the sound of the final horn when time ticked down to zeros across the clock.

    Carolina won, 6-0, and finished the night leading in shots on goal, 43-34, while also amassing a, 14-12, advantage in shots on goal in the third period alone.

    The Hurricanes left TD Garden leading in blocked shots (13-4), giveaways (10-9) and faceoff win% (51-49), while the Bruins exited their own building leading in hits (42-32).

    The Canes went 2/4 on the power play on Thursday, while the B’s finished the night 0/4 on the skater advantage.

    Andersen, meanwhile, picked up his second shutout of the season, as well as the 21st of his career in the process as Carolina finished their regular season series with Boston– outscoring the Bruins by a combined score of, 16-1, over three games.

    Both of Andersen’s shutouts so far in 2021-22, came against the Bruins as the Hurricanes swept their regular season series against the B’s.

    Boston fell to 9-10-3 (6-6-1 at home) when allowing the game’s first goal, 4-10-2 (4-6-1 at home) when trailing after the first period and 3-13-2 (3-8-1 at home) when trailing after two periods this season.

    Carolina, meanwhile, improved to 23-3-2 (12-2-2 on the road) when scoring first, 19-1-1 (8-1-1 on the road) when leading after one and 22-1-1 (8-0-1 on the road) when leading after the second period in 2021-22.

    The Bruins hit the road for the next four games and will pay a visit to the Ottawa Senators on Saturday, New York Rangers next Tuesday, New York Islanders next Thursday and Senators once more next Saturday.

    Boston returns home to host the Colorado Avalanche on Feb. 21st before swinging through Seattle, San Jose and Los Angeles to close out the month of February.

  • Penguins complete comeback in first meeting with Boston this season

    Penguins complete comeback in first meeting with Boston this season

    Danton Heinen scored a pair of goals in his first game back at TD Garden as a member of the visiting team since he was traded to the Anaheim Ducks for Nick Ritchie on Feb. 24, 2020, while Sidney Crosby scored the eventual game-winning goal and Bryan Rust added an empty net goal to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins over the Boston Bruins, 4-2, on Tuesday night.

    Heinen signed with Pittsburgh as a free agent on July 29, 2021, after spending parts of two seasons with Anaheim. The Ducks opted not to tender a qualifying offer to the then would have been-restricted free agent.

    Meanwhile, Tristan Jarry (24-8-6, 2.21 goals-against average, .925 save percentage in 38 games played) made a season-high 43 saves on 45 shots against in the win for the Penguins.

    Bruins goaltender, Jeremy Swayman (8-7-2, 2.35 goals-against average, .914 save percentage in 18 games played) stopped 21 out of 24 shots faced in the loss.

    David Pastrnak had a pair of goals in Boston’s loss and Patrice Bergeron exited the game midway through the third period with an upper body injury induced by what was deemed as an “incidental” trip (as there was no penalty on the play) by Crosby.

    The B’s will likely be without Brad Marchand in their next matchup as a result of his antics in the final minute of the action, but more on that after as we recap some roster news and notes from the All Star break to Tuesday night’s loss.

    But first, a quick standings update.

    Boston fell to 26-15-3 (55 points) overall, but still holds on to 4th place in the Atlantic Division as well as the second wild card in the Eastern Conference.

    Pittsburgh improved to 28-11-8 (64 points) on the season and in command of 3rd place in the Metropolitan Division standings.

    The B’s fell to 0-1-0 against the Pens this season after amassing a 5-3-0 record in their regular season series in 2020-21, as well as a 2-1-0 record against Pittsburgh in 2019-20.

    The Bruins were without the services of Jakub Zboril (right ACL), Trent Frederic (upper body), Tuukka Rask (lower body) and Urho Vaakanainen (upper body) on Tuesday, while Nick Foligno and Erik Haula made their return to the lineup.

    Foligno took Anton Blidh’s spot on the fourth line left wing, while Haula resumed his role as the second line center with Tomáš Nosek returning to his fourth line job.

    As a result of the lineup changes and in accordance with the league’s rules on temporary taxi squads up until the All Star break, Steven Fogarty, Tyler Lewington and Jesper Frödén were reassigned to the Providence Bruins (AHL).

    On defense, Connor Clifton took over Vaakanainen’s spot on the third pairing alongside Derek Forbort.

    Frederic, Rask, Vaakanainen, Zboril and Blidh made up Boston’s list of injured players and healthy scratches against the Penguins.

    During the first intermission The Athletic‘s, Fluto Shinzawa, reported that Rask’s comeback from offseason hip surgery was likely coming to an end and that the 34-year-old goaltender is considering a retirement announcement in the next few days.

    Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, offered no update on Rask’s status after the game other than reiterating that Rask will be unavailable for the week and any decisions that may suggest retirement would come from Rask– not as a team directive.

    If Rask is, in fact, retiring, he would do so as Boston’s winningest goaltender in franchise history, amassing 308 wins in 564 career NHL games– all with the Bruins– since making his league debut in 2007-08.

    In that 15-season span, Rask would finish with a career goals-against average of 2.28 and a career save percentage of .921 in about 32,405 minutes played– the most by any Boston goaltender in club history, while ranking second in shutouts (52) to Tiny Thompson’s 74.

    He also served as the backup netminder on the 2011 Stanley Cup champion roster and backstopped Boston to two more Final appearances in 2013, and 2019.

    Almost two minutes into the opening frame, Radim Zohorna tripped up Charlie Coyle and cut a rut to the penalty box at 1:40 of the first period as result.

    It didn’t take Boston long to convert on the ensuing power play, as Brian Boyle botched an indirect pass up the boards intended for John Marino that was instead snagged by Bergeron as the Bruins captain kept the rubber biscuit in the attacking zone.

    Bergeron worked a pass up to Taylor Hall, who set up Pastrnak (23) for a one-timer goal from one knee at the faceoff dot– giving the B’s a, 1-0, lead at 2:01 of the first period in the process.

    Hall (20) and Bergeron (23) tallied the assists on Pastrnak’s power-play goal.

    A few minutes later, Jake DeBrusk hooked Dominik Simon and presented the Penguins with their first power play of the night at 5:27.

    Boston’s penalty kill stood tall, however, and killed off DeBrusk’s minor.

    Late in the period, the Pens turned the puck over in their attacking zone– rendering a de facto 3-on-1 opportunity for the Bruins as Haula sent a pass to Hall through the zone before Hall’s shot generated a rebound whereby Pastrnak (24) batted the puck out of mid-air and under Jarry’s glove.

    Boston took a, 2-0, lead courtesy of Pastrnak’s 40th career two-goal game, while Hall (21) and Haula (12) notched the assists at 15:34 of the first period.

    Entering the first intermission, the B’s led, 2-0, on the scoreboard, as well as in shots on net, 17-10.

    Pittsburgh held the advantage in blocked shots (6-5) and hits (12-11), while Boston led in takeaways (5-2), giveaways (5-4) and faceoff win percentage (53-47).

    The Penguins were 0/1 and the Bruins were 1/1 on the power play heading into the middle frame.

    Heinen (10) struck early in the second period– cutting Boston’s lead in half, 2-1, courtesy of being in the right place at the right time to catch a pass from Brock McGinn on a drive-by through the low slot before wrapping the rubber biscuit around Swayman.

    McGinn (6) and Mike Matheson (13) had the assists on Heinen’s first goal of the game at 4:18 of the second period.

    Just 28 seconds later, Heinen (11) recorded his second goal of the night courtesy of a shot with eyes from the circle to Swayman’s left off of the Bruins goaltender’s shoulder and into the twine.

    Marino (17) and Evan Rodrigues (18) notched the assists on the goal as the Pens tied it, 2-2, at 4:46 of the second period– marking the fastest two goals by one Penguins skater since Martin Straka scored a club-record two goals in a seven-second span on Feb. 11, 2000, against the Edmonton Oilers.

    Almost midway through the period, Pittsburgh was caught with too many skaters on the ice– rendering a bench minor at 7:24 that was served by Heinen.

    Boston couldn’t convert on the ensuing power play, however.

    Minutes later, Coyle interfered with Jeff Carter and yielded a power play to the Penguins at 11:56.

    It took roughly a minute on the skater advantage for Crosby (13) to notch a power-play goal– the eventual game-winner in the process, as well as his 499th career NHL goal– to give Pittsburgh their first lead of the night, 3-2, at 12:53 of the second period.

    Rust (19) and Jake Guentzel (24) had the assists on the goal as the Penguins capped off a trio of goals in a span of 8:35.

    Late in the period, Matheson and Hall exchanged some pleasantries after a whistle and earned minor penalties for roughing at 18:49– resulting in 4-on-4 action that would seep into the final frame.

    Through 40 minutes of action, Pittsburgh led Boston on the scoreboard, 3-2, despite the Bruins leading in shots on goal, 35-18– including an, 18-8, advantage in the second period alone.

    The Penguins held the advantage in blocked shots (11-7) and hits (24-19), while the B’s led in takeaways (9-5), giveaways (7-5) and faceoff win% (66-34).

    Both teams were 1/2 on the power play heading into the second intermission.

    Craig Smith interfered with McGinn at 1:43 of the third period, but the Penguins weren’t able to score on the ensuing power play to begin the final frame.

    Moments later, Crosby took down Bergeron with an errant leg as the Bruins captain smacked the back of his head off the boards while falling.

    Bergeron did not return to the night’s action after going down the tunnel under his own power after a brief exchange with a Boston athletic trainer.

    Matt Grzelcyk tried to invite Crosby to a square dance shortly thereafter with a swift cross check, but the Pittsburgh captain would not accept and instead was caught retaliating and assessed a roughing minor at 9:25.

    The Bruins did not score on the resulting power play, however.

    With 1:42 remaining in the action, Cassidy pulled Swayman for an extra attacker amidst the jumbled lines, but as Smith shortly tried to enter the zone and fumbled the puck– Charlie McAvoy couldn’t recover on the error and Rust broke free with possession.

    Rust (15) skated through the neutral zone and buried the rubber biscuit in the open basket for a, 4-2, lead at 18:31 of the third period, while Guentzel (25) recorded the only assist.

    Swayman vacated the crease once more with about 1:19 left on the clock, but it was ultimately to no avail despite Boston crowding the net in the other end.

    After Jarry delivered a quick slash amongst the net front traffic, Marchand took exception to the Pittsburgh goaltender’s action and choice words shortly thereafter– appearing to aggravate the oft-short-tempered Bruin in the process.

    Marchand swung a punch at Jarry’s mask and proceeded to get his stick in Jarry’s face– whether or not it was a forceful shove or spear remains at the mercy of the discretion of the officials on the ice and/or league office as Marchand was assessed a match penalty on the play, rendering an automatic suspension unless otherwise stated.

    The B’s finished the night shorthanded as Marchand’s roughing minor and match penalty came at 19:35 of the third period.

    Jarry took the high road after the game and told reporters “I think it’s just the heat of the moment, everyone’s battling hard out there. [Marchand’s] just trying to get the puck to the net and I think the team did a great job. … It’s part of the game and it stays on the ice.”

    Cassidy noted after the game that Marchand’s antics were “undisciplined” and that he “needs to control his emotions in that situation.”

    The rest is up to the league now.

    At the final horn Tuesday night, the Penguins had won, 4-2, despite trailing Boston in shots on goal, 45-25.

    The Bruins held the advantage in shots on goal in the third period alone, 10-7, as well as in giveaways (11-8) and faceoff win% (55-45), while Pittsburgh wrapped up the night’s action leading in blocked shots (19-13) and hits (30-22).

    The Pens finished the night 1/4 on the power play while the B’s left their own ice 1/3 on the skater advantage in the loss.

    The Bruins fell to 17-6-0 (9-4-0 at home) when scoring first, 16-1-0 (8-1-0 at home) when leading after the first period and 3-12-2 (3-7-1 at home) when trailing after two periods this season.

    Pittsburgh improved to 7-8-7 (4-3-3 on the road) when allowing the game’s first goal, 4-3-3 (3-2-1 on the road) when trailing after one and 21-1-1 (11-1-0 on the road) when leading after the second period in 2021-22.

    Boston will host the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday before venturing across the border to visit the Ottawa Senators on Saturday afternoon to begin a four-game road trip.

    The Bruins swing through New York for a pair of games against the Rangers and Islanders before visiting the Senators once more next Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, respectively.