Tag: Craig Smith

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DeBrusk scores pair in overtime victory on the road for Boston

Jake DeBrusk continued his hot streak Monday night at Nationwide Arena as the Boston Bruins beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 3-2, in overtime thanks to a game-winner from No. 74 in black and gold himself– which also happened to be his second goal of the game.

DeBrusk has six goals in his last five games as the Bruins are now 7-1-0 in their last eight games, while Linus Ullmark (22-9-2, 2.63 goals-against average, .911 save percentage in 35 games played) made 20 saves on 22 shots against in the win for Boston.

Columbus goaltender, Elvis Merzlikins (22-18-6, 3.40 goals-against average, .903 save percentage in 48 games played), stopped 34 out of 37 shots faced in the overtime loss.

The B’s improved to 44-20-5 (93 points) overall and moved into 3rd place in the Atlantic Division as the Bruins hold the regulation wins tiebreaker with the Tampa Bay Lightning (Boston has 35 regulation wins to Tampa’s 33).

The Blue Jackets, meanwhile, fell to 32-32-6 (70 points) on the season and remain in 6th place in the Metropolitan Division.

Boston swept Columbus in their regular season series 3-0-0 for the first time since the 2013-14 season.

Jakub Zboril (right ACL) was the only Bruin out due to injury on Monday, while head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made one change to his lineup– scratching Derek Forbort and replacing him with Josh Brown (while switching Mike Reilly back to his regular role as a left shot defender to Brown’s right shot on the third pairing, O.K. so technically two changes).

Forbort joined Jack Studnicka, Marc McLaughlin, Connor Clifton and Anton Blidh on Boston’s list of healthy scratches in Columbus.

Blue Jackets head coach, Brad Larsen, was back from the league’s COVID-19 protocol and returned to his regular job behind the bench after assistant coach, Pascal Vincent, filled in for Larsen.

Emil Bemström (5) sped through the neutral zone on a breakout, got around Brandon Carlo and shot the puck past Ullmark high on the short side– giving Columbus the first lead of the night, 1-0, at 4:31 of the first period.

Jakub Voracek (45) had the only assist on Bemström’s goal.

A minute later, Carson Meyer tripped up Charlie McAvoy for his first career minor penalty in his first career National Hockey League game at 5:32.

Boston did not convert on the ensuing power play, however, and cut their time on the advantage short as a result of McAvoy’s ensuing holding infraction at 6:13.

After 1:19 of 4-on-4 action, the Blue Jackets had an abbreviated power play go by the wayside.

Late in the period, Voracek and Trent Frederic received roughing minors at 14:45 and yielded some more 4-on-4 action that only lasted for a couple of seconds on the ensuing faceoff as Bruins forward, Brad Marchand, interfered with Justin Danforth at 14:47.

Columbus had a rare 4-on-3 power play as a result for 1:58.

The Blue Jackets did not score on the skater advantage with all that extra open ice.

Shortly after he was freed from the penalty box, Marchand made a big hit along the wall as he checked Andrew Peeke hard into the boards– leading with his shoulder first, despite a violent end result in which Peeke was left visibly dazed after laying face down on the ice.

Meanwhile, instead of stopping the play (as Columbus did not have possession, nor did the on-ice officials determine that there was the potential for a severe enough or significant injury to have just occurred), McAvoy retrieved a loose puck and setup DeBrusk on a breakaway before DeBrusk (20) shot the puck off of Merzlikins’ blocker and into the twine– tying the game, 1-1, in the process.

McAvoy (40) had the only assist on DeBrusk’s goal at 18:32 of the first period while the ensuing celebration was subdued while the Blue Jackets’ athletic trainer tended to Peeke at the other end of the rink.

DeBrusk, meanwhile, reached the 20-goal plateau for the second time in his career (five seasons) and first time since he had 27 goals in 68 games in 2018-19.

The 25-year-old forward also extended his goal scoring streak to five games as a result and would finish the night with six goals in the last five games (another first for DeBrusk since Feb. 2019– a five-game goal scoring streak, that is).

Voracek had a few choice words for the on-ice officials after allowing play to continue while Peeke laid face down on the ice and ended up receiving a misconduct as a result at 18:32.

Less than a minute later, Nick Foligno tripped Oliver Bjorkstrand and cut a rut to the sin bin at 19:24 as a result.

Columbus didn’t convert on the ensuing power play, however.

As the first period came to a close, Bjorkstrand and Patrice Bergeron exchanged pleasantries– rendering roughing infractions for each of them at 20:00 of the opening frame.

Entering the first intermission, the Bruins and Blue Jackets were tied, 1-1, despite Boston leading in shots on goal, 10-9.

The B’s also held the advantage in blocked shots (3-2), takeaways (2-1) and faceoff win percentage (70-30), while Columbus led in giveaways (2-1) and hits (9-8).

The Blue Jackets went 0/3 on the power play, while Boston was 0/1 on the skater advantage heading into the middle frame.

Vladislav Gavrikov caught Taylor Hall with a high stick and drew blood at 2:25 of the second period– resulting in a four-minute double minor infraction as a result.

Boston’s extended power play was cut short, however, as Hampus Lindholm was penalized for interference at 4:00 of the second period.

After 2:00 of 4-on-4 action, the Bruins would go back on the power play for 25 seconds, but couldn’t convert on the abbreviated skater advantage.

Shortly thereafter, Frederic kept the puck in the attacking zone as the Blue Jackets failed to clear it and Boston worked the rubber biscuit around the horn before Charlie Coyle spun away from his opponent and sent a pass to Craig Smith (16) for a wrist shot goal from the high slot under Merzlikins’ blocker.

Coyle (25) and McAvoy (41) tallied the assists on Smith’s goal as the Bruins took a, 2-1, lead at 7:52 of the second period.

After a stoppage midway through the middle frame, Peeke tried getting a few extra jabs at Marchand while DeBrusk stepped in as a scrum encircled the two initial skaters exchanging pleasantries.

While DeBrusk should have gone to the box with Peeke for roughing, the on-ice officials instead assessed minors to Peeke and Marchand at 13:53– yielding more 4-on-4 action for what would be a pair of minutes until Sean Kuraly hooked David Pastrnak at 14:22.

Boston’s abbreviated 4-on-3 power play went by without issue for Columbus’ penalty kill, however.

Jake Christiansen then checked Frederic along the boards right around where Marchand and Peeke collided in the first period and Frederic skated off the ice and headed down the tunnel.

The Bruins later tweeted during the final frame of regulation that Frederic would not return to the night’s action with an upper body injury.

Boston struggled to get out of their own zone in the dying minute of the second period as Columbus miraculously kept the puck from exiting the attacking zone at the blue line with a quick reach into the sky to bat the puck back down to the ice.

After sending it around the zone, Voracek fed Zach Werenski through the slot as Werenski (11) pinched in from the point and one-timed the puck past Ullmark’s glove side– tying the game, 2-2, in the process.

Voracek (46) and Patrik Laine (27) had the assists while Cassidy used his coach’s challenge to review if the Blue Jackets had technically entered the zone offside as a result of their effort to keep the puck in the offensive zone seconds prior.

The ensuing video review was inconclusive, which mean that the call on the ice would stand.

Columbus had tied the game, 2-2, at 19:44 of the second period and the B’s were assessed a bench minor for delay of game as Smith skated over to the box to serve the infraction.

Through 40 minutes of play, the score was tied, 2-2, despite Boston leading in shots on goal, 21-14, including an, 11-5, advantage in the second period alone.

The Bruins also led in blocked shots (7-6), takeaways (4-2) and faceoff win% (63-37), while the Blue Jackets led in hits (18-10).

Both teams had two giveaways each and were 0/4 on the power play heading into the final frame of regulation.

Peeke shoved Marchand to the ice with an open palm while the Boston forward entered the attacking zone and presented the Bruins with an early power play at 3:52 of the third period.

Boston’s time on the skater advantage was cut short again, however, as the night’s trend continued with Bergeron hooking Gustav Nyquist to prevent a shorthanded scoring opportunity at 4:39 of the third period.

As a result, the two teams were back to 4-on-4 play, while Pastrnak shortly made an exit from the game with what might have been a core injury after he got tangled up with Gavrikov and fell awkwardly about midway through the final frame of regulation.

After 60 minutes, the Bruins and Blue Jackets remained tied, 2-2, on the scoreboard, despite Boston holding a, 34-22, advantage in shots on goal– including a, 13-8, advantage in the third period alone.

Columbus attained the advantage in takeaways (7-4) and hits (24-15), while the B’s led in blocked shots (12-7), giveaways (3-2) and faceoff win% (64-37).

As no penalties were called in overtime, both teams finished the night 0/5 on the power play on Monday.

Cassidy started Bergeron, Marchand and McAvoy in overtime, while Larsen countered with Voracek, Laine and Werenski.

It wasn’t long before the two teams made one change and Lindholm made a timely interception before giving the puck to DeBrusk (21) for a pump fake catch and release game-winning overtime goal on the blocker side at 1:03 of the extra frame.

Lindholm (21) had the only assist on DeBrusk’s second goal of the game as a result and the Bruins won, 3-2.

Boston finished the night leading in shots on goal, 37-22– including a, 3-0, advantage in overtime alone.

The Bruins left Nationwide Arena leading in blocked shots (12-7) and faceoff win% (64-36), while the Blue Jackets exited their own building with the advantage in giveaways (4-3) and hits (24-15).

With the win, the B’s improved to 17-3-1 in their last 21 games– including a 7-1-0 record in their last eight games.

Boston is now 7-3 in overtime (9-5 past regulation overall) this season, while Columbus fell to 6-4 in the extra frame (10-6 past regulation overall).

The Bruins also improved to 12-13-3 (5-6-2 on the road) when allowing the game’s first goal, 14-5-2 (8-2-1 on the road) when tied after the first period and 12-4-0 (5-3-0 on the road) when tied after two periods this season.

The Blue Jackets fell to 17-10-2 (11-6-2 at home) when scoring first, 17-11-3 (10-6-3 at home) when tied after one and 6-6-2 (4-2-2 at home) when tied after two periods in 2021-22.

Boston continues their four-game road trip (1-0-0) Tuesday night in Detroit before heading to Tampa on Friday and Washington D.C. on Sunday.

The Bruins return to TD Garden for a three-game homestand starting April 12th.

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Haula scores twice in, 5-2, victory for Bruins over Columbus

Erik Haula opened the night’s scoring and had the eventual game-winning goal late in the third period before the Boston Bruins added a pair of empty net goals in their, 5-2, win against the Columbus Blue Jackets Saturday night at TD Garden.

Jeremy Swayman (20-9-3, 2.23 goals-against average, .920 save percentage in 33 games played) made 22 saves on 24 shots against in the win for Boston and became the seventh rookie netminder to amass a 20-win season in a Bruins uniform in his first full season.

Swayman joins Tuukka Rask (22 wins in 2009-10), Andrew Raycroft (29 wins in 2003-04) and Marco Baron (22 wins in 1981-82) as the only rookie goaltenders to do so with the B’s in the NHL’s expansion era (since 1967-68).

Columbus goaltender, Elvis Merzlikins (22-18-5, 3.42 goals-against average, .902 save percentage in 47 games played), stopped 37 out of 40 shots faced in the loss.

The Bruins improved to 43-20-5 (91 points) on the season and remain in 4th place in the Atlantic Division– two points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs and Tampa Bay Lightning (93 points) for 2nd and 3rd in the division, respectively, while maintaining a stronghold on the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference over the Washington Capitals (84 points).

Meanwhile, the Blue Jackets fell to 32-32-5 (69 points) overall and remain in 6th place in the Metropolitan Division.

The B’s are now 2-0-0 against Columbus this season with their final matchup in their 2021-22 regular season series set for Monday night (April 4th) at Nationwide Arena.

The Bruins went 0-1-1 against the Blue Jackets in 2019-20 and did not play each other last season due to the temporarily realigned divisions in the condensed 56-game schedule as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Craig Smith and Nick Foligno returned to action in their regular roles on the third and fourth lines, respectively, as the former missed Thursday night’s, 8-1, win against New Jersey due to a non-COVID related illness and the latter was “day-to-day” with a lower body injury.

As a result, Anton Blidh and Marc McLaughlin joined Jack Studnicka, Josh Brown and Connor Clifton in the press box as Boston’s healthy scratches Saturday night.

Brown, however, left Thursday’s win with an upper body injury and took part in Saturday’s morning skate without issue.

Jakub Zboril remains out of commission for the Bruins until next season as a result of his knee injury and subsequent surgery back in December.

In addition to the return of Smith and Foligno among his forwards, Bruce Cassidy moved Mike Reilly to the right side of the third defensive pairing in place of Brown and inserted Derek Forbort on the left side to start the night.

Columbus, meanwhile, was short behind the bench as head coach, Brad Larsen, is in COVID-19 protocol, so assistant coach, Pascal Vincent, called the shots for the Blue Jackets on Saturday.

B’s defender, Charlie McAvoy skated in his 300th career NHL game Saturday night after Boston and Columbus honored Foligno for having played in his 1,000th career game on March 15th.

Foligno spent parts of nine seasons with the Blue Jackets and served as captain from 2015-21, hence the delay in his special ceremony, in which the Bruins presented him with a fancy watch, fancy wine, a fancy painting and the traditional silver stick.

Late in the opening frame, Taylor Hall worked the puck deep into the offensive zone before sending a pass back to Hampus Lindholm.

Lindholm wrapped around the net and proceeded to feed McAvoy with a pass as McAvoy crashed the slot and sent a shot off of Merzlikins’ pad before the puck trickled through the crease.

Haula (11) was in the right place at the right time on the doorstep to bank the rubber biscuit off of a body and into the twine– giving the Bruins a, 1-0, lead in the process at 15:09 of the first period.

Hall (36) and McAvoy (38) tallied the assists as Boston got on the scoreboard first.

The B’s didn’t have the lead for long, however, as they were caught ion a lapse in the final minute of the first period.

Swayman mishandled a puck that went in and out of his glove before Gustav Nyquist (17) scored on the rebound with 27 seconds left before the first intermission– tying the game, 1-1, as a result.

Cole Sillinger (11) and Andrew Peeke (14) had the assists as Columbus evened things up at 19:32 of the first period.

Entering the first intermission, the Bruins and Blue Jackets were tied, 1-1, despite Boston holding a, 15-5, advantage in shots on goal.

The B’s also led in blocked shots (7-4), hits (10-9) and faceoff win percentage (56-44), while Columbus held the advantage in takeaways (4-0) and giveaways (10-5).

Neither team had yet to appear on the power play heading into the middle frame.

Yegor Chinakhov sent a bad angle shot off the apron of the net before Justin Danforth (7) scored on the rebound while crashing the slot to give the Blue Jackets a, 2-1, lead 42 seconds into the second period.

Chinakhov (7) and Sean Kuraly (14) notched the assists on Danforth’s goal and the Bruins trailed for the majority of the middle frame as a result.

Hall slashed Gavin Bayreuther and presented Columbus with the first power play of the night at 3;27, but the Blue Jackets failed to convert on the skater advantage.

Instead, late in the second period, the Bruins dominated possession in the attacking zone and worked the puck from Jake DeBrusk to Patrice Bergeron for a fake shot turned pass to Brad Marchand, whereby Marchand (31) sent the puck into the twine on a “tic-tac-goal” effort while Merzlikins dove across the crease– paddle first– in desperation.

Bergeron (33) and DeBrusk (13) had the assists as Boston tied things up, 2-2, at 18:13 of the second period.

Through 40 minutes of action, the two teams were tied, 2-2, on the scoreboard despite the Bruins leading in shots on goal, 27-20.

Columbus actually held the advantage in shots on net in the second period alone, 15-12, and led in blocked shots (10-8), takeaways (11-2), giveaways (15-11) and hits (24-18).

Boston, meanwhile, led in faceoff win% (52-48).

The Blue Jackets were 0/1 on the power play heading into the final frame and the Bruins had yet to see any action in the skater advantage.

Not much was happening on the event sheet until after the midpoint of the third period, when, at 14:06, Peeke hooked DeBrusk and yielded a power play to Boston for the first time Saturday night.

With 4:46 remaining in the game, Cassidy used his timeout to rally his skaters on the advantage.

Brandon Carlo sent a wrist shot from the point that Haula (12) redirected over the right pad and under Merzlikins’ blocker to give the Bruins a, 3-2, lead at 16:06 of the third period.

Carlo (9) and Lindholm (20) tallied the assists on Haula’s power-play goal and the B’s never looked back.

With 2:12 remaining, Vincent pulled his goaltender for an extra attacker. It backfired.

Boston had an easy breakout as Marchand flipped a pass to DeBrusk (19) on the opposite side of the ice for a lay-up empty net goal– his fourth goal in as many games– giving the Bruins a, 4-2, lead in the process at 18:00 of the third period.

Marchand (39) and McAvoy (39) had the assists on DeBrusk’s goal.

With 1:47 remaining, Merzlikins vacated the crease once more.

Vincent used his timeout after a stoppage with 1:24 remaining, but the Blue Jackets couldn’t muster anything.

Boston botched a couple of chances at the empty twine at the other end of the rink before Bergeron fed the rubber biscuit to Charlie Coyle (15) for an empty net goal and a three-goal lead at that at 19:54.

Bergeron (34) and Marchand (40) notched the assists and at the final horn the Bruins had won, 5-2, and finished the night leading in shots on goal, 42-24– including a, 15-4, advantage in the third period alone.

Boston left their own ice leading in blocked shots (18-12) and faceoff win% (61-39), while Columbus exited TD Garden with the advantage in giveaways (16-14) and hits (33-24).

The Blue Jackets went 0/1 on the power play, while the Bruins went 1/1 on the skater advantage on Saturday night.

Boston improved to 16-3-1 in their last 20 games, as well as 32-7-2 (15-4-1) when scoring the game’s first goal this season.

The B’s are now 13-5-2 (6-3-1 at home) when tied after one period and 11-4-0 (7-1-0 at home) when tied after two periods in 2021-22 as well.

Columbus fell to 15-22-4 (8-14-2 on the road) when allowing the game’s first goal, 17-11-2 (7-5-0 on the road) when tied after the first period and 6-6-1 (2-4-0 on the road) when tied after the second period this season.

The Bruins hit the road next week for four games beginning on Monday in Columbus before swinging through Detroit on Tuesday, Tampa on Friday (April 8th) and Washington, D.C. next Sunday (April 10th).

Boston returns for a three-game homestand on April 12th.

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Bruins blowout Devils in historic, 8-1, victory

Charlie Coyle, Curtis Lazar, Anton Blidh, Tomáš Nosek, Brandon Carlo and Josh Brown failed to record a point while 12 other members of the Boston Bruins had at least one mention on the scoresheet in an, 8-1, thrashing of the New Jersey Devils Thursday night at TD Garden.

Patrice Bergeron (1-2–3) and David Pastrnak (0-3–3) each had three points, while Linus Ullmark (21-9-2, 2.65 goals-against average, .911 save percentage in 34 games played) made 25 saves on 26 shots faced for a .962 save percentage in the win for Boston.

New Jersey goaltender, Nico Daws (8-9-0, 3.27 goals-against average, .894 save percentage in 19 games played) made 15 saves on 20 shots against in 29:01 time on ice in the loss before he was replaced by Jon Gillies (3-10-0, 3.88 goals-against average, .882 save percentage in 17 games played) made 17 saves on 20 shots (30:59 time on ice) in relief of Daws for no decision.

The Bruins improved to 42-20-5 (89 points) overall and remain in command of 4th place in the Atlantic Division– two points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs and one point behind the Tampa Bay Lightning for 2nd and 3rd, respectively.

The B’s also hold the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference entering April.

The Devils, meanwhile, fell to 24-38-5 (53 points) on the season and fell to 8th place in the Metropolitan Division, trailing the Philadelphia Flyers by virtue of a tiebreaker in which the Flyers have 17 regulation wins to New Jersey’s 16.

Boston swept their regular season series against the Devils 3-0-0 in 2021-22 after going 3-3-2 against New Jersey in last season’s condensed 56-game schedule (the Bruins went 2-0-1 against New Jersey in 2019-20).

The B’s outscored the Devils, 18-6, over the course of their three matchups this season.

Bruce Cassidy was without the services of Jakub Zboril (right ACL), Craig Smith (illness) and Nick Foligno (lower body) on Thursday.

As a result, Marc McLaughlin made his National Hockey League debut in place of Smith on the third line, while Foligno was ruled “day-to-day” and replaced by Blidh on the fourth line.

Cassidy also switched out Derek Forbot and Connor Clifton on the third defensive pairing with Mike Reilly and Brown– the latter of which made his Bruins debut on Thursday since being acquired at the trade deadline on March 21st.

Jack Studnicka, Forbort and Clifton served as Boston’s trio of healthy scratches against the Devils.

Prior to puck drop, the Bruins honored recently retired goaltender, Tuukka Rask, with a video and a ceremonial puck drop at center ice with his wife and three daughters.

Rask is the winningest goaltender in franchise history, amassing 308 wins in 564 games played (also a franchise record).

He ranks second in shutouts (52) with the club, second in career goals-against average (2.28) and is tied for first in career save percentage (.921) all in a Bruins uniform over 15 seasons.

Rask also appeared in 104 Stanley Cup Playoff games and won 57 of them (both franchise records)— winning the Stanley Cup as the backup in 2011, and appearing in two more Finals in 2013 and 2019.

Less than a minute into the opening frame, Matt Grzelcyk (4) wristed a shot from the point into the back of the twine over Daws’ blocker side– giving the Bruins a, 1-0, lead at 57 seconds of the first period.

The two teams got a few extra minutes between Grzelcyk’s unassisted goal and the next faceoff, however, as the TD Garden game clock malfunctioned and left both clubs skating around the ice in a free skate prior to resuming play.

Less than a couple of minutes later, Brown made his first impression with the Boston crowd by squaring off with Mason Geertsen and delivering a few heavy punches back and forth before both players were escorted to their respective penalty box with five-minute majors for fighting at 2:56.

Brown would later leave the game after the second period with an upper body injury, but didn’t look out of place in a Bruins uniform in his debut.

Shortly thereafter, Miles Wood checked Charlie McAvoy hard behind the Boston net and elicited a response from Reilly as the two players wrestled and tumbled to the ice at 4:16 of the first period.

Reilly received two roughing minors– four minutes in penalties in total– to Wood’s sole roughing infraction, rending the night’s first power play to New Jersey as a result.

The Devils did not score on the ensuing skater advantage however.

Hampus Lindholm was penalized for holding at 8:49 and New Jersey went back on the power play, but once again failed to convert on the advantage.

Instead, however, the Devils caught Boston in the vulnerable minute after special teams action as the Bruins were trapped in their own zone.

Nico Hischier cut behind the net, stopped on a dime and turned back the other way before one-handing it to Jack Hughes while falling to his knees after almost losing possession in the trapezoid.

Hughes (25) promptly buried the rubber biscuit high on the short side as Ullmark was a few inches too far off the post.

Hischier (30) and Damon Severson (28) notched the assists as New Jersey tied the game, 1-1, at 11:02 of the first period.

Roughly five minutes later, Jake DeBrusk (18) collected a rebound, deked and pulled the puck to his forehand around Daws’ right pad and into the back of the net for his third goal in as many games after Bergeron initially sent a shot with purpose off of Daws’ blocker back into the high slot.

Bergeron (31) and Lindholm (19) tallied the assists as the Bruins took a, 2-1, lead at 16:09.

Heading into the first intermission, Boston was ahead on the scoreboard and led, 12-7, in shots on goal.

The B’s also held the advantage in blocked shots (5-1), takeaways (4-2), hits (9-8) and faceoff win percentage (67-33).

The Devils led in giveaways (7-1) and were o/2 on the power play, while the Bruins had yet to see time on the skater advantage entering the middle frame.

Pastrnak broke up a pass while Erik Haula intercepted the puck and worked it back to Pastrnak, who wrapped around the goal frame as Haula (10) pounced on the rebound and scored over the glove side to extend Boston’s lead to two-goals at 2:22 of the second period.

Pastrnak (31) had the only assist on the goal as the Bruins led, 3-1.

Shortly thereafter, P.K. Subban yanked Blidh to the ice and was assessed a holding infraction at 2:44, but Boston didn’t convert on the resulting power play.

Nevertheless, the Bruins had all the momentum as they continued to pile up pucks behind Daws and his replacement in Gillies.

First, DeBrusk retrieved his own bad angle shot that went into the far corner before working the puck around the horn back to DeBrusk, who by now had made his way back to about where he sent an initial attempt from.

DeBrusk tried again and hit some dead wood before Brad Marchand (29) gathered the puck and wired it into the twine to give Boston a, 4-1, lead on the scoreboard at 6:33 of the second period.

DeBrusk (12) and Grzelcyk (18) tallied the assists on Marchand’s first goal of the game.

Jesper Boqvist then used his hand on a faceoff shortly thereafter– receiving a faceoff violation infraction in the process– and presented the Bruins with another power play at 8:30 of the middle frame.

It only took the B’s about 30 seconds to convert on the skater advantage as Pastrnak sent a shot on goal that was inadvertently redirected by Bergeron (18) with his skate through Daws’ five-hole– giving Boston a four-goal lead at 9:01 of the second period as a result.

Pastrnak (32) and McAvoy (37) notched the assists on Bergeron’s power-play goal as Lindy Ruff swapped his goaltenders with the Devils trailing, 5-1.

Almost 90 seconds later, DeBrusk checked Ty Smith and left the New Jersey defender catching his breath for a few seconds while Bergeron won the loose puck back to Reilly at the point.

Reilly forked it to Marchand (30) for a one-timer goal– giving him 30 goals on the season in the process for the fifth time in his career (13 seasons) as Boston scored a pair of goals in a span of 1:33 to lead, 6-1.

Reilly (11) and Bergeron (32) tallied the assists on Marchand’s second goal of the game at 10:34 of the second period and the Bruins weren’t done scoring.

Trent Frederic entered the attacking zone on a 2-on-1 with McLaughlin (1) and flipped the puck to No. 26 in black and gold for a one-timer goal on the high glove side– beating Gillies for his first career NHL goal in his first game and extending Boston’s lead to six goals at 12:04.

Frederic (10) had the only assist as Coyle retrieved the puck for McLaughlin’s safekeeping after the game and the B’s led, 7-1, after scoring a trio of goals in a span of 3:03 in the middle frame.

McLaughlin, meanwhile, became the fifth Massachusetts-born NHLer to score in his debut in Bruins history, joining Ryan Donato (March 19, 2018), Frank Vatrano (Nov. 7, 2015), Shawn Bates (Oct. 2, 1997) and Hago Harrington (Dec. 29, 1925) in doing so.

Late in the period, Taylor Hall (16) added one more on a one-timed redirection after Pastrnak and Hall kept it in the attacking zone on a Devils turnover and had a brief 2-on-1 as they made their way to the slot.

Pastrnak (33) had the only assist on Hall’s goal and the Bruins had an, 8-1, lead at 16:12 of the second period– amassing the most goals they’ve scored in a single game this season and reaching eight goals in a game for the first time since Nov. 26, 2019, when Boston beat Montréal, 8-1, at Bell Centre– in part due to a hat trick from Pastrnak that night.

The Bruins also recorded their first instance of scoring six goals in one period since Nov. 3, 1983, when they had six goals in the second period of a, 9-5, victory against the St. Louis Blues at Boston Garden.

Through 40 minutes, the Bruins led, 8-1, on the scoreboard and dominated shots on goal, 28-17, including a, 16-10, advantage in the second period alone.

Boston also led in blocked shots (9-3), takeaways (7-4), hits (16-15) and faceoff win% (64-36), while New Jersey led in giveaways (10-5) after two periods.

The Devils remained 0/2 on the power play, while the B’s were 1/2 on the skater advantage heading into the final frame.

Haula hooked Hughes at 1:10 of the third period, but the Devils couldn’t get another shot past Ullmark while the Bruins did their job on the penalty kill in front of their netminder.

Jonas Siegenthaler sent an errant puck over the glass and out of play for an automatic infraction at 7:26, but Boston wasn’t able to convert on the resulting power play.

Late in the game, Coyle and Geertsen exchanged pleasantries and received ten-minute misconducts with a ticket to their respective showers early for the night at 17:03 of the third period.

At the sound of the final horn, the Bruins had won, 8-1, and finished the night leading in shots on goal, 40-26, including a, 12-9, advantage in the third period alone.

Boston also left their own ice leading in hits (23-20) and faceoff win% (60-40), while New Jersey led in blocked shots (13-6) and giveaways (15-10).

The Devils finished 0/3 on the power play, while the B’s went 1/3 on the skater advantage in Thursday’s effort– improving to a 15-3-1 record in their last 19 games, as well as 8-0-1 in games after allowing five or more goals in the previous game.

Boston also improved to 31-7-2 (14-4-1 at home) when scoring first, 25-2-1 (12-1-0 at home) when leading after the first period and 28-1-3 (12-1-1 at home) when leading after the second period this season.

New Jersey fell to 9-23-2 (3-15-1 on the road) when allowing the game’s first goal, 5-18-2 (1-11-0 on the road) when trailing after one period and 3-31-2 (2-20-1 on the road) when trailing after two periods in 2021-22.

The Bruins went 10-3-1 in the month of March and begin the month of April by hosting the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday before hitting the road for the next four games starting next Monday (April 4th) in Columbus, next Tuesday (April 5th) in Detroit, then Tampa (April 8th) and Washington, D.C. (April 10th).

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Maple Leafs trample Bruins, 6-4, on the road

The Toronto Maple Leafs had a, 4-1, lead in the second period at TD Garden and… …actually went on to win, 6-4, against the Boston Bruins Tuesday night.

Ten different Leafs players recorded at least a point while Erik Källgren picked up the win in relief of Petr Mrazek, who left the game almost midway through the first period with an injury.

Källgren (3-2-1, 2.65 goals-against average, .911 save percentage in six games played) made 23 saves on 26 shots against for the win in relief of Mrazek (12-6-0, 3.34 goals-against average, .888 save percentage in 20 games played), who stopped three out of four shots faced in 7:44 time on ice prior to being injured.

Bruins goaltender, Jeremy Swayman (19-9-3, 2.24 goals-against average, .920 save percentage in 32 games played) made 19 saves on 25 shots against in the loss before he was replaced by Linus Ullmark (20-9-2, 2.70 goals-against average, .909 save percentage in 33 games played), who turned aside all seven shots in relief for no decision.

The Maple Leafs improved to 42-19-5 (89 points) on the season and remain in command of 3rd place in the Atlantic Division, while Boston fell to 41-20-5 (87 points) overall and stuck in 4th place in the Atlantic.

The B’s also fell to 0-2-0 against Toronto this season with one matchup remaining in their regular season series on April 29th at Scotiabank Arena.

Boston went 2-0-1 against the Leafs in 2019-20.

Jakub Zboril (right ACL) was the only injured Bruin out of the lineup against Toronto on Tuesday as the defender remains out for the rest of the season since sustaining an injury back on Dec. 2nd in Nashville.

Meanwhile, Boston’s head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made no changes to his lines and defensive pairings for the third straight game, rendering Mike Reilly, Jack Studnicka, Marc McLaughlin, Josh Brown and Anton Blidh as healthy scratches.

Given the nature of the blowout against the Leafs, it’s very likely that either Reilly or Brown will see some action against New Jersey on Thursday.

Connor Clifton misfired a pass towards Matt Grzelcyk before Jason Spezza intercepted the errant puck and worked it to the slot whereby Colin Blackwell (9) redirected it on a backhand from point blank to give the Maple Leafs a, 1-0, lead at 5:09 of the first period.

Spezza (11) had the only assist on the goal.

Less than a minute later, Michael Bunting tripped up Hampus Lindholm at 5:47, yielding the night’s first power play to the Bruins.

It didn’t take long on the skater advantage for Boston to even up the score, 1-1, courtesy of a David Pastrnak (38) power-play goal special on a one-timer that deflected off of T.J. Brodie’s stick and past Mrazek after Pastrnak initially rang the crossbar seconds prior.

Patrice Bergeron (30) and Charlie McAvoy (35) had the assists on Pastrnak’s goal as the B’s tied things up, 1-1, at 5:59 of the first period.

Meanwhile, Mrazek skated off and went down the tunnel and would not return to the night’s action with an injury.

Leafs head coach, Sheldon Keefe, replaced his starter with Källgren and the period continued without much else going wrong for Toronto.

Bunting and Craig Smith exchanged pleasantries and unsportsmanlike conduct minors, yielding 4-on-4 action at 8:34 of the opening frame as a result.

About a minute later, William Nylander drove to the net with speed and made his way around Brandon Carlo before setting up Morgan Rielly (8) for a goal on the rebound after Swayman couldn’t square up to the shot on the near post.

Nylander (36) and John Tavares (40) tallied the assists on Rielly’s goal and the Leafs took a, 2-1, lead at 9:43 of the first period as a result.

Late in the period, Pastrnak was penalized for boarding as he checked Rielly along the wall at 16:09.

This time, however, there were no goals within the ensuing specials teams action, but Toronto caught Boston in the vulnerable minute afterwards anyway.

Alexander Kerfoot (11) blocked a shot in his own zone and broke free on a breakaway as he raced the other way before going backhand-forehand around Swayman’s right pad on an unassisted effort to give the Maple Leafs a, 3-1, lead at 18:44.

After one period, Toronto led, 3-1, on the scoreboard and, 11-10, in shots on goal.

The Leafs also held the advantage in takeaways (4-1) and faceoff win percentage (55-45), while the Bruins led in giveaways (4-2) and hits (17-8).

Both teams had two blocked shots each, while Toronto went 0/1 and the B’s went 1/1 on the power play heading into the middle frame.

Ilya Lyubushkin kicked things off in the middle period with an interference infraction at 6:00 of the second period.

The Bruins didn’t convert on the ensuing power play, however.

Once more, Boston was caught in the vulnerable minute after special teams action– even though they had just been on the skater advantage.

The B’s failed to muster anything in the attacking zone and struggled to get out of their own end, while Bunting made an interception around the neutral zone, setting up Auston Matthews for a quick pass to Mitchell Marner (28) for a one-timer goal from one knee– giving the Leafs a, 4-1, lead as a result.

Matthews (36) and Bunting (31) had the assists on Marner’s goal at 8:28 of the second period.

About five minutes later, Charlie Coyle and Spezza went to the box for holding the stick and hooking, respectively, rendering a couple more minutes of 4-on-4 action at 13:12.

A few seconds after the two teams resumed 5-on-5 play, Lyubushkin hit checked Taylor Hall from behind, resulting in a bit of retaliation from Hall– earning the latter a roughing minor, while Lyubushkin ended up going down the tunnel.

Hall may face supplemental discipline depending on if the league views his response as a sucker punch or not.

Regardless, Hall cut a rut to the sin bin at 15:18 and the Leafs scored on the resulting power play at 16:00 of the second period as Matthews (49) hit the back of the twine with Tavares (41) and Marner (48) picking up the assists.

Toronto had a, 5-1, lead and extended it to, 6-1, 47 seconds after Matthews’ goal on a shot from the point by Rielly that had eyes and deflected off of David Kämpf (9) past Swayman.

Rielly (46) had the only assist as the Maple Leafs took a five-goal lead at 16:47 of the second period.

Despite a brief cross check after the goal, Clifton evaded any further action.

Late in the period, McAvoy riffled the puck towards the slot whereby Jake DeBrusk (17) redirected the rubber biscuit with his right leg past Källgren while gliding towards the net.

As it wasn’t a distinct kicking motion, DeBrusk’s goal went unchallenged by Keefe, nor the on-ice officials, while McAvoy (36) and Brad Marchand (38) picked up the assists as the Bruins trailed, 6-2, at 18:19.

Less than a minute later, McAvoy and Bunting each received unsportsmanlike conduct minors for… …perceived rising temperatures on the ice?

Regardless, the two teams were skating at 4-on-4 once more at 18:44 of the second period.

As the horn signaled the end of two periods, Marchand cross checked a Leafs skater on his way off the ice and exchanged some words with an on-ice official that ultimately deemed he had gone a step too far– assessing No. 63 in black and gold a 10-minute misconduct at 20:00 of the second period.

Through 40 minutes of action, Toronto led, 6-2, on the scoreboard and, 25-19, in shots on goal– including a, 14-9, advantage in the middle frame alone.

Boston held the advantage in blocked shots (5-3), giveaways (10-3), hits (27-19) and faceoff win% (51-49), while the Maple Leafs held the advantage in takeaways (6-2).

Both teams were 1/2 on the power play heading into the final frame.

Cassidy replaced his starting goaltender in Swayman with Ullmark to begin the third period, while the Maple Leafs announced that Justin Holl and Lyubushkin would not be returning to the night’s action– about 40 minutes after they already announced Mrazek’s departure for the night.

Early in the final frame, Marner tripped McAvoy at 6:29 of the third period.

Boston’s resulting power play was cut short when Erik Haula tripped Nylander at 8:20, but at least the Bruins’ penalty kill managed to kill off Haula’s infraction without issue.

Midway through the third period, Curtis Lazar (7) pocketed a carom off the endboards past Källgren’s short side to bring the Bruins to within three goals.

Clifton (6) and Tomáš Nosek (12) tallied the assists on Lazar’s goal and the B’s trailed, 6-3, at 13:02 of the third period as No. 20 for Boston established a career-high in goals.

Moments later, Hall (15) drove to the net and clipped Källgren’s stick with his right leg as the puck trickled through the Leafs netminder’s five-hole, but the would-be goal was immediately washed out.

Cassidy used a coach’s challenge and upon review, the call on the ice was overturned as it had not been sufficient incidental contact to interfere with Källgren’s ability to make a save, thereby rendering it a good goal.

Pastrnak (30) and Derek Forbort (7) had the assists on Hall’s goal and the Bruins trailed, 6-4, at 17:38 of the third period as a result.

With 1:54 remaining in the action, Ullmark vacated the crease for an extra attacker, but Boston wasn’t able to get anything else past Källgren as the Bruins struggled to setup dominant possession in the attacking zone.

At the final horn, Toronto had won, 6-4, and finished the night leading in shots on goal, 32-30, despite trailing, 11-7, in shots on net in the third period alone.

The Maple Leafs exited TD Garden with the advantage in blocked shots (8-5), while the Bruins left their own ice leading in giveaways (12-6), hits (35-27) and faceoff win% (53-47).

Both teams went 1/3 on the power play on Tuesday, as Boston fell to 11-13-3 (7-7-1 at home) when allowing the game’s first goal, 5-13-2 (4-7-1 at home) when trailing after the first period and 4-15-2 (3-9-1 at home) when trailing after two periods this season.

Toronto improved to 29-6-2 (15-5-2 on the road) when scoring first, 26-3-2 (12-3-2 on the road) when leading after one and 31-1-2 (15-0-2 on the road) when leading after the second period in 2021-22.

The Bruins wrap up the month of March and begin April by hosting the New Jersey Devils on Thursday and Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday– rounding out their five-game homestand (2-1-0) in the process.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Boston surpasses Tampa in the Atlantic with Pastrnak’s hat trick

For the first time this season, the Boston Bruins are in a divisional playoff spot after David Pastrnak recorded his 12th career hat trick in a, 3-2, victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning Thursday night at TD Garden.

Pastrnak tied John Bucyk for the third-most hat tricks in a Bruins uniform in the process, trailing only Phil Esposito (26) and Cam Neely (14), while Jeremy Swayman (19-8-3, 2.09 goals-against average, .925 save percentage in 31 games played) made 22 saves on 24 shots against in the win for Boston.

Tampa netminder, Andrei Vasilevskiy (32-14-4, 2.39 goals-against average, .920 save percentage in 50 games played) stopped 36 out of 39 shots faced in the loss.

The Bruins improved to 40-19-5 (85 points) overall and moved ahead of the Lightning in the standings– taking over 3rd place in the Atlantic Division, despite being tied with the Toronto Maple Leafs in points for 2nd (Toronto has played in one game fewer than Boston, however).

The Bolts fell to 39-18-6 (84 points) on the season and dropped to 4th place in the Atlantic, but in command of the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference– four points ahead of the Washington Capitals in the wild card race.

The B’s were without the services of Jakub Zboril (right ACL) and Patrice Bergeron (elbow) on Thursday as Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, informed reporters ahead of the game that Bergeron was not cleared and is likely to return Saturday afternoon against the New York Islanders.

Cassidy made one change to his lineup– scratching Mike Reilly in favor of dressing Hampus Lindholm in his Boston debut alongside Charlie McAvoy on the first defensive pairing.

Reilly joined Marc McLaughlin, Josh Brown and Anton Blidh in the press box as healthy scratches against Tampa.

Erik Cernak caught Tomáš Nosek with a high stick and drew blood– yielding a four-minute double minor for high sticking at 1:20 of the first period.

The Bruins did not convert on the resulting extended power play and presented the Lightning with the next opportunity on the skater advantage after Craig Smith inadvertently caught Victor Hedman with a high stick at 5:17 of the first period.

Tampa didn’t score on the resulting power play, however.

Late in the period, Cernak cut a rut back to the penalty box for interference at 14:19, but Boston’s power play went by the wayside unconverted.

Through one period, the score remained tied, 0-0, despite the Bruins holding a, 12-8, advantage in shots on goal.

The B’s also led in blocked shots (4-3) and faceoff win percentage (56-44), while the Bolts held the advantage in giveaways (3-1) and hits (11-10) entering the first intermission.

Both teams had four takeaways each, while the Lightning were 0/1 and the Bruins were 0/3 on the power play heading into the middle frame.

Mikhail Sergachev caught Taylor Hall with a high stick at 6:04 of the second period, but Boston wasn’t able to convert on the ensuing power play.

Instead, Tampa scored a shorthanded goal– just the sixth shorthanded goal against allowed by the Bruins this season– as Brad Marchand botched a play in the neutral zone, which led to a fast breakout the other direction for the Lightning before Ondrej Palat setup Brandon Hagel (22) for a one-timer goal– beating Swayman while crashing the slot.

Palat (21) had the only assist on the goal as the Bolts took a, 1-0, lead at 7:11 of the second period.

It was also the second shorthanded goal allowed in as many games for Boston.

The B’s answered back relatively quickly, however, as Lindholm setup Erik Haula for an indirect pass up ice to Pastrnak– sending Pastrnak (34) in on a breakaway before going to his backhand and elevating a shot past Vasilevskiy on the blocker side– tying the game, 1-1, in the process.

Haula (20) and Lindholm (18) tallied the assists on Pastrnak’s first goal of the game at 9:55 of the second period.

Lindholm’s secondary assist marked his first point as a Bruin, which made him the first defender to record a point in his B’s debut since McAvoy (1-1–2) did so in 2017-18 with Boston.

Moments later, Swayman was assessed an infraction for tripping Anthony Cirelli as Cirelli skated past the Bruins goaltender and collided with Swayman’s blocker as Swayman made a save.

Interesting.

Nevertheless, Boston was shorthanded at 14:47, but managed to make the kill and Smith (who served the minor) was freed from the box without issue.

Late in the period, Nick Paul and Brandon Carlo exchanged pleasantries after a stoppage in play and each took a trip to their respective penalty box with roughing minors– yielding two minutes of 4-on-4 action at 17:57 as a result.

Tampa had a rare 4-on-3 power play less than a minute later when Pastrnak tripped Sergachev at 18:47.

The Lightning did not capitalize on their skater advantage, however.

After 40 minutes of action in Boston, the score remained tied, 1-1, despite the Bruins leading the Lightning in shots on goal, 29-14, including a, 17-6, advantage in the second period alone.

The B’s led in blocked shots (11-10), takeaways (10-8), hits (18-17) and faceoff win% (55-45), while the Bolts led in giveaways (7-3).

Tampa was 0/3 and Boston was 0/4 on the power play heading into the final frame.

Nikita Kucherov slashed Derek Forbort 48 seconds into the third period, but the Bruins failed to convert on the ensuing power play.

Tampa caught Boston in the vulnerable minute after special teams action as Kucherov snagged a rebound and dropped a pass back to Brayden Point, who then sent the rubber biscuit to Steven Stamkos (28) as he crashed the net and scored on Swayman– giving the Lightning a, 2-1, lead at 3:51 of the third period as a result.

Point (23) and Kucherov (23) tallied the assists on the goal.

Almost five minutes later, Pastrnak (35) tied things up, 2-2, courtesy of some great hand-eye coordination to settle a pass from Haula while spinning and working a backhand through Vasilevskiy’s short side along the post at 8:17.

Haula (21) and Connor Clifton (5) tabbed the assists on Pastrnak’s second goal of the game as the Bruins grabbed momentum in their favor and stayed hungry.

Forbort and Pat Maroon were assessed roughing minors at 9:21 and after two minutes of 4-on-4 action, things settled on the ice a bit.

Late in the third, Tampa tried to clear the zone but an errant puck bounced off of Cirelli and was kept in Boston’s attacking zone as Haula worked the puck to the front of the net on a shot with purpose to generate a rebound.

Hall had a brief chance and made contact, but it was Pastrnak (36) who buried the rubber biscuit into the twine for the hat trick goal and a, 3-2, lead at 15:50 of the third period.

Hall (33) and Haula (22) had the assists as Boston pulled ahead for the first time late Thursday night and never looked back.

Pastrnak’s hat trick marked the 12th of his career and sixth this season for the Bruins, while Haula capped off his first career three-assist game in the processs.

With 1:08 remaining in the action, Jon Cooper, pulled his netminder for an extra attacker, but the Lightning couldn’t muster anything else past Swayman– not even after the Bolts used their timeout after a stoppage with 56.4 seconds left to draw up a plan to at least force overtime.

At the final horn, Boston had won, 3-2, and finished the night leading in shots on goal, 39-24, despite both teams amassing 10 shots on goal each in the third period alone.

The Lightning left TD Garden with the advantage in blocked shots (14-12) and giveaways (9-6), while the Bruins finished the action leading in hits (29-26) and faceoff win% (57-44).

The B’s went 0/5 on the power play while the Bolts finished Thursday night 0/3 on the skater advantage.

Tampa has now lost six out of their last eight games, while Boston is 13-2-1 in their last 16 games and improved to 2-0-1 against the Lightning this season with one more game left in their regular season series in Tampa on April 8th.

The Bruins improved to 12-5-2 (5-3-1 at home) when tied after one period, 11-12-3 (7-6-1 at home) when allowing the game’s first goal and 10-4-0 (6-1-0 at home) when tied after two periods this season.

The Bolts dropped to 11-6-1 (5-4-0 on the road) when tied after the first period, 23-3-4 (12-1-2 on the road) when scoring first and 10-4-1 (5-3-0 on the road) when tied after the second period in 2021-22.

The B’s continue their five-game homestand (1-0-0) Saturday afternoon against the New York Islanders.

Boston hosts the Toronto Maple Leafs and New Jersey Devils next Tuesday and Thursday to finish the month of March before the Columbus Blue Jackets make a trip to TD Garden on April 2nd.

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Marchand nets game-winner in, 3-2, overtime victory in Montréal

Brad Marchand opened the night’s scoring at Bell Centre almost midway into the first period and closed the night’s scoring less than a minute into overtime as the Boston Bruins beat the Montréal Canadiens, 3-2, Monday night.

Jeremy Swayman (18-8-3, 2.09 goals-against average, .925 save percentage in 30 games played) made 26 saves on 28 shots against in the overtime win for Boston.

Montréal goaltender, Jake Allen (6-16-4, 3.09 goals-against average, .905 save percentage in 27 games played) turned aside 43 out of 46 shots faced in the overtime loss.

The Bruins improved to 39-19-5 (83 points) on the season and remain in command of 4th place in the Atlantic Division, as well as the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.

Though the B’s are tied with the Toronto Maple Leafs in points (83) overall, the Maple Leafs have 33 regulation wins to Boston’s 31– let alone the fact that Toronto has played in one fewer game, thereby currently holding the tiebreaker in standings.

The Canadiens, meanwhile, fell to 17-36-10 (44 points) overall and remain stuck in 8th place in the Atlantic Division, as well as 32nd in the entire league standings as Montréal’s 12 regulation wins trails the Seattle Kraken’s 16 regulation wins in the overall league table.

Boston won in their return to Bell Centre for the first time since the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic began, having last made a trip up to Montréal on Nov. 26, 2019, in an, 8-1, victory for the Bruins.

David Pastrnak recorded a hat trick on the road that night.

Monday night’s win also gave the Bruins the decisive advantage in their regular season series with the Canadiens, having gone 3-0-0 in their three matchups so far in 2021-22, with one game remaining against one another on April 24th in Montréal.

On Saturday, Bruins General Manager, Don Sweeney, traded Urho Vaakanainen, John Moore, a 2022 1st round pick, a 2023 2nd round pick and a 2024 2nd round pick to the Anaheim Ducks for Hampus Lindholm and Kodie Curran.

Sweeney then signed Lindholm to an eight-year extension worth $6.500 million per season that’ll go into effect starting next season– locking up the 28-year-old top-four defender, who will likely see action with either Charlie McAvoy on the first pairing or Brandon Carlo on the second pairing in Thursday night’s matchup against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Ducks, meanwhile, retained 50% ($2,602, 778) of Lindholm’s current salary on his remaining contract.

Prior to Monday night’s game in Montréal, Sweeney signed Jake DeBrusk to a two-year extension worth $4.000 million per season, which will make it easier and more attractive for potential suitors in a future DeBrusk trade as the 2022 NHL Entry Draft approaches in July, since the Bruins weren’t able to fulfill DeBrusk’s trade request prior to the 2022 trade deadline.

Sweeney told reporters in his post trade deadline press conference that Boston had received offers on DeBrusk, but none were to his liking (and probably offered less than what he was willing to move DeBrusk for in return for other players that ended up being traded to other teams by the deadline).

Prior to Monday’s trade deadline, the Bruins acquired Josh Brown from the Ottawa Senators and a conditional 2022 7th round pick in exchange for Zach Senyshyn and a 2022 5th round pick.

Senyshyn’s trade request from earlier in the season (around the time DeBrusk’s agent made his desires known) was fulfilled as Boston added a depth defender with a 6-foot-5 frame in Brown to their blue line.

If Senyshyn plays in five games with Ottawa before the end of the 2021-22 regular season, the 2022 7th round pick upgrades to a 2022 6th round pick for Boston.

Meanwhile, Lindholm and Brown had not yet joined the team in Montréal, of course, due to logistics and will join the team back in Boston later this week.

Jakub Zboril (right ACL) and Patrice Bergeron (upper body) missed the night’s action against the Canadiens due to injury, while Marc McLaughlin joined Anton Blidh as the only healthy scratches for the Bruins at Bell Centre Monday night.

McLaughlin was recalled from the Providence Bruins (AHL) on an emergency basis and took part in warmup in case Jack Studnicka was not ready to go at game-time, given Studnicka’s “day-to-day” status Monday morning.

Studnicka centered the first line with Marchand and DeBrusk on his wings without issue, while Jack Ahcan was reassigned to Providence with the additions of Lindholm and Brown against Boston’s salary cap.

Less than a minute into the game, Alexander Romanov cross checked Marchand and presented the Bruins with the night’s first power play at 55 seconds of the first period.

Boston’s power play was powerless, however, as the Canadiens made the kill.

Moments later, Marchand tripped Cole Caufield and cut a rut to the penalty box at 7:08 of the first period, presenting the Habs with their first power play of the night.

Montréal could not sold the B’s penalty kill, however.

Shortly after he was freed from the box, Marchand led a rush into the attacking zone and the Bruins worked to keep the puck in the zone as Connor Clifton sent a shot with purpose towards the net.

Erik Haula dished it out and Boston tried again before Haula snagged the rebound and sauced a pass to Marchand (26) for a layup goal from close range– giving the Bruins a, 1-0, lead at 9:21 of the first period as a result.

Haula (18) and Clifton (4) tallied the assists on Marchand’s first goal of the game.

Late in the period, David Savard tripped Marchand to give Boston another power play that went by the wayside at 13:54 in Savard’s first game back from injury.

The Bruins led, 1-0, on the scoreboard and, 14-8, in shots on goal after the first period.

Boston also held the advantage in blocked shots (5-4), takeaways (5-3), giveaways (13-8), hits (10-3) and faceoff win percentage (64-36) after 20 minutes of action.

The Canadiens were 0/1 on the power play, while the B’s were 0/2 heading into the middle frame.

Almost midway into the middle period, Savard (2) sent a puck that had eyes off of Swayman and into the twine– tying the game, 1-1, in the process at 8:49 of the second period as Montréal evened the score.

Romanov (8) and Paul Byron (2) had the assists on Savard’s goal.

Matt Grzelcyk cut a rut to the sin bin for interference at 13:59 of the second period, but the Habs were unsuccessful on the ensuing skater advantage.

In the final minute of the period, Romanov tripped McAvoy at 19:19, which gave Boston a power play that’d extend into the final frame as the Bruins couldn’t score before the second intermission started.

The two teams were tied, 1-1, on the scoreboard, despite Boston outshooting Montréal, 28-23, overall, despite the Canadiens amassing a, 15-14, advantage in the second period alone.

The Bruins continued to dominate in just about everything else, leading in blocked shots (11-9), takeaways (8-3), giveaways (23-17), hits (17-10) and faceoff win% (63-38).

Montréal was 0/2 and Boston was 0/3 on the power play heading into the final period of regulation.

While shorthanded, Joel Armia (4) benefitted from a turnover in the neutral zone and a breakaway into Boston’s own zone– deking and scoring on the Bruins netminder to give the Canadiens their first lead of the night, 2-1, on a shorthanded goal at 1:13 of the third period.

Armia’s goal was unassisted.

Midway through the third, Caufield hooked Tomáš Nosek, but Boston’s power play wasn’t able to beat Montréal’s penalty kill at 9:59.

Late in the action, however, Clifton (2) benefitted from crashing the net and receiving a pass in the slot from Craig Smith on a catch and release goal past Allen’s glove side.

Smith (16) and Charlie Coyle (23) notched the assists on Clifton’s goal as the Bruins tied the game, 2-2, at 17:01 of the third period.

In the dying seconds of regulation, McAvoy and Jake Evans exchanged pleasantries and received roughing minors at 19:42.

The B’s outshot the Habs, 45-28, including a, 17-5, advantage in the third period alone, but overtime would be required to determine a winner Monday night.

It didn’t take long for Haula to find Marchand (27) as No. 63 in black and gold weaved his way to the net and faked a forehand shot before deking to his backhand wrapped around Allen and putting away the game with a game-winning overtime goal 43 seconds into the extra frame.

Haula (19) had the only assist on Marchand’s second goal of the night and the Bruins emerged victorious at Bell Centre, 3-2.

Boston finished the night leading in shots on goal, 46-28, including a, 1-0, advantage in overtime alone.

Montréal left their own ice leading in blocked shots (22-12), while the Bruins exited the arena with the lead in giveaways (35-27), hits (26-19) and faceoff win% (62-39).

The Canadiens went 0/2 on the power play on Monday, while the B’s went an astounding 0/4 on the skater advantage.

Boston did, however, improve to 6-3 in overtime (8-5 past regulation) this season, while Montréal dropped to 3-9 in the extra frame (5-14 past regulation) in 2021-22.

The B’s also improved to 29-7-2 (17-3-1 on the road) when scoring first, 23-2-1 (13-1-1 on the road) when leading after one and 9-4-0 (4-3-0 on the road) when tied after two periods this season.

The Habs fell to 4-29-7 (2-16-3 at home) when allowing the game’s first goal, 2-24-7 (1-12-3 at home) when trailing after the first period and 3-4-4 (2-1-2 at home) when tied after the second period in 2021-22.

The Bruins went 3-1-0 on their four-game road trip and return home to host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday– beginning a five-game homestand in the process to conclude March and start the month of April. 

The New York Islanders, Toronto Maple Leafs, New Jersey Devils and Columbus Blue Jackets will visit TD Garden Saturday afternoon, next Tuesday, next Thursday and on April 2nd, respectively.

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Hall flys Bruins over Jets on the road, 4-2

Taylor Hall’s power-play goal late in the third period went on to become the game-winning goal after Charlie McAvoy added a shorthanded empty net insurance goal in a, 4-2, victory for the Boston Bruins over the Winnipeg Jets Friday night at Canada Life Centre.

Linus Ullmark (19-9-2, 2.72 goals-against average, .909 save percentage in 31 games played) made 27 saves on 29 shots against in the win for Boston.

Winnipeg goaltender, Connor Hellebuyck (21-22-9, 2.99 goals-against average, .907 save percentage in 52 games played), turned aside 41 out of 44 shots against in the loss.

The Bruins improved to 38-19-5 (81 points) overall and remained in command of 4th place in the Atlantic Division standings, as well as the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Jets, meanwhile, fell to 28-24-10 (66 points) on the season and stuck in 6th place in the Central Division.

With the win on Friday, the B’s swept their regular season series against Winnipeg 2-0-0– just as they had done in 2019-20, when the two clubs last met in the regular season prior to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Boston was without the services of Jakub Zboril (right ACL), Urho Vaakanainen (undisclosed) and Patrice Bergeron (upper body) on Friday, while head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made a couple minor changes to his lineup prior to puck drop.

Jack Studnicka centered the first line with Brad Marchand and Jake DeBrusk on his wings, while Tomáš Nosek was returned to his usual role as the fourth line center with Curtis Lazar returning to Nosek’s right side and Anton Blidh joining Jack Ahcan in the press box as a healthy scratch.

During the game, however, Cassidy swapped Nosek with Erik Haula– promoting the former to the second line between Hall and David Pastrnak, while relegating Haula to the fourth line with Nick Foligno and Lazar.

Pastrnak, meanwhile, suited up for his 500th career National Hockey League game on Friday.

The 25-year-old failed to record a point against the Jets, but has 233-255–488 totals in 500 career games nevertheless and was Boston’s first round pick (25th overall) in 2014.

Prior to Friday night’s, 4-2, win, the Bruins’ last seven games against Winnipeg were all decided by one goal– with the B’s going 4-2-1 in that span.

Nikolaj Ehlers had a breakaway early in the action that came to an abrupt end thanks to a stick in the way from Mike Reilly, yielding a penalty shot for Ehlers after he was tripped by Reilly at 4:44 of the first period.

The Winnipeg sniper strolled into the attacking zone down the left-center before firing a shot into Ullmark’s pads.

Midway through the period, Matt Grzelcyk caught Paul Stastny with a high stick and presented the Jets with the night’s first power play at 10:13.

Winnipeg failed to convert on the ensuing skater advantage and subsequently presented Boston with their first power play of the night at 14:59 of the first period after Blake Wheeler slashed DeBrusk.

The Bruins did not convert on their first chance on the power play.

Pastrnak shortly made an early exit for the first intermission after appearing to step on the puck while retrieving it in his own zone and awkwardly falling while clutching at his core.

No. 88 in black and gold would return for the middle frame, however.

Entering the first intermission, the Bruins and Jets remained tied, 0-0, despite Boston attainting a, 14-11, advantage in shots on goal.

The B’s also led in blocked shots (8-6), while Winnipeg led in takeaways (6-2), giveaways (2-1), hits (17-6) and faceoff win percentage (58-42).

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

Marchand and DeBrusk entered the attacking zone early in the second period and played a little pitch and catch on a give-and-go back to Marchand (25) for a layup goal to give Boston a, 1-0, lead at 4:42.

DeBrusk (11) and Studnicka (3) tallied the assists on Marchand’s 344th career goal– tying Cam Neely for the sixth-most goals in Bruins franchise history (Bergeron is fifth with 392 goals and counting thus far).

Marchand also joined Rick Middleton and Johnny Bucyk as the only Bruins in franchise history to record nine 25-goal seasons on the effort.

Less than a few minutes later, Boston’s third line mustered their way to the net as Charlie Coyle drove the puck to the slot before slipping the rubber biscuit over to Trent Frederic for a two-goal lead as Frederic (5) worked the puck around Hellebuyck.

Coyle (20) and Craig Smith (15) had the assists on Frederic’s goal and the B’s took a, 2-0, lead at 7:12 of the second period.

Moments later, Haula didn’t make an effort to stop before colliding with Hellebuyck and cutting a rut to the penalty box with a goaltender interference infraction as a result at 9:37.

Winnipeg failed to convert on the ensuing power play and had another chance on the skater advantage at 13:36 when McAvoy tripped Neal Pionk.

This time, however, the Jets wouldn’t last long on the power play before Pierre-Luc Dubois cross checked Derek Forbort and took a trip to the sin bin at 14:05– resulting in 4-on-4 action for a span of 1:31 before the Bruins had an abbreviated power play that ultimately went by the wayside.

Through 40 minutes of action, however, Boston led, 2-0, on the scoreboard and dominated shots on goal, 36-15, including a, 22-4, advantage for the B’s in the second period alone– their most shots on goal in any second period this season.

Winnipeg led in giveaways (6-4), hits (26-14) and faceoff win% (52-49), while both teams had 11 blocked shots and eight takeaways each.

The Jets were 0/3 on the power play, while the Bruins were 0/2 on the skater advantage heading into the final frame.

Ullmark was no match for Adam Lowry’s (10) deflection on Evgeny Svechnikov’s toe-drag snap shot that cut Boston’s lead in half, 2-1, at 2:29 of the third period and Winnipeg surged with momentum as the Jets came to life to begin the final frame.

Not even two minutes later, Ehlers (17) received a give-and-go from Kyle Connor and blew past Grzelcyk before beating Ullmark and hitting the twine while Brandon Carlo was left helpless as the only defender back.

Connor (35) had the only assist on Ehlers’ goal and the Jets tied the game, 2-2, at 3:54 of the third period as a result.

About a few minutes later, Pastrnak hooked Dubois and was assessed a minor infraction at 6:59, but the Bruins managed to make the kill.

Logan Stanley made a brief appearance in the penalty box for interference at 11:57, but Boston wasn’t able to convert on the resulting power play.

Finally, Brenden Dillon sent the puck over the glass and out of play in his own zone for an automatic delay of game minor at 14:31.

This time the Bruins made quick and easy work of the ensuing skater advantage as Hall (13) followed up on a rebound with a backhand shot past Hellebuyck to give Boston a, 3-2, lead at 15:13 of the third period.

Coyle (21) and McAvoy (32) had the assists on Hall’s power-play goal.

With 1:37 remaining in the action, Jets interim head coach, Dave Lowry, pulled his goaltender for an extra attacker.

What’s more, Haula tripped Andrew Copp at 18:34 of the third period and gave Winnipeg a de facto 6-on-4 advantage once Hellebuyck made another trip out of the crease after the Jets ensured themselves of not losing a faceoff and giving up an easy goal to the Bruins who could not ice the puck given their shorthanded status.

Winnipeg used their timeout to make sure their skaters were all on the same page in their last-ditch effort.

About 30 seconds after Hellebuyck raced to the bench for the second time, McAvoy (8) sealed the deal on a shorthanded empty net goal to give the Bruins a, 4-2, victory at 19:29 of the third period.

Nosek (11) and Coyle (22) had the assists on the goal as all three Boston skaters selflessly tried to do everything they could to let one of their teammates score the insurance goal.

Josh Morrissey had been tripped at the other end of the rink prior to McAvoy’s goal, but there was no penalty called– drawing the ire of both Morrissey and Dubois and resulting in ten-minute misconducts for the two players as something they had said or done in protest crossed the lines for the on-ice officials at 19:29.

At the final horn, Boston had won, 4-2, and finished the night leading in shots on goal, 45-29, despite trailing Winnipeg, 14-9, in shots on net in the third period alone.

The Bruins left Canada Life Centre leading in blocked shots (17-15), giveaways (11-10) and faceoff win% (53-47), while the Jets led in hits (33-19).

Winnipeg finished 0/5 on the power play, while Boston went 1/4 on the skater advantage Friday night.

The B’s improved to 11-5-2 (7-2-1 on the road) when tied after one period, 28-7-2 (16-3-1 on the road) when scoring first and 26-1-3 (16-0-2 on the road) when leading after two periods this season.

The Jets, meanwhile, fell to 13-9-4 (8-6-0 at home) when tied after the first period, 10-18-4 (5-11-2 at home) when allowing the game’s first goal and 4-18-2 (1-11-1 at home) when trailing after the second period in 2021-22.

The Bruins wrap up their four-game road trip (2-1-0) Monday night in Montréal, 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 and begin a five-game homestand to conclude March and start the month of April.

The New York Islanders, Toronto Maple Leafs, New Jersey Devils and Columbus Blue Jackets will visit TD Garden on March 26th, 28th, 31st and April 2nd, respectively.

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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.

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NHL Nick's Net

Grzelcyk ensures overtime victory for Bruins on the road in Chicago

Matt Grzelcyk ended a 21-game goal-scoring drought with his game-winning goal in overtime as the Boston Bruins beat Chicago, 2-1, Tuesday night at United Center.

Linus Ullmark (18-9-2, 2.75 goals-against average, .908 save percentage in 30 games played) made 19 saves on 20 shots against in the win for the Bruins.

Chicago netminder, Marc-Andre Fleury (19-20-5, 2.85 goals-against average, .909 save percentage in 44 games played), turned aside 46 out of 48 shots faced in the overtime loss.

Boston improved to 37-18-5 (79 points) on the season and remain in command of 4th place in the Atlantic Division, as well as the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Bruins are also two points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs for the 3rd in the Atlantic.

Chicago fell to 22-30-9 overall (53 points) and stuck in 7th place in the Central Division as a result of the overtime loss.

With the win on Tuesday, Boston swept Chicago 2-0-0 in their 2021-22 regular season series after last meeting in 2019-20, when the Bruins went 1-0-1 against Chicago.

The B’s were without Jakub Zboril (right ACL) and Urho Vaakanainen (undisclosed) on Tuesday, while head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made no changes to his lineup from Saturday night’s, 3-2, victory against the Arizona Coyotes to Tuesday night’s action in Chicago.

Nick Foligno suited up for his 1,000th career National Hockey League game– becoming the 364th player in league history to do so and the second father-son duo, as well, since Mike Foligno’s NHL career spanned 1,018 games.

Foligno’s younger brother, Marcus, has played in 658 games entering Tuesday split between the Buffalo Sabres and Minnesota Wild.

Nick, meanwhile, has played in 351 games with the Ottawa Senators, 599 games with the Columbus Blue Jackets, seven games with the Toronto Maple Leafs and 43 games with the Bruins so far.

Boston announced that they’d honor Foligno for his 1,000th career NHL game on April 2nd prior to their matchup against the Blue Jackets at TD Garden.

Meanwhile, Tuesday night in Chicago, Jack Ahcan and Anton Blidh served as healthy scratches for the Bruins.

Before scoring the game-winning goal Tuesday night, Grzelcyk was penalized for interference at 5:02 of the first period and presented Chicago with the first power play opportunity of the game.

Chicago did not convert on the ensuing skater advantage, however, and followed up with a penalty of their own when Dylan Strome tripped Brad Marchand– giving Boston their first chance on the power play at 10:26.

Entering the first intermission, however, the score remained tied, 0-0, despite the Bruins outshooting Chicago, 14-4.

Chicago held the advantage in blocked shots (3-1) and giveaways (4-2), while the B’s led in takeaways (4-3), hits (15-11) and faceoff win percentage (59-41).

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

Patrick Kane caught Charlie McAvoy with a high stick and gave Boston another chance on the skater advantage at 3:05 of the second period, but once again the Bruins’ power play was powerless.

Late in the period, Sam Lafferty cut a rut to the sin bin for interference at 16:22, but Boston followed their power play with a penalty kill of their own when Mike Reilly tripped Brandon Hagel at 19:15.

Chicago failed to capitalize on their skater advantage, which extended into the final frame of regulation as the horn signaled the end of the second period and the commencement of the second intermission.

The score was still, 0-0, despite the Bruins outshooting Chicago, 35-11, including, 21-7, in the second period alone.

Boston held the advantage in takeaways (7-6), giveaways (6-4), hits (22-20) and faceoff win% (56-44), while Chicago led in blocked shots (10-7).

Chicago was 0/2 on the power play, while the B’s were 0/3 on the skater advantage through 40 minutes of action.

Calvin de Haan tripped Curtis Lazar and presented Boston with their fourth power play opportunity of the game at 2:34 of the third period, but the Bruins couldn’t muster a shot past Fleury while on the advantage.

Instead, however, the B’s caught Chicago in the vulnerable minute after special teams play, as Marchand picked a rebound out of the air after Fleury swatted the puck away from the crease– that’s when Patrice Bergeron (17) ultimately came in and cleaned up the home run– batting the puck into the twine from mid-air after Marchand kept it free.

Marchand (35) and Taylor Hall (31) notched the assists as the Bruins took a, 1-0, lead at 4:43 of the third period.

Hall briefly received some glue on the bench after catching a close shave by a skate in the scramble in front of the net in the lead-up to Bergeron’s goal.

Moments later, despite scoring first, Boston couldn’t hold onto the momentum as Chicago led a charge into their attacking zone and worked the puck around until Caleb Jones sent a shot from the point to the slot where Hagel (21) tipped the rubber biscuit past Ullmark.

Jones (8) and Jake McCabe (12) tallied the assists as Chicago tied the game, 1-1, at 9:36 of the third period.

Late in the period, the Bruins thought they scored a beautiful goal as Charlie Coyle followed a rebound with a spin-o-rama shot past Fleury’s glove side while crashing the net, but the would-be go-ahead goal was immediately waved off for incidental goaltender intererence.

The only problem was that– despite Craig Smith’s net front presence– there was no overt goaltender interference to be seen within reason to believe that there had, in fact, been an infraction prior to the goal.

Thus, Cassidy used a coach’s challenge on the basis that there was not enough evidence to support the call on the ice and it should therefore be overturned as Chicago’s own defender, Riley Stillman, had knocked over his own goaltender and Smith battled someone in front of the crease– barely getting his skate into the blue paint on the opposite side from where Fleury was standing.

No, apparently that meant nothing in the long run– or rather, perhaps that’s why the on-ice officials made the call in the first place because it was reminiscent of the controversial conclusion to the 1999 Stanley Cup Final.

Ask any Buffalo Sabres fan if Brett Hull’s foot was in the crease and then ask any Dallas Stars fan if Hull’s foot even mattered, I’ll wait.

Meanwhile in Chicago, Cassidy’s challenge was no good and the call on the ice stood as “no goal”.

As a result, Boston was assessed a bench minor for delay of game at 15:13 of the third period with Smith sent across the sheet of ice to the box to serve the penalty.

The Bruins managed to make the kill and in the closing minutes of regulation had a couple quality chances turned aside by Fleury– necessitating overtime (at the very least) to determine a winner.

After 60 minutes of action, the two teams were tied, 1-1, despite the B’s outshooting Chicago, 46-20, overall– including an, 11-9, advantage in the third period alone.

Boston held the advantage in giveaways (8-7) and faceoff win% (52-48), while Chicago led in blocked shots (18-14) and hits (29-28).

Both teams had nine takeaways each.

As there were no penalties called in overtime, Chicago finished the night 0/3 on the power play, while Boston went 0/4.

In overtime, Cassidy started Bergeron, Marchand and McAvoy for Boston, while Derek King countered with Jonathan Toews, Hagel and Seth Jones for Chicago.

The two teams skated up and down the ice a couple times before the Bruins controlled possession in the attacking zone.

Hall faked retreating back into the neutral zone for a different play and sent a pass over to David Pastrnak at the point before Pastrnak dropped the puck back to Hall, whereby Hall pushed towards the net as Kane and Alex DeBrincat bought what Hall was originally selling and chased after Pastrnak.

Hall then worked a pass to Grzelcyk through the slot while Chicago’s only defender tried to block the passing lane, but Grzelcyk (3) settled the puck on a catch and release blast before wiring it behind Fleury for the game-winning goal at 1:40 of the overtime period.

Hall (32) and Pastrnak (28) had the assists on Grzelcyk’s goal– giving Hall two assists on the night and the 400th of his NHL career as a result.

With the, 2-1, overtime win, the B’s improved to 10-1-1 in their last 12 games and left United Center leading in shots on goal, 48-20, including a, 2-0, advantage in the extra frame.

Boston also left the ice leading in blocked shots (19-14), giveaways (9-8) and faceoff win% (52-48), while Chicago exited their own building leading in hits (30-28).

The Bruins improved to 5-3 in overtime this season and 7-5 overall past regulation, while Chicago dropped to 4-7 in the extra frame and 6-9 past 60 minutes in 2021-22.

Boston also improved to 10-5-2 (6-2-1 on the road) when tied after the first period, 8-3-0 (3-2-0 on the road) when tied after the second period and 27-7-2 (15-3-1 on the road) when scoring first this season.

Chicago fell to 10-13-4 (6-10-3 at home) when tied after one, 5-3-3 (2-1-3 at home) after two and 5-24-6 (2-13-4 at home) when allowing the game’s first goal in 2021-22.

The Bruins continue their four-game road trip (1-0-0) Wednesday night in Minnesota before venturing to Winnipeg on Friday and Montréal next Monday, which also coincides with the 2022 NHL Trade Deadline (March 21st).

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