Tag: Karson Kuhlman

Bruins capitalize on, 7-3, win over Washington

Post author By Nick Lanciani
Post date December 24, 2019
No Comments on Bruins capitalize on, 7-3, win over Washington

The Boston Bruins routed the Washington Capitals, 7-3, on Monday night at TD Garden after scoring four goals in the first period on 11 shots.

Tuukka Rask (14-4-5 record, 2.32 goals against average, .923 save percentage in 23 games played) turned aside 39 out of 42 shots faced for a .929 SV% in the win for the Bruins.

Capitals goaltender, Braden Holtby (17-5-4, 2.87 GAA, .907 SV% in 27 games played) made seven saves on 11 shots against (6.36 SV%) before being replaced after the first period in the loss.

Ilya Samsonov (9-2-1, 2.39 GAA, .914 SV% in 13 games played) stopped three out of four shots faced (.750 SV%) for no decision after replacing Holtby for the final 40 minutes of action on Monday.

Boston improved to 22-7-9 (53 points) on the season and remained in 1st place in the Atlantic Division. Meanwhile, Washington fell to 26-7-5 (57 points) on the season and remained in 1st place in the
Metropolitan Division.

The B’s also improved to 13-1-8 at home this season with the victory.

Monday night marked the first time that the Bruins beat the Capitals at home since March 6, 2014. Gregory Campbell, Loui Eriksson and Brad Marchand each had a goal in Boston’s, 3-0, win that night.

Boston was without the services of Kevan Miller (knee), Karson Kuhlman (fractured tibia) and Zdeno Chara (infection) on Monday.

Miller missed his 38th game this season and has yet to make his season debut, while Kuhlman missed his 30th consecutive game since being injured in Toronto on Oct. 19th.

Chara, on the other hand, missed his 1st game this season due to injury after requiring surgery to take out the plates that were put in his jaw after originally breaking his jaw in Game 4 of the 2019 Stanley Cup Final last June.

As a result, John Moore returned to the lineup and took over the left side of the top defensive pairing with Charlie McAvoy after missing the last two games with an illness.

Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made minor adjustments to his lineup, re-inserting Joakim Nordstrom on the fourth line while scratching Chris Wagner as a result.

Nordstrom returned to his fourth line left wing role, while Sean Kuraly moved up to the left side of the third line and Anders Bjork took over on the third line right wing with Wagner scratched.

Wagner and David Backes were the only healthy scratches for the B’s on Monday.

Nick Jensen caught Kuraly with a high stick and presented Boston with their first power play of the night at 1:30 of the first period.

The Bruins did not convert on the ensuing skater advantage.

Moments later, Radko Gudas hooked Marchand at 5:28 of the opening frame and the B’s went back on the power play.

Nine seconds into the ensuing skater advantage, Jake DeBrusk (9) slid a rebound through Holtby’s five-hole to give Boston their first power play goal of the night and the, 1-0, lead at 5:37.

David Krejci (18) and Matt Grzelcyk (8) had the assists on DeBrusk’s goal.

For the third time this season, the Bruins scored first against the Capitals. Boston went 0-1-1 in their previous meetings with Washington entering Monday.

Almost midway through the first period, McAvoy tripped Lars Eller and received a minor penalty at 8:54.

The Caps couldn’t convert on the resulting skater advantage.

Less than five minutes later, Marchand (19) followed up on a rebound and pocketed the puck in the twine for his first goal in 12 games at 13:29.

David Pastrnak (24) and McAvoy (13) tallied the assists on Marchand’s goal and the Bruins extended their lead to, 2-0.

Boston scored again, 27 seconds later, when Bjork (6) fired a one-timer through Holtby’s seven-hole to give Boston a three-goal lead.

Charlie Coyle (12) tallied the only assist on Bjork’s goal at 13:56 and the B’s led, 3-0.

Less than a minute later, Connor Clifton and Garnet Hathaway both skated to the penalty box at 14:46, presenting both clubs with two minutes of 4-on-4 action while Clifton was in the sin bin for slashing and Hathaway was in the box for cross checking.

A few minutes later, Washington found themselves on the penalty kill once again– only this time the Capitals were going to be short by two skaters.

Boston had a full two-minute 5-on-3 power play as a result of Jakub Vrana tripping Pastrnak and Evgeny Kuznetsov slashing Krejci at 17:25 of the first period.

Less than a minute later, Patrice Bergeron (14) tipped in a shot from Pastrnak over Holtby’s blocker and gave the Bruins a four-goal lead.

Pastrnak (25) and Krejci (19) notched the assists on Bergeron’s power play goal at 18:57 and the B’s led, 4-0.

Bergeron’s goal marked the first time that the Bruins had a four-goal lead over Washington since Oct. 30, 2002– when Cassidy was then head coach of the Capitals– according to 98.5 The Sports Hub’s, Ty Anderson.

It was also the first four-goal first period this season for Boston.

After one period of play on Monday, Boston led Washington, 4-0, on the scoreboard and, 11-8, in shots on goal.

The Bruins also held the advantage in takeaways (5-2), giveaways (5-2) and faceoff win percentage (64-36), while the Caps led in blocked shots (7-2) and hits (12-8) entering the first intermission.

Washington was 0/1 on the skater advantage, while the B’s were 2/4 on the power play heading into the middle frame.

Capitals head coach, Todd Reirden, replaced Holtby with Samsonov to start the second period and Washington limited Boston’s chances to score for the remainder of the night.

DeBrusk slashed Gudas at 2:05 of the second period and was sent to the penalty box as a result, but the Caps didn’t convert on the ensuing power play.

After killing off DeBrusk’s minor, Krejci was the next Bruin to take a skate to the sin bin and serve a minor infraction for tripping Dmitry Orlov at 5:06.

Wes McCauley blew the whistle to make the call despite Boston not having possession of the puck and a would be Washington own goal taking place at the same time, but the league ruled the play “not reviewable”.

In the meantime, Bruins defender, Torey Krug, quietly exited the game down the tunnel after taking a huge hit from Tom Wilson. Krug did not return in the third period and was ruled out for the night with an upper body injury as Boston later tweeted.

While shorthanded, Marchand sent Coyle (7) on a breakaway whereby the B’s third liner scored on Samsonov’s glove side for his 100th career NHL goal.

Marchand (34) had the only assist on Coyle’s shorthanded goal and the Bruins led, 5-0, at 6:55 of the second period.

Late in the middle frame, Alex Ovechkin (23) wired a shot over Rask’s blocker with traffic in front of the net to disrupt Rask’s shutout attempt and cut Boston’s lead to four goals.

Wilson (14) and John Carlson (35) had the assists as Washington trailed, 5-1, at 14:35.

Less than 20 seconds later, Carlson slashed Kuraly and was assessed a minor infraction at 14:53, but the B’s did not capitalize on the resulting power play.

Through 40 minutes of action on Monday, Boston led Washington, 5-1, on the scoreboard and trailed the Caps, 25-13, in shots on goal as Washington outshot Boston, 17-2, in the second period alone.

The Capitals also held the advantage in takeaways (8-7) and hits (25-16), while the Bruins led in blocked shots (10-8), giveaways (9-2) and faceoff win% (54-46) heading into the final frame of regulation.

Washington was 0/3 on the power play and Boston was 2/5.

Ovechkin kicked things off with a holding penalty at 4:59 of the third period, but Boston wasn’t able to convert on the ensuing power play and was caught with too many men on the ice in the vulnerable minute after their advantage ended at 7:28.

The Capitals, however, couldn’t score on the power play while DeBrusk served the bench minor.

Midway through the final frame of regulation, Wilson hit Pastrnak, then speared him, which led to the two players exchanging pleasantries near the benches and an ensuing scrum at center ice began between the two clubs.

Wilson and Pastrnak each received roughing minors at 13:26, but Wilson earned an extra misconduct for his actions.

Meanwhile, Boston had ended up with too many skaters as a result of a line change as things escalated between Pastrnak and Wilson, so Washington ended up with a power play opportunity as DeBrusk went back to the box to serve the Bruins’ bench minor.

Lars Eller (8) redirected Vrana’s shot under Rask’s glove and brought the Capitals to within three goals at 15:29.

Vrana (16) and Gudas (10) collected the assists on Eller’s goal as Washington trailed, 5-2, with less than five minutes left in the action.

Reirden pulled Samsonov for an extra attacker with about 3:40 remaining in regulation, but Krejci (8) tallied an empty net goal shortly thereafter once Kuraly picked off Ovechkin’s attempt to send the puck out of Washington’s defensive zone.

Kuraly (10) had the only assist on Krejci’s goal and the B’s led, 6-2, at 16:50 of the third period.

Less than a minute later, Hathaway (6) cleaned up a mishap to cut Boston’s lead to two goals as Jonas Siegenthaler bounced the puck off the endboards and Hathaway pounced on the loose puck for the goal.

Rask misread the play as his defenders opted not to reach for the puck thinking their goaltender would get it, but Rask thought his defense would get it instead and thus– Washington collected a goal as Boston was stuck in no man’s land.

Siegenthaler (6) had the only assist on Hathaway’s goal at 17:47 and the Bruins led, 6-3.

With 2:07 remaining in the game, Samsonov once again vacated the goal for an extra attacker, but Boston made sure to put the game away as Bergeron (15) collected his second goal of the game– this time on an empty net.

Bergeron’s empty net goal was assisted by Marchand (35) and Pastrnak (26) at 19:32 of the third period and sealed the deal on a, 7-3, victory for the Bruins.

This, after T.J. Oshie leveled McAvoy along the benches, ending the young defender’s night early, but avoiding any major injury as Cassidy indicated to reporters after the game.

Boston finished the night trailing Washington in shots on goal, 42-17, but led in blocked shots (13-10) and giveaways (10-8).

Meanwhile, the Capitals held the advantage in hits (40-19) and were even with the Bruins in faceoff win% (50-50) at the end of the game.

Washington went 0/5 and Boston went 2/6 on the power play on Monday.

The Bruins improved to 15-5-5 when scoring the game’s first goal, 13-3-1 when leading after the first period and 12-0-3 when leading after two periods this season.

Boston finished their four-game homestand (1-0-3) and enters the holiday break 21-7-9 overall on the season. The Bruins travel to Buffalo to take on the Sabres in a home-and-home on Dec. 27th before hosting Jack Eichel and his teammates on Dec. 29th. The B’s finish off the month of December in New Jersey on Dec. 31st.

Tags Alex Ovechkin, Anders Bjork, Atlantic Division, Boston Bruins, Brad Marchand, Braden Holtby, Bruce Cassidy, Buffalo Sabres, Charlie Coyle, Charlie McAvoy, Chris Wagner, Connor Clifton, David Backes, David Krejci, David Pastrnak, Dmitry Orlov, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Garnet Hathaway, Gregory Campbell, Ilya Samsonov, Jack Eichel, Jake DeBrusk, Jakub Vrana, Joakim Nordstrom, John Carlson, John Moore, Jonas Siegenthaler, Karson Kuhlman, Kevan Miller, Lars Eller, Loui Eriksson, Matt Grzelcyk, Metropolitan Division, National Hockey League, New Jersey Devils, NHL, Nick Jensen, Nick Lanciani, Patrice Bergeron, Radko Gudas, Sean Kuraly, T.J. Oshie, TD Garden, Todd Reirden, Tom Wilson, Torey Krug, Tuukka Rask, Ty Anderson, Washington Capitals, Wes McCauley, Zdeno Chara

NHL Nick's Net

Predators top Bruins, 4-3, in OT

Post author By Nick Lanciani
Post date December 22, 2019
No Comments on Predators top Bruins, 4-3, in OT

Roman Josi and Patrice Bergeron scored a pair of goals for their respective teams, but Ryan Ellis scored the game-winning goal in overtime as the Nashville Predators topped the Boston Bruins, 4-3, at TD Garden on Saturday night.

Pekka Rinne (12-5-3 record, 2.98 goals against average, .895 save percentage in 20 games played) made 29 saves on 32 shots against for a .906 SV% in Nashville’s win.

Boston goaltender, Jaroslav Halak (8-3-4, 2.37 GAA, .924 SV% in 15 games played) stopped 25 out of 29 shots faced (.862 SV%) in the overtime loss.

The Bruins fell to 21-7-9 (51 points) on the season, but remained in command of 1st place in the Atlantic Division.

Meanwhile, the Predators improved to 17-12-6 (40 points) on the season and moved into 5th place in the Central Division.

Boston fell to 12-1-8 at home this season as a result of the loss.

Once more the Bruins were without the services of Kevan Miller (knee) and Karson Kuhlman (fractured tibia) on Saturday.

John Moore was also out of the lineup for the second game in a row after missing Thursday night’s, 3-2, shootoutloss to the New York Islanders with an illness.

B’s head coach, Bruce Cassidy, opted to keep Connor Clifton in the lineup in place of Moore, while switching up his entire fourth line– scratching Joakim Nordstrom and David Backes in exchange for Par Lindholm and Brett Ritchie.

Lindholm centered the fourth line while Sean Kuraly slid over to the left wing and Ritchie fit in on the right side.

Nordstrom, Backes and Moore made up Boston’s short list of healthy scratches against Nashville.

Less than a minute into the action on Saturday night, Viktor Arvisson was penalized for holding against Brad Marchand in Arvidsson’s first game back since missing the last 12 games with an injury.

Boston’s first power play of the night at 26 seconds of the first period was unsuccessful.

Almost midway through the opening frame, Anders Bjork slashed Ellis and presented Nashville with their first power play opportunity of the night at 7:13.

The Predators did not convert on the ensuing skater advantage and the Bruins managed to kill off Bjork’s minor.

Late in the period, David Krejci tripped up Matt Duchene and was charged with an infraction at 15:10, but Nashville’s power play was powerless through one period.

After 20 minutes of action on Saturday, the Bruins and Predators entered the first intermission tied, 0-0, with Boston leading in shots on goal, 11-8.

Nashville was 0/2 on the power play and Boston was 0/1 on the skater advantage heading into the second period.

Dan Hamhuis jumpstarted the middle frame with a tripping minor at 4:23 of the second period, but the Bruins couldn’t convert on the ensuing power play.

Boston did catch Nashville in the vulnerable minute after special teams play, however, as Lindholm (2) bumped into a loose puck off a rebound while being checked by a Predators defender and the rubber biscuit tumbled into the twine.

Ritchie (3) and Kuraly (9) had the assists on Lindholm’s first goal in 16 games as the Bruins took the, 1-0, lead at 7:30 of the second period.

Midway through the second period, Matt Grzelcyk slashed Duchene and presented the Predators with another power play at 10:19.

Nashville’s skater advantage was short lived, however, as Craig Smith tripped up Boston blue liner, Brandon Carlo, at 11:27.

The two clubs played 52 seconds of 4-on-4 hockey before the Bruins had an abbreviated 5-on-4 power play.

Shortly after making the kill, the Preds capitalized on the vulnerable minute after special teams action as Josi (12) snaked his way from the point to the slot and let go of a backhand shot that floated past Halak as Arvidsson acted as a fly-by screen in front of the Boston netminder.

Ryan Johansen (15) had the only assist on Josi’s first goal of the game at 12:14 and the Predators tied the game, 1-1.

Moments later, Filip Forsberg was penalized for roughing at 17:56 and the Bruins went back on the power play.

Late in the ensuing skater advantage, Bergeron (12) acted as the bumper and one-timed a shot past Rinne from point blank to give Boston the lead with a power play goal.

Torey Krug (20) had the only assist on Bergeron’s first goal of the night at 19:12 and the B’s led, 2-1.

Heading into the second intermission, Boston was ahead in the scoreboard, 2-1, but tied in shots on goal, 19-19, after Nashville rallied to an, 11-8, advantage in shots on goal in the second period alone.

Boston held the advantage in blocked shots (11-10) and hits (22-14), while Nashville led in takeaways (14-5), giveaways (9-7) and faceoff win percentage (62-38).

The Predators were 0/3 on the skater advantage and the Bruins were 1/4 on the power play heading into the third period.

Midway through the final frame of regulation, the Preds took the game by storm.

Forsberg (13) poked home a loose puck through Halak’s short side while on a delayed call against Boston (that was ultimately negated by Nashville’s goal) and tied the game in the process, 2-2, at 7:35 of the third period.

Johansen (16) and Mattias Ekholm (14) notched the assists on Forsberg’s goal.

Just 35 seconds later, Josi (13) added his second goal of the night on an unassisted effort when Halak skated out of his crease and misplayed the puck in the high slot, effectively turning the rubber biscuit over to the Predators captain– leaving an empty goal frame for Josi to bury the puck in.

Josi’s goal at 8:10 of the third period gave Nashville their first lead of the night, 3-2, but the Bruins wouldn’t go down without a fight just yet.

After using his timeout after the Josi goal mishap, Cassidy pulled his goaltender for an extra attacker with about two minutes left in regulation.

David Pastrnak unloaded a shot towards the goal that Bergeron (13) redirected for his second goal of the game– tying the game, 3-3, in the process.

Pastrnak (23) and Marchand (34) tallied the assists as Boston evened things up at 18:55 of the third period.

At the horn, the Bruins required extra time for the ninth time in their last 13 games as Boston and Nashville were knotted, 3-3, with the B’s leading in shots on goal, 30-26, after regulation.

Boston also held the advantage in blocked shots (14-13), giveaways (12-10) and hits (28-23), while Nashville led in takeaways (15-8) and faceoff win% (53-47).

There were no penalties called in the third period or overtime period, so the Preds finished 0/3 on the skater advantage, while the B’s went 1/4 on the power play Saturday night.

In overtime, Peter Laviolette, started Duchene, Mikael Granlund and Josi for the Predators while Cassidy opted for Charlie Coyle, Bjork and Charlie McAvoy.

With less than a minute separating the two teams from going to a shootout, Nashville pounced on a wacky bounce in the attacking zone while the Bruins scrambled out of position.

Johansen flipped a quick pass to Ellis (6) as the Predators defender snuck in unnoticed and wired a one-timer into the twine– winning the game in the process.

Johansen (17) and Kyle Turris (11) notched the assists as the Preds picked up the, 4-3, overtime victory at 4:05 of the overtime period.

Boston finished the night leading in shots on goal (32-29), blocked shots (15-14), giveaways (13-10) and hits (29-24), while Nashville left the Hub with the advantage in faceoff win% (52-48) and the final result.

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

Boston has lost eight of their last nine games and are 1-4-4 in that span. But the B’s still have a nine-point lead over 2nd place in the Atlantic Division.

The Bruins fell to 5-1-5 when tied after one period, 14-5-5 when scoring the game’s first goal and 11-0-3 when leading after two periods this season.

They have now lost eight out of their last nine games and are 1-4-4 in that span.

Boston wraps up their four-game homestand (0-0-3) on Monday night (Dec. 23rd) as they host the Washington Capitals before the league-wide holiday break kicks in from Dec. 24th through the 26th.

The Bruins travel to Buffalo to take on the Sabres in a home-and-home on Dec. 27th before hosting Jack Eichel and his teammates on Dec. 29th. The B’s finish off the month of December in New Jersey on Dec. 31st.

NHL Nick's Net

Varlamov robs B’s in Isles, 3-2, shootout win

Post author By Nick Lanciani
Post date December 19, 2019
No Comments on Varlamov robs B’s in Isles, 3-2, shootout win

After trailing early in the first period, New York Islanders came back to pull off a, 3-2, shootout victory at TD Garden over the Boston Bruins on Thursday.

Semyon Varlamov (12-3-2 record, 2.34 goals against average, .923 save percentage in 20 games played) made 27 saves on 29 shots against for a .931 SV% in the win for the Islanders.

Bruins goaltender, Tuukka Rask (13-4-5, 2.29 GAA, .922 SV% in 22 games played) stopped 19 out of 21 shots faced (.905 SV% in the shootout loss).

It was the second fewest saves on the second fewest shots against that Rask has faced this season.

Boston fell to 21-7-8 (50 points) this season, but remained in 1st place in the Atlantic Division, while New York improved to 23-8-2 (48 points) and stayed in 2nd place in the Metropolitan Division.

The Bruins are now 12-1-7 at home this season and 1-4-3 in their last eight games.

It was also the first time that the Islanders beat the B’s in their last eight meetings.

Kevan Miller (knee) and Karson Kuhlman (fractured tibia) were out of the lineup once again Thursday night for Boston.

Miller has yet to make his season debut and has missed the first 36 games this season, while Kuhlman has been out for 28 consecutive games since being injured in Toronto on Oct. 19th.

Zach Senyshyn (lower body) was reactivated from long-term injured reserve and assigned to the Providence Bruins (AHL) on Wednesday. Senyshyn had been out of the lineup since being injured against the Florida Panthers on Nov. 12th.

Bruce Cassidy announced earlier in the day on Thursday that Connor Clifton would be back in the lineup on the blue line with Matt Grzelcyk on the third defensive pairing while John Moore is out sick.

Cassidy made a few minor changes to his forward lines at morning skate– moving Danton Heinen up to the second line right wing with Jake DeBrusk at left wing and David Krejci at center, while bumping Charlie Coyle back to his third line center role.

Coyle was flanked by Anders Bjork on his left side and Chris Wagner on his right side with Joakim Nordstrom, Sean Kuraly and David Backes comprising the fourth line.

Brett Ritchie and Par Lindholm were the only healthy scratches in the press box for the Bruins against the Islanders.

Bjork (5) kicked things off with an early goal at 1:58 of the first period, giving Boston the, 1-0, lead after the winger scored his first goal in 12 games on a snap shot over Varlamov’s blocker.

Coyle (11) had the only assist on Bjork’s goal.

Moments later, New York had too many skaters on the ice and was assessed a bench minor as a result. Jordan Eberle served the penalty for the Islanders at 6:00 of the first period.

Boston couldn’t convert on the ensuing legal skater advantage.

About a minute after the power play expired for the Bruins, the B’s went on the penalty kill for the first time Thursday night after Clifton caught Anders Lee with a stick and tripped the Isles’ captain at 9:09.

New York was not successful on their first power play of the night.

In the final minute of the opening frame, Casey Cizikas tripped up the NHL’s leading goal scorer, David Pastrnak, at 19:13 and presented the Bruins with another power play that would carry over into the second period if the B’s couldn’t score by the end of the period.

Entering the first intermission, Boston led, 1-0, on the scoreboard, but trailed New York, 4-3, in shots on goal.

The Islanders also led in blocked shots (8-5), takeaways (6-3) and hits (13-8), while the Bruins led in giveaways (6-4) and faceoff win percentage (53-47).

New York was 0/1 on the skater advantage and Boston was 0/2 on the power play heading into the second period.

Former Bruin turned Islanders defender, Johnny Boychuk (2) blasted one of his patented slap shots from the point that beat Rask on the short side with a screen in front of the net.

Eberle (10) and Lee (10) notched the assists on Boychuk’s goal as the Islanders tied the game, 1-1, at 3:26 of the second period.

Midway through the middle frame, Derick Brassard caught Clifton with a high stick and cut a rut to the penalty box at 12:24. Once more, however, the Bruins were unsuccessful on the power play.

Late in the period, Varlamov robbed Bjork on a one-timer opportunity with a diving glove save across the crease to keep the game tied with 3:33 remaining in the period.

About a minute later, Mathew Barzal (14) scored a one-timer of his own after DeBrusk couldn’t score on a breakaway in Boston’s attacking zone.

Barzal stood inside the low slot and went unnoticed by the B’s defense as the Bruins turned the puck over in New York’s attacking zone and Boychuk faked a shot, then fired a hard pass to Barzal for the go-ahead goal.

For the first time of the night, the Islanders led, 2-1, with Boychuk (7) notching the only assist on Barzal’s goal at 18:26 of the second period.

About a minute later, Brandon Carlo tripped up Eberle and went to the box at 19:44.

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

Through 40 minutes of play, New York led Boston, 2-1, on the scoreboard despite shots on net being even, 10-10.

The Islanders held the advantage in blocked shots (13-7), takeaways (12-5) and hits (24-14), while the Bruins led in giveaways (12-6) and faceoff win% (53-47).

New York was 0/2 and Boston was 0/3 on the power play heading into the second intermission.

Adam Pelech caught Brad Marchand with a high stick at 6:32 of the third period and the Bruins went on the power play early in the final frame of regulation.

It wasn’t long before the skater advantage became a two-skater advantage as Brock Nelson sent the puck clear over the glass and yielded an automatic delay of game penalty at 7:16.

Boston went on the 5-on-3 power play for a span of 1:16, unless they scored before the advantage expired.

Eight seconds after Nelson was sent to the box, the Bruins won the ensuing faceoff back to Torey Krug, whereby the defender worked the puck to Pastrnak, then back to Krug, at which point No. 47 in black-and-gold flipped the puck down low to Krejci.

Krejci finally sent a pass back to Krug (5) for the one-timer as the Bruins defender moved in from the point to tie the game, 2-2, at 7:24 of the third period.

Krejci (17) and Pastrnak (22) picked up the assists on Boston’s first power play goal in five power play opportunities of the night.

Both teams swapped chance after chance, but no penalties and no goals were scored thereafter as the horn sounded on regulation with the game heading to overtime– knotted up, 2-2.

Boston led in shots on goal in the third period alone, 16-9– increasing their total advantage to, 26-19.

Meanwhile New York held the advantage in blocked shots (17-8), takeaways (17-7) and hits (35-22). The Bruins led in giveaways (13-10) and faceoff win% (59-41) after regulation.

The Islanders were 0/2 and the B’s were 1/5 on the power play heading into overtime.

In overtime, both teams swapped a few high quality scoring chances and let thing slip away as Krejci blew a pass at one point and Devon Toews lost control of the puck at another point.

Rask and Varlamov matched each other’s efforts with save after save from the third period throughout overtime.

After five minutes of play in the extra frame, the two teams needed to declare a winner and squared off in a shootout.

Cassidy started Coyle, Bjork and Krug in overtime, while Islanders head coach, Barry Trotz, opted for Nelson, Anthony Beauvillier and Nick Leddy.

There were no goals and no penalties in overtime, but the Bruins outshot the Islanders, 3-2, in the extra frame alone– bringing their final total advantage to, 29-21.

New York finished the effort leading in blocked shots (19-9) and hits (39-24), while Boston held the advantage in giveaways (14-11) and faceoff win% (59-41).

The Isles finished the night 0/2 on the skater advantage and the B’s went 1/5 on the power play Thursday night.

Boston opted to shoot second in the shootout, thereby giving Trotz the first option to kick things off in the shootout.

First up for the Islanders, Eberle deked and scored with a wrist shot over Rask’s blocker.

In response, Cassidy sent out Coyle who stickhandled the puck and sent a shot off the post over Varlamov’s glove side.

Barzal kicked off the second round of the shootout with a big, sweeping deke, then wired the puck off the cross bar and in over Rask’s glove, but the Bruins wouldn’t go down without a fight just yet.

Needing to score to keep the shootout alive, Pastrnak approached the net with speed and creativity– pulling Varlamov out of the crease before deking one final time and finishing his shot on the forehand while wrapping the puck around Varlamov’s outstretched leg pad and into the twine.

Rask needed to make a save to give his team a third and possibly final shot if the Bruins couldn’t score and Rask came up big as he aggressively stayed square to the shooter– Josh Bailey– and made a pad save.

Finally, with the game on his stick– score and continue the shootout in “sudden death” or be denied in any way and go home– Marchand skated in on Varlamov and had the New York goaltender committed to a hybrid stance and an aggressive maneuver, but Marchand chose to go five-hole and was denied.

If only Marchand had elevated the puck in any way.

The Islanders improved to 3-0 in shootouts this season with the, 3-2, shootout victory in Boston.

Meanwhile, the Bruins fell to 0-5 in shootouts this season as a result of the loss.

The B’s also fell to 12-3-1 when leading after the first period this season, 14-5-4 when scoring the game’s first goal this season and 4-5-4 when trailing after two periods this season.

Boston continues their four-game homestand (0-0-2) on Saturday night against the Nashville Predators before finishing it off with their last game before the holiday break against the Washington Capitals on Monday (Dec. 23rd).

Tags Adam Pelech, AHL, American Hockey League, Anders Bjork, Anders Lee, Anthony Beauvillier, Atlantic Division, Barry Trotz, Boston Bruins, Brad Marchand, Brandon Carlo, Brett Ritchie, Brock Nelson, Bruce Cassidy, Casey Cizikas, Charlie Coyle, Chris Wagner, Connor Clifton, Danton Heinen, David Backes, David Krejci, David Pastrnak, Derick Brassard, Devon Toews, Florida Panthers, Jake DeBrusk, Joakim Nordstrom, John Moore, Johnny Boychuk, Jordan Eberle, Josh Bailey, Karson Kuhlman, Kevan Miller, Mathew Barzal, Matt Grzelcyk, Metropolitan Division, Nashville Predators, National Hockey League, New York Islanders, NHL, Nick Lanciani, Nick Leddy, Par Lindholm, Providence Bruins, Sean Kuraly, Semyon Varlamov, TD Garden, Torey Krug, Tuukka Rask, Washington Capitals, Zach Senyshyn

NHL Nick's Net

Kings reign over Bruins, 4-3, in OT

Post author By Nick Lanciani
Post date December 18, 2019
No Comments on Kings reign over Bruins, 4-3, in OT

Anze Kopitar’s game-winning goal in overtime lifted the Los Angeles Kings over the Boston Bruins, 4-3, on Tuesday night at TD Garden.

Jonathan Quick (10-12-2 record, 3.05 goals against average, .893 save percentage in 24 games played) made 37 saves on 40 shots against (.925 SV%) in the win for the Kings.

Bruins goaltender, Tuukka Rask (13-4-4, 2.31 GAA, .923 SV% in 21 games played) stopped 23 out of 27 shots faced in the overtime loss.

Boston fell to 21-7-7 (49 points) on the season, but remained in command of the Atlantic Division. Meanwhile, Los Angeles improved to 15-18-3 (33 points) and moved to 7th place in the Pacific Division.

The Bruins fell to 12-1-6 at home this season, while the Kings improved to 5-12-3 on the road this season.

The Bruins were without the services of Kevan Miller (knee), Karson Kuhlman (fractured tibia) and Zach Senyshyn (lower body) on Tuesday.

Kuhlman and Anton Blidh (shoulder) skated on their own on Monday as the two work to get back into their respective lineups (Kuhlman likely with Boston, while Blidh is rehabbing an injury sustained in the preseason and would likely be assigned to the Providence Bruins (AHL) when he is reactivated).

B’s head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made no changes to his lineup from last Saturday night’s, 4-2, victory in Florida.

Once more, Connor Clifton, Par Lindholm and Brett Ritchie comprised of Boston’s healthy scratches.

The Bruins had too many skaters on the ice exactly one minute into the first period and presented Los Angeles with their first power play opportunity of the night.

The Kings took full advantage as Jeff Carter rocketed an intentionally wide shot to Blake Lizotte (4) for the redirection into the twine, giving Los Angeles the, 1-0, lead at 2:17 of the first period.

Carter (6) and Tyler Toffoli (12) had the assists on Lizotte’s power play goal as the Bruins gave up the game’s first goal on home ice for the 11th time this season.

Late in the opening frame, Kyle Clifford knocked down Chris Wagner while the B’s forward didn’t have possession of the puck and received an interference infraction as a result at 18:14.

Boston capitalized on their first power play of the game as Danton Heinen (6) redirected the puck into the net with his right skate– tying the game, 1-1, in the process.

Heinen’s power play goal was reviewed for a distinct kicking motion, but the call on the ice stood.

Brad Marchand (33) and David Pastrnak (21) notched the assists on Heinen’s goal at 19:01.

Pastrnak surpassed Barry Pederson for sole possession of the 4th most points by a Bruins player before the age of 24 with the secondary assist on Heinen’s goal.

Only Bobby Orr (507 points from 1966-72), Ray Bourque (399 points from 1979-84) and Joe Thornton (348 points from 1997-2003) had more points with Boston than Pastrnak (333) before turning 24-years-old.

After one period of play Tuesday night at TD Garden, the B’s and Kings were tied, 1-1, on the scoreboard with Boston outshooting Los Angeles, 11-7.

Boston also held the advantage in giveaways (4-3) and faceoff win percentage (57-43), while Los Angeles led in blocked shots (4-3) and takeaways (5-4).

Both teams had eight hits aside and were 1/1 on the power play heading into the first intermission.

Trevor Lewis hooked Jake DeBrusk and was sent to the penalty box at 1:59 of the second period as the Kings kicked off the middle frame with an infraction.

While on the power play, the Bruins couldn’t manage to keep the puck in the attacking zone as Los Angeles worked a quick break turned shorthanded breakaway attempt for Adrian Kempe heading the other way.

Kempe (5) slid a backhand shot through Rask’s five-hole for the third shorthanded goal allowed this season by Boston, as well as the third shorthanded goal for Los Angeles this season.

Kempe’s shorthanded goal gave the Kings a, 2-1, lead and was unassisted at 2:45 of the second period.

Midway through the middle frame, Patrice Bergeron (11) fired a wrist shot from the high slot off the post and in behind Quick with traffic in front of the net to tie the game, 2-2.

Torey Krug (19) had the only assist on Bergeron’s goal at 10:44.

Late in the period, Dustin Brown slashed Charlie McAvoy’s stick out of the Boston defender’s hands and received a minor penalty for his action at 16:07.

The Bruins did not convert on the ensuing power play.

The two clubs entered the second intermission tied, 2-2, on the scoreboard, with the B’s leading in shots on goal, 21-17, through 40 minutes.

Both teams had 10 shots on net in the second period alone.

Meanwhile, the Bruins led in giveaways (10-4), hits (17-14) and faceoff win% (64-36) and the Kings led in blocked shots (9-5) and takeaways (11-6) entering the third period.

Los Angeles was 1/1 on the skater advantage, while Boston was 1/3 on the power play.

Brandon Carlo (3) snapped a 23-game goalless drought after he floated a soft goal past Quick from the point to give the Bruins their first lead of the night, 3-2, at 1:24 of the third period.

DeBrusk (9) and Heinen (9) had the assists on Carlo’s goal.

There were no penalties called in the third period.

With 2:08 remaining in regulation, Kings head coach, Todd McLellan, pulled Quick for an extra skater. It didn’t take long for Los Angeles to capitalize and tie the game.

Matt Roy (4) sent a shot from the point that had eyes and almost was tipped by Carter before reaching the back of the net at 17:59– tying the game, 3-3.

Nikolai Prokhorkin (4) had the only assist on Roy’s goal as the Kings forced overtime with their first shot on goal in a 10:04 span.

At the end of regulation, the Bruins led the Kings in shots on goal, 37-25– including a, 16-8, advantage in the third period alone.

Boston held the advantage in giveaways (11-9), hits (24-22) and faceoff win% (62-38), while Los Angeles led in takeaways (12-8).

Both teams had ten blocked shots each.

Los Angeles finished the night 1/1 on the skater advantage and the B’s went 1/3 on the power play as there were no penalties called in the third period or overtime.

Cassidy started Bergeron, Marchand and Krug in the extra frame, while McLellan opted for Kopitar, Alex Iafallo and Drew Doughty.

The Bruins surged with a couple of breakaways– one from Anders Bjork that was poke checked away by Quick and the other from Bergeron that was sent wide of the goal– but they were no match for Los Angeles’ quick break the other way as Kopitar (14) put the final nail in the coffin.

The Kings had defeated the Bruins, 4-3, at 3:23 of the overtime period with Doughty (17) tallying the only assist.

Boston finished the night leading in shots on goal (40-27), giveaways (11-10) and faceoff win% (63-38), while both teams managed to amass ten blocked shots aside and 24 hits each.

Los Angeles improved to 4-2 in overtime this season, while the B’s fell to 2-3 in the extra frame thus far.

The Kings are now 3-0-0 when scoring a shorthanded goal in a game this season, while the Bruins fell to 5-1-4 when tied after one period and 5-2-2 when tied after two periods this season.

Boston continues their four-game homestand (0-0-1) on Thursday night against the New York Islanders before hosting the Nashville Predators on Saturday and wrapping up before the holiday break next Monday against the Washington Capitals.

Tags Adrian Kempe, AHL, Alex Iafallo, American Hockey League, Anton Blidh, Anze Kopitar, Atlantic Division, Barry Pederson, Blake Lizotte, Bobby Orr, Boston Bruins, Brad Marchand, Brandon Carlo, Brett Ritchie, Bruce Cassidy, Charlie McAvoy, Chris Wagner, Connor Clifton, Danton Heinen, David Pastrnak, Drew Doughty, Dustin Brown, Jake DeBrusk, Jeff Carter, Joe Thornton, Jonathan Quick, Karson Kuhlman, Kevan Miller, Kyle Clifford, Los Angeles Kings, Matt Roy, Nashville Predators, National Hockey League, New York Islanders, NHL, Nick Lanciani, Nikolai Prokhorkin, Pacific Division, Par Lindholm, Patrice Bergeron, Providence Bruins, Ray Bourque, TD Garden, Todd McLellan, Torey Krug, Trevor Lewis, Tuukka Rask, Tyler Toffoli, Washington Capitals, Zach Senyshyn

NHL Nick's Net

B’s snap five-game losing streak with, 4-2, win in Florida

Post author By Nick Lanciani
Post date December 14, 2019
No Comments on B’s snap five-game losing streak with, 4-2, win in Florida

David Pastrnak had a pair of goals in the Boston Bruins’, 4-2, victory over the Florida Panthers at BB&T Center on Saturday night.

Jaroslav Halak (8-3-3 record, 2.26 goals against average, .928 save percentage in 14 games played) made 31 saves on 33 shots against (.939 SV%) in the win as the Bruins snapped a five-game losing streak.

Panthers goaltender, Sergei Bobrovsky (11-9-4, 3.14 GAA, .900 SV% in 26 games played), stopped 38 out of 41 shots faced for a .927 SV% in the loss.

Boston improved to 21-7-6 (48 points) on the season and increased their command over the rest of the Atlantic Division, while Florida fell to 15-12-5 (35 points) and dropped to 6th in the Atlantic.

The B’s also improved to 9-6-1 on the road this season.

For the 34th time this season, Kevan Miller (knee) was still out of the lineup due to lingering setbacks from his injury late last season. He has yet to make his 2019-20 season debut.

Karson Kuhlman (fractured tibia) and Zach Senyshyn (lower body) remained out of the lineup due to injuries while the Bruins took on the Panthers in Florida.

Boston head coach, Bruce Cassidy, announced a few lineup changes to reporters before the game, replacing Brett Ritchie with David Backes among his forwards.

As a result, Charlie Coyle was moved up to the second line right wing in Ritchie’s place, while Sean Kuraly filled in Coyle’s third line center spot and Chris Wagner moved from the fourth line right wing to the fourth line center.

Backes took over Wagner’s role on the right side of the fourth line.

Everything else was unchanged from Thursday night’s, 3-2, loss in Tampa.

Par Lindholm and Connor Clifton joined Ritchie as Boston’s healthy scratches against the Panthers.

Patrice Bergeron skated in his 1,053rd career NHL game on Saturday– surpassing Don Sweeney for the 3rd most in Bruins franchise history.

Early in the action, Anders Bjork caught Florida defender, Anton Stralman, with a high stick and presented the Panthers with their first power play of the game at 2:10 of the first period.

Florida’s power play couldn’t get anything going and did not convert on the skater advantage while Bjork was in the box.

Midway through the period, Mark Pysyk tripped Brad Marchand at 11:13.

Boston’s first power play opportunity of the night was not successful, but the Bruins were able to take advantage of the momentum generated in the vulnerable minute after special teams action as Jake DeBrusk (8) poked the puck through a Florida defender and earned himself his own breakaway before scoring on Bobrovsky.

Charlie McAvoy (12) and David Krejci (16) notched the assists on DeBrusk’s 100th career NHL point as the B’s took the game’s first lead, 1-0, at 14:41 of the first period.

Less than a couple of minutes later, Matt Grzelcyk interfered with former Bruin, Frank Vatrano, and was assessed a minor infraction at 16:08.

The Panthers were unsuccessful on their second power play of the game and quickly found themselves shorthanded after Grzelcyk was freed from the box.

Brett Connolly tripped John Moore at 18:39 and presented Boston with their second power play of the night.

Though the power play carried over into the second period, the Bruins were not able to take advantage of their skater advantage.

Entering the first intermission, Boston led Florida, 1-0, on the scoreboard and, 22-11, in shots on goal.

The Bruins also held the advantage in blocked shots (7-3) and hits (10-8), while the Panthers led in takeaways (3-2) and faceoff win percentage (57-44).

Both teams had four giveaways aside and were 0/2 on the power play after 20 minutes of action at BB&T Center.

Krejci (7) blasted a one-timer from the high slot that squibbed through Bobrovsky and just over the line before a Panthers defender tried to scoop it out as though it had never happened (before DeBrusk tapped it back in) and the Bruins jumped out to a two-goal lead at 3:14 of the second period.

DeBrusk (8) and Torey Krug (17) had the assists on Krejci’s goal as the B’s led, 2-0.

Moments later, Vincent Trocheck sent the puck over the glass for an automatic delay of game penalty at 6:50 of the middle frame.

While on the power play, Marchand worked a pass through the slot that was redirected by Pastrnak (27) into the twine from the edge of the crease to make it, 3-0, for Boston.

Marchand (31) and Krug (18) tallied the assists on Pastrnak’s power play goal at 7:30 of the second period and the Bruins had their first three-goal lead in a game since beating the Montreal Canadiens, 8-1, on Nov. 26th in Montreal.

Through 40 minutes of play on Saturday night, the B’s led the Panthers, 3-0, on the scoreboard and, 32-22, in shots on goal.

Florida held the advantage in shots on net in the second period alone, 11-10, as well as in takeaways (6-3), giveaways (8-7) and hits (18-11).

Boston led in blocked shots (13-10) and faceoff win% (54-46) entering the second intermission,

The Panthers were 0/2 on the skater advantage, while the Bruins were 1/3 on the power play heading into the third period.

Pysyk (2) sent a backhander over Halak from point blank on a rebound at 2:46 of the third period to put the Panthers on the board and cut Boston’s lead to two-goals.

Aaron Ekblad (13) and Keith Yandle (24) notched the assists on Pysyk’s goal as Florida came out of the gate for the final frame with a burst of energy.

Ekblad got caught up on a Pastrnak breakaway and hooked the winger while falling behind the play, yielding a penalty shot for the Bruins winger in the process.

Pastrnak took his time as he skated in on Bobrovsky for the penalty shot at 6:29 of the third and fired a shot right into the goaltender as he tried to muster something on the short side.

Though he has a knack for scoring impressive goals in regular game situations, Pastrnak is now only 1-for-3 on penalty shots in his career. Meanwhile, Bobrovsky has made seven saves on 11 penalty shot attempts in his career.

Almost midway through the third period, Yandle (4) rocketed a one-timer from the point over Halak’s glove that rang the post and deflected into the twine to make it a one-goal game.

Trocheck (11) and Ekblad (14) had the assists on Yandle’s goal at 9:13 and Florida trailed, 3-2.

Panthers head coach, Joel Quenneville, pulled his goaltender for an extra attacker with almost two minutes remaining in the game, but things did not go as planned for Florida’s comeback attempt Saturday night.

Unlike how things went when the Bruins blew a, 4-0, lead at home on Nov. 12th against the Panthers, Boston finished off Florida while on the road with an empty net goal from Pastrnak (28) as the NHL’s leading goal scorer hit the empty twine from downtown.

Marchand (32) and Bergeron (17) were credited with the assists on Pastrnak’s second goal of the night at 17:50 and the Bruins secured the, 4-2, victory as a result.

Additionally, with his second assist of the game, Marchand became the first Bruin to reach 50 points in a season in 34 or fewer games since Adam Oates reached the 50-point mark 31 games into the 1995-96 season.

Oates had 14-36–50 totals in that span, while Marchand has 18-32–50 totals so far this season.

Finally, at 18:37 of the third period, McAvoy picked up an interference minor when he knocked down Florida captain, Aleksander Barkov, near the corner boards as time winded down and the puck was a little too far out of reach for both players.

Barkov suffered what appeared to be a lower body injury as a result while McAvoy skated over to the penalty box.

At the final horn, the Bruins had won, 4-2, and finished the night leading in shots on goal (42-33), blocked shots (21-14) and faceoff win% (57-43).

Florida finished the night leading in giveaways (15-10), while both teams were even in hits (21-21).

The Panthers went 0/3 on the skater advantage, while the B’s finished Saturday night’s action 1/3 on the power play.

Saturday night marked the first win for Boston since their, 2-0, shutout over the Carolina Hurricanes on Dec. 3rd. Halak was also in net that night.

Boston wrapped up their four-game road trip (1-3-0) Saturday.

The B’s also improved to 12-3-0 when leading after one period, 11-0-2 when leading after two periods and 14-5-3 when scoring the game’s first goal this season.

The Bruins return home for a four-game homestand next Tuesday (Dec. 17th) against the Los Angeles Kings before hosting the New York Islanders (Dec. 19th), Nashville Predators (Dec. 21st) and Washington Capitals (Dec. 23rd).

Tags Aaron Ekblad, Adam Oates, Aleksander Barkov, Anders Bjork, Anton Stralman, Atlantic Division, BB&T Center, Boston Bruins, Brad Marchand, Brett Connolly, Brett Ritchie, Bruce Cassidy, Carolina Hurricanes, Charlie Coyle, Charlie McAvoy, Chris Wagner, Connor Clifton, David Backes, David Krejci, David Pastrnak, Don Sweeney, Florida Panthers, Frank Vatrano, Jake DeBrusk, Jaroslav Halak, Joel Quenneville, John Moore, Karson Kuhlman, Keith Yandle, Kevan Miller, Los Angeles Kings, Mark Pysyk, Matt Grzelcyk, Montreal Canadiens, Nashville Predators, National Hockey League, New York Islanders, NHL, Nick Lanciani, Par Lindholm, Patrice Bergeron, Sean Kuraly, Sergei Bobrovsky, Torey Krug, Vincent Trocheck, Washington Capitals, Zach Senyshyn

NHL Nick's Net

Stamkos scores two in Bolts, 3-2, win over B’s

Post author By Nick Lanciani
Post date December 13, 2019
No Comments on Stamkos scores two in Bolts, 3-2, win over B’s

Steven Stamkos scored a pair of goals– including the eventual game-winner– in the Tampa Bay Lightning’s, 3-2, victory over the Boston Bruins on Thursday at Amalie Arena.

Andrei Vasilevskiy (13-8-1 record, 2.78 goals against average, .910 save percentage in 22 games played) made 27 saves on 29 shots against (.931 SV%) in the win for the Lightning.

Bruins goaltender, Tuukka Rask (13-4-3, 2.24 GAA, .926 SV% in 20 games played) stopped 28 out of 31 shots faced for a .926 SV% in the loss.

The B’s fell to 20-7-6 (46 points) on the season, but remain in command of the Atlantic Division, while the Bolts improved to 16-11-3 (35 points) and jumped to 4th place in the Atlantic .

Boston fell to 8-6-1 on the road this season and 2-2-1 in the 2nd game of back-to-backs this season.

The Bruins are now on a five-game losing streak for the first time under head coach, Bruce Cassidy. The last four games have been regulation losses, which marks the first time that Boston has lost four straight games in regulation since the 2016-17 season (when Claude Julien was fired and Cassidy was promoted/hired).

Kevan Miller (knee), Karson Kuhlman (fractured tibia) and Zach Senyshyn (lower body) were all out of the lineup due to injury against Tampa.

Kuhlman, Senyshyn and Anton Blidh (shoulder– injured in the preseason) have all resumed skating according to Cassidy.

Miller, on the other hand, has not as a result of yet another setback in his recovery.

Cassidy made no adjustments to his forwards from Wednesday night’s, 3-2, loss in Washington to Thursday night’s lineup against the Lightning, but he did replace Connor Clifton on the blue line with John Moore.

Clifton joined Par Lindholm and David Backes as Boston’s short list of healthy scratches in Tampa.

Shortly after puck drop, Bruins captain, Zdeno Chara, squared off with Lightning forward, Pat Maroon, as the two players exchanged fisticuffs 27 seconds into the first period.

Both players received five-minute majors for fighting in what was just the 7th fight this season for Boston and 2nd in as many days as Chara fought Tom Wilson in Washington on Wednesday night.

Moments later, Brad Marchand wrapped around the Tampa net and sent a quick pass to Patrice Bergeron (10) in the low slot whereby the league’s current longest tenured alternate captain slid the rubber biscuit past Vasilevskiy while the Bolts goaltender dropped his stance.

Marchand (30) and Charlie McAvoy (11) notched the assists on Bergeron’s goal at 4:26 of the first period as the Bruins took the, 1-0, lead.

Of note, Bergeron skated in his 1,052nd career NHL game– tying current Boston General Manager, Don Sweeney, for 3rd all time in franchise history.

Only Ray Bourque (1,518) and Johnny Bucyk (1,436) have played in more games in their tenure with the B’s.

Midway through the period, Moore tripped Alex Killorn at 12:44, but the Lightning weren’t able to capitalize on their first power play of the night.

Heading into the first intermission, the Bruins led, 1-0, on the scoreboard, despite being outshot, 7-4, by the Bolts.

Tampa also led in hits (17-9), but Boston led in blocked shots (3-2), takeaways (3-1), giveaways (2-0) and faceoff win percentage (64-36).

Entering the second period, the Lightning were 0/1 on the power play, while the Bruins had yet to see any time on the skater advantage.

Ryan McDonagh kicked things off in the middle frame with an interference minor at 2:12 of the second period, but Boston once again struggled all night long on the power play– failing to convert on their first skater advantage of the night.

About a couple of minutes later, Matt Grzelcyk collided with Anthony Cirelli and inadvertently tripped the Lightning forward, yielding a tripping minor.

But Grzelcyk wasn’t the only skater heading to the penalty box as Kevin Shattenkirk took exception to the trip and tried to fight the Bruins defender.

As a result, Shattenkirk received a roughing infraction and the two teams took each other on at 4-on-4 for two-minutes at 4:48 of the middle frame before resuming full strength.

Moore tripped Killorn once again midway through the second period at 12:29.

This time around, the Bolts’ power play struck fast.

Stamkos (12) wired a shot in the back of the net after Bergeron won the draw back to Chara, but Chara was stripped of the puck along the wall by Nikita Kucherov.

Kucherov (22) had the only assist on Stamkos’ first goal of the game and the Lightning tied it up, 1-1, at 12:35 with the power play goal.

Through 40 minutes of action on Thursday, Tampa and Boston were tied, 1-1, on the scoreboard, despite the Lightning leading in shots on goal, 21-16– including a, 14-12, advantage in the second period alone.

The B’s led in blocked shots (10-7), giveaways (4-0) and faceoff win% (55-46) entering the second period, while Tampa led in takeaways (8-6) and hits (23-16).

The Lightning were 1/2 on the skater advantage, while the Bruins were 0/1 on the power play heading into the final frame of regulation.

Sean Kuraly hooked Mathieu Joseph at 2:43 of the third period and presented Tampa with yet another power play opportunity.

Late on the ensuing skater advantage, Brayden Point (11) scored a one-timer goal to make it, 2-1, Bolts after Rask made the initial glove save on Kucherov before the Bruins couldn’t clear the zone and thus helped Tampa in their efforts for Point’s goal.

Kucherov (23) and Victor Hedman (21) had the assists on Point’s goal at 4:07 and the Lightning were in full command of the game.

Moments later, Stamkos went to the sin bin for hooking McAvoy at 10:28, but Boston was powerless on the power play once again– even after taking a timeout with 8:36 remaining in regulation to draw up a plan.

Late in the third, Stamkos (13) sniped a shot from almost center on in the high slot after Boston failed to clear their own zone and witnessed an unfortunate bounce land on the Lightning captain’s stick before he fired the puck over Rask’s glove to give Tampa a two-goal lead at 15:13.

Stamkos’ unassisted effort made it, 3-1, for the Bolts and held up to become the game-winning goal.

He now has six goals in his last four games.

About a minute later, Moore (1) snuck in from the point for the Bruins and received an indirect pass from Anders Bjork before beating Vasilevskiy on the short side and bringing the B’s to within one.

Bjork (5) and Chara (8) had the assists on Moore’s first goal of the season at 16:45 of the third period in his fourth game back since missing the first 28 games due to offseason shoulder surgery.

There was a span of 1:32 between Lightning and Bruins goals, but the Bolts maintained a, 3-2, advantage over Boston and that was all that they needed even after Cassidy pulled Rask for an extra attacker with 1:58 remaining in the game.

At the final horn, Tampa won, 3-2, and handed Boston their fifth loss in a row, despite outshooting the Lightning, 13-10, in the third period alone.

The Bolts finished the night leading in total shots on goal (31-29), as well as hits (32-20), while the B’s finished Thursday night leading in blocked shots (12-10), giveaways (9-4) and faceoff win% (52-48).

The Lightning finished the action 2/3 on the skater advantage, while Boston went 0/2 on the power play in Tampa.

The Bruins fell to 11-3-0 when leading after the first period and 13-5-3 when scoring the game’s first goal this season.

Boston wraps up their four-game road trip (0-3-0) Saturday in Sunrise, Florida with a matchup against the Panthers. The Bruins return home for a four-game homestand next Tuesday (Dec. 17th) against the Los Angeles Kings before hosting the New York Islanders (Dec. 19th), Nashville Predators (Dec. 21st) and Washington Capitals (Dec. 23rd).

NHL Nick's Net

Caps beat B’s, 3-2, in D.C.

Post author By Nick Lanciani
Post date December 12, 2019
No Comments on Caps beat B’s, 3-2, in D.C.

John Carlson scored the game-winning goal moments after the Boston Bruins tied the game in the third period Wednesday night as the Washington Capitals defeated the B’s, 3-2, at Capital One Arena.

Braden Holtby (16-3-4 record, 2.80 goals against average, .911 save percentage in 24 games played) made 30 saves on 32 shots against for a .938 SV% in the win for the Capitals.

Bruins goaltender, Jaroslav Halak (7-3-3, 2.28 GAA, .927 SV% in 13 games played) stopped 22 out of 25 shots faced for an .880 SV% in the loss.

Boston fell to 20-6-6 (46 points) on the season, but remains in command of 1st place in the Atlantic Division.

Meanwhile, Washington improved to 23-5-5 (51 points) and remained atop the Metropolitan Division.

The Bruins fell to 8-5-1 on the road this season and are now on a four-game losing streak.

Boston was without the services of Kevan Miller (knee), Karson Kuhlman (fractured tibia) and Zach Senyshyn (lower body) against Washington on Wednesday.

Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made a few minor changes to his lineup from Monday night’s, 5-2, loss in Ottawa.

First, Cassidy swapped Brett Ritchie with Danton Heinen on the third line– reuniting Anders Bjork, Charlie Coyle and Heinen on the third line, while promoting Ritchie to the second line right wing with Jake DeBrusk at left wing and David Krejci at center.

Finally, on defense, Connor Clifton went back into the lineup on the third pairing in place of John Moore.

Moore was joined by Par Lindholm and David Backes as Boston’s healthy scratches on Wednesday.

Midway through the opening frame, David Pastrnak (26) scored the game’s first goal after not scoring in his last four games.

Charlie McAvoy (10) and Brad Marchand (29) had the assists on Pastrnak’s goal as the NHL’s leading goal scorer went off the bar and in over Holtby’s glove at 9:36 of the first period to give the Bruins the, 1-0, lead.

Less than a minute later, after Tom Wilson got a cross check up high on Zdeno Chara, the B’s captain dropped the gloves with the Caps winger and landed a few big blows before wrestling the forward to the ice.

Chara and Wilson each received five-minute majors for fighting at 10:14, while Wilson received an additional two-minute minor for cross checking that was served by Brendan Leipsic.

It was the 6th fight this season for Boston and the first since Moore fought Zack Smith against the Chicago Blackhawks on Dec. 5th.

The Bruins did not score on the ensuing power play.

Jakub Vrana tripped up Torey Krug moments later at 14:17 and the B’s went back on the skater advantage for the second time of the night.

Boston thought they scored and had made it a two-goal game when Patrice Bergeron received a quick drop pass from DeBrusk and pocketed the rubber biscuit in the twine while Holtby outstretched his paddle, but Washington’s head coach, Todd Reirden, used his coach’s challenge to determine whether or not the Bruins entered the zone offside.

After review, it was determined that DeBrusk had entered the zone with his skate in the air over the blue line– something that’s not good enough for now in the current interpretation of the rule, but perhaps going to be resolved next season– and the call on the ice was overturned. No goal. Do not pass “go”. Do not collect $200.

In the final minute of the period, Joakim Nordstrom caught Nicklas Backstrom with a high stick at 19:26.

Washington’s power play carried over into the second period as the Capitals couldn’t convert on the skater advantage with 34 seconds left before the first intermission.

After 20 minutes of action in D.C., the B’s led the Caps, 1-0, on the scoreboard.

Shots on goal were even, 8-8, but the Bruins had the slight advantage over the Capitals in all the other major statistical categories, leading in blocked shots (7-4), giveaways (3-2) and faceoff win percentage (58-42).

Washington led in takeaways (7-3) and hits (11-9) heading into the second period.

The Caps were 0/1 on the power play, while Boston was 0/2 on the skater advantage.

Early in the middle frame, Washington had too many skaters on the ice, yielding a bench minor in the process at 1:31 of the second period.

Once more, the Bruins were held powerless on the power play, however.

Seconds after their legal skater advantage ended, Chris Wagner was charged with interference at 3:48 and the Capitals went on the power play.

T.J. Oshie (12) followed a rebound and poked the puck into the net while Halak reached behind himself in desperation.

Oshie’s goal tied the game, 1-1, and was assisted by Carlson (33) at 4:35 of the second period.

Less than four minutes later, Oshie (13) again broke free of Boston’s defense by deking through Clifton and scoring a backhand goal over Halak’s blocker side to give the Capitals their first lead of the night, 2-1, at 8:05.

Evgeny Kuznetsov (19) and Vrana (13) had the assists on Oshie’s 2nd goal of the game.

Late in the period, Coyle was assessed a holding penalty at 17:28, but the Bruins managed to kill off the minor and escaped without harm while Washington was on the skater advantage.

Through two periods of play, the Capitals led the Bruins, 2-1, on the scoreboard, despite the B’s advantage in shots on goal in the second period alone, 15-6.

Boston led in total shots on net, 23-14, as well as blocked shots (12-8), giveaways (7-4) and faceoff win% (57-43).

Meanwhile, Washington led in takeaways (11-5) and hits (28-12).

The Caps were 1/3 on the power play and the Bruins were 0/3 heading into the third period.

Wilson interfered with Pastrnak 19 seconds into the third period and was penalized as such, but the Bruins didn’t score on the power play.

Less than a minute after their power play expired, the B’s found the back of the net and tied the game, 2-2, when Krug fired a shot from the point off a faceoff that Sean Kuraly (3) deflected from the faceoff dot to the right of Holtby.

Krug (16) had the only assist on Kuraly’s goal at 2:53 of the third period and surpassed Glen Wesley for 5th place in overall scoring for a Bruins defender in franchise history.

Ray Bourque leads all Boston defenders with 1,506 career points in a B’s sweater, followed by Bobby Orr (888), Chara (479), Brad Park (417) and Krug (308).

The game wasn’t tied for long before Carlson (12) blasted a one-timer while pinching in from the point to give the Capitals a, 3-2, lead at 4:42.

Backstrom (16) and Wilson (10) had the assists on Carlson’s goal and Washington never looked back for the rest of the game.

Though Carlsson was penalized for tripping Pastrnak at 6:04, Boston’s power play had nothing going for it and once again was unsuccessful.

Midway through the final frame of regulation, Ritchie got tangled up with Garnet Hathaway after a whistle and the two players received roughing minors at 10:13– resulting in two-minutes of 4-on-4 action.

With 1:43 remaining in the game, Cassidy utilized his timeout and pulled Halak for an extra attacker after a stoppage in play.

The Bruins were not successful in tying the game and forcing overtime as the final horn sounded– sealing the deal on Washington’s, 3-2, victory.

Boston finished the night with the advantage in shots on goal, 32-25, despite trailing in the third period alone, 11-9, to Washington.

The B’s finished Wednesday night leading in blocked shots (18-15), giveaways (15-9) and faceoff win% (59-41), while the Caps led in hits (40-20).

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

The Bruins have lost 16 out of their last 17 games against Washington, while the Capitals are 24-0-0 in games against Boston when Backstrom earns at least a point since he entered the league in the 2007-08 season.

The Bruins are now 11-2-0 when leading after the first period and 13-4-3 when scoring the game’s first goal this season. They are also 4-5-3 when trailing after two periods thus far.

Boston continues their four-game road trip (0-2-0) Thursday in Tampa with a matchup against the Lightning before wrapping up their current road trip in Sunrise, Florida on Saturday against the Panthers

Tags Anders Bjork, Atlantic Division, Bobby Orr, Boston Bruins, Brad Marchand, Brad Park, Braden Holtby, Brendan Leipsic, Brett Ritchie, Bruce Cassidy, Capital One Arena, Charlie Coyle, Charlie McAvoy, Chicago Blackhawks, Chris Wagner, Connor Clifton, Danton Heinen, David Backes, David Krejci, David Pastrnak, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Florida Panthers, Garnet Hathaway, Jake DeBrusk, Jakub Vrana, Jaroslav Halak, Joakim Nordstrom, John Carlson, John Moore, Karson Kuhlman, Kevan Miller, Metropolitan Division, National Hockey League, NHL, Nick Lanciani, Nicklas Backstrom, Par Lindholm, Patrice Bergeron, Ray Bourque, Sean Kuraly, T.J. Oshie, Tampa Bay Lightning, Todd Reirden, Tom Wilson, Torey Krug, Washington Capitals, Zach Senyshyn, Zack Smith, Zdeno Chara

NHL Nick's Net

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

Post author By Nick Lanciani
Post date December 10, 2019
No Comments on Duclair scores twice in Sens, 5-2, victory over B’s

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

There were no penalties called in the first period.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tags AHL, American Hockey League, Anders Bjork, Anders Nilsson, Anthony Duclair, Artem Anisimov, Atlantic Division, Boston Bruins, Brad Marchand, Brandon Carlo, Brett Ritchie, Bruce Cassidy, Canadian Tire Centre, Charlie Coyle, Charlie McAvoy, Chris Tierney, Chris Wagner, Colin White, Colorado Avalanche, Connor Clifton, Danton Heinen, David Backes, David Krejci, David Pastrnak, Dylan DeMelo, Florida Panthers, Jake DeBrusk, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Joakim Nordstrom, John Moore, Karson Kuhlman, Kevan Miller, Logan Brown, National Hockey League, NHL, Nick Lanciani, Ottawa Senators, Par Lindholm, Patrice Bergeron, Providence Bruins, Ron Hainsey, Sean Kuraly, Steven Kampfer, Tampa Bay Lightning, Thomas Chabot, Tuukka Rask, Vladislav Namestnikov, Washington Capitals, Zach Se

NHL Nick's Net

Avalanche beat Bruins, 4-1, in Boston

Post author By Nick Lanciani
Post date December 8, 2019
No Comments on Avalanche beat Bruins, 4-1, in Boston

The Colorado Avalanche extended their winning streak to six games with a, 4-1, win over the Boston Bruins at TD Garden on Saturday night.

Ian Cole scored the game-winning goal in the second period of his 500th career NHL game, while Philipp Grubauer (10-5-2 record, 2.76 goals against average, .914 save percentage in 18 games played) made three saves on four shots on goal (.750 SV%) before being replaced by Pavel Francouz (7-2-0, 2.25 GAA, .931 SV% in 11 GP) late in the first period due to an injury.

Francouz stopped all 16 shots that he faced en route to the win for the Avs.

B’s goaltender, Jaroslav Halak (7-2-3, 2.22 GAA, .930 SV% in 12 GP) stopped 16 out of 19 shots faced (.842 SV%) in the loss.

The Bruins fell to 20-4-6 (46 points) on the season, but remain in command of the Atlantic Division. Meanwhile, the Avalanche climbed to 19-8-2 (40 points) on the season and remained in 2nd place in the Central Division.

Boston is now 12-1-5 at home this season.

Kevan Miller (knee), Karson Kuhlman (fractured tibia), Zach Senyshyn (lower body) and Patrice Bergeron (lower body) remained out of the lineup on Saturday.

Bergeron is likely to return on the B’s road trip.

Meanwhile, Brett Ritchie returned to the lineup after missing the last seven games (and 12 out of the last 16) with an elbow infection.

As a result, Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, adjusted his lines.

For his first line, Cassidy reunited Brad Marchand with David Krejci and David Pastrnak, while moving Jake DeBrusk back to the second line with Charlie Coyle and Danton Heinen.

Ritchie was inserted on the right side of the third line with Anders Bjork at left wing and Par Lindholm at center, while the trio of Joakim Nordstrom, Sean Kuraly and Chris Wagner was reunited.

On defense, John Moore remained in the lineup on the third pairing with Matt Grzelcyk, while Connor Clifton and Steven Kampfer joined David Backes in the press box as Boston’s only healthy scratches.

Midway through the opening frame, Moore shot the puck from the point as Wagner (3) skated through the low slot and tipped in the rubber biscuit behind Grubauer to give the Boston the first goal of the game at 13:14 of the first period.

Moore (1) and Bjork (4) had the assists on Wagner’s goal and the Bruins led, 1-0.

The B’s didn’t lead for long, however, as Valeri Nichushkin (4) pulled a loose puck to his backhand and snuck it behind Halak’s extended pad– tying the game, 1-1, in the process at 17:25.

Matt Nieto (8) and Tyson Jost (5) tallied the assists on Nichushkin’s goal.

Upon tying the game, Avalanche head coach, Jared Bednar, switched out his goaltenders after Grubauer showed signs of discomfort after making a save only moments prior.

After one period in Boston, the B’s and Avs were tied, 1-1, with the Avalanche leading in shots on goal, 9-4.

Colorado led in takeaways (6-2), giveaways (4-2) and faceoff win percentage (57-43), while the Bruins led in blocked shots (5-4) and hits (18-11) entering the first intermission.

There were no penalties called in the first period as the action carried over into the middle frame.

Midway through the second period, Boston couldn’t clear their own zone.

As a result, the Avalanche went right to work on a forced turnover and zipped the puck around the horn, finally finding its way to Cole at the point whereby Cole (1) skated up to the faceoff dot and rocketed a slap shot over Halak’s glove to give Colorado their first lead of the night, 2-1.

Mark Barberio (1) and Joonas Donskoi (12) had the assists on Cole’s goal at 9:17 of the second period.

A little over nine minutes later, after Boston sustained pressure in the attacking zone for what seemed like a potentially momentum shifting couple of minutes, Colorado got a break the other direction and scored.

Andre Burakovsky (12) broke free from his own zone and sent a snap shot over Halak’s glove to make it a two-goal game at 18:21 of the second period.

Nathan MacKinnon (27) and Donskoi (13) collected the assists as the Avalanche collected a, 3-1, lead heading into the second intermission.

Through 40 minutes of play, Colorado led Boston, 3-1, on the scoreboard and, 14-8, in shots on goal– including a, 5-4, advantage in shots on net in the second period alone.

The Avs held the advantage in blocked shots (11-10), takeaways (10-7), giveaways (12-3) and faceoff win% (54-46) entering the third period, while the Bruins led in hits (27-23).

Once more, both clubs remained 0/0 on the power play as the first penalty of the night wasn’t called until the third period.

Early in the final frame of the game, Ryan Graves caught Kuraly with a high stick and was sent to the box at 5:54 of the third period.

Boston’s power play was powerless and the Avs killed off Graves’ minor infraction without any issues as Graves was hooked by Marchand seconds after emerging from the box and receiving a breakaway opportunity in the attacking zone.

Marchand cut a rut to the sin bin at 8:02, but Colorado’s skater advantage didn’t last long as Donskoi clipped Zdeno Chara with a high stick at 8:27 and presented both teams with 4-on-4 action for a span of 1:35 before an abbreviated 5-on-4 advantage would begin for the Bruins.

Neither team capitalized on the special teams play.

Late in the period, Avalanche captain, Gabriel Landeskog, caught Pastrnak in the face with a high stick and was assessed a minor penalty at 17:39.

With 2:21 remaining in the game and the start of yet another power play, Cassidy pulled Halak for an extra attacker– effectively making it a two-skater advantage with Landeskog in the box.

Upon exiting the box, Landeskog (5) pocketed an empty net goal, giving Colorado a three-goal lead to seal the deal on their win.

Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (5) had the only assist on Landeskog’s empty netter that made it, 4-1, at 19:57.

Colorado finished the night with the advantage on the scoreboard, but both teams actually tied in shots on goal, 20-20, as Boston rallied to a, 12-6, advantage in the third period alone.

Meanwhile, the Avalanche finished the night leading in blocked shots (21-10), giveaways (13-7) and faceoff win% (60-41).

Boston ended the night with the lead in hits (36-34) and went 0/3 on the power play. The Avs went 0/1.

Colorado hasn’t lost a game in regulation in Boston since March 30, 1998. The Avs are now 12-0-2 in their last 14 games in Boston.

The Avalanche ended Boston’s 17-game point streak.

As a result of the loss, the B’s are now 13-3-3 when scoring the game’s first goal this season and 4-3-3 when trailing after two periods.

The Bruins are now 1-6 in their last seven games against Colorado, including Boston’s, 4-2, loss at Pepsi Center on Oct. 10th.

Boston finished their five-game homestand 3-1-1 and will begin a four-game road trip on Monday with a matchup against the Ottawa Senators.

The Bruins then face the Washington Capitals and Tampa Bay Lightning on back-to-back nights in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday and in Tampa on Thursday before wrapping up their road trip in Sunrise, Florida next Saturday in a duel with the Florida Panthers.

Tags Anders Bjork, Andre Burakovsky, Atlantic Division, Boston Bruins, Brad Marchand, Brett Ritchie, Bruce Cassidy, Central Division, Charlie Coyle, Chris Wagner, Colorado Avalanche, Connor Clifton, Danton Heinen, David Backes, David Krejci, David Pastrnak, Florida Panthers, Gabriel Landeskog, Ian Cole, Jake DeBrusk, Jared Bednar, Jaroslav Halak, Joakim Nordstrom, John Moore, Joonas Donskoi, Karson Kuhlman, Kevan Miller, Mark Barberio, Matt Grzelcyk, Matt Nieto, Nathan MacKinnon, National Hockey League, NHL, Nick Lanciani, Ottawa Senators, Par Lindholm, Patrice Bergeron, Pavel Francouz, Pepsi Center, Philipp Grubauer, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Ryan Graves, Sean Kuraly, Steven Kampfer, Tampa Bay Lightning, TD Garden, Tyson Jost, Valeri Nichushkin, Washington Capitals, Zach Senyshyn, Zdeno Chara

NHL Nick's Net

Backes’ return sparks B’s in, 3-1, win over Habs

Post author By Nick Lanciani
Post date December 1, 2019
No Comments on Backes’ return sparks B’s in, 3-1, win over Habs

David Backes scored the game-winning goal in his first game back from injury since Nov. 2nd as the Boston Bruins rallied in the third period to a, 3-1, comeback win over the Montreal Canadiens Sunday night at TD Garden.

Tuukka Rask (13-2-2 record, 2.04 goals against average, .933 save percentage in 17 games played) made 28 saves on 29 shots against for a .966 SV% in the win for Boston.

Montreal netminder, Carey Price (10-9-3, 3.18 GAA, .898 SV% in 22 GP) stopped 31 out of 34 shots faced for a .912 SV% in the loss.

The B’s improved to 19-3-5 (43 points) on the season and maintained their lead on the Atlantic Division, as well as the entire league– having played one fewer game than the Washington Capitals.

The Habs fell to 11-10-6 (28 points) and remained in command of 5th place in the Atlantic Division while also falling to 0-5-3 in their last eight games.

Prior to Sunday night, Montreal hadn’t lost eight-straight games since the 1939-40 season (in which the Canadiens lost nine-straight games at one point).

Meanwhile, Boston is on an 11-game point streak, including their current seven-game winning streak and improved to 11-0-4 on home ice this season.

Kevan Miller (knee), John Moore (shoulder), Karson Kuhlman (fractured tibia), Zach Senyshyn (lower body), Patrice Bergeron (lower body) and Brett Ritchie (upper body) were all out of commission for the Bruins on Sunday against Montreal.

Moore, however, was assigned to the Providence Bruins (AHL) ahead of Providence’s matinee matchup with the Charlotte Checkers at Bojangles’ Coliseum as part of a long-term injured conditioning stint (meaning he’s likely to be back up in Boston and rejoining the B’s lineup in the near future).

Jack Studnicka was also reassigned to Providence after playing in two NHL games with Boston while multiple forwards were injured.

Studnicka recorded one assist in that span.

Backes returned to full practice on Saturday and returned to the lineup Sunday night against the Canadiens after missing the last 13 games since being hurt on Nov. 2nd against the Ottawa Senators.

With Backes available, Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, switched up his lines from Friday afternoon’s, 3-2, overtime victory over the New York Rangers.

Cassidy kept his first line the same with Brad Marchand at left wing, David Krejci at center and David Pastrnak on the right wing.

On the second line, Cassidy moved Charlie Coyle back to his usual spot at center with Jake DeBrusk and Danton Heinen on his left and right sides, respectively.

Sean Kuraly centered the third line with Anders Bjork at left wing and Chris Wagner at right wing.

Finally, Par Lindholm centered Joakim Nordstrom in his usual role as the fourth line left wing and Backes on the right wing.

Connor Clifton went back in the lineup on the third defensive pairing alongside Matt Grzelcyk, while Steven Kampfer joined Brendan Gaunce in the press box as Boston’s only healthy scratches.

The Bruins wore their new alternate sweater for the second-straight game since debuting them on the ice against the Rangers in the 2019 NHL Thanksgiving Showdown.

Joel Armia (10) stole the puck right in front of the Boston goal and sent a backhand shot off the crossbar and in over Rask’s glove side on fluke soft goal to kick things off at 1:58 of the first period.

Armia’s goal was unassisted and gave Montreal a, 1-0, lead in what was just the 9th instance of the Bruins giving up the game’s first goal on home ice this season– and the 4th consecutive home game in doing so.

Late in the period, Charlie McAvoy caught Charles Hudon with a high stick and was assessed a minor infraction at 14:38.

The Canadiens did not convert on their first power play opportunity of the night.

Entering the first intermission, the Habs led the B’s, 1-0, on the scoreboard and, 11-10, in shots on goal.

Montreal also held the advantage in takeaways (11-1) and faceoff win percentage (59-41), while Boston led in blocked shots (4-1).

Both teams had three giveaways aside and 12 hits each, meanwhile the Canadiens were 0/1 on the power play heading into the second period.

The Bruins had yet to see any time on the skater advantage after the first 20 minutes of action Sunday night.

Boston turned their burners on as the second period was nearing a close, but not before the two teams got into a bit of a scrum at center ice that resulted in the first power play opportunity of the night for the Bruins.

Shea Weber was called for interference against Pastrnak at 17:13 of the second period, but was joined in the penalty box by his teammate, Brendan Gallagher, after Gallagher got into a wrestling match with DeBrusk– who also cut a rut to the sin bin, but for the B’s.

As a result, the Bruins went on a 5-on-4 skater advantage and couldn’t muster a power play goal in the vulnerable minutes before the middle frame came to a close.

The score remained unchanged after 40 minutes of action with the Canadiens leading the Bruins, 1-0, but Boston jumped ahead of Montreal in the shot department– leading, 20-19, in shots on goal after two periods thanks to their, 10-8, advantage in shots on net in the second period alone.

The B’s led in blocked shots (10-6) and hits (25-20) entering the second intermission, while the Habs led in takeaways (12-6), giveaways (4-3) and faceoff win% (52-48).

Both teams were 0/1 on the power play heading into the final frame of regulation.

Early in the final frame, Bjork worked an indirect pass up the boards to Pastrnak that led Pastrnak into the attacking zone.

The league’s leading goal scorer, Pastrnak (25), blasted a rocket from the hashmarks off the far post and in on Price’s blocker side– tying the game, 1-1, in the process at 6:16 of the third period.

Bjork (3) and Brandon Carlo (8) tallied the assists on Pastrnak’s goal as No. 88 in black-and-gold became the 11th player in league history to score 25 or more goals in a season through games played on Dec. 1st, as well as the first player to do so since Mario Lemieux scored 29 goals through Dec. 1st in the 1992-93 season with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

About a couple minutes later, Nick Cousins received a holding infraction for tying up Torey Krug in Montreal’s offensive zone.

Boston went on the power play for the second time of the night at 8:38 of the third and made sure to capitalize on the skater advantage in the dying seconds of the power play opportunity.

Grzelcyk worked the puck from the point to Krejci as the Bruins center brought the puck down low.

Krejci then sent a pass to Backes (1) in the slot where the veteran NHLer was acting as a bumper and one-timed a shot into the twine to give Boston their first lead of the night, 2-1.

The Bruins didn’t score in the first 40 minutes of the game Sunday night, but they fired off two goals in a span of 4:13 in the third period to turn the game on its head.

Krejci (15) and Grzelcyk (6) had the assists on Backes’ goal at 10:29 and the B’s had momentum on their side.

In a similar manner, but from the reverse angle, Heinen broke into the zone with possession and briefly lost the puck before DeBrusk scooped it up and gave it to Coyle.

The Weymouth, Massachusetts native brought the rubber biscuit behind the net, then tossed a pass to DeBrusk (6) that the Bruins winger one-timed over Price’s glove from point blank while being knocked to the ice– giving Boston a two-goal lead, 3-1.

Coyle (10) had the only assist on DeBrusk’s goal at 13:27 and the Bruins completed their three unanswered goal comeback over Montreal in a 7:11 span in the third period.

The goal was DeBrusk’s 6th point in his last five games.

With 2:33 remaining in regulation, Canadiens head coach, Claude Julien, pulled Price for an extra attacker.

After icing the puck and mishandling a breakout, the Habs ended up with too many skaters on the ice at 18:09 and sent Cousins to the box to serve their bench minor.

Though Boston did not score on their third power play of the game, they did walk away with the most important thing– the win– at the final horn.

The Bruins finished off the Canadiens, 3-1, and ended the night with the advantage in shots on goal (34-29), blocked shots (16-12) and hits (32-28).

Montreal, meanwhile, left TD Garden with the advantage in giveaways (7-4) and faceoff win% (59-41) on Sunday.

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

The Bruins are now 7-1-2 when allowing the game’s first goal at home this season and 4-2-2 when trailing after two periods.

Boston continues their current five-game home stand (2-0-0) on Tuesday against the Carolina Hurricanes before hosting the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday and finishing up their homestand on Saturday against the Colorado Avalanche. The B’s then begin a four-game road trip thereafter.

Tags AHL, American Hockey League, Anders Bjork, Atlantic Division, Atlantic Divison, Boston Bruins, Brad Marchand, Brandon Carlo, Brendan Gallagher, Brendan Gaunce, Brett Ritchie, Bruce Cassidy, Carey Price, Carolina Hurricanes, Charles Hudon, Charlie Coyle, Charlie McAvoy, Charlotte Checkers, Chicago Blackhawks, Chris Wagner, Claude Julien, Colorado Avalanche, Connor Clifton, Danton Heinen, David Backes, David Krejci, David Pastrnak, Jack Studnicka, Jake DeBrusk, Joakim Nordstrom, Joel Armia, John Moore, Karson Kuhlman, Kevan Miller, Mario Lemieux, Matt Grzelcyk, Montreal Canadiens, National Hockey League, New York Rangers, NHL, Nick Cousins, Nick Lanciani, Par Lindholm, Patrice Bergeron, Pittsburgh Penguins, Providence Bruins, Sean Kuraly, Shea Weber, Steven Kampfer, TD Garden, Torey Krug, Tuukka Rask, Washington Capitals, Zach Senyshyn