Down the Frozen River

Tag: Filip Hronek

  • Nedeljkovic makes a career-high 47 saves in, 5-3, victory for Detroit

    Nedeljkovic makes a career-high 47 saves in, 5-3, victory for Detroit

    Alex Nedeljkovic had an assist on the empty net insurance goal and made a career-high 47 saves on 50 shots against, while Jakub Vrana’s third period power-play goal proved to be the eventual game-winner in the Detroit Red Wings’, 5-3, win against the Boston Bruins Tuesday night at Little Caesars Arena.

    Nedeljkovic improved to 18-21-8 on the season with a 3.31 goals-against average and a .901 save percentage in 52 games played after his 47-save performance on Tuesday.

    Bruins goaltender, Jeremy Swayman (20-10-3, 2.29 goals-against average, .918 save percentage in 34 games played), stopped 24 out of 28 shots faced in the loss.

    Boston fell to 44-21-5 (93 points) on the season and dropped to 4th place in the Atlantic Division by virtue of having played one more game than the Tampa Bay Lightning (93 points in 69 games to Boston’s 93 points in 70 games played).

    Detroit, meanwhile, improved to 27-34-9 (63 points) overall, but remained in 5th place in the Atlantic– 30 points outside of a divisional playoff spot and 21 points shy of the Washington Capitals for the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.

    The B’s fell to 3-4-1 in eight games at Little Caesars Arena all-time, while also splitting their 2021-22 regular season series with the Red Wings (2-2-0).

    The Bruins went 1-2-0 against Detroit in 2019-20, and did not meet the Red Wings in the condensed 56-game regular season in 2020-21.

    Boston was without the services of Jakub Zboril (right ACL), Trent Frederic (upper body) and David Pastrnak (undisclosed) on Tuesday.

    Frederic skated before Tuesday night’s matchup on the road, though there is no timetable for his return.

    Meanwhile, Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, was forced to shake up his lines– promoting Tomáš Nosek to the second line right wing in Pastrnak’s normal spot, while forming a fourth line consisting of Jack Studnicka at center– flanked by Anton Blidh and Marc McLaughlin on his wings.

    Nick Foligno took Frederic’s spot on the third line as a result, while Curtis Lazar joined Josh Brown and Connor Clifton on Boston’s list of healthy scratches in Detroit.

    On defense, Mike Reilly slid over into Brown’s spot on the third defensive pairing with Derek Forbort re-entering the lineup.

    Early in the opening frame, Taylor Hall drove a rush into the attacking zone before sending the puck through the high slot to the opposite wing where Erik Haula (13) caught the pass and unloaded a wrist shot on Nedeljkovic’s far blocker side into the twine– giving Boston a, 1-0, lead as a result.

    Hall (37) and Nosek (13) tallied the assists as the Bruins jumped out to the first lead of the night at 4:43 of the first period.

    Midway through the first period, McLaughlin caught Adam Erne with an inadvertent high stick and was assessed a minor infraction as a result at 13:44.

    The Red Wings did not convert on the ensuing power play and, while Boston’s penalty kill proved to be very successful– scoring a shorthanded goal in the process, in fact.

    Detroit made a turnover in the neutral zone leading to a 2-on-1 for the Bruins featuring Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand before the B’s yielded a couple of chances prior to Forbort setting up Brandon Carlo (6) for a shot past Nedeljkovic’s stick side and a two-goal lead as a result.

    Forbort (8) and Bergeron (35) had the assists on Carlo’s second career shorthanded goal (his first since Jan. 2017 in Detroit)– tying the young defender’s career-high in goals scored in a season (six in 2016-17) in the process as well at 14:17.

    The Bruins led, 2-0, but they’d go on to give up four unanswered goals before hitting the back of the twine once more for the rest of the night.

    Charlie McAvoy was assessed a roughing minor at 17:18 and the Red Wings almost capitalized on the ensuing power play.

    McAvoy was released from the box without issue at 19:18, but the Bruins were caught in the vulnerable minute after special teams action and gave up yet another last-minute goal in any period as Moritz Seider setup Dylan Larkin (30) for a quick release from the right circle past Swayman.

    Seider (40) and Lucas Raymond (31) notched the assists on Larkin’s goal and Detroit cut Boston’s lead in half, 2-1, at 19:20 of the first period.

    Entering the first intermission, the Bruins led, 2-1, on the scoreboard and held an, 18-12, advantage in shots on goal.

    The Red Wings led in blocked shots (5-2), giveaways (4-3) and hits (11-8), while the B’s led in takeaways (3-1) and faceoff win percentage (52-48).

    Detroit was 0/2 on the power play, while Boston had yet to see any time on the skater advantage heading into the middle frame.

    The Bruins would have an early power play at 1:22 of the second period, however, as Pius Suter tripped McAvoy and yielded a skater advantage to Boston as a result.

    The B’s failed to conver on the power play, however.

    Shortly thereafter, the Bruins failed to clear their own zone and the Red Wings kept the puck in by the blue line before working a shot that deflected off of a body in front of the net into the back of the twine courtesy of Michael Rasmussen (11) being in the right place at the right time on Swayman’s doorstep.

    Erne (12) and Danny DeKeyser (8) tallied the assists on Rasmussen’s goal as Detroit tied things up, 2-2, at 5:46 of the second period.

    A couple minutes later, Jake Walman cut a rut to the sin bin for holding at 7:48, but Boston wasn’t able to convert on the ensuing power play.

    Midway through the middle frame, Nedeljkovic gave up a rebound that worked to the advantage of the Red Wings as they were quick to recover the loose puck in the slot and go end-to-end as Suter sent it up to Vrana before Vrana setup Filip Zadina (9) on a one-timer goal with Forbort taking the bait and Reilly out of position by default as a result.

    Vrana (4) and Suter (17) had the assists on Zadina’s goal as the Red Wings went ahead, 3-2, at 11:32 of the second period.

    Late in the period, Foligno hooked Seider and was sent to the box at 19:07, but Detroit wasn’t able to convert on the resulting skater advantage.

    Through 40 minutes of action, the Red Wings led, 3-2, on the scoreboard, despite trailing Boston, 33-24, in shots on goal– including a, 15-12, advantage for the Bruins in shots on goal in the second period alone.

    The B’s also led in takeaways (3-2) and faceoff win% (59-41), while Detroit held the advantage in blocked shots (6-4), giveaways (11-5) and hits (21-17).

    The Red Wings were 0/3 and the Bruins were 0/2 on the power play heading into the final frame.

    McAvoy caught Raymond with a high stick at 3:27 of the third period and Detroit made sure to capitalize on the ensuing power play.

    It didn’t take the Red Wings long before Filip Hronek passed the puck to Vrana (8) as he was charing through the neutral zone with a burst of speed into the attacking zone before sending a shot past Swayman– high on the blocker side.

    Hronek (31) and Walman (5) had the assists on Vrana’s power-play goal and Detroit took a two-goal lead, 4-2, at 4:08 of the third period.

    Moments later, DeKeyser cut a rut to the sin bin for interference at 8:46, but the Bruins couldn’t convert on the resulting skater advantage.

    Shortly thereafter, Boston tweeted that Hampus Lindholm would not return to the night’s action with a lower body injury.

    The recently acquired defender did not make an appearance in the third period and Cassidy told reporters after the game that he didn’t think Lindholm would be out for long-term.

    Moments later, DeKeyser was heading back into the box for hooking at 11:58, but Boston’s ensuing power play was cut short as Hall hooked Walman at 12:46.

    The Bruins withstood Detroit’s abbreviated power play after 1:12 of 4-on-4 action.

    With 3:36 remaining in the game, Cassidy pulled Swayman for an extra attacker.

    Marchand and Larkin received slashing minors shortly thereafter at 16:45 and yielded 4-on-4 action once again.

    While at even strength at 4-on-4, the Bruins went to work in the attacking zone with Swayman pulled for a de facto 5-on-4 advantage.

    McAvoy riffled a shot from the point that Bergeron (19) redirected in the slot past Nedeljkovic on the lower left pad to bring the Bruins to within one.

    McAvoy (42) and Hall (38) notched the assists on Bergeron’s goal and the B’s trailed, 4-3, at 17:24.

    As a result of his goal in Tuesday night’s loss, Bergeron (394) is now one goal away from tying Ray Bourque (395) for the fourth-most goals in Bruins franchise history.

    With 1:29 remaining in regulation, Swayman vacated the crease once more for an extra attacker, but it was ultimately to no avail as a deflected shot led to a slow roller in front of Nedeljkovic whereby the Detroit goaltender was able to corral the rubber biscuit without issue.

    Nedeljkovic sent a pass up to Sam Gagner in the neutral zone before Gagner (9) buried the puck into the empty net in Boston’s own end to give the Red Wings a, 5-3, advantage on the scoreboard as Nedeljkovic (2) recorded the only assist on Gagner’s empty net goal at 19:13.

    At the final horn, Detroit had won, 5-3, despite finishing the night trailing, 50-29, in shots on goal.

    A scrum after the game also resulted in a few punches thrown and some wrestling matches resulting in a plethora of penalties at 20:00 of the third period.

    Blidh picked up a slashing minor and a misconduct as Forbort was assessed a misconduct for Boston, while Rasmussen earned a slashing minor and a misconduct for Detroit officially at the 60-minute mark of the game.

    Boston left Little Caesars Arena leading in faceoff win% (60-40), while the Red Wings exited their own ice with the advantage in blocked shots (9-7), giveaways (15-5) and hits (31-28).

    Detroit finished the night 1/5 on the power play, while the Bruins went 0/4 on the skater advantage on Tuesday.

    Boston fell to 32-8-2 (17-4-1 on the road) when scoring first, 25-3-1 (13-2-1 on the road) when leading after one period and 4-16-2 (1-7-1 on the road) when trailing after two periods this season.

    The Red Wings improved to 9-25-6 (7-9-4 at home) when allowing the game’s first goal, 5-23-3 (3-9-1 at home) when trailing after one period and 20-2-3 (14-1-2 at home) when leading after the second period in 2021-22.

    The Bruins visit the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday before concluding their four-game road trip (1-1-0) at Capital One Arena against the Washington Capitals Sunday afternoon.

    Boston returns to TD Garden for a three-game homestand beginning on April 12th against St. Louis.

  • Bergeron scores four in, 5-1, win against Red Wings

    Bergeron scores four in, 5-1, win against Red Wings

    Patrice Bergeron recorded his first career natural hat trick and second career four-goal game in Thursday night’s, 5-1, victory for the Boston Bruins over the Detroit Red Wings.

    Bruins goaltender, Jeremy Swayman (2-2-0, 2.28 goals-against average, .900 save percentage in four games played) made 14 saves on 15 shots against in the win and improved to 6-0-0 on home ice at TD Garden.

    Meanwhile, Red Wings netminder, Thomas Greiss (3-3-0, 3.45 goals-against average, .897 save percentage in six games played) stopped 32 out of 37 shots faced in the loss.

    Boston improved to 5-3-0 (10 points) on the season and moved ahead of Detroit for 5th place in the Atlantic Division standings.

    Though the Red Wings are 4-5-2 (10 points) overall, the Bruins lead in their tiebreaker for 5th by virtue of having amassed more points in fewer games played (the B’s have 10 points through eight games, while Detroit has 10 points in 11 games thus far).

    Boston is now 1-0-0 against Detroit this season, having most recently gone 1-2-0 in their season series in 2019-20 (the two teams did not play each other last season due to the temporarily realigned divisions in light of the ongoing pandemic).

    The Bruins were once again without Nick Foligno (upper body) and Anton Blidh (upper body) on Thursday, while head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made no changes to his lineup– rendering Jack Studnicka and Jakub Zboril as healthy scratches as Oskar Steen was reassigned to the Providence Bruins (AHL) on Oct. 30th.

    Thursday night’s win also marked the 199th career victory behind the bench as Boston’s head coach for Cassidy.

    Prior to puck drop, the Bruins held a moment of silence for former Boston Red Sox All Star second baseman and NESN color commentator for 33 years, Jerry Remy, 68, who died on Oct. 30th after a long, courageous, battle with cancer.

    Erik Haula tripped up Joe Veleno and yielded the night’s first power play to Detroit at 2:55 of the first period, but the Red Wings couldn’t muster anything on the ensuing skater advantage.

    Midway through the opening frame, Vladislav Namestnikov tried to check someone near the benches while making his way back to Detroit’s bench without a helmet, resulting in a minor penalty for playing without a helmet at 10:58.

    It didn’t take Boston long to capitalize on their first power play of the night as Charlie McAvoy worked the puck to Brad Marchand before Marchand setup Bergeron (1) for the power-play goal from his usual spot in the bumper on the skater advantage at 11:03.

    Marchand (5) and McAvoy (3) tallied the assists on Bergeron’s first goal of the season and the Bruins took a, 1-0, lead.

    Late in the period, Nick Leddy tripped McAvoy and was assessed a minor infraction at 16:14, but the Red Wings penalty kill managed to go unscathed as Leddy returned from the box without issue.

    Heading into the first intermission, the B’s led, 1-0, on the scoreboard, and, 11-3, in shots on goal.

    Detroit held the advantage in blocked shots (4-1), takeaways (6-2) and giveaways (6-2), while Boston dominated in hits (14-8) and faceoff win percentage (71-29) after 20 minutes of action.

    The Red Wings were 0/1 and the Bruins were 1/2 heading into the middle frame.

    Tyler Bertuzzi took down McAvoy without the puck and was assessed an interference minor at 9:39 of the second period.

    Once more, the Bruins would score on the ensuing advantage as Marchand teed up Bergeron (2) from the trapezoid to the slot for a catch and release goal to put Boston ahead, 2-0.

    Marchand (6) had the only assist– tying Terry O’Reilly for the ninth-most assists in a Bruins uniform in franchise history (402) in the process– on Bergeron’s second power-play goal of the night at 10:52 of the second period.

    Several minutes later, Moritz Seider was sent to the box for holding and presented Boston with another power play at 17:48.

    Once again, Bergeron (3) scored a power-play goal– his third of the night, capping off a natural hat trick in the process– to give the Bruins a, 3-0, lead at 18:45.

    Marchand (7) and McAvoy (4) tabbed the assists on Bergeron’s hat trick goal– marking the Bruins captain’s first hat trick since April 6, 2021 (4-2 win at Philadelphia) and giving Marchand his third assist of the night in the process, surpassing O’Reilly for sole possession of the ninth-most assists in a Bruins uniform with 403 assists in his career to O’Reilly’s 402.

    Through 40 minutes of play, the B’s led, 3-0, on the scoreboard as well as, 26-9, in shots on goal– including a, 15-6, advantage in the second period alone.

    Detroit maintained the advantage in blocked shots (8-5), takeaways (10-4) and giveaways (7-4), while Boston led in hits (19-18) and faceoff win% (52-48).

    The Red Wings were 0/1 and the Bruins were 3/4 on the power play heading into the final frame.

    In his 100th career NHL game, Connor Clifton had a plus-1 rating, one shot on goal, two hits and two penalty minutes as a result of his tripping minor 24 seconds into the third period on Thursday.

    The Bruins managed to kill off Clifton’s infraction, however.

    Later on in the third, David Pastrnak caught Robby Fabbri with a high stick and was assessed a minor penalty as a result at 6:08 of the third period, presenting the Red Wings with their second power play of the evening.

    Detroit earned a 5-on-3 advantage shortly thereafter when Bergeron tripped Filip Hronek at 6:59.

    As a result of the resulting two-skater advantage, Red Wings head coach, Jeff Blashill, used his timeout to draw up a plan to get his team back in the game.

    Boston’s penalty killing unit was severely hampered by the fact that Bergeron was in the box– limiting their strength at winning the ensuing defensive zone faceoff on the penalty kill.

    Detroit played around with the puck in the attacking zone for less than a minute before whipping the rubber biscuit along the blue line from Seider to Hronek before setting up Lucas Raymond (5) for a one-timer goal from the faceoff dot unopposed.

    Hronek (3) and Seider (9) notched the assists on Raymond’s power-play goal as the Red Wings trailed, 3-1, at 7:46 of the third period.

    It didn’t take long for Boston to respond, however.

    24 seconds after giving up a power-play goal against, the Bruins scored a shorthanded goal when Curtis Lazar streaked from one end to the attacking zone on a breakaway before Mike Reilly (1) pounced on the rebound for his first goal as a Bruin– as well as his first goal since Jan. 28, 2020, when he helped contribute to a, 5-2, victory for the Ottawa Senators in Buffalo.

    Lazar (2) and Tomáš Nosek (2) had the assists on Reilly’s goal as the Bruins regained a three-goal lead, 4-1, at 8:10 of the third period.

    It was also Boston’s first shorthanded goal this season.

    Midway through the final frame, Veleno cleared the puck over the glass and received an automatic delay of game penalty at 10:34, but the Bruins weren’t able to capitalize on the ensuing advantage.

    In fact, less than a couple minutes later, Hronek and Matt Grzelcyk entered the box together for their respective teams after a scrum ensued after Swayman froze the puck, resulting in an unsportsmanlike conduct minor for Hronek and a roughing penalty for Grzelcyk at 12:14 of the third period.

    Boston’s skater advantage was unchanged as a result and the Red Wings managed to kill off the remainder of Veleno’s infraction.

    Finally, in the dying minutes of the third period, Reilly entered the attacking zone on a rush and dropped a quick pass back to Marchand before Marchand wired a pass across the ice to Bergeron (4) for a shot that squibbed through Greiss to make it, 5-1, Boston at 15:52.

    Bergeron, in the process, scored his fourth goal of the night, while Marchand (8) and Reilly (2) were credited with the assists.

    It was the 26th time in franchise history that a player scored four goals in a game, as well as the first time since Pastrnak notched four against the Anaheim Ducks in a, 4-2, victory on Oct. 14, 2019.

    It was also Bergeron’s first four-goal game (the second of his career) since he scored four goals in a, 7-1, win against the Carolina Hurricanes on Jan. 6, 2018.

    Marchand, meanwhile, finished the night with four assists (all primary assists) on Bergeron’s goals– trailing Rick Middleton (496) by 92 assists for the eighth-most assists in Bruins franchise history.

    At the final horn, Boston had won, 5-1, and wrapped things up leading in shots on goal, 37-15, including an, 11-6, advantage in the third period alone.

    The Bruins exited their own arena leading in blocked shots (11-10), as well as faceoff win% (59-41), while the Red Wings finished Thursday night’s action leading in giveaways (7-5) and hits (25-24).

    Detroit went 1/4 on the power play, while Boston went 3/5 on the skater advantage en route to the victory.

    The B’s improved to 5-1-0 (4-0-0 at home) when scoring the game’s first goal, 5-0-0 (4-0-0 at home) when leading after the first period and 3-0-0 (2-0-0 at home) when leading after two periods this season.

    Meanwhile, the Red Wings fell to 1-4-1 (1-3-0 on the road) when allowing the game’s first goal, 1-5-1 (1-4-0 on the road) when trailing after one period and 1-5-1 (1-4-0 on the road) when trailing after two periods in 2021-22.

    The Bruins venture up to Canada for the first time since the 2019-20 season due to the ongoing global pandemic and take on the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday before returning home for a quick, two-game, homestand next week against the Ottawa Senators next Tuesday and Edmonton Oilers next Thursday.

  • Detroit Red Wings 2021-22 Season Preview

    Detroit Red Wings 2021-22 Season Preview

    2020-21 record 19-27-10, 48 points

    7th in the Discover NHL Central Division

    Missed the postseason for the fifth-straight year

    Additions: F Mitchell Stephens (acquired from TBL), F Pius Suter, D Nick Leddy (acquired from NYI), G Alex Nedeljkovic (acquired from CAR)

    Subtractions: F Mathias Bromé (NL), F Turner Elson (signed with Grand Rapids Griffins, AHL), F Valtteri Filppula (NL), F Luke Glendening (signed with DAL), F Darren Helm (signed with COL), F Frans Nielsen (buyout), F Richard Panik (traded to NYI), F Evgeny Svechnikov (PTO with WPG), F Dominic Turgeon (signed with MIN), F Hayden Verbeek (signed with Grand Rapids Griffins, AHL), F Henrik Zetterberg (retired), D Alex Biega (signed with TOR), D Dennis Cholowski (expansion, SEA), D Christian Djoos (NL), D Joe Hicketts (signed with MIN), D Dylan McIlrath (signed with WSH), G Jonathan Bernier (traded to CAR, signed with NJD), G Kevin Boyle (ICEHL), G Patrik Rybár (KHL)

    Still Unsigned: F Bobby Ryan, F Givani Smith (RFA)

    Re-signed: F Tyler Bertuzzi, F Adam Erne, F Sam Gagner, F Chase Pearson, F Jakub Vrana, D Filip Hronek, D Gustav Lindstrom, D Marc Staal, G Calvin Pickard

    Offseason Analysis: When Steve Yzerman resigned from the Tampa Bay Lightning, the foundation of his plan as General Manager and the years of development that it took had built up a few levels short of winning back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 2020 and 2021, after Julien BriseBois picked up where Yzerman left off shortly before the 2018-19 season.

    On April 19, 2019, the prodigal son made his return to Detroit as the now current General Manager of the Red Wings– inheriting a mess left behind by Ken Holland who, despite winning the Cup three times as the executive vice president and GM in Detroit from 1997-2019, was promoted to senior vice president before walking away from the Red Wings altogether.

    Still with me here?

    Yzerman left the Lightning in September 2018, and BriseBois was named his replacement, then later in the 2018-19 league calendar year, the Red Wings hired Yzerman as their General Manager, while Holland stuck around for less than a month longer before leaving for his current role as General Manager and President of Hockey Operations for the Edmonton Oilers.

    In this pseudo-musical chairs endeavor, Tampa has won back-to-back Stanley Cups, while Holland’s Oilers have been mired in early postseason exits and Yzerman, well… …Yzerman’s just been biding his time.

    Though he hasn’t played since the 2017-18 season due to a career-ending degenerative back condition, Henrik Zetterberg’s $6.083 million cap hit is finally off the books.

    Yzerman is no longer looking to take on dead cap space to meet the salary cap floor, but he’s also not quite spending to the ceiling just yet.

    Instead, the Red Wings are setting the gears in motion for big strides sooner rather than later.

    This offseason sped things up, though the team hasn’t been kicked into high-gear just yet.

    For starters, Yzerman’s kept Tyler Bertuzzi, Adam Erne, Sam Gagner, Filip Hronek and Calvin Pickard around as top-six talent, glue guys and necessary goaltending depth in the event of injury.

    He also worked out a solid bridge contract with 25-year-old Jakub Vrana– giving the left wing that was acquired at the 2021 trade deadline a $5.250 million cap hit through the 2023-24 season and buying a year of potential unrestricted free agency in the process.

    Vrana’s short stint down the stretch with Detroit proved to be very productive amassing 8-3–11 totals in 11 games with the Red Wings after putting up 11-14–25 totals through 39 games with the Washington Capitals prior to the trade last season.

    Detroit also managed to snag Pius Suter on the open market after Chicago chose not to tender a qualifying offer for the would have been restricted free agent.

    Suter broke into the league as a 25-year-old rookie and scored 27 points (14 goals, 13 assists) in 55 games with Chicago. In a non-pandemic timeline, Suter would have been on pace for about 40 points in an 82-game schedule.

    That’s nothing to sneeze at for a guy that can work up and down the lineup in a top-nine role on a team that’s looking to get back into annual playoff contention.

    But that’s not all that Yzerman did this offseason.

    As the team said “goodbye” to many long-time Red Wings members, like Darren Helm– who’s now with the Colorado Avalanche– and other more recent placeholders, Yzerman was busy working the phones and dialing the NHL’s trade center.

    Aside from making a few trades involving nothing but draft picks at the 2021 NHL Draft– including one that led to Detroit moving up in the first round in a swap with the Dallas Stars that led to the Red Wings selecting Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL) goaltender, Sebastian Cossa– Yzerman continued to assemble depth down the lineup.

    On July 16th, Detroit sent Richard Panik and a 2021 2nd round pick to the New York Islanders for Nick Leddy as the Islanders looked to make cap space– clearing about $4.125 million in the process for New York and likely teaming Leddy up with Moritz Seider on the second defensive pairing for the Red Wings.

    Yzerman then dealt the negotiating rights for Jonathan Bernier and a 2021 3rd round pick to the Carolina Hurricanes for Alex Nedeljkovic on July 22nd, before signing the former Canes netminder to a two-year extension worth $2.000 million per season.

    Finally, Yzerman went back to the well in Tampa for Mitchell Stephens– sending a 2022 6th round pick in return to the Lightning on July 30th.

    Offseason Grade: B+

    Detroit won’t be great, but they should be better than last season and given the fact that the Red Wings looked competitive at times in 2020-21, they just might play spoiler for some of the teams in the Atlantic Division.

    Meanwhile, Leddy’s jump in production from 21 points in 60 games with the Islanders in 2019-20 to 31 points in 56 games last season should help jumpstart some two-way play in the backend for Detroit.

    A change of scenery and a reunification with Erne on the fourth line for Stephens should necessitate more production than his one point in seven games with the Bolts last season– though neither Erne, nor Stephens are looking to be leading goal scorers on the roster.

    Finally, Nedeljkovic established himself as a starting goaltender in the NHL– or a fringe starter, at least– amassing a 15-5-3 record in 23 games with Carolina last season to go with a 1.90 goals-against average, a .932 save percentage and three shutouts in that span.

    The improvements to Detroit’s defense should pave a way to letting the Red Wings’ offense to grow and the youth throughout the organization to develop while Nedeljkovic can focus on competing with himself to maintain a high-level of play as the goaltender of the future for now, unless Cossa has anything to say about it in the near future.

    For a team that’s been rebuilding in recent years, this is how you do it. Yzerman’s careful scouting, planning and execution is picking up speed.

  • Athanasiou scores two as Detroit tops Boston, 3-1

    The last place in the National Hockey League, Detroit Red Wings, beat the first place in the NHL, Boston Bruins, 3-1, Sunday afternoon at Little Caesars Arena.

    Red Wings goaltender, Jonathan Bernier (12-14-2 record, 2.82 goals against average, .911 save percentage in 32 games played), stopped 39 out of 40 shots against for a .975 SV% in the win.

    Bruins netminder, Tuukka Rask (20-5-6, 2.14 GAA, .911 SV% in 32 games played) made 17 saves on 19 shots faced for an .895 SV% in the loss after starting in Saturday’s, 4-2, win over the Arizona Coyotes.

    Boston fell to 34-11-12 (80 points) on the season, but remained in command of the Atlantic Division, while Detroit improved their record to 14-39-4 (32 points), despite staying in 8th place in the Atlantic.

    The Bruins also fell to 15-9-3 on the road this season and are 0-2-0 against the Red Wings with two games remaining against Detroit in their season series.

    Boston was without the services of Kevan Miller (knee), Connor Clifton (upper body), Joakim Nordstrom (allergy complications) and Jeremy Lauzon (suspension) on Sunday, while Bruce Cassidy made a few minor changes to his lineup.

    Danton Heinen returned to action on the fourth line left wing in Detroit, while Anton Blidh was joined by Urho Vaakanainen as the only healthy scratches for the B’s.

    Vaakanainen was recalled from the Providence Bruins (AHL) on an emergency basis in case Brandon Carlo’s flight was delayed.

    On defense, Carlo was back from his personal leave on the second pairing with Torey Krug and John Moore filled in on the right side of the third pairing with Matt Grzelcyk while Lauzon served the first half of his two-game suspension for an illegal hit to the head of Arizona Coyotes forward, Derek Stepan, on Saturday.

    Nordstrom, meanwhile, was retroactively placed on the injured reserve and may be available in time for Wednesday night’s action against the Montreal Canadiens.

    Jaroslav Halak was expected to start in goal for Boston and took part in warmups as usual, but was not given the green light to start the game after feeling ill.

    Instead, Rask made back-to-back starts on back-to-back days while Halak was deemed “available if necessary”. The last time Rask played on consecutive days was Nov. 12-13, 2016.

    He won on both days as the Bruins beat the Coyotes, 2-1, on Nov. 12, 2016 and Colorado Avalanche, 2-0, on Nov. 13, 2016.

    Brad Marchand tripped up Bernier in the trapezoid at 3:01 of the first period and presented Detroit with the game’s first power play, but the Red Wings weren’t able to convert on the skater advantage.

    Midway through the opening frame, Sean Kuraly tripped Valtteri Filppula at 10:55 and put the Red Wings back on the power play, but once more Detroit could not score.

    In the vulnerable minute after special teams play, Trevor Daley was guilty of holding Kuraly at 13:15 and gave Boston their first power play of the afternoon.

    The B’s went on a two-skater advantage after Filppula tripped Jake DeBrusk at 13:57 and presented the Bruins with a 1:18 span of 5-on-3 action, but Bernier stood tall and denied each shot fired at him.

    Late in the period, Justin Abdelkader tripped Charlie Coyle and presented Boston with another power play at 16:10, but Detroit’s penalty killing efforts were well oiled by that point and killed off Abdelkader’s minor infraction with ease.

    Entering the first intermission, the score remained tied, 0-0, and and the Bruins led in shots on goal, 12-6.

    Boston also held the advantage in takeaways (2-1) and faceoff win percentage (65-35), while Detroit led in blocked shots (5-1), giveaways (4-3) and hits (8-5).

    The Red Wings were 0/2 and the B’s were 0/3 on the power play heading into the middle period.

    Early in the middle frame, Brendan Perlini (1) deked around Carlo and snapped a shot off of Rask’s glove and into the twine to give Detroit the first lead of the afternoon, 1-0, at 2:07 of the second period.

    Adam Erne (2) had the only assist on Perlini’s first goal of the season, as well as his first as a Red Wing.

    Midway through the second period, Marchand thought he had tied the game on a tip-in through Bernier’s five-hole off a no-look shot from David Pastrnak initially, but Red Wings head coach, Jeff Blashill, used his coach’s challenge– arguing that Boston had actually been offside entering the zone prior to the goal.

    After review, it was determined that the Bruins were offside as Patrice Bergeron was in the midst of stepping off the ice and into the visiting bench while on a line change as Krug rocketed the puck around the boards.

    The call on the ice was overturned– no goal– and the Red Wings remained in command of a, 1-0, lead with 7:27 remaining in the second period.

    Late in the period, Detroit defender, Patrik Nemeth, held DeBrusk and was sent to the sin bin as a result at 17:04, but the Bruins went unsuccessful on the ensuing power play opportunity.

    Through 40 minutes of action on Sunday afternoon, the Red Wings were still ahead, 1-0, despite trailing Boston in shots on goal, 26-13.

    The B’s held the advantage in faceoff win% (56-44), while Detroit led in blocked shots (9-7), takeaways (3-2), giveaways (12-9) and hits (14-9).

    After two periods of play, the Red Wings were 0/2 and the Bruins were 0/4 on the power play.

    Early in the final frame, Pastrnak caught a Red Wing with a high-stick on a follow through while trying to corral the puck, but failing.

    The follow through went uncalled and actually better positioned Pastrnak to receive a pass from Bergeron as Pastrnak entered the attacking zone alone, faked a shot, then slid a pass to Krug (8) for the one-timer goal that tied the game, 1-1, just 33 seconds into the third period.

    Pastrnak (40) and Bergeron (24) tallied the assists on Krug’s goal.

    After that, things only went downhill for Boston.

    DeBrusk returned the favor from earlier in the game and tripped Daley and gave Detroit a power play at 6:01.

    The Bruins penalty kill lasted a little more than a minute into the special teams play before the Red Wings perfected a quick pass through the slot from Tyler Bertuzzi to Andreas Athanasiou (6) for the one-timer goal as Rask couldn’t keep up with the short-range blast.

    Bertuzzi (20) and Dylan Larkin (25) notched the assists on Athanasiou’s first goal in about 20 games– putting Detroit back into command with the, 2-1, lead at 7:10 of the third period.

    With less than two minutes remaining in the game, Cassidy pulled his netminder for an extra attacker, but the Red Wings quickly capitalized on the open goal-frame in Boston’s own zone.

    Detroit got a quick break out of their zone and sent Christoffer Ehn and Athanasiou on a two-on-one that became an unguarded breakaway– paving the way for Athanasiou (7) to score his second goal of the game and seal the deal on a, 3-1, victory for the Red Wings.

    Ehn (2) and Filip Hronek (19) had the assists on Athanasiou’s empty net goal at 19:31.

    At the final horn, Detroit finished the game with the, 3-1, win despite being outshot by Boston, 40-20.

    The Red Wings finished the afternoon leading in blocked shots (12-10), giveaways (18-14) and hits (23-14), while the Bruins finished Sunday’s action leading in faceoff win% (55-45).

    Detroit went 1/3 and Boston went 0/4 on the power play.

    The B’s dropped to 10-2-6 when tied after one period and 5-8-4 when trailing after two periods this season and had their six-game winning streak snapped by the Red Wings who had lost 10 out of their last 11 games entering Sunday.

    Detroit has now defeated Boston in their last five regular season meetings.

    One consolation for Boston, however, is that they still have won seven out of their last nine games.

    The Bruins home for a two-game homestand against Montreal on Wednesday (Feb. 12th) and Red Wings on Saturday (Feb. 15th) before going on a four-game road trip with stops against the New York Rangers, Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks.

  • Rask enters “Save of the Year” contention in Boston’s, 3-2, win over Buffalo

    A pair of goals from Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak’s 20th goal of the season and one game-changing save from Tuukka Rask catapulted the Boston Bruins over the Buffalo Sabres, 3-2, at TD Garden on Thursday.

    Rask (10-2-2 record, 2.05 goals against average, .931 save percentage in 14 games played) made a season-high 36 saves on 38 shots faced for a .947 SV% in the win for the B’s.

    Buffalo goaltender, Linus Ullmark (4-5-1, 3.01 GAA, .910 SV% in 10 games played) turned aside 24 shots on 27 shots against for an .889 SV% in the loss.

    The Bruins improved to 14-3-5 (33 points) and remained in command of the Atlantic Division, while the Sabres fell to 10-9-3 (23 points) and stuck in 4th place in the Atlantic as the Toronto Maple Leafs were in action in Arizona against the Coyotes (a win in any fashion for the Leafs would drop Buffalo to 5th in the Atlantic Division standings).

    Boston is 8-0-4 at home this season in 12 games, which is the longest home point streak since the 1973-74 season. 

    Meanwhile, Pastrnak is the fourth different player in Bruins history to reach the 20-goal mark in 22 or fewer games, becoming the fifth fastest behind Phil Esposito (20 goals in 18 games in 1973-74), Cam Neely (20 goals in 19 games in 1993-94), Herb Cain (20 goals in 20 games in 1943-44) and Esposito again (20 goals in 21 games in 1974-75).

    The B’s are now on a two-game winning streak and have won three out of their last four games, while the Sabres dropped to 2-8-2 in their last 12 games.

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

    Re-joining the long list of injured B’s was Brett Ritchie (upper body), as announced by Boston head coach, Bruce Cassidy, earlier in the day prior to Thursday night’s matchup with the Sabres.

    Ritchie’s infection was reaggravated and kept him out of his 7th game due to injury this season.

    Patrice Bergeron was back in the lineup after missing the last two games with a lower body injury. He returned to his usual spot as the first line center with Marchand on his left wing and Pastrnak on his right wing.

    Cassidy moved Charlie Coyle to the second line right wing with David Krejci resuming his role as the No. 2 center and Jake DeBrusk remaining on the left side.

    Par Lindholm was left as the third line center with Anders Bjork on his left wing and Danton Heinen on his right wing.

    Cassidy left his fourth line trio of Joakim Nordstrom, Sean Kuraly and Chris Wagner alone, as well as his defensive pairings in the same shape as they’ve been with Krug out due to injury.

    Steven Kampfer remained Boston’s only healthy scratch on Thursday.

    Early in the period, Lindholm went down the tunnel with an injury after it appeared he might have been cut by a skate in a collision with Rasmus Asplund. He returned to the bench by the end of the period, but only played 20 seconds in his first shift of the night.

    Lindholm later returned to the ice in the second period and resumed his usual duties.

    Moments later, Kuraly tripped Buffalo’s Evan Rodrigues and was sent to the penalty box at 5:05 of the first period– yielding the game’s first power play to the Sabres.

    Buffalo’s power play unit worked quickly and effectively as Rasmus Ristolainen (1) pocketed a rebound into the back of the net from right in the crease after Rask made the initial save.

    Jack Eichel (13) and Victor Olofsson (9) tallied the assists on Ristolainen’s power play goal that made it, 1-0, Sabres at 5:25.

    It was just the 6th time in 22 games that the Bruins allowed the game’s first goal.

    What was more troubling for the B’s wasn’t that they were down early, but rather that they didn’t record their first shot on net until 12:11.

    About a couple minutes later, Zdeno Chara fired a shot from the point that Marchand (14) tipped in from the low slot, tying the game, 1-1, on Boston’s 2nd shot of the night at 13:52.

    Chara (5) and Pastrnak (16) had the assists on Marchand’s goal.

    Less than a minute later, after a scrum in front of the net followed a puck frozen by a goaltender, Wagner dropped the gloves with Curtis Lazar in what was just Boston’s 3rd fight of the season (and first since Marchand fought Filip Hronek on Nov. 8th in Detroit).

    Both players also received matching roughing minors at 14:14, resulting in no skater advantages.

    Entering the first intermission, the score was tied, 1-1, despite the Sabres leading in shots on goal, 17-4.

    Buffalo held the lead in takeaways (6-4) and hits (8-7), while Boston led in blocked shots (5-4) after one period.

    The two teams had a pair of giveaways and were 50-50 in faceoff winning percentage.

    Heading into the second period, Buffalo was 1/1 on the power play, while the B’s had yet to see any time on the skater advantage.

    Buffalo’s 17 shots on goal in the first period were the 2nd most shots allowed in a period by Boston this season. The most shots against in one period for the Bruins thus far is 18 on Nov. 16th on home ice against the Washington Capitals.

    Early in the middle frame, Matt Grzelcyk hooked Zemgus Girgensons and was sent to the box at 4:44 of the second period.

    The Sabres didn’t convert on the resulting power play.

    Midway through the period, Asplund held Krejci and was assessed with a minor at 13:15– presenting Boston with their first power play opportunity of the night.

    It only took the Bruins 90 seconds to capitalize on the power play as Marchand (15) caught a rebound and slid the puck under Ullmark for the power play goal at 14:45.

    Grzelcyk (5) and Heinen (6) had the assists on the goal as the B’s took their first lead of the night, 2-1.

    Less than a minute later, Coyle took a trip to the sin bin for hooking Eichel at 15:16. Boston killed off the ensuing shorthanded bid with ease.

    In the final minute of the second period, Ullmark denied DeBrusk with a sprawling leg pad save while DeBrusk entered the attacking zone on a breakaway, before crashing into the boards and heading right down the tunnel to the dressing room for a head start on the second intermission.

    He returned for the third period without any issues.

    After 40 minutes of action, the Bruins led, 2-1, on the scoreboard, but trailed the Sabres, 24-18, in shots on goal, despite having a, 14-7, shots on net advantage in the second period alone.

    The B’s held the lead in blocked shots (10-9), hits (14-12) and faceoff win% (51-49), however, while Buffalo led in takeaways (10-6) and giveaways (8-4).

    Heading into the third period, the Sabres were 1/3 on the power play and the Bruins were 1/1.

    Jake McCabe opened up the final frame of regulation with a minor penalty for holding against Heinen 32 seconds into the third period.

    While on the power play, Pastrnak (20) gathered a rebound and slipped the puck underneath Ullmark’s elevated leg pad and scored his 20th goal of the season– becoming the first NHL player to reach the 20-goal plateau this season.

    Pastrnak’s power play goal was assisted by Heinen (7) and Bergeron (12) at 1:56 of the third period and the Bruins led, 3-1.

    Less than a couple of minutes later, Nordstrom was sent to the box for tripping Rasmus Dahlin at 3:33.

    Rodrigues thought he had a surefire power play goal for the Sabres as Buffalo pressured the Bruins into near submission, but Rask made a no-stick, inside of the blocker save, while diving across the crease.

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    Boston killed off Nordstrom’s minor as a result.

    Midway through the third period, Brandon Montour (2) blasted a one-timer into the twine from the point, cutting Boston’s lead in half, 3-2, at 12:58.

    Conor Sheary (3) and Dahlin (13) tallied the assists on Montour’s goal as the Sabres pressed, but couldn’t complete a third period comeback over the Bruins.

    With 1:19 remaining in the game, Sabres head coach, Ralph Krueger, pulled his goaltender for an extra attacker, but couldn’t muster a 6-on-5 goal– even after using his timeout with 39.8 seconds left to drum up the perfect plan.

    At the final horn, Boston sealed the deal on a, 3-2, victory over Buffalo– improving to 10-0-2 when leading after two periods in the process.

    The Sabres finished the night leading in shots on goal (38-27) and giveaways (14-4), while the Bruins walked away with the advantage in blocked shots (17-11), hits (20-14) and faceoff win% (54-46).

    Buffalo finished Thursday’s action 1/4 on the skater advantage as the B’s went 2/2 on the power play.

    Boston finishes their two-game homestand (1-0-0) against the Minnesota Wild on Saturday.

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

  • Red Wings down Bruins, 4-2

    The Detroit Red Wings beat the Boston Bruins, 4-2, at Little Caesars Arena on Friday– winning for just the 2nd time in their last 14 games.

    Jonathan Bernier (3-4-1 record, 3.35 goals against average, .891 save percentage in 10 games played) made 26 saves on 28 shots against for a .929 SV% in the win.

    The Red Wings goaltender also had two assists in the effort.

    Boston netminder, Tuukka Rask (7-2-1, 1.99 GAA, .933 SV% in 10 games played) stopped 28 out of 31 shots faced for a .903 SV% in the loss.

    Boston fell to 11-3-2 (24 points) on the season, but still in command of 1st place in the Atlantic Division, while Detroit improved to 5-12-1 (11 points) so far this season. The Red Wings are still 8th in the Atlantic.

    The Bruins fell to 4-3-1 on the road this season, while the Red Wings snapped a four-game losing streak in their win over the B’s.

    Boston also fell to 9-2-1 when scoring the game’s first goal this season and 1-2-1 when trailing after two periods.

    The Bruins were without the services of Kevan Miller (knee), John Moore (shoulder), Karson Kuhlman (fractured tibia), Joakim Nordstrom (infection), Par Lindholm (upper body), David Backes (upper body) and Jake DeBrusk (lower body) on Friday, but Miller, Lindholm and Nordstrom all practiced with the team while wearing red no-contact sweaters on Thursday at Warrior Ice Arena.

    Per B’s head coach, Bruce Cassidy, Nordstrom is the closest among the three to returning to the lineup.

    Miller and Moore have yet to make their 2019-20 season debuts, while DeBrusk is still being evaluated and did not travel with the team to Detroit.

    In an official scoring change made after Tuesday night’s loss in Montreal, Zach Senyshyn had an assist added to Connor Clifton and Anders Bjork’s goals against the Canadiens, yielding two assists for Senyshyn in his season debut in the process.

    Peter Cehlarik and Senyshyn were recalled from the Providence Bruins (AHL) on Thursday after Senyshyn and Cameron Hughes were originally assigned to Providence earlier in the week on Wednesday.

    With DeBrusk out of the lineup, Cehlarik took over the second line left wing slot alongside David Krejci at center and Danton Heinen on right wing.

    Senyshyn remained in his third line right wing spot with Bjork and Charlie Coyle.

    Brett Ritchie (upper body) did not take part in warmups prior to Boston’s matchup with the Red Wings and was a late scratch from the lineup.

    In his place, the Bruins went with seven defenders, allowing Steven Kampfer to join the lineup on the fourth line right wing in place of Ritchie– resulting in no healthy scratches for the B’s on Friday.

    Kampfer, however, did not play a shift in Detroit.

    On defense, Cassidy switched his first and third pairings up, moving Clifton to the first defensive pairing with Zdeno Chara to start the game and placing Charlie McAvoy with Matt Grzelcyk on the third pairing.

    Krejci (2) kicked things off with the game’s first goal 69 seconds into the first period after Cehlarik worked the puck into the attacking zone, circled back towards the slot and found Krejci for the wrist shot goal on Bernier’s short side.

    Cehlarik (1) had the only assist on Krejci’s goal and the Bruins jumped out to the, 1-0, lead.

    But it was short lived.

    Roughly 90 seconds after Boston scored, Dylan Larkin (5) skated past Clifton, wrapped around the net and banked the puck off of Patrice Bergeron’s skate and into the twine, tying the game, 1-1, in the process.

    Madison Bowey (3) and Bernier (1) notched the assists on Larkin’s goal as the Red Wings pulled even at 2:41 of the first period.

    A minute later, David Pastrnak hooked Detroit blue liner, Dennis Cholowski and was sent to the penalty box with a minor infraction at 3:40.

    The Bruins managed to kill off Pastrnak’s minor, but went undisciplined midway through the opening frame as Brad Marchand took an interference penalty against Filip Hronek at 11:12.

    Detroit only needed 37 seconds on the ensuing power play to capitalize on the skater advantage with Robby Fabbri (2) snapping a shot past Rask to give the Red Wings their first lead of the night, 2-1.

    Tyler Bertuzzi (9) and Anthony Mantha (7) tallied the assists on Fabbri’s first goal with the Red Wings since being acquired by Detroit in a trade with the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday.

    The Blues acquired Jacob de la Rose in the transaction.

    Fabbri’s first goal of the night came at 11:49 of the first period.

    Less than a minute later, Bowey was guilty of holding Heinen, but the B’s weren’t able to convert on the resulting power play opportunity.

    After one period at Little Caesars Arena, the Red Wings led, 2-1, and shots on goal were even, 12-12.

    Boston led in blocked shots (6-4) and takeaways (1-0) heading into the first intermission, while Detroit held the advantage in giveaways (6-2), hits (9-7) and faceoff win percentage (57-43).

    The Red Wings were 1/2 on the power play heading into the second period and the Bruins were 0/1.

    Pastrnak hooked Larkin 28 seconds into the second period and presented Detroit with an early skater advantage to begin the middle frame.

    Fabbri (3) made sure to capitalize on the power play opportunity, acting as the bumper in the slot and scoring his 2nd goal of the night on a one-timer at 1:30 of the second period.

    He became the 7th player in Red Wings history to score two or more goals in his team debut.

    Bertuzzi (10) and Cholowski (4) had the assists on Fabbri’s 2nd power play goal of the game and Detroit led, 3-1.

    Torey Krug sent the puck over the glass and out of play, yielding an automatic delay of game penalty at 3:30.

    Detroit’s resulting power play opportunity was cut short as Larkin tripped up Chara behind the Boston net at 3:50, resulting in 4-on-4 action for a 1:41 span before the Bruins would have an abbreviated power play.

    The B’s did not score on the skater advantage.

    Midway through the second period, Marchand and Hronek exchanged pleasantries and dropped the gloves. Each received a five-minute major for fighting at 11:16.

    It was just the 2nd fight of the season for the Bruins (previous, Ritchie vs. Barclay Goodrow on Oct. 29th against the San Jose Sharks).

    A couple of minutes later, things were still chippy as Krejci was penalized for roughing Valtteri Filppula at 13:35.

    In response, shortly after failing to convert on the skater advantage, Filppula tripped Pastrnak at 15:56 and elicited a power play chance for the Bruins.

    With only seconds to spare on the advantage, Krug ripped a shot from the point that was deflected by Bergeron (8) in front of the net to cut Detriot’s lead to one-goal.

    Krug (11) and Krejci (5) had the assists on Bergeron’s power play goal as the Bruins trailed, 3-2, at 17:52.

    Through 40 minutes of action in Detroit, the Red Wings led, 3-2, on the scoreboard, but trailed Boston in shots on goal, 24-22– including a, 12-10, advantage for the B’s in the second period alone.

    Detroit held the advantage in blocked shots (10-9), giveaways (12-2), hits (17-14) and faceoff win% (52-48), while Boston led in takeaways (3-0).

    The Red Wings were 2/5 on the skater advantage and the Bruins were 1/3 on the power play entering the third period,

    Early in the final frame, Bowey slashed Marchand and was sent to the sin bin with a minor infraction at 4:34 of the third period.

    Boston did not score on the ensuing power play.

    Neither team found the back of the net until the Bruins pulled their goaltender for an extra attacker with about two minutes left in regulation.

    Shortly thereafter, Mantha (10) pocketed an empty net goal at 18:32 and sealed the deal on the win for the Red Wings.

    Bernier (2) had the only assist on the goal as Detroit finished the night with a, 4-2, win over Boston– dominating the third period in shots on goal, 10-4, bolstering their total shots on net advantage to, 32-28.

    The Red Wings finished Friday night’s action leading in blocked shots (15-11), giveaways (17-7) and hits (27-21), while the Bruins finished the night leading in faceoff win% (51-49).

    Detroit went 2/5 on the power play and Boston went 1/4 on the skater advantage.

    The Bruins return home on Sunday for a two-game homestand against the Philadelphia Flyers (Sunday, Nov. 10th) and the Florida Panthers next Tuesday (Nov. 12th) before traveling to Toronto to face the Maple Leafs next Friday (Nov. 15th).

  • Mantha’s hat trick sinks Bruins, 6-3, in Detroit

    Anthony Mantha scored his first career hat trick in the midst of a five-point night on Sunday as the Detroit Red Wings beat the Boston Bruins, 5-3, at Little Caesars Arena.

    Mantha became the first Red Wings player to record at least five points in a game against Boston since Steve Yzerman did so on Jan. 14, 1989. Yzerman had two goals and three assists that night.

    Taro Hirose, Filip Hronek and Dylan Larkin also had goals for Detroit, while Jake DeBrusk, Brad Marchand and David Backes scored for the Bruins.

    Red Wings goaltender, Jimmy Howard (22-20-5 record, 3.02 goals against average, .909 save percentage in 52 games played) made 31 saves on 34 shots against for a .912 SV% in the win.

    Meanwhile, B’s netminder, Jaroslav Halak (21-11-4, 2.40 GAA, .920 SV% in 39 GP) stopped 22 out of 27 shots faced (.815 SV%) in the loss.

    Boston fell to 47-23-9 (103 points) on the season, but remained in control of 2nd place in the Atlantic Division. Detroit improved to 31-38-10 (72 points) and crept over the Buffalo Sabres for 6th in the Atlantic (Detroit leads in regulation-plus-overtime wins, 28-26).

    The Red Wings finished the season series with the 2-1-1 advantage.

    Kevan Miller returned to the lineup after missing the last 16 games with an upper body injury and was paired on the third defensive pair with Matt Grzelcyk.

    Connor Clifton joined Steven Kampfer as the only healthy scratches, while Chris Wagner (undisclosed) did not take part in warmups and was replaced with Karson Kuhlman.

    Kuhlman was placed on the second line right wing with DeBrusk and David Krejci, while Marcus Johansson slid down to the third line left wing alongside Charlie Coyle and Danton Heinen.

    Sean Kuraly (fractured right hand) and John Moore (upper body) remain week-to-week while Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, juggles his lines.

    Six seconds into Sunday night, Torey Krug was penalized for roughing Dylan McIlrath. Detroit did not convert on the ensuing power play, but they did kickstart momentum in their favor.

    Midway through the first period, Mantha (20) fired a one-timer over Halak’s glove on the short side to give the Red Wings the lead, 1-0.

    Larkin (38) and Tyler Bertuzzi (23) had the assists on Mantha’s first goal of the night at 10:26 of the first period.

    A few minutes later, Andreas Athanasiou slashed Krejci and sent the Bruins on their first power play of the night at 13:38. It was unsuccessful and shortly followed by another Boston power play at 17:07 when Christoffer Ehn slashed Backes.

    Grzelcyk cut the B’s skater advantage short when he slashed Athanasiou at 19:04 and the two clubs had three seconds of 4-on-4 action before an abbreviated power play for the Red Wings began.

    As the seconds ticked away, it appeared as though the Bruins would be shorthanded to start the second period until Mantha (21) slapped another one-timer past Halak at 19:59 of the first period.

    Niklas Kronwall (22) and Bertuzzi (24) tallied the assists on Mantha’s power play goal and Detroit led, 2-0, entering the first intermission.

    After one period of play, the Red Wings led, 2-0, on the scoreboard and, 9-8, in shots on goal. Detroit also held the advantage in blocked shots (6-5), takeaways (2-1), giveaways (7-0) and hits (4-3), while Boston led in face-off win percentage (56-44).

    The Red Wings were 1/2 on the power play entering the second period and the Bruins were 0/2.

    Early in the middle frame, Charlie McAvoy sent Krejci up the ice with DeBrusk on a rush. Krejci sent a lead saucer pass to bring DeBrusk behind the Detroit defense and on his own towards the net, whereby DeBrusk (25) roofed a shot over Howard’s blocker to put the B’s on the scoreboard, 2-1.

    Krejci (49) and McAvoy (20) had the assists on DeBrusk’s goal at 2:01 of the second period.

    McAvoy later sent the puck over the glass and out of play at 8:12 of the second period and received an automatic delay of game penalty.

    Nearing the end of the resulting penalty kill, Brandon Carlo worked the puck up to Marchand as the Bruins winger entered the zone on a two-on-one with Patrice Bergeron.

    Marchand slid the puck over to Bergeron, awaiting a return pass while Bergeron dragged the rubber biscuit around Mantha as the Red Wings forward dove in a desperate attempt to breakup a passing lane.

    Bergeron pulled the puck to his backhand and sent it across the slot for Marchand (35) to blast a one-timer past Howard as the Detroit goaltender slid across the crease.

    The goal was Marchand’s 26th career shorthanded goal and put Marchand in sole possession of the Bruins franchise record for most career shorthanded goals with the club (Rick Middleton is now 2nd with 25).

    Bergeron (46) and Carlo (7) notched the assists on Marchand’s shorthanded goal at 9:50 of the second period.

    About five minutes later, Luke Witkowski skated across the ice and railed Joakim Nordstrom with a huge hit along the boards.

    Noel Acciari took exception to the non-call as Witkowski charged an otherwise unsuspecting Nordstrom and exchanged fisticuffs with the Detroit skater.

    Both players were assessed five-minute majors for fighting, while Acciari picked up an extra minor penalty for instigating and an automatic ten-minute misconduct as a result at 14:24.

    Johansson served Acciari’s minor penalty while the Bruins were shorthanded, but Detroit’s ensuing power play wouldn’t last long as 20 seconds later, Athanasiou was called for interference at 14:44.

    Neither team converted on the ensuing 4-on-4 action and abbreviated skater advantage for Boston thereafter.

    With one minute remaining in the second period, Miller blasted a shot from the point that Backes (7) tipped behind Howard to give the Bruins their first lead of the night, 3-2.

    Miller (7) and Krejci (50) had the assists on Backes’ goal at 19:00 of the second period.

    Krejci reached the 50-assist plateau for the third time in his career (51 assists in 2008-09, 50 assists in 2013-14) with the secondary assist on the goal as Boston carried the, 3-2, lead into the second intermission.

    Both teams were tied in shots on goal, 17-17, and takeaways, 2-2, after 40 minutes of play, while the Bruins led in blocked shots (15-8), hits (9-8) and face-off win% (53-47). The Red Wings led in giveaways (14-2) through two periods.

    Detroit entered the third period 1/4 on the power play, while Boston was 0/3 on the skater advantage.

    DeBrusk was penalized for interference 69 seconds into the third period and sent the Red Wings on the power play. Eight seconds later, Detroit tied the game.

    Mantha (22) completed his first career hat trick on yet another one-timer– this time after Bertuzzi completed the pass through the low slot– and the Red Wings tied the game, 3-3, at 1:17 of the third period.

    Bertuzzi (25) and Athanasiou (21) recorded the primary and secondary assists, respectively, on the goal as the hats were cleaned up off the ice at Little Caesars Arena.

    On the ensuing face-off, Kronwall worked the puck up to Athanasiou through the neutral zone as Athanasiou sped into the attacking zone and dropped a pass back to Hirose (1) for the one-timer from the slot.

    Hirose notched his first career NHL goal and the Red Wings led, 4-3, at 1:25 of the third period.

    Athanasiou (22) and Kronwall (23) had the assists, but Detroit was not done scoring yet.

    Midway through the third, Hronek (5) fired a one-timer from the face-off dot to the right of Halak past the Bruins goaltender and into the twine to make it, 5-3, Red Wings.

    Mantha (22) notched his fourth point of the evening with the only assist on Hronek’s goal at 12:03 of the third period.

    About a minute later, Hirose cut a rut to the penalty box for slashing Coyle at 13:17, but Boston’s power play didn’t capitalize on the skater advantage.

    With less than four minutes remaining in regulation, Cassidy pulled Halak in favor of an extra attacker.

    At 19:02 of the third period, Larkin (32) put Detroit in command of the, 6-3, victory with an empty net goal that was assisted by Mantha (23) and Hronek (15).

    Upon the sound of the final horn, the Red Wings took home two points in a regulation win, despite trailing the Bruins in shots on goal (34-28), blocked shots (16-14) and face-off win% (52-48), but led in giveaways (16-4).

    Detroit finished Sunday night 2/5 on the skater advantage, while the B’s went 0/4 on the power play.

    Boston finishes the season swinging through Columbus on April 2nd, making a stop in Minnesota on April 4th and wrapping up the regular season on April 6th at home against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

  • Pastrnak’s hat trick helps B’s pummel Red Wings, 8-2

    The Detroit Red Wings have not won in Boston in five years. Even worse, the Red Wings are 0-9-0 at TD Garden in their last nine visits as a result of Saturday afternoon’s 8-2 loss to the Bruins.

    Detroit’s last win in the Hub came on October 14, 2013.

    David Pastrnak (3-0–3 totals) recorded his second career hat trick (third if you include his postseason hat trick against the Toronto Maple Leafs last April) as Boston won their fourth game in-a-row since losing 7-0 to the Washington Capitals on the road to start the season.

    Patrice Bergeron had three assists, Brad Marchand had two assists and David Krejci had a pair of assists to reach 400 career assists since entering the league with the Bruins in the 2006-07 season.

    Meanwhile Charlie McAvoy (1-0–1), Jake DeBrusk (2-0–2), Anders Bjork (1-1–2) and Sean Kuraly (1-0–1) had the other goals for the B’s in the 8-2 victory.

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    Tuukka Rask made 32 saves on 34 shots against for a .941 save percentage in the win, while Detroit netminder, Jonathan Bernier, stopped 31 out of 39 shots faced for a .795 SV% in the loss.

    The Bruins improved to 4-1-0 (8 points) on the season, while the Red Wings fell to 0-3-2 (2 points) in their first five games.

    Boston has a plus-13 goal differential through the first five games of the regular season and has outscored their opponents 22-6 in the last four games since being shutout by Washington on the road to start the 2018-19 regular season.

    The Bruins are tied with the Toronto Maple Leafs for 1st place in the Atlantic Division, at least until the Leafs take on the Capitals Saturday night.

    Detroit has a minus-12 goal differential through their first five games this season and is one point ahead of the Florida Panthers (0-0-1, 1 point) from the basement of the Atlantic Division. Florida is in action Saturday night against the Vancouver Canucks.

    Rask got the start Saturday afternoon for Boston after Jaroslav Halak backstopped the B’s to a 4-1 victory Thursday night against the Edmonton Oilers.

    Bruce Cassidy inserted Ryan Donato back into his lineup in place of Danton Heinen (scratched Saturday after no points in four games) on the third line and kept Joakim Nordstrom on the second line with Krejci and DeBrusk.

    Steven Kampfer remained a healthy scratch on the blue line, while Torey Krug remained out of the lineup due to injury.

    Late in the first period, Pastrnak (5) went end-to-end with the puck on his stick and fired a snap shot, high-glove side, past Bernier to open Saturday’s scoring for the Bruins, 1-0. Brandon Carlo (1) and Chris Wagner (1) picked up their first assists of the season on Pastrnak’s goal at 19:09.

    After attempting to check Noel Acciari and instead reverberating off of Acciari’s solid frame, Dylan Larkin kept pressuring Acciari to crack. Instead, after the third attempt at  a hit that included a quick left handed shove, Acciari dropped the gloves expecting Larkin to do the same.

    He did not.

    So both Larkin and Acciari received roughing minor penalties, with Larkin earning an extra one for good measure, giving Boston their first power play of the night at 19:44 of the first period.

    The skater advantage would carry over into the second period, but the Bruins failed to convert on the advantage.

    Through 20 minutes of play, Boston held onto a 1-0 lead on the scoreboard, despite the Red Wings leading in shots on goal, 12-8.

    Detroit also led in blocked shots (5-2), hits (13-8) and face-off win percentage (64-36) after one period, while the Bruins led in takeaways (7-5) and giveaways (4-3). The Red Wings had yet to see time on the skater advantage, while Boston was 0/1 on the power play entering the first intermission.

    Early in the second period on a face-off in the offensive zone, Bergeron won the draw back to McAvoy (1) who fired a shot from the face-off circle that deflected off an opponent in front of the goal past Bernier to make it 2-0 Bruins.

    Bergeron (4) had the only assist on McAvoy’s first goal of the season at 4:44 of the second period. Boston did not let off the gas pedal the rest of the way.

    DeBrusk (1) was sent into the attacking zone on a breakaway and slid the puck underneath Bernier’s pad– just squeaking the rubber biscuit past the goal line, but enough for the nearest ref to see the whole thing– to make it 3-0 Bruins.

    Krejci (3) had the only assist on the DeBrusk’s first of the year at 11:26.

    Moments later, Christoffer Ehn caught McAvoy with a high-stick and gave the Bruins their second power play of the afternoon 16 minutes into the second period.

    Boston’s first power play unit only needed 20 seconds to convert on the ensuing skater advantage as Pastrnak (6) scored his second goal of the game on a one-timed slap shot. Bergeron (5) and Marchand (8) had the assists on Pastrnak’s goal– the 100th of his career– at 16:20 and the B’s led, 4-0.

    Late in the second frame, the Bruins were guilty of minor penalties less than a minute apart. First, DeBrusk was sent to the box for tripping Detroit’s Andreas Athanasiou at 18:17. Then Marchand took a trip to the sin bin for sending the puck over the glass on a delay of game minor at 19:00.

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    The Red Wings would have 1:17 on the 5-on-3 advantage that would spillover into the third period.

    After 40 minutes of play, No. 40 in the home goal (Rask) and the Bruins led 4-0. Boston recovered from trailing in shots on goal in the first period, 12-8, to leading in shots on goal, 23-20 after two periods. The Bruins outshot the Red Wings, 15-8, in the second frame.

    Detroit led in blocked shots (10-4) and hits (18-14), while Boston held an advantage in takeaways (13-12), giveaways (7-6) and face-off win% (60-40) entering the second intermission. The Red Wings were 0/2 on the power play (but not for long) and the Bruins were 1/2 entering the final frame.

    Filip Hronek (1) fired a clapper from the point 21 seconds into the third period as the first penalty expired for Boston, yielding a 5-on-4 power play goal and his first career NHL goal to put Detroit on the scoreboard, 4-1.

    Tyler Bertuzzi (2) and Gustav Nyquist (4) had the assists on Hronek’s goal.

    Just 1:44 after the Red Wings scored, David Pastrnak (7) completed his hat trick on a 2-on-1 with Brad Marchand in the offensive zone.

    Pastrnak rushed in on a pass from Patrice Bergeron, giving the puck to Marchand, before No. 63 returned the vulcanized rubber to its sender for the snipe past Bernier. Marchand (9) and Bergeron (6) had the assists on Pastrnak’s third goal of the game and the Bruins led, 5-1.

    It was Pastrnak’s first regular season hat trick since recording his first career hat trick in Raleigh, North Carolina against the Carolina Hurricanes on March 13, 2018 (he had 3-1–4 totals that night) and it was his first hat trick since his 6-point effort against Toronto in Game 2 of the First Round of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

    Anthony Mantha tripped up Bruins captain, Zdeno Chara, at 6:24 of the third period, but Boston would not convert on the ensuing skater advantage.

    Dylan Larkin (3) fired a wrist shot past Rask for his third goal of the season at 8:23 and brough the Red Wings to within three, making it a 5-2 game with plenty of time left in the final period of regulation.

    Frans Nielsen (2) and Joe Hicketts (1) had primary and secondary assists on Larkin’s goal.

    Less than a couple minutes later, the Bruins responded.

    Anders Bjork (1) scored his first goal of the season– and the first of his sophomore campaign since his rookie season ended prematurely due to left-shoulder injury.

    Bjork’s goal was unassisted at 10:12 of the third period after No. 10 in black-and-gold was credited with a takeaway in the neutral zone and burst into the attacking zone with Donato on a 2-on-1. Instead of passing, Bjork sniped a wrist shot past Bernier to make it, 6-2, Boston.

    A little over a minute later, John Moore was guilty of hooking Darren Helm and Detroit went back on the power play at 11:36. The Red Wings were unable to score this time around on the advantage.

    Mantha and McAvoy received roughing minors for some extracurricular activity after the whistle at 13:57 of the third period and two minutes of 4-on-4 action resulted.

    That’s about the time when DeBrusk sent a pass to Krejci on the left side, before the Czech center lobbed a pass to Brandon Carlo pinching in from the point, whereby Carlo found DeBrusk (2) in the low slot for the redirection past Bernier to make it 7-2 Boston at 15:15.

    In the final minute of regulation, Detroit defender, Nick Jensen caught Ryan Donato with a shoulder to the head and Bruins fourth liner, Chris Wagner, immediately responded.

    Though Wagner and Jensen had the gloves off and exchanged fisticuffs, both received unsportsmanlike conduct minor penalties, with Wagner serving two and Jensen picking up one unsportsmanlike conduct call and an illegal check to the head minor penalty at 19:35 of the third period.

    In the closing seconds of the game, Sean Kuraly (1) added his first goal of the season and the Bruins sealed an 8-2 victory with 1.3 seconds remaining on the game clock. Kevan Miller (1) and Bjork (1) were tabbed with the assists on Kuraly’s goal at 19:58 (officially) of the third period.

    The Bruins finished the night with the 8-2 win and leading in shots on goal (39-34), as well as, face-off win% (52-49), while going 1/3 on the power play. Detroit ended the game leading in blocked shots (12-9) and was 1/3 on the skater advantage, as well. Both teams finished Saturday’s matinee matchup with 21 hits.

    Among other stats…

    Miller was a plus-four for the Bruins, as only Wagner (even) and Acciari (minus-one) finished the game without a positive plus/minus for Boston.

    Moore led the B’s in shots on goal with five, while Chara, DeBrusk, Nordstrom and Pastrnak all recorded four shots on net.

    Acciari led the Bruins in hits with four. Carlo, Miller and Nordstrom each had three.

    David Pastrnak is the third fastest to reach 100 career goals in franchise history for Boston, doing so in his 259th career game– trailing only Barry Pederson (100 goals in 187 games) and Dit Clapper (100 goals in 247 games). He also became the third fastest Czech-born player to score 100 goals, behind Petr Klima (231) and Jaromir Jagr (245).

    Meanwhile, Gustav Nyquist and Frans Nielsen were minus-three on Saturday for Detroit. Filip Hronek not only scored his first career goal, but led the Red Wings in shots on goal with six from the blue line (Nyquist was second on the team with five). Joe Hicketts led the Red Wings in hits with five and Nick Jensen led Detroit in blocked shots with four.

    The Bruins take on the Calgary Flames on the road on Wednesday, before facing the Oilers on Thursday and rounding out their Western Canada portion of the upcoming four-game road trip on October 20th against the Vancouver Canucks.

    Boston travels to Ottawa for a matchup with the Senators on the 23rd before returning home to face the Philadelphia Flyers at TD Garden on the 25th.