Down the Frozen River

Tag: Kris Letang

  • DeSmith sets franchise record in, 4-0, shutout victory for Penguins

    DeSmith sets franchise record in, 4-0, shutout victory for Penguins

    Casey DeSmith made 52 saves in a, 4-0, shutout for the Pittsburgh Penguins Thursday night against the Boston Bruins at PPG Paints Arena– setting a pair of franchise records for each team in the process.

    DeSmith made the most saves in a shutout win in Penguins history, surpassing Jean-Sebastian Aubin’s 45-save effort in a, 4-0, win against the Dallas Stars on March 9, 2004, at Pittsburgh’s former home, Mellon Arena.

    Meanwhile, for the first time in Bruins history, Boston had 50 or more shots on net in a shutout loss.

    Also Jake Guentzel scored a hat trick to reach the 40-goal plateau for the second time in his career and first time since the 2018-19 season.

    Talk about burying the lede.

    DeSmith (9-5-5, 2.75 goals-against average, .915 save percentage in 23 games played) made 52 saves on 52 shots against in the shutout win for the Pens, while Jeremy Swayman (22-13-3, 2.35 goals-against average, .916 save percentage in 39 games played) stopped 28 out of 31 shots faced in the loss for the B’s.

    The Penguins improved to 44-23-11 (99 points) overall and remain in command of 3rd place in the Metropolitan Division, while the Bruins fell to 47-25-5 (99 points) and remain stuck in 4th place in the Atlantic Division.

    Boston is still two points ahead of the Washington Capitals for the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference with the second wild card going on to face the Florida Panthers in the 2022 First Round as a result of the Panthers clinching the number one seed in the Eastern Conference on Thursday night.

    The B’s went 1-2-0 in their regular season series against the Penguins after going 5-3-0 against Pittsburgh in 2020-21 and 2-1-0 in 2019-20.

    The Bruins remained without Jakub Zboril (right ACL), David Pastrnak (undisclosed), Hampus Lindholm (lower body), Linus Ullmark (undisclosed) and Jesper Frödén (lower body) on Thursday.

    Head coach, Bruce Cassidy, informed reporters prior to the matchup with the Penguins that Ullmark could be back on Saturday afternoon in Boston and made no changes to his lineup from Tuesday night’s, 3-2, overtime victory in St. Louis to Thursday night’s loss in Pittsburgh.

    Jack Studnicka, Josh Brown, Jack Ahcan and Anton Blidh made up the short list of healthy scratches for the B’s against the Pens.

    Rickard Rakell sent a pass to Sidney Crosby before Crosby bumped it over to Guentzel along the blue line as the Penguins entered the attacking zone almost midway through the opening frame.

    Guentzel (38) drove to the net as the Bruins botched a line change and buried a shot through Swayman’s five-hole to give Pittsburgh a, 1-0, lead at 7:49 of the first period.

    Crosby (52) and Rakell (20) tallied the assists on Guentzel’s first goal of the game.

    Moments later, Pittsburgh had the first power play of the night as a result of Taylor Hall’s slashing infraction at 11:48, but the Pens failed to convert on the ensuing skater advantage.

    After one period the Penguins led, 1-0, on the scoreboard and, 13-11, in shots on goal.

    Boston, meanwhile, held the advantage in giveaways (4-1), hits (15-7) and faceoff win% (59-41).

    Both teams had four blocked shots and five takeaways each heading into the middle period while Pittsburgh was 0-for-1 on the power play and the Bruins had yet to see any action on the skater advantage.

    Early in the middle frame, Boston’s defense erred once more as Jeff Carter sent fed Jason Zucker a lead pass into the attacking zone.

    Zucker (8) broke free behind Brandon Carlo and buried a shot in the top right corner as Carlo opted to cover Bryan Rust in the center of the ice.

    Carter (24) and John Marino (24) notched the assists as the Penguins took a, 2-0, lead at 6:10 of the second period.

    About ten minutes later, the Pens extended their lead to three goals when Carlo failed to clear the zone and ended up giving the puck away to the high slot whereby Pittsburgh kept it in the zone and worked it around before Kris Letang dished a pass through the slot to connect with Guentzel (39) on a one-timer goal.

    Letang (56) had the only assist as the Penguins made it, 3-0, at 16:12 of the second period.

    Through 40 minutes of action, Pittsburgh led on the scoreboard, 3-0, despite trailing in shots on goal, 30-25.

    Boston even had a, 19-12, advantage in shots on net in the second period alone, while also maintaining control in takeaways (8-6), giveaways (6-3) and hits (29-19).

    The Penguins, on the other hand, led in blocked shots (7-6), while both teams managed to split faceoff win%, 50-50, after two periods.

    Only the Pens had seen any power play action heading into the second intermission and Pittsburgh was 0-for-1 as a result entering the final frame.

    Marcus Pettersson cut a rut to the penalty box for interference at 7:27 of the third period, but the Bruins weren’t able to convert on the resulting power play– falling to 0-for-28 on their last 28 power play opportunities as a result.

    The B’s had another chance on the skater advantage at 10:16 when Chad Ruhwedel was penalized for holding, but Boston ended up extending their power play drought to 0-for-29 on their last 29 power plays instead.

    With about four minutes left in the game, Cassidy pulled Swayman for an extra attacker.

    He’d end up yanking him again about a minute later after a stoppage in play resulted in a defensive zone faceoff, but Pittsburgh made quick work of the open net regardless.

    Guentzel (40) retrieved a loose puck in his own end and flung the rubber biscuit with enough velocity to reach the back of the empty twine across the rink– giving the Penguins a, 4-0, lead as a result at 17:55 of the third period.

    Hats rained down from the stands at PPG Paints Arena as Guentzel completed his hat trick with an unassisted empty net goal.

    At the final horn, Pittsburgh had won, 4-0, with DeSmith earning a shutout despite Boston exiting the ice with a, 52-32, advantage in shots on goal, including a, 22-7, advantage in shots on net in the third period alone.

    The Bruins exited PPG Paints Arena with the advantage in giveaways (6-5), hits (36-26) and faceoff win% (52-48), while the Penguins left their own ice leading in blocked shots (14-8).

    The Pens went 0-for-1 and the B’s went 0-for-2 on the power play on Thursday.

    Boston has now lost five out of their last eight games and dropped to 13-16-3 (6-8-2 on the road) when allowing the game’s first goal, 6-14-2 (2-7-1 on the road) when trailing after one and 4-19-2 (1-8-1 on the road) when losing after two periods this season.

    Pittsburgh, meanwhile, improved to 33-5-3 (17-3-1 at home) when scoring first, 22-3-2 (13-2-1 at home) when leading after the first period and 30-1-2 (15-0-1 at home) when leading after two periods in 2021-22.

    The Bruins return home to host the New York Rangers Saturday afternoon at TD Garden. Puck drop is set for a little after 3 p.m. ET on ABC.

    Boston heads to Montréal on Sunday before hosting Florida and Buffalo next Tuesday and Thursday, respectively, prior to their regular season finale in Toronto next Friday.

  • Islanders can advance to the Second Round at home after, 3-2, 2OT victory in Game 5

    Islanders can advance to the Second Round at home after, 3-2, 2OT victory in Game 5

    The New York Islanders can eliminate the Pittsburgh Penguins on home ice in Game 6 of their 2021 First Round matchup thanks to an error by Tristan Jarry in double overtime that Josh Bailey capitalized on– scoring the game-winning goal 51 seconds into the fifth frame– to win Game 5 on the road, 3-2, at PPG Paints Arena on Monday night.

    On the same day that the Islanders scored in overtime to defeat the Philadelphia Flyers, 5-4, in overtime for their first of four-straight Stanley Cup titles in 1980, New York put themselves one step closer to punching their ticket to the Second Round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

    Ilya Sorokin (3-0, 1.66 goals-against average, .951 save percentage in three games played) made 48 saves on 50 shots against in the win for New York.

    He also became the first goaltender in Isles franchise history to win each of his first three career playoff games.

    Jarry (2-3, 2.85 goals-against average, .901 save percentage in five games played) stopped 25 out of 28 shots faced in the loss for Pittsburgh.

    Neither Barry Trotz, nor Mike Sullivan made any adjustments to their Islanders and Penguins lineups, respectively, for Game 5.

    At puck drop, Kris Letang took sole possession of the third-most career postseason games in Pittsburgh’s franchise history as he skated in his 141st career Stanley Cup Playoffs game, surpassing Jaromir Jagr (140 career playoff games with the Penguins) in the process.

    Almost midway into the opening frame, Bailey caught Kasperi Kapanen with a slash and presented the Pens with the night’s first power play at 7:47 of the first period.

    It didn’t take Pittsburgh long to capitalize on the skater advantage as Evgeni Malkin (1) sent a shot over Sorokin’s blocker side to make it, 1-0, for the Penguins while Scott Mayfield inadvertently screened his own goaltender.

    Letang (3) and Bryan Rust (1) tallied the assists on Malkin’s power-play goal at 8:20 of the opening frame.

    With the goal, Malkin tied Denis Potvin for most all time playoff power-play goals in league history and tied Mario Lemieux for the second-most postseason points in a Penguins uniform.

    Lemieux amassed 76-96–172 totals in 107 career postseason games, while Malkin had 64-108–172 totals in 169 playoff games at the time of the goal.

    Late in the period, Bailey sent Anthony Beauvillier into the zone with speed, whereby Beauvillier (2) managed to deke around Jake Guentzel and elevated a shot over Jarry’s blocker to tie the game, 1-1, with a short breakaway goal.

    Bailey (1) and Nick Leddy (2) notched the assists on Beauvillier’s goal at 19:05 of the first period.

    Entering the first intermission, the score was tied, 1-1, while the Penguins were leading in shots on goal, 12-10.

    New York held the advantage in blocked shots (4-0), giveaways (2-1), hits (19-17) and faceoff win percentage (60-40), while both teams had two takeaways aside through 20 minutes of action.

    Pittsburgh was 1/1 on the power play, while the Isles had yet to see any action on the skater advantage heading into the middle frame.

    Malkin hooked Leddy at 4:39 of the second period to kickoff the middle period on Monday– giving the Islanders their first power play of the night in the process.

    New York did not convert on the skater advantage, however.

    Moments later, Sidney Crosby dropped a pass back to Rust (2) for a one-timer blast from the point over Sorokin’s blocker side to make it, 2-1, Pittsburgh at 7:37 of the second period.

    Crosby (1) and Letang (4) had the assists on Rust’s goal.

    Less than a few minutes later, Andy Greene caught Guentzel with a high stick and the Isles defender cut a rut to the penalty box as a result at 10:14.

    The Penguins failed to capitalize on the resulting power play, though.

    Pittsburgh led New York, 2-1, on the scoreboard and, 32-14, in shots on goal, including a, 20-4, advantage in the second period alone through 40 minutes of action at PPG Paints Arena on Monday.

    The Isles led in blocked shots (7-3), takeaways (5-4) and hits (28-27), while the Pens led in giveaways (3-2) and faceoff win% (52-48) entering the second intermission.

    The Islanders were 0/1 and the Penguins were 1/2 on the power play heading into the final frame of regulation.

    Jordan Eberle (2) tied the game, 2-2, at 8:50 of the third period after Jean-Gabriel Pageau worked hard on the forecheck to free the puck from Penguins defender, Brian Dumoulin, as Leo Komarov pounced on the loose puck and worked it to Eberle in the slot.

    Eberle slid the puck underneath Jarry as the Pittsburgh netminder dove across the crease.

    Komarov (1) and Pageau (4), meanwhile, picked up the helpers on Eberle’s goal.

    Moments later, Oliver Wahlstrom was checked by Mike Matheson as Matheson held his stick high and caused a whiplash-esque effect while Wahlstrom’s head snapped back and forth due to the nature of the collision.

    Though Wahlstrom never made head contact with the boards, he needed assistance getting off the ice. Meanwhile, there was no penalty on the play and the game continued shortly thereafter.

    Late in the final frame of regulation, Frederick Gaudreau tripped Brock Nelson and presented the Islanders with a power play at 14:03, but New York couldn’t convert in the dying minutes of the third.

    After 60 minutes of play, the Penguins and Islanders were deadlocked, 2-2, on the scoreboard, despite Pittsburgh holding an advantage in shots on goal, 41-20, including a, 9-6, advantage in shots on goal in the third period alone.

    The Pens also held the lead in hits (40-39) and faceoff win% (51-49), while the Isles led in blocked shots (9-6) and takeaways (7-6). Both teams had six giveaways each heading into overtime.

    The Islanders finished 0/2 and the Penguins went 1/2 on the power play as there were no penalties called in the extra frames.

    There were no goals and no calls made in the first overtime, which resulted in the score still knotted, 2-2, while the Penguins led in shots on goal, 49-27, including an, 8-7, advantage in the first overtime alone.

    New York led in blocked shots (13-9), and hits (47-46), while Pittsburgh held the advantage in faceoff win% (51-49) heading into the second overtime.

    Both teams had eight takeaways and 11 giveaways entering double overtime.

    Less than a minute into the fifth period of the night, Jarry turned the puck over with a tape-to-tape pass to the other team as Bailey (3) corralled the rubber biscuit, skated further into the zone and chipped a shot past Jarry’s glove to give the Islanders a, 3-2, victory 51 seconds into double overtime.

    Bailey’s effort was unassisted and gave New York a 3-2 series lead heading home for Game 6 on Wednesday, but first the Penguins finished Monday night leading in shots on goal, 50-28, despite losing Game 5 in double overtime.

    Both teams had one shot on net in the second overtime alone, while the Isles wrapped up Monday’s effort leading in blocked shots (13-9) and hits (47-46).

    The Pens finished the night leading in giveaways (12-11) and faceoff win% (53-48).

    The Islanders lead the series 3-2 heading home for Game 6 at Nassau Live at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Long Island.

    Puck drop is expected around 6:30 p.m. ET Wednesday night and fans in the United States can catch national coverage on NBCSN, while those in Canada can feel inclined to choose from CBC, SN or TVAS.

  • Islanders defend the Coliseum with, 4-1, win in Game 4

    Islanders defend the Coliseum with, 4-1, win in Game 4

    The New York Islanders will play at least one more game at Nassau Live at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum before moving to UBS Arena for the 2021-22 season after defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-1, on Saturday in Game 4 of their 2021 First Round series.

    Islanders goaltender, Ilya Sorokin (2-0, 1.76 goals-against average, .944 save percentage in two games played), made 29 saves on 30 shots faced in the win as four of his teammates each had a goal on the afternoon to tie the series 2-2.

    Tristan Jarry (2-2, 3.05 goals-against average, .904 save percentage in four games played) stopped 22 out of 26 shots faced in the loss for the Penguins.

    Evgeni Malkin and Cal Clutterbuck exchanged pleasantries and received roughing minors at 4:07 of the first period.

    Moments later, Malkin dug deeper in the rut to the penalty box as he caught Kyle Palmieri with a high stick and returned to the sin bin at 7:47– presenting New York with their first power play of the day as a result.

    Entering the first intermission, the score remained tied, 0-0, while both teams fired eight shots on net apiece.

    The Islanders held the advantage in blocked shots (7-4) and faceoff win percentage (63-38), while the Penguins led in takeaways (3-1), giveaways (6-3) and hits (13-11).

    Pittsburgh had yet to see any time on the skater advantage, while New York was 0/1 on the power play heading into the middle frame.

    Almost midway into the second period, Josh Bailey (2) sent a shot from the faceoff dot past Jarry while Kris Letang pushed Anthony Beauvillier into his own goaltender.

    Brock Nelson (2) and Beauvillier (2) had the assists on Bailey’s goal as the Islanders jumped out to a, 1-0, lead at 8:07 of the second period.

    Late in the period, Ryan Pulock (1) one-timed a shot past Jarry’s right pad to extend New York’s lead to two-goals.

    Oliver Wahlstrom (2) and Nick Leddy (1) tallied the assists on Pulock’s goal as the Isles pulled ahead, 2-0, at 14:51.

    Almost three minutes later, Malkin tripped Wahlstrom and was sent to the box at 17:55, but the Islanders couldn’t convert on the ensuing power play.

    Through 40 minutes of action on Saturday, New York led Pittsburgh, 2-0, on the scoreboard, despite trailing the Pens, 20-17, in shots on goal. The Penguins even had a, 12-9, advantage in shots on goal in the second period alone.

    Pittsburgh held the advantage in takeaways (6-1), giveaways (9-6) and hits (27-24), while New York led in faceoff win% (71-29).

    Both teams had ten blocked shots aside as the Isles were 0/2 on the power play and the Pens have yet to see any action on the skater advantage.

    Scott Mayfield obstructed Sidney Crosby from making a play with a hold and was assessed a holding infraction at 4:04 of the third period.

    Pittsburgh’s ensuing power play didn’t last long as Jason Zucker tripped Adam Pelech 30 seconds later to commence a span of 1:31 at 4-on-4 at 4:34.

    The Penguins gifted the Islanders a rare 4-on-3 advantage for 49 seconds when Letang interfered with Pelech at 5:15 of the third period.

    New York wasted no time on the ensuing 5-on-3 advantage after Mayfield returned to the action as Wahlstrom (1) fired a shot that rebounded off of Jarry before Teddy Blueger accidentally knocked the puck into his own net.

    Mathew Barzal (3) and Pulock (2) notched the assists on Wahlstrom’s power-play goal as the Isles extended their lead, 3-0, at 6:04 of the third period.

    Less than a minute later, Barzal setup Jordan Eberle (1) for a catch-and-release goal over Jarry’s glove side from the slot to make it, 4-0, Islanders.

    Barzal (4) and Jean-Gabriel Pageau (3) had the assists on Eberle’s goal at 6:28.

    Late in the period, Jake Guentzel cross checked Nelson and presented New York with one last power play for the afternoon at 15:33 of the third period.

    Things did not go quite as planned for the Islanders as the Penguins managed to score a shorthanded goal when Zach Aston-Reese (1) buried a rebound while crashing the net off of a shot from Brian Dumoulin.

    Dumloulin (2) and Frederick Gaudreau (2) had the assists on Aston-Reese’s first career Stanley Cup Playoff goal and the Penguins trailed, 4-1, at 17:25.

    At the final horn, the Islanders had won, 4-1, and evened the series 2-2, despite trailing in shots on goal, 30-26.

    Pittsburgh wrapped up the action leading in giveaways (9-8) and hits (34-31), while New York finished the afternoon leading in blocked shots (14-11) and faceoff win% (66-34).

    The Isles went 2/5 and the Pens went 0/1 on the power play in Game 4.

    With the series tied 2-2, one team will emerge with a 3-2 series lead in Game 5 back in Pittsburgh on Monday.

    Puck drop at PPG Paints Arena is set for 7 p.m. ET. Viewers living in the United States can tune to NBC for the action, while those in Canada have the option to choose from SN1 or TVAS.

  • 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs First Round Preview: MassMutual NHL East Division

    Sometime in the last however many days (or perhaps years, maybe even centuries, for some, as it felt) the calendar went from reading “March 2020” to “March 2021”, then April and now May.

    Between then and now, the Tampa Bay Lightning were crowned Stanley Cup champions in the 2020 Stanley Cup Final over the Dallas Stars in six games after last year’s playoffs were held inside a bubble (well, technically two bubbles in Edmonton and Toronto before coming together in the former).

    Then a somewhat regular-looking 56-game 2020-21 season took place as the National Hockey League and the rest of the world started returning to a sense of normalcy from January through now– getting vaccinated and seeing the light at the end of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic tunnel.

    Resiliency in life cannot be understated.

    That– even after so much loss and millions of deaths around the world– the course of nature goes on.

    There is still a lot of grieving to be done, a pandemic ongoing and tensions rising around the globe, yet here we are, arguing over who will win one game– the next four games, a series– the Stanley Cup.

    We, as hockey fans, have regressed to the mean. Our veins are pulsing as we hit “tweet” arguing between Toronto Maple Leafs and Montréal Canadiens fans for the first time since 1979.

    Our humanity goes on.

    Make no qualms about it, the 2020-21 season was one of the hardest seasons on all of the players in the NHL.

    Their seemingly lavish lifestyles were disrupted by isolation on road trips, isolation in COVID protocol and isolation from so many family members and friends that may not have been able to go see them play or be around at home due to local rules, regulations or the mere fact that a player is single and living on their own.

    No, there are no heroes. Only people.

    Even hockey players.

    As the dawn of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs arises, we’ll call their clutch goals, big hits and key saves “heroic”, but after all, we’re just watching 10 skaters and two goalies on the ice at any given time play a game at the highest level that so few are ever so privileged to play.

    They’re making memories among their teammates on the ice that we’ll never be able to experience.

    We’ll never be able to see it from their eyes– until, at least, nano camera technology that can be worn in a contact lens becomes mainstream in sports anyway– but we’ll watch the game with our own eyes and try to memorize every little detail of a play as we try to recreate it in driveways, streets and ice rinks in our own town or others.

    It’s time.

    Let’s hockey together, friends.

    Four teams in each division made the postseason.

    The best team facing the fourth best team, the second best team taking on the third best team– the winners of the First Round will face each other in the Second Round staying within their own division as they’ve done through 56 regular season games.

    Each division will produce one winner heading to the Stanley Cup Semifinal in light of a Conference Finals round in usual years.

    The Semifinal will reseed based on how the four remaining teams finished in regular season points standings with the first best team taking on the fourth, as well as the second best team facing the third best team in a series narrowing down the field to the 2021 Stanley Cup Finalists as a result.

    Neither the Prince of Wales Trophy nor the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl will be awarded this year.

    No trophies, just vibes (until the Stanley Cup, that is).

    (1) Pittsburgh Penguins (37-16-3, 77 points) vs (4) New York Islanders (32-17-7, 71 points)

    Pittsburgh: 56 games played, .688 points percentage, 29 regulation wins.

    N.Y. Islanders: 56 games played, .634 points percentage, 24 regulation wins.

    The Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Islanders are facing each other for the sixth time in a Stanley Cup Playoffs series with the Islanders holding the lead in all time series wins, 4-1.

    New York beat Pittsburgh in seven games (4-3) in the 1975 Wales Conference Quarterfinal, in five games (3-2) in the 1982 Patrick Division Semifinal, in seven games (4-3) in the 1993 Patrick Division Final and in four games (4-0) in the 2019 First Round.

    The Penguins beat the Islanders in six games (4-2) in the 2013 Eastern Conference Quaterfinal, meanwhile.

    The Pens are making their 36th postseason appearance, while the Isles enter their 27th postseason in franchise history.

    Pittsburgh was led by Sidney Crosby (24-38–62 totals in 55 games played) in the regular season, with Jake Guentzel (23-34–57 totals in 56 GP) and Kris Letang (7-38–45 totals in 55 GP) rounding out the top-three scorers on the Penguins’ roster in 2020-21.

    Crosby and the Pens cruised to an 8-2-0 record in their last 10 games and an impressive 22-4-2 record on home ice this season, which bodes well for their return to the playoffs after missing out on First Round action last season thanks to an early exit on behalf of the Canadiens in four games (3-1) in the 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifier.

    Among active members of the current roster, Crosby leads the Penguins with 68-121–189 totals in 168 career Stanley Cup Playoff games, while Evgeni Malkin– suffering from a lower body injury as of late– has 63-106–169 totals in 166 career postseason games.

    Letang brings up the rear to round-out the top-three playoff performers currently on the roster with 80 points (21 goals, 59 assists) in 136 playoff games.

    In the regular season, Pittsburgh relied on Tristan Jarry for a 25-9-3 record as a starter in 39 games played (38 starts) and two shutouts, as well as a 2.75 goals-against average and a .909 save percentage.

    Casey DeSmith (11-7-0 in 20 games, 17 starts, 2.54 goals-against average, .912 save percentage, two shutouts) served as Jarry’s backup and even Maxime Lagacé made an appearance, recording a win in his only start, as well as a shutout.

    When it comes to playoff experience, only Jarry has ever touched the ice in a Stanley Cup Playoff game– earning one start in a loss, as well as a 1.02 goals-against average and a .952 save percentage.

    At the other end of the rink, the Islanders were led by Mathew Barzal in scoring with 45 points (17 goals, 28 assists) in 55 games, as Josh Bailey (8-27–35 totals in 54 games) trailed the prolific 23-year-old center with the second-most points on the team in the 2020-21 regular season.

    Brock Nelson (18-15–33 totals in 56 games) and Jordan Eberle (16-17–33 totals in 56 games) were tied for the third-most points in team scoring for New York.

    Isles captain, Anders Lee, had his season cut short by a knee injury that will keep him out of contention through the playoffs.

    Meanwhile, the Islanders went 3-4-3 in their last 10 games as they backed themselves into the postseason.

    Among active players on New York’s current roster, Bailey leads his teammates in postseason scoring with 10-27–37 totals in 52 career Stanley Cup Playoff games, while Nelson (16-13–29 in 48 games) and newcomer, Travis Zajac (11-17–28 totals in 57 games) round out the top-three playoff performers entering the Islanders’ 2021 postseason run.

    Zajac was acquired along with Kyle Palmieri from the New Jersey Devils ahead of the 2021 trade deadline back in April.

    In the crease, Semyon Varlamov led the way for the Islanders with a Vezina Trophy worthy season, amassing a 19-11-4 record in 36 games played (35 starts) to go with seven shutouts, a 2.04 goals-against average a .929 save percentage.

    Varlamov and Colorado Avalanche netminder, Philipp Grubauer, led the league in shutouts in 2020-21, while Vegas Golden Knights duo, Marc-Andre Fleury and Robin Lehner took home the William M. Jennings Trophy, having allowed the fewest goals against this season.

    Meanwhile, Ilya Sorokin served as Varlamov’s backup in his first NHL season and had a 13-6-3 record in 22 games played (21 starts), as well as three shutouts, a 2.17 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage.

    As Sorokin just completed his first season at the game’s highest level of competition, only Varlamov has had postseason experience and is expected to be New York’s starter in their 2021 First Round matchup with Pittsburgh.

    Varlamov has a 24-20 record in 46 career Stanley Cup Playoff games (44 starts), as well as four shutouts, a 2.38 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage in that span.

    The Penguins went 6-2-0, while the Islanders went 2-4-2 in their eight games against one another this season with Pittsburgh outscoring New York, 26-19, in that span.

    That alone should give a good indication of how Pens head coach, Mike Sullivan, is back on his regular routine and how Isles head coach, Barry Trotz, will need to get crafty to drag Pittsburgh’s offense down a bit more to the level of New York’s “defense first” mentality.

    Though it might be easier to slow down Crosby’s game than it is to ease Edmonton Oilers phenom, Connor McDavid, from his carousel around opponents, Pittsburgh has a deeper roster than New York’s stagnant core.

    Jeff Carter alone has made a bigger impact on the Pens so far than Palmieri and Zajac combined for the Islanders.

    That said, New York has the historical high ground over the Penguins in the playoffs– especially in light of their 2019 First Round sweep.

    This time around, however, expect Pittsburgh to get the job done in six games– just long enough to get a rhythm going into an epic clash with either the Washington Capitals or Boston Bruins in the Second Round.

    Regular season outcomes:

    4-3 NYI at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Feb. 6th

    4-3 F/SO PIT at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Feb. 11th

    4-1 PIT at PPG Paints Arena on Feb. 18th

    3-2 PIT at PPG Paints Arena on Feb. 20th

    4-3 F/OT PIT at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Feb. 27th

    2-0 NYI at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Feb. 28th

    6-3 PIT at PPG Paints Arena on March 27th

    2-1 PIT at PPG Paints Arena on March 29th

    Schedule:

    5/16- Game 1 NYI @ PIT 12 PM ET on NBC, SN, TVAS

    5/18- Game 2 NYI @ PIT 7:30 PM ET on NBCSN, SN, CBC, TVAS

    5/20- Game 3 PIT @ NYI 7 PM ET on NBCSN, SN360, TVAS

    5/22- Game 4 PIT @ NYI 3 PM ET on NBC, SN, TVAS

    5/24- Game 5 NYI @ PIT*

    5/26- Game 6 PIT @ NYI*

    5/28- Game 7 NYI @ PIT*

    *If necessary

    (2) Washington Capitals (36-15-5, 77 points) vs (3) Boston Bruins (33-16-7, 73 points)

    Washington: 56 games played, .688 points percentage, 29 regulation wins.

    Boston: 56 games played, .652 points percentage, 25 regulation wins.

    The Washington Capitals and Boston Bruins are meeting each other in a playoff series for the fourth time with the Capitals holding the lead in all time series wins, 2-1.

    Washington beat Boston in six games (4-2) in the 1998 Eastern Conference Quarterfinal and in seven games (4-3) in the 2012 Eastern Conference Final.

    Prior to the last two postseason series meetings between the two clubs, the Bruins swept the Capitals (4-0) in the 1990 Wales Conference Final.

    The Caps are making their 31st appearance, while the B’s are set to embark on their 74th appearance in the postseason in franchise history.

    Washington was led by Nicklas Backstrom (15-38–53 totals in 55 games played) in scoring this season, while John Carlson had the second-most points and T.J. Oshie rounded out the top-three in team scoring.

    Carlson had 44 points (10 goals, 34 assists) in 52 games, while Oshie notched 22-21–43 totals in 53 games for the Capitals in 2020-21.

    While battling injury at times this season, Washington captain, Alex Ovechkin, and Co. went 7-2-1 in their last 10 games of the regular season, amassing a 17-8-3 record on home ice.

    Ovechkin leads his current teammates in active career postseason scoring with 69-62–131 totals in 136 Stanley Cup Playoff games (all with the Capitals), while Backstrom is second and former Bruin captain, turned Washington defender, Zdeno Chara, has the third-most career Stanley Cup Playoff points on the Capitals’ current roster.

    Backstrom has 107 points (36 goals, 71 assists) in 128 career playoff games, while Chara has 18-52–70 totals in 195 career postseason games between the Ottawa Senators (45 games) and Boston (150 games).

    In the regular season, Washington relied on the emergence of Vitek Vanecek as their starter with Ilya Samsonov serving as the Caps backup and Craig Anderson getting a handful of appearances mixed in.

    Vanecek led the team with a 21-10-4 record in 37 games (36 starts), two shutouts, a 2.70 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage, while Samsonov amassed a 13-4-1 record in 19 games (18 starts) as Vanecek’s backup.

    Samsonov had a 2.69 goals-against average and a .902 save percentage to go along with a pair of shutouts, while Anderson went 2-1-0 in four games played (two starts) and yielded a 2.13 goals-against average, as well as a .915 save percentage in that span.

    Though Anderson is the only goaltender on the roster with previous playoff experience– including a 23-22 record in 46 games (46 starts) to go along with four shutouts, a 2.35 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage in the process– Vanecek will likely be the starter for the Caps for the foreseeable future.

    Especially with Samsonov still in COVID protocol on Friday (at the time of this writing).

    Brad Marchand led the Bruins in scoring with 29-40–69 totals in 53 games this season, while Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak were tied for the second-most points with 48 points each.

    Bergeron had 23-25–48 totals in 54 games, while Pastrnak had 20-28–48 totals in 48 games after getting a late start to the season due to offseason surgery.

    Meanwhile, David Krejci, for those wondering, had 8-36–44 totals in 51 games and had the fourth-most points on the roster this season.

    Boston’s current career postseason scoring leaders shapes up to be exactly what you expect– Krejci leads over Bergeron and Marchand.

    Krejci has 40-75–115 totals in 145 career Stanley Cup Playoff games entering 2021, while Bergeron has 111 points (42 goals, 69 assists) in 149 playoff games and Marchand has 95 points (37 goals, 58 assists) in 121 postseason games.

    The trio of Bruins define an era of consistent success not seen since the days of Phil Esposito in the spoked-B and are in search of their second Stanley Cup ring.

    Boston utilized four goaltenders this season due to injury and COVID protocol effecting the season as Tuukka Rask led the team with a 15-5-2 record in 24 games (24 starts)– amassing a 2.28 goals-against average, a .913 save percentage and two shutouts in the process.

    Rask’s “average” season was balanced out by Jaroslav Halak’s “average” season as a backup– posting a 9-6-4 record in 19 games (17 starts), as well as a 2.53 goals-against average, a .905 save percentage and two shutouts in that span.

    Despite Halak’s best efforts, the emergence of Jeremy Swayman has led to Swayman moving up in the depth charts from surefire starter in Providence (AHL) to current NHL backup (with the ultimate goal of taking over for Rask someday as the Bruins transition from their franchise goaltender to their 22-year-old first year professional).

    Swayman had a 7-3-0 record in 10 games (10 starts) and put up a 1.50 goals-against average, two shutouts and a .945 save percentage in his first taste of the NHL.

    Dan Vladar, meanwhile, contributed where it mattered most and, despite one, 8-1, loss on the second night of back-to-back games against Washington, managed to have a 2-2-1 record in five games played (five starts) with a 3.40 goals-against average and an .886 save percentage for Boston.

    With Halak relegated to the third string goaltender role, his 17-20 record in 39 postseason games (37 starts) and 2.48 goals-against average, as well as his .919 career playoff save percentage should remain untouched.

    Sure, Vladar made a relief appearance in the 2020 Second Round, but Rask is Boston’s starter, after all.

    And for good reason too– since Rask has a 51-42 record in 93 career Stanley Cup Playoff games (93 starts), as well as seven shutouts, a 2.20 goals-against average and a .926 save percentage in that span.

    No. 40 in black and gold is two wins away from tying Gerry Cheevers for the most postseason wins in franchise history (53).

    The Capitals went 4-4-0, while the Bruins went 4-2-2 in their eight games against one another this season with Boston outscoring Washington, 26-25, in that span.

    As noted, don’t let too many results in their head-to-head matchups from this season fool you.

    The Bruins dressed the equivalents of their AHL affiliate (Providence Bruins) about two times against the Capitals this season.

    The first time was due to a ton of injuries and the second time happened to be another final night of a back-to-back matchup in Boston’s schedule and the end of the regular season with both teams having clinched a playoff berth and not eligible for mobility in the standings.

    That said, the B’s and Caps are pretty evenly matched.

    Vanecek has the chance to ride the waves of his breakout season, while Rask is the steady hand that’s been the model of consistency in the crease this time of year.

    Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, should get the most out of Krejci, Craig Smith and Taylor Hall to round out his top-six forwards, while Peter Laviolette can rely on Chara’s past knowledge of Boston’s systems to utilize as a strength for Washington.

    That said, the Bruins should try to wrap things up in six games and move on to the Second Round before worrying about what a Game 7 would look like on the road for the first time since 2011.

    Regular season outcomes:

    4-3 F/OT WSH at Capital One Arena on Jan. 30th

    5-3 BOS at Capital One Arena on Feb. 1st

    2-1 F/SO WSH at TD Garden on March 1st

    5-1 BOS at TD Garden on March 5th

    4-2 BOS at Capital One Arena on April 8th

    8-1 WSH at TD Garden on April 11th

    6-3 BOS at TD Garden on April 18th

    2-1 WSH at Capital One Arena on May 11th

    Schedule:

    5/15- Game 1 BOS @ WSH 7:15 PM ET on NBC, SN, CBC, TVAS

    5/17- Game 2 BOS @ WSH 7:30 PM ET on NBCSN, SN, CBC, TVAS

    5/19- Game 3 WSH @ BOS 6:30 PM ET on NBCSN, SNE, SNO, SNP, SN360, TVAS

    5/21- Game 4 WSH @ BOS 6:30 PM ET on NBCSN, SNE, SNO, SNP, SN360, TVAS

    5/23- Game 5 BOS @ WSH*

    5/25- Game 6 WSH @ BOS*

    5/27- Game 7 BOS @ WSH*

  • Bruins bounce back with, 3-1, win in Pittsburgh

    Bruins bounce back with, 3-1, win in Pittsburgh

    After being shutout, 1-0, on Sunday by the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena, the Boston Bruins got split their two games in the “Steel City” with a, 3-1, win on Tuesday night.

    Tuukka Rask (12-4-2, 2.29 goals-against average, .915 save percentage in 20 games played) made 25 saves on 26 shots faced in the win for Boston.

    Pittsburgh netminder, Tristan Jarry (21-9-3, 2.71 goals-against average, .911 save percentage in 34 games played) made 28 saves on 31 shots against in the loss.

    The Bruins are now 28-14-6 (62 points) on the season and remain in command of 4th place in the MassMutual NHL East Division, while the Penguins fell to 32-15-3 (67 points) overall and dropped to 2nd place in the division.

    Boston won the regular season series against Pittsburgh (5-3-0) in 2020-21’s 56-game schedule due to the ongoing global pandemic.

    The Bruins were without the services of Ondrej Kase (upper body), John Moore (hip) and Brandon Carlo (upper body) on Tuesday, while Trent Frederic returned to the lineup for the first time in 11 games after recovering from a non-COVID protocol related illness.

    Frederic joined the fourth line alongside Curtis Lazar at center and Chris Wagner on right wing, while Sean Kuraly was promoted to the third line center with Charlie Coyle moved to the right wing and Jake DeBrusk serving as a healthy scratch.

    Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, also re-inserted Connor Clifton o the blue line in place of Steven Kampfer, while Jaroslav Halak served as Rask’s backup with Jeremy Swayman earning the night off.

    Boston’s long list of healthy scratches, taxi squad members and injured players included Swayman, Greg McKegg, Carlo, Moore, Kase, Kampfer, Jack Ahcan, Urho Vaakanainen, Jakub Zboril, Callum Booth, DeBrusk, Anton Blidh, Karson Kuhlman and Jarred Tinordi.

    Mike Reilly cut a rut to the penalty box early in the action on Tuesday night as he was assessed a minor infraction for holding the stick while falling near the endboards in a tangle with Jared McCann at 1:32 of the first period.

    Pittsburgh’s ensuing power play was powerless, however, as Boston’s penalty kill stood tall.

    Midway through the opening frame, the Bruins had too many skaters on the ice resulting in a bench minor at 10:18.

    Taylor Hall served the penalty in the box while the B’s penalty kill successfully held the Penguins off the scoreboard during the special teams action.

    After one period of play on Tuesday, the Bruins and Penguins were tied, 0-0, on the scoreboard, despite Boston holding a, 14-11, advantage in shots on goal.

    The B’s led in blocked shots (10-4), takeaways (4-1), hits (14-7) and faceoff win percentage (80-20), while the Pens held the advantage in giveaways (3-1).

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

    Kevan Miller slashed Jason Zucker and went to the box at 5:13 of the second period, presenting the Penguins with a power play as a result.

    Once more, however, Boston’s penalty kill managed to kill the minor with ease.

    Late in the period, the Bruins’ power play units got their first shift of the night as Evan Rodrigues went to the box for roughing at 15:41.

    Despite not scoring on the power play, Boston caught Pittsburgh in the vulnerable minute afterward, whereby Charlie McAvoy worked a roughly 200-foot effort down the ice to David Krejci (7) for a backhand shot over Jarry’s pad, but under the Pens goaltender’s glove to make it, 1-0, for the B’s.

    McAvoy (22) and Rask (2) had the assists on Krejci’s goal at 18:10 of the second period.

    Through 40 minutes of play on Tuesday, Boston led, 1-0, on the scoreboard and, 22-17, in shots on goal, including an, 8-6, advantage in the second period alone.

    The Bruins also held the advantage in blocked shots (16-5), hits (32-19) and faceoff win% (72-28), while the Penguins led in takeaways (9-5) and giveaways (5-2).

    Pittsburgh was 0/3 and Boston was 0/1 on the power play heading into the second intermission.

    Early in the final frame, Jeremy Lauzon and Teddy Blueger exchanged fisticuffs and received fighting majors at 6:38 of the third period as a result.

    It was the 13th fight of the season for Boston and the first since Miller fought Tage Thompson on April 13th vs. Buffalo.

    Moments later, Brad Marchand (26) buried a rebound to give the Bruins a two-goal lead.

    David Pastrnak (24) had the initial shot that forced a rebound to Marchand for the goal, while Curtis Lazar (6) had the secondary assist as the B’s took a, 2-0, lead at 9:11 of the third period.

    About a few minutes later, Hall (6) strolled into the slot after deking past Sidney Crosby and snapped a shot over Jarry’s blocker to make it, 3-0, Boston at 12:18.

    Krejci (25) and Reilly (24) tallied the assists on Hall’s goal at 12:18.

    Late in the frame, Jeff Carter (11) sent a rocket past Rask’s blocked side to put Pittsburgh on the scoreboard with an old school slap shot from the faceoff dot.

    Kris Letang (33) and Kasperi Kapanen (16) had the assists on Carter’s goal as the Penguins trailed the Bruins, 3-1, at 17:39.

    With two minutes left in regulation, Pens head coach, Mike Sullivan, pulled Jarry for an extra attacker, but it was to no avail as the B’s shut Pittsburgh’s 6-on-5 advantage down and pulled off the, 3-1, victory at the final horn.

    Boston finished the night leading in shots on goal (31-26), blocked shots (21-7), hits (50-25) and faceoff win% (57-43).

    Pittsburgh wrapped up the night with the advantage in giveaways (5-3), while the Penguins went 0/3 and the Bruins went 0/1 on the power play.

    The B’s improved to 7-6-2 (4-3-0 on the road) when tied after the first period, 20-5-3 (11-5-1 on the road) when scoring the game’s first goal and 19-0-2 (8-0-0 on the road) when leading after two periods this season.

    The Pens fell to 7-3-1 (4-3-1 at home) when tied after one period, 12-11-1 (8-3-0 at home) when allowing the game’s first goal and 4-11-1 (2-2-0 at home) when trailing after the second period in 2020-21.

    The Bruins went 3-2-0 on their five-game road trip and head home to finish the month of April and start the month of May with a pair of games against the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday and Saturday.

  • Marchand’s hat trick lifts Bruins over Penguins, 7-5

    Marchand’s hat trick lifts Bruins over Penguins, 7-5

    Brad Marchand had a hat trick to go along with his four-point afternoon in the Boston Bruins’, 7-5, victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins at TD Garden on Saturday.

    David Pastrnak had a pair of goals and David Krejci and Patrice Bergeron set career milestones in the process, while Jaroslav Halak (9-5-3, 2.44 goals-against average, .910 save percentage in 17 games played) made 23 saves on 28 shots against in the win for Boston.

    Pittsburgh netminder, Casey DeSmith (9-4-0, 2.13 goals-against average, .922 save percentage in 15 games played), stopped 21 out of 27 shots faced in the loss.

    The Bruins improved to 19-10-5 (43 points) on the season and remain in 4th place in the MassMutual NHL East Division, while the Penguins dropped to 24-12-2 (50 points) overall and remained in command of 3rd place in the same division.

    The B’s improved to 4-2-0 against the Pens this season with the win.

    The Bruins were without Ondrej Kase (upper body), Kevan Miller (lower body), Tuukka Rask (upper body), John Moore (hip), Brandon Carlo (upper body) and Jake DeBrusk (COVID protocol) on Saturday afternoon.

    As a result, head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made several changes to his lineup from Thursday night’s, 4-1, loss against Pittsburgh.

    Cassidy swapped his first and second line right wings, placing Craig Smith alongside Marchand and Bergeron, while uniting Pastrnak with Nick Ritchie and Krejci.

    Sean Kuraly was back in the lineup for the first time since being placed in COVID protocol on March 18th. He was taken off the league’s COVID protocol list prior to Thursday night’s loss, but did not suit up against the Penguins until Saturday.

    Kuraly centered the third line with Anders Bjork at left wing and Charlie Coyle at right wing.

    Jack Studnicka, meanwhile, centered the fourth line with Trent Frederic to his left and Zach Senyshyn to his right.

    On defense, Cassidy paired former Boston University teammates, Matt Grzelcyk and Charlie McAvoy on the first defensive pairing.

    Jakub Zboril suited up alongside Steven Kampfer and Jarred Tinordi was back in the lineup with Connor Clifton after Tinordi was as a healthy scratch since March 25th.

    Boston’s long list of healthy scratches, taxi squad members and injured players on Saturday afternoon included Chris Wagner, Carlo, Moore, Kase, Rask, Lauzon, DeBrusk, Anton Blidh, Karson Kuhlman, Miller and Callum Booth.

    Mike Matheson sent a shot towards the goal off of an attacking zone faceoff that tipped off of Coyle’s stick, then Mark Jankowski’s, over Halak’s shoulder, off the crossbar and under into the back of the twine.

    As Jankowski (3) was the last to touch the rubber biscuit, the goal was his and the Penguins led, 1-0, at 3:24 of the first period.

    Matheson (6) had the only assist on the goal.

    Shortly after the midpoint in the opening frame until late in the first period, the two clubs engaged in a span of 8:05 of consecutive action.

    Heading into the first intermission, Pittsburgh led, 1-0, on the scoreboard and, 9-6, in shots on goal.

    The Pens held the advantage in giveaways (5-1), hits (13-12) and faceoff win percentage (53-47), while both teams had four takeaways each.

    Neither team had seen any time on the power play entering the middle frame.

    Just 11 seconds into the second period, Bergeron (11) capitalized on a rebound from his usual spot in the bumper to tie the game, 1-1, on an unassisted effort.

    Bergeron tied Rick Middleton for the fourth most points (898) in a Bruins uniform in franchise history as a result of his goal. In 1,123 career games, Bergeron has 363-535–898 totals– all with Boston– while Middleton recorded 402-496–898 totals in 881 games as a Bruin from 1976-88.

    34 seconds later, Pastrnak (15) buried a shot from the slot after the puck bounced off of Ritchie due to an initial shot by Krejci from the point to give the B’s their first lead of the afternoon, 2-1.

    Ritchie (9) and Krejci (21) tallied the assists on Pastrnak’s goal 45 seconds into the second period.

    As a result of his secondary assist on the goal, Krejci reached 500 career NHL assists in his 941st game (all with Boston). Pastrnak made sure the puck was delivered to the Bruins’ bench for future display purposes in the Krejci household.

    The Bruins did not hold the lead for long, however, as Jake Guentzel (16) scored on a close-range one-timer as he was fed by a backhand pass from Sidney Crosby while the Penguins captain was skating behind the net in “Gretzky’s office”.

    Crosby (27) and Brian Dumoulin (5) tabbed assists on Guentzel’s goal as the score was evened, 2-2, at 2:45 of the second period.

    On an ensuing play in Boston’s defensive zone, McAvoy closed his hand on the puck in the crease and received an automatic delay of game minor infraction for (you guessed it) closing his hand on the puck at 4:45.

    Pittsburgh’s first power play of the afternoon went right to work as Crosby setup Guentzel into the slot who then passed the puck to Jared McCann (9) for the one-timer past Halak’s blocker side as the Bruins goaltender dove from left to right in the crease.

    Guentzel (21) and Crosby (28) had the assists on McCann’s power-play goal at 5:11 and the Pens grabbed a, 3-2, lead in the action.

    Midway through the period, Pittsburgh and Boston swapped penalties when Sam Lafferty caught Clifton with an elbow at 9:59 and Grzelcyk tripped Cody Ceci at 10:20, resulting in 1:40 of 4-on-4 action before the Penguins had an abbreviated 5-on-4 advantage.

    Neither team scored on the special teams play.

    Moments later, however, the Bruins rallied when Marchand (15) sent a catch and release shot while cutting a quick turn in front of DeSmith in the low slot– elevating the puck top-shelf in the process– to tie the game, 3-3, at 14:56.

    Grzelcyk (9) and Smith (9) had the assists on Marchand’s first goal of the afternoon.

    After a stoppage in play resulted in a slashing minor for Marchand against Kris Letang and a roughing infraction for Letang against Marchand at 15:10, the two clubs resumed 4-on-4 action for a pair of minutes, though that didn’t last long.

    Boston went on the 4-on-3 advantage when Evan Rodrigues hooked Pastrnak at 16:53.

    The Bruins then had 18 seconds on the unconventional 4-on-3 power play before yielding an abbreviated 5-on-4 advantage.

    While on the ensuing power play, Boston whipped the puck around the zone before Pastrnak sent it to Marchand who whizzed a shot pass through the slot to Krejci (2) for the redirection from the edge of the crease to the left of DeSmith.

    The Bruins re-took the lead, 4-3, as Marchand (24) and Pastrnak (14) were credited with assists on Krejci’s power-play goal at 18:29.

    Boston was not done scoring, however, as Marchand (16) received an indirect pass from McAvoy from the slot off of a faceoff win in the attacking zone that bounced from Smith to No. 63 in black and gold (or, gold and black, as it were, since the Bruins donned their Reverse Retro jerseys on Saturday), before sending another catch and release shot past DeSmith.

    Smith (10) and McAvoy (18) tallied the assists on Marchand’s second goal of the afternoon and the Bruins led, 5-3, at 19:40– marking three unanswered goals for Boston to finish off the second period.

    Entering the second intermission, the Bruins led, 5-3, on the scoreboard, but trailed the Penguins, 18-17, in shots on goal, despite holding an, 11-9, advantage in shots on goal in the second period alone.

    Boston also led in takeaways (9-7), hits (23-17) and faceoff win% (53-47), while Pittsburgh held the advantage in blocked shots (7-2) and giveaways (10-2) through 40 minutes of action.

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

    Ceci (3) opened the scoring in the third period after Boston failed to clear their own zone and Jankowski sent a pass to the wide-open Penguins defender to bring Pittsburgh to within one at 4:38.

    Jankowski (4) and Lafferty (5) had the assists as the Pens trailed, 5-4.

    Midway through the final frame, Ritchie made a hit at the attacking zone blue line to take possession of the puck and generate a 2-on-1 advantage for the Bruins on the break-in.

    Ritchie fed Pastrnak (16) a pass across the slot for another catch and release goal– this time over DeSmith’s glove side to make it, 6-4, for Boston.

    Ritchie (10) had the only assist on Pastrnak’s second goal of the game at 13:28 of the third period.

    With 2:25 remaining in the action, Penguins head coach, Mike Sullivan, pulled his goaltender for an extra attacker.

    Letang, in the meantime, had other ideas and hooked Pastrnak and cut a rut to the penalty box at 17:49.

    After clearing their own zone, Pittsburgh once again pulled DeSmith for an extra skater, whereby Crosby (15) mustered a soft goal through Halak to pull the Penguins to within one goal once more at 18:45.

    Guentzel (22) had the only assist on Crosby’s shorthanded goal and the Pens trailed, 6-5.

    Sullivan used his timeout on the ensuing stoppage with 1:15 remaining in the action to drum up a plan.

    On the resulting center-ice faceoff, Bergeron may have caught Crosby in the sternum with an inadvertent butt-end while pulling the puck back from the dot as Crosby brushed Bergeron’s visor before Bergeron made the turn.

    Crosby whipped his head back and fell to the ice, perhaps embellishing (depending on which team you cheer for) what resulted in a four-minute double minor for high sticking for Bergeron, despite no evidence of an injury or blood drawn, while nobody seemed to notice Krejci’s errant stick to McCann’s face that was quite evident in the replay and review of whether or not Bergeron touched Crosby.

    Regardless, Bergeron skated to the box at 18:49 and the Penguins went on the power play.

    This time, however, Pittsburgh’s power play was powerless as they once again pulled DeSmith for a de facto two-skater advantage, but Marchand (17) sealed the deal on the game’s fate with an empty net goal– scoring a hat trick in the process.

    Coyle (5) had the only assist on Marchand’s third goal of the afternooon– marking his first hat trick of the season and his fourth overall in his NHL career– at 18:59 and the B’s led, 7-5.

    At the final horn, Boston had won, 7-5, and finished even in total shots on goal, 28-28, despite leading, 11-10, in shots on goal in the third period alone.

    The Bruins wrapped up the afternoon leading in blocked shots (8-7), hits (28-25) and faceoff win% (60-40), while the Penguins finished Saturday’s effort leading in giveaways (12-3).

    Both teams finished 1/3 on the power play in the matinée action.

    The Bruins improved to 7-7-2 (4-5-0 at home) when allowing the game’s first goal this season, while the Penguins fell to 13-4-1 (5-3-0 on the road) when scoring first in 2020-21.

    Boston also improved to 5-6-2 (3-2-0 at home) when trailing after one and 11-0-1 (7-0-1 at home) when leading after two periods this season.

    Pittsburgh dropped to 12-3-1 (2-2-0 on the road) when leading after the first period and 4-8-1 (2-7-1 on the road) when trailing after the second period this season.

    The Bruins wrap up their seven-game homestand (3-2-1) next Monday (April 5th) against the Philadelphia Flyers before hitting the road for a three-game road trip through Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia again.

  • DeSmith, Pens, down B’s, 4-1

    DeSmith, Pens, down B’s, 4-1

    Casey DeSmith backstopped the Pittsburgh Penguins to a, 4-1, victory over the Boston Bruins Thursday night at TD Garden in what was Pittsburgh’s first win in Boston since Nov. 24, 2014.

    DeSmith (9-3-0, 1.84 goals-against average, .933 save percentage in 14 games played) made 30 saves on 31 shots against in the win for the Penguins.

    Bruins goaltender, Dan Vladar (2-1-0, 2.05 goals-against average, .929 save percentage in three games played) turned aside 19 out of 22 shots faced in the loss.

    Pittsburgh improved to 24-11-2 (50 points) overall and remained in command of 3rd place in the MassMutual NHL East Division, while Boston dropped to 18-10-5 (41 points) on the season and remained in 4th place in the division.

    The Bruins also fell to 3-2-0 against the Pens this season.

    Boston was without the services of Ondrej Kase (upper body), Kevan Miller (knee), Tuukka Rask (upper body), John Moore (hip) and Jake DeBrusk (COVID protocol) on Thursday, while Sean Kuraly was removed from league protocol on Wednesday and took part in an optional morning skate on Thursday.

    Kase also took part in the optional morning skate, while DeBrusk skated on his own at Warrior Ice Arena on Thursday morning for the first time since entering COVID protocol on March 19th.

    B’s head coach, Bruce Cassidy, left his lines intact from Tuesday night’s, 5-4, shootout victory over the New Jersey Devils, rendering Kuraly as a healthy scratch, along with Chris Wagner, Jack Studnicka, Steven Kampfer and Jarred Tinordi.

    Moore, Kase, Rask, DeBrusk and Miller remained out due to injury, while Callum Booth was part of Boston’s taxi squad.

    Greg McKegg, meanwhile, was reassigned to the Providence Bruins (AHL) on Wednesday with Jeremy Swayman, who was briefly called up to the taxi squad and reassigned.

    Brian Dumoulin delivered a cross check to David Pastrnak and presented the Bruins with the first power play of the night at 10:59 of the first period.

    Boston did not convert on the ensuing skater advantage and neither team was penalized further, nor scored a goal in the opening frame.

    Entering the first intermission, the Penguins led in shots on goal, 7-2, while the scoreboard was even at, 0-0.

    The B’s led in blocked shots (8-6), hits (12-6) and faceoff win percentage (55-45), while the Pens led in takeaways (3-1) and giveaways (3-1) after 20 minutes of play.

    Pittsburgh had yet to see any action on the power play, while Boston was 0/1 heading into the middle frame.

    The Bruins tweeted prior to puck drop on the second period that defender, Brandon Carlo, would not return to Thursday night’s game with an upper body injury.

    Carlo had missed 10 games this season with an upper body injury that he sustained on March 5th against the Washington Capitals prior to returning to the lineup in Tuesday night’s win against New Jersey.

    Jeremy Lauzon was also not on the bench to start the middle period, but returned shortly after the second period was underway after being cut by a skate late in the opening frame.

    Meanwhile, early in the period, Zach Aston-Reese (8) capitalized on a rush– redirecting a pass from Brandon Tanev past Vladar low on the glove side.

    Tanev (9) and Frederick Gaudreau (3) tallied the assists on Aston-Reese’s goal and the Penguins led, 1-0, at 2:01 of the second period.

    Midway through the period, Mike Matheson (3) went post-to-post on a wraparound break-in and gave Pittsburgh a two-goal lead.

    Anthony Angello (2) and Cody Ceci (6) had the assists on Matheson’s goal and the Pens led, 2-0, at 13:12.

    Through 40 minutes of action on Thursday night, Pittsburgh was in command, 2-0, on the scoreboard and, 17-15, in shots on goal, despite Boston leading, 13-10, in shots in the second period alone.

    The Bruins held the advantage in blocked shots (14-9), hits (27-13) and faceoff win% (55-45), while the Penguins led in takeaways (10-3) and giveaways (5-3).

    Boston was still 0/1 on the power play, while Pittsburgh awaited their first taste of the skater advantage in the action.

    The Penguins went on the power play when Lauzon caught Bryan Rust without the puck and was assessed an interference minor 31 seconds into the third period.

    Though Brad Marchand and Kris Letang exchanged pleasantries about half-a-minute later, Marchand’s ensuing roughing infraction was matched by Letang’s holding minor, thereby leaving the Pens on the 5-on-4 advantage at 1:03 of the final frame.

    Pittsburgh did not score on the skater advantage.

    Matt Grzelcyk went down the tunnel after catching an errant puck off the helmet with 13:24 remaining in the action.

    Moments later, Marchand (14) scored a one-timer off of a pass that deflected off of Ceci’s stick from Patrice Bergeron through the slot.

    Bergeron (18) and Jakub Zboril (7) had the assists on Marchand’s goal and the Bruins trailed, 2-1, at 11:14 of the third period.

    Less than two minutes later– in a span of 1:53, to be exact– Jason Zucker (5) put the Penguins ahead by two-goals once again after Pastrnak’s self-pass in traffic in the neutral zone was botched and led to a turnover, yielding a one-timer for Zucker while Grzelcyk (back from his trip down the tunnel) pressured Evan Rodrigues and Vladar was caught a little too far out of the crease in effort to cut down on Rodrigues’ shooting angle.

    Instead, Pittsburgh led, 3-1, on Zucker’s goal with assists from Rodrigues (4) and Marcus Pettersson (3) at 13:07.

    With 3:09 remaining in the game, Cassidy pulled Vladar for an extra attacker.

    It wasn’t long before Jake Guentzel (15) used geometry to his advantage and angled the puck off of the boards and into the open twine from about the center red line.

    Letang (22) and Sidney Crosby (26) had the assists on Guentzel’s empty net goal and the Penguins led, 4-1, at 17:51/

    Mark Jankowski was penalized for holding at 18:44, yielding one final power play to Boston, but despite pulling their netminder once again with 1:16 remaining in the game, the Bruins fell flat.

    At the final horn, Pittsburgh had won, 4-1, despite trailing Boston in the final shot total, 31-23, including a, 16-6, advantage for the B’s in the third period alone.

    The Bruins wrapped up the night leading in blocked shots (15-12), hits (35-29) and faceoff win% (57-43), while the Penguins led in giveaways (7-5).

    Pittsburgh finished 0/1 and Boston finished 0/2 on the power play on Thursday.

    The Bruins dropped to 5-4-1 (2-3-1 at home) when tied after the first period and 4-6-1 (3-4-0 at home) when trailing after two periods this season.

    Pittsburgh improved to 6-2-0 (3-0-0 on the road) when tied after one period and 14-1-0 (4-0-0 on the road) when leading after the two periods this season.

    Boston fell to 6-7-2 (3-5-0 at home) when allowing the game’s first goal this season, while the Pens improved to 13-3-1 (5-2-0 on the road) when scoring the game’s first goal in 2020-21.

    The Bruins take on the Penguins once again on Saturday before wrapping up their seven-game homestand (2-2-1) next Monday against the Philadelphia Flyers before hitting the road for three games.

  • Crosby, Jarry and Pens takedown Bruins, 4-1

    Crosby, Jarry and Pens takedown Bruins, 4-1

    A late first period comeback with Sidney Crosby’s eventual game-winning goal on top of Tristan Jarry’s 42-save performance led the Pittsburgh Penguins to a, 4-1, victory over the Boston Bruins on Monday night at PPG Paints Arena.

    Jarry (12-7-1, 2.90 goals-against average, .906 save percentage in 20 games played) turned aside 42 out of 43 shots faced for a .977 save percentage in the win for Pittsburgh.

    Boston goaltender, Jaroslav Halak (6-4-2, 2.15 goals-against average, .918 save percentage in 12 games played) made 22 saves on 25 shots against for an .880 save percentage in the loss.

    The Bruins fell to 14-8-4 (32 points) and remained in 4th place in the MassMutual NHL East Division, while the Penguins improved to 18-9-1 (37 points) and in control of 3rd place in the division.

    The B’s also dropped to 2-1-0 against the Pens this season.

    Jake DeBrusk returned to the lineup for Boston after missing last Saturday’s, 4-0, loss to the New York Rangers due to COVID protocol in what turned out to be a false positive test.

    Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, re-inserted DeBrusk in his usual role on the second line left wing and made a few other adjustments to his forward lines.

    Craig Smith joined DeBrusk as David Krejci’s wings on the second line, while Nick Ritchie and Anders Bjork suited up on the left and right side of Charlie Coyle, respectively.

    Sean Kuraly centered the fourth line with Trent Frederic at left wing and Karson Kuhlman at right wing.

    On defense, Cassidy replaced Urho Vaakanainen on the third pairing with Steven Kampfer for a night alongside Jarred Tinordi.

    The Bruins were without the services of Ondrej Kase (upper body), Kevan Miller (right knee), Jeremy Lauzon (fractured left hand), Brandon Carlo (upper body), Tuukka Rask (lower body) and Zach Senyshyn (upper body) on Monday night.

    Rask traveled with the team and skated with the taxi squad members, but won’t be ready for Tuesday night’s rematch with the Penguins, which means Dan Vladar or Jeremy Swayman will make their National Hockey League regular season debut in Pittsburgh.

    Vladar made his postseason debut in relief of Halak in Game 3 of Boston’s 2020 Second Round matchup with the Tampa Bay Lightning, but has yet to start an NHL game in the regular season.

    He has a 2-2-1 record in five games with the Providence Bruins (AHL) so far this season with a 2.01 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage in that span, as well as one shutout.

    Swayman, meanwhile, is in his first professional season since leaving the University of Maine (2017-20) and has a 7-0-0 record in seven games with Providence this season, as well as a 1.57 goals-against average, a .942 save percentage and one shutout so far.

    Jack Ahcan, Kuhlman and Oskar Steen were recalled from the P-Bruins to Boston’s taxi squad ahead of the game on Monday.

    Chris Wagner, Senyshyn, Carlo, John Moore, Kase, Rask, Lauzon, Vaakanainen, Miller, Ahcan, Steen, Swayman and Greg McKegg were all out of the lineup due to being listed as a healthy scratch, injured or a taxi squad member for Boston.

    Anton Blidh was sent to Providence on Sunday.

    Bryan Rust slashed Brad Marchand and presented Boston with their first power play of the night at 6:17 of the first period.

    Matt Grzelcyk (1) sent a wrist shot from the point past Jarry while Ritchie screened the Penguins netminder and gave the B’s a, 1-0, lead.

    Marchand (20) and David Pastrnak (11) had the assists on Grzelcyk’s power-play goal at 6:47 of the opening frame.

    Late in the period, Pittsburgh’s Evan Rodrigues (2) fired a wrist shot off of Halak’s glove before the puck bounced through the Boston goaltender’s five-hole, tying the game, 1-1, in the process at 16:51.

    Kasperi Kapanen (12) and Evgeni Malkin (16) tallied the assists on Rodrigues’ first goal since Jan. 17th (he played in nine games between then).

    Less than two minutes later, Crosby (11) sent the rubber biscuit to Jake Guentzel as the pair of Penguins forwards entered the zone prior to Guentzel giving it back to the Pens captain for a one-timer off of Halak’s pad– between the Bruins goaltender’s pad and the post– and into the twine.

    Pittsburgh took their first lead of the night, 2-1, while Guentzel (15) and Brian Dumoulin (4) picked up the assists on Crosby’s goal at 18:34.

    Entering the first intermission, the Penguins led, 2-1, on the scoreboard despite trailing the Bruins, 20-10, in shots on goal.

    Boston held the advantage in blocked shots (6-5), takeaways (3-2), hits (19-8) and faceoff win percentage (64-36), while Pittsburgh led in giveaways (4-1) after 20 minutes.

    The Penguins had yet to see any action on the skater advantage, while the Bruins were 1/1 on the power play heading into the middle frame.

    Pastrnak opened up the second period with an interference infraction 28 seconds into the middle frame. Pittsburgh did not score on the ensuing power play.

    Moments later, Marcus Pettersson sent the puck over the glass and out of play, yielding an automatic delay of game minor at 6:59 of the second period.

    Boston did not convert on the resulting skater advantage.

    Past the midpoint in the action, Connor Clifton tripped Rodrigues and was sent to the penalty box at 10:31.

    A little more than a minute later, Malkin (8) flipped a shot over Halak’s glove side from the slot to yield his 1,100th career NHL point in his 935th career game.

    Crosby (17) and Kris Letang (15) had the assists on Malkin’s power-play goal and the Pens led, 3-1, at 11:40 of the second period.

    Clifton cut another rut to the sin bin at 12:13 on a roughing minor after getting tangled up with Colton Sceviour after a whistle. The Penguins did not score on the resulting power play.

    Through 40 minutes of action in Pittsburgh, the Pens led, 3-1, on the scoreboard, despite trailing the Bruins, 33-18, in shots on goal, including a, 13-8, advantage for Boston in the second period alone.

    The B’s held an advantage in blocked shots (10-5), hits (30-18) and faceoff win% (54-46), while the Penguins led in giveaways (6-4).

    Both teams had five takeaways aside, while Pittsburgh was 1/3 and Boston was 1/2 on the power play heading into the second intermission.

    Early in the final frame of the game, Crosby tripped Patrice Bergeron and cut a rut to the sin bin at 2:40 of the third period, but Boston did not score on the resulting 5-on-4 advantage.

    Midway through the third, Teddy Blueger hooked Pastrnak and presented the Bruins with another power play at 13:12, but the B’s were powerless on the power play once more.

    Jakub Zboril tripped Crosby at 16:24, but Pittsburgh’s power play was no match for Boston’s penalty kill.

    With one minute left in the game, Cassidy pulled his netminder for an extra attacker, but at 19:44, Guentzel (11) pocketed the puck in the empty twine to give the Penguins a three-goal advantage.

    Rust (11) and Crosby (18) notched the assists on Guentzel’s empty net goal as Pittsburgh won, 4-1, at the final horn.

    Boston finished the night leading in shots on goal, 43-26, including a, 10-8, advantage in the third period alone.

    The Bruins also wrapped up Monday night’s action leading in blocked shots (15-11), hits (38-26) and faceoff win% (57-43), while both teams finished the action with seven giveaways aside and were 1/4 on the power play.

    Pittsburgh extended their winning streak to six games, while Boston fell to 6-5-2 in their last 13 games.

    The B’s also fell to 10-3-2 (4-3-1 on the road) when scoring the game’s first goal this season, while the Pens improved to 10-6-1 (8-1-0 at home) when allowing the game’s first goal in 2020-21.

    The Penguins also improved to 8-2-0 (6-1-0 at home) when leading after one period and 8-1-0 (6-1-0 at home) when leading after two periods this season, while the Bruins dropped to 2-5-2 (2-4-2 on the road) when trailing after the first period and 2-4-1 (1-2-1 on the road) when trailing through 40 minutes in 2020-21.

    The last time Boston won in Pittsburgh was in a, 6-2, victory back on Dec. 18, 2015.

    The Bruins continue their four-game road trip (0-1-0) with another game against the Penguins on Tuesday before venturing north to take on the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday and Saturday.

    Boston’s next home game on March 23rd against the New York Islanders will be their first to feature fans at TD Garden since the pandemic began last year.

  • McAvoy’s three-assists help Bruins, beat Pens, 3-2, in OT

    McAvoy’s three-assists help Bruins, beat Pens, 3-2, in OT

    Craig Smith scored the game-winning goal in overtime Tuesday night for the Boston Bruins as Charlie McAvoy had a three-point night (all assists) in Boston’s, 3-2, overtime victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins at TD Garden.

    Tuukka Rask (3-1-0, 2.14 goals against average, .905 save percentage in four games played) made 28 saves on 30 shots against for a .933 SV% in the overtime win for the Bruins.

    Penguins goaltender, Tristan Jarry (2-2-1, 3.92 GAA, .868 SV% in five games played), stopped 33 out of 36 shots faced for a .917 SV% in the overtime loss.

    Boston improved to 4-1-1 (nine points) on the season and jumped into 2nd place in the MassMutual NHL East Division, while Pittsburgh fell to 4-2-1 (nine points) on the season and 4th place in the division.

    Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made no changes to his lineup from Saturday night’s, 6-1, win against the Philadelphia Flyers to Tuesday night’s meeting with the Penguins.

    Once more, David Pastrnak (hip) missed his sixth game this season and has yet to make his 2020-21 debut, but returned to practice in a regular full-contact jersey on Monday. He will likely be able to make a return to the lineup on Saturday at the earliest.

    Ondrej Kase (upper body) missed his fourth game due to an injury sustained on Jan. 16th in New Jersey, while Matt Grzelcyk (lower body) also remained out of the lineup for the second time this season after being injured on Jan. 21st against Philadelphia.

    Greg McKegg, Par Lindholm, John Moore, Urho Vaakanainen, Dan Vladar and Karson Kuhlman remained on the taxi squad and/or were healthy scratches on Tuesday.

    Connor Clifton was penalized for cross checking and presented the Penguins with the first power play of the night at 7:18 of the first period.

    Pittsburgh’s power play was powerless on the resulting skater advantage, however.

    In the meantime, Boston’s penalty kill went to work and notched another shorthanded goal this season as McAvoy scooped up a loose puck that deflected off fo Jared McCann in the neutral zone before sending Brad Marchand (4) into the attacking zone for the shot that beat Jarry’s glove side.

    Marchand’s goal gave the Bruins a, 1-0, lead and was his 28th career shorthanded goal (the most in B’s franchise history). McAvoy (2) had the only assist on the tally at 7:41 of the first period.

    Late in the period, Chris Wagner cut a rut to the penalty box for interference at 18:03, but the Pens failed to convert on the ensuing power play.

    Entering the first intermission, Boston led, 1-0, on the scoreboard and, 11-6, in shots on goal.

    The B’s also held the advantage in hits (11-10) and faceoff win percentage (67-33), while the Penguins led in takeaways (3-0) and giveaways (6-3) after 20 minutes.

    Both teams had three blocked shots aside, while Pittsburgh was 0/2 on the power play after one period. Boston had yet to see time on the skater advantage.

    Early in the middle frame, Patrice Bergeron hooked Mark Jankowski and was assessed a minor infraction at 2:55 of the second period.

    Pittsburgh did not convert on the resulting power play.

    Moments later, Chad Ruhwedel hooked Trent Frederic and presented Boston with their first power play of the night at 6:15 of the second period.

    The Bruins shortly found themselves on a two-skater advantage when Brandon Tanev tripped Marchand at 6:52.

    While on the abbreviated 5-on-3 power play, the B’s established zone time with possession before McAvoy worked the puck to Marchand, who promptly sent a pass to Nick Ritchie (3) for the redirection goal on the doorstep at 7:58 of the second period.

    Marchand (5) and McAvoy (3) notched the assists on Ritchie’s power-play goal as the Bruins pulled ahead, 2-0.

    Through the two-skater advantage had come to a successful end, Boston’s resulting 5-on-4 advantage did not yield a change on the scoreboard.

    Just past the midpoint of the middle frame– with 9:55 remaining in the second after a stoppage– the Bruins tweeted that Jake DeBrusk (lower body) would not return to the night’s action.

    Moments later, Smith slashed Bryan Rust and was sent to the sin bin at 12:00.

    Once again, the Penguins couldn’t muster anything on the power play.

    The Pens had yet another chance at 17:45, when Jakub Zboril tripped Jake Guentzel, but Pittsburgh’s ensuing advantage was cut short when Kris Letang tripped Wagner at 18:52 of the second period.

    The two clubs had 53 seconds of 4-on-4 action before Boston finished the special teams play with an abbreviated power play.

    Through 40 minutes of action on Tuesday night, the Bruins led, 2-0, on the scoreboard, as well as, 26-23, in shots on goal, despite being outshot by Pittsburgh, 17-15, in the second period alone.

    Boston held the advantage in blocked shots (6-3), hits (16-14) and faceoff win% (63-38) after two periods, while the Penguins led in giveaways (10-5).

    Both teams had five takeaways each after two periods of play.

    The Pens were 0/5 on the power play, while the B’s were 1/3 on the skater advantage heading into the final frame of regulation.

    Ritchie kicked things off in the final frame of regulation with a tripping penalty at 7:39 of the third period after he got his stick under the legs of Pierre-Olivier Joseph and took out the Penguins skater.

    Pittsburgh’s ensuing power play was the best it looked all night, but the Pens weren’t successful until the vulnerable minute after special teams action, when a scramble in front of the net led to Rask overexerting himself.

    While Rask was down and clutching his right thigh, Jason Zucker (1) shot the puck into the twine past Rask’s glove to cut Boston’s lead in half, 2-1.

    McCann (3) and Drew O’Connor (1) tallied the assists on Zucker’s goal at 9:47 of the third period. O’Connor’s secondary assist was the first point of his NHL career as the Penguins pulled to within one.

    Pittsburgh’s onslaught continued, despite both teams only firing six shots on goal each in the third period.

    After a break that went wrong when Marchand had the puck knocked off his stick by John Marino, Evgeni Malkin worked it to Kasperi Kapanen as the Penguins winger broke into the attacking zone with speed.

    Kapanen (1) slipped the puck under Rask’s right leg pad as the Bruins goaltender tried unsuccessfully to poke the puck free from Kapanen’s reach.

    Pittsburgh tied it, 2-2, at 16:44.

    Malkin (2) and Zucker (2) had the assists on Kapanen’s first goal as a Penguin.

    The 24-year-old native of Kuopio, Finland made his Penguins debut this season after he was re-acquired by the team over the summer after originally being drafted by Pittsburgh in the first round (22nd overall) of the 2014 NHL Draft.

    Kapanen was part of the Phil Kessel trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs and broke into the league in the 2015-16 season with the Leafs prior to being sent back to Pittsburgh on Aug. 25th.

    After 60 minutes of action, the game remained tied, 2-2, and thus required overtime.

    The Bruins outshot the Penguins, 32-29, through regulation and held the advantage in blocked shots (9-6), takeaways (7-5) and faceoff win% (68-32).

    Pittsburgh led in giveaways (14-7) and hits (26-24) heading into the extra frame.

    As there were no penalties called in overtime, the Pens finished the night 0/6 on the skater advantage, while the B’s went 1/3 on the power play.

    Penguins head coach, Mike Sullivan, started Sidney Crosby, Guentzel and Letang in overtime.

    Cassidy countered with Bergeron, Marchand and McAvoy.

    The two teams swapped chances, but struggled to find the net.

    Clifton misplayed the puck with about 3:37 remaining in the overtime period, which led to a breakaway opportunity for Malkin, but No. 71 on the Penguins sent a shot over Rask’s glove, off the crossbar and out of play.

    Shortly thereafter, Pittsburgh nearly capitalized on yet another defensive breakdown by Boston as the Penguins entered the attacking zone with a 3-on-0 in overtime.

    Malkin tossed the puck to Letang, who sent it back to Malkin for the setup on what looked to be a surefire game-winning one-timer opportunity for Pittsburgh.

    Just as Malkin let go of the rubber biscuit for the last pass to Letang, Rask broke the play up with a pokecheck that shutdown the passing lane.

    It was a 3-on-0 in overtime and the Penguins didn’t even record a shot on net on the scoring chance.

    With less than a minute remaining in the overtime period, the Bruins were once again looking to get out of their own zone.

    Boston got a break when Marino looked like he was going for a line change, then botched the play as the puck neared the bench and turned it over to McAvoy.

    The Bruins defender hit Smith with a pass that led to a 2-on-0 for Boston as Smith sent the puck over to David Krejci as the B’s duo neared the Pittsburgh crease.

    Krejci setup Smith (2) for the game-winning goal through Jarry’s five-hole as the Bruins succeeded where the Penguins could not.

    Boston capitalized on a chance without an opposing defense.

    Krejci (5) and McAvoy (4) topped off the night with assists on Smith’s game-winning goal at 4:49 of the overtime period.

    The Bruins downed the Penguins, 3-2, and extended their winning streak to three games while ending Pittsburgh’s at four games.

    Boston finished the night leading in shots on goal, 36-30, including a, 4-1, advantage in overtime alone.

    The B’s also finished Tuesday night leading in blocked shots (11-7) and faceoff win% (70-30), while the Pens left the building with the advantage in giveaways (14-7) and hits (29-26).

    The Bruins improved to 1-1 in overtime (3-1 past regulation overall) this season, while the Penguins fell to 1-1 in overtime (3-1 past regulation overall) so far in 2020-21.

    Boston improved to 3-0-0 when leading after the first period, 3-0-0 when leading after the second period and 3-0-0 when scoring the game’s first goal this season.

    The Bruins wrap up their four-game homestand (3-0-0) against the Penguins on Thursday before hitting the road for a four-game road trip in Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia.

    Boston takes on their former captain, Zdeno Chara, and the Washington Capitals on Jan. 30th and Feb. 1st before venturing to the “City of Brotherly Love” to face the Flyers on Feb. 3rd and Feb. 5th.

  • Penguins rally for four unanswered in, 4-3, win over Boston

    For the third time this season, the Boston Bruins blew a three-goal lead and lost, 4-3, on Sunday– this time to the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena.

    Matt Murray (15-6-4 record, 2.84 goals against average, .900 save percentage in 27 games played) made 34 saves on 37 shots against for a .919 SV% in the win for the Pens.

    B’s goaltender, Jaroslav Halak (11-6-6, 2.49 GAA, .918 SV% in 23 games played) stopped 18 out of 22 shots faced for a .918 SV% in the loss.

    Boston fell to 28-10-12 (68 points), but remained in command of the Atlantic Division. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh improved to 31-13-5 (65 points) and maintained their 2nd place status in the Metropolitan Division.

    The Bruins also fell to 12-8-3 on the road this season and dropped to 2-1-0 in the season series against the Penguins (won, 6-4, at Boston on Nov. 4th, won, 4-1, at Boston on Jan. 16th and lost, 4-3, at Pittsburgh on Jan. 19th).

    The Bruins were without the services of Kevan Miller (knee), Connor Clifton (upper body), Tuukka Rask (concussion) and David Krejci (upper body) on Sunday afternoon in Pittsburgh.

    Miller has yet to make his season debut, while Clifton and Krejci are considered “day-to-day”. Rask, on the other hand, remains on the injured reserve since sustaining a concussion in Columbus on Jan. 14th.

    B’s head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made no changes to his lineup from Thursday night’s, 4-1, win over the Penguins in Boston, but Bruins General Manager, Don Sweeney, made a couple minor transactions.

    First, Sweeney placed David Backes on waivers for the purpose of assignment to the Providence Bruins (AHL) on Friday. Backes had one goal and two assists (three points) in 16 games with Boston this season and cleared waivers on Saturday.

    The Bruins saved about $1.075 million in cap space as a result of the transaction.

    Finally, Sweeney made paper transactions over the course of Friday and Saturday assigning Dan Vladar to Providence and recalling Maxime Lagace on an emergency basis before reassigning Lagace and calling up Vladar on an emergency basis ahead of Sunday’s matinee.

    Vladar once again served as the backup goaltender for Halak against Pittsburgh.

    Steven Kampfer and Anton Blidh were the only healthy scratches for Boston on Sunday.

    Shortly after puck drop, Patrice Bergeron (21) waltzed into the attacking zone and fired a shot through Murray’s five-hole after Brad Marchand connected on a pass with Bergeron.

    Bergeron’s goal gave Boston the, 1-0, lead 11 seconds into the first period and was assisted by Marchand (44) and David Pastrnak (33).

    Less than two minutes later, Anders Bjork (8) sniped a shot over Murray’s glove into the top-corner of the twine to make it, 2-0, for the Bruins at 2:02 of the first period.

    Charlie Coyle (17) and Jake DeBrusk (14) notched the assists on Bjork’s goal as the B’s scored two goals in a span of 1:51.

    Murray received a “Bronx cheer” from his home crowd after stopping an ensuing dump-in by Boston and was nearly spotless until late in the first period when Pastrnak (37) spun and threw a puck towards the net hoping to connect on a pass to Marchand, but instead deflected the puck off of Jack Johnson and behind the Penguins goaltender.

    Pastrnak’s goal was unassisted and gave Boston a three-goal lead, 3-0, at 15:07 of the first period.

    About 90 seconds later, the Pens responded and showed a sign of life when Sidney Crosby sent a pass from behind the net to Dominik Simon (6) for a one-timed shot from the goal line that beat Halak on the glove side– cutting into Boston’s lead and putting Pittsburgh on the scoreboard, 3-1.

    Crosby (16) and Patric Hornqvist (8) tallied the assists on Simon’s goal at 16:34.

    Almost two minutes later, Teddy Blueger was sent to the penalty box for hooking against Brandon Carlo and the Bruins went on the power play for the first time of the afternoon at 18:23.

    Boston didn’t convert on the ensuing power play, which spilled over into the second period.

    After one period in Pittsburgh, the Bruins led the Penguins, 3-1, on the scoreboard and, 13-6, in shots on goal.

    The B’s also held the advantage in takeaways (1-0), hits (12-11) and faceoff win percentage (72-28), while the Pens led in blocked shots (8-3) and giveaways (3-0).

    Pittsburgh had yet to see time on the skater advantage, while Boston was 0/1 on the power play heading into the first intermission.

    Early in the middle frame, Marchand turned the puck over to the Penguins– giving Kris Letang a free puck that he sent off the endboards for Crosby to scoop up and send between his legs to Blueger (7) for the goal that cut Boston’s lead to one.

    Crosby (17) and Letang (21) had the assists on Blueger’s goal 33 seconds into the second period and the Pens trailed, 3-2.

    Despite amassing five shot attempts on the power play, the Bruins failed to record a shot on goal while on the advantage.

    Midway through the second period, Chris Wagner was penalized for interference at 12:09 and presented Pittsburgh with their first power play of the afternoon.

    Less than a minute later, Letang and Marchand got tangled up and received matching roughing minors at 13:00 of the second period, but Pittsburgh’s 5-on-4 advantage was unchanged.

    Through 40 minutes of play, the Bruins still led the Penguins, 3-2, on the scoreboard and in shots on goal, 23-18– despite being outshot by the Pens, 12-10, in the second period alone.

    Pittsburgh held the advantage in blocked shots (13-5) and giveaways (8-1), while Boston led in takeaways (4-2), hits (24-22) and faceoff win% (58-42).

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

    Just 20 seconds into the third period, Letang was sent to the sin bin for elbowing Marchand, but instead of capitalizing on the ensuing power play, Boston’s special teams was powerless and allowed a shorthanded goal against.

    Johnson (3) blasted a shot from the point and beat Halak under the blocker on the short side while the Bruins defense looked on and watched it unfold as Bergeron had to draw back and defend alongside Torey Krug.

    Brandon Tanev (12) had the only assist on Johnson’s goal at 1:41 of the third period and the Penguins tied it, 3-3.

    Midway through the third, despite Boston doing everything they could to slip another puck past Murray, Pittsburgh made the most of their opportunities as Bryan Rust (21) sent home a one-timer goal over Halak’s blocker while Halak was lost and the B’s defense was out of position.

    Evgeni Malkin (35) forced the initial turnover by Charlie McAvoy and sent the pass to Rust for the only assist on the game-winning goal as the Penguins led, 4-3, at 12:35 of the third period.

    With 2:19 remaining in regulation Cassidy pulled his goaltender for an extra attacker, but it was to no avail as Matt Grzelcyk received a tripping infraction at 19:04.

    Despite using his timeout with 55.5 seconds left in the game, Cassidy’s crew couldn’t get the puck out of their own zone and struggled to free Halak from his crease for an extra skater in the dying dozen seconds or so as the final horn sounded and the Penguins had completed the comeback.

    At the end of the afternoon, Pittsburgh had won, 4-3, despite trailing in shots on goal, 37-22– including a, 14-4, advantage for Boston in the third period alone.

    The Pens finished the game leading in blocked shots (22-7), giveaways (12-3) and hits (37-28), while the Bruins led in faceoff win% (58-42).

    Both teams went 0/2 on the power play on Sunday.

    Boston fell to 18-7-8 when scoring the game’s first goal, 17-5-3 when leading after the first period and 15-1-6 when leading after two periods this season.

    The B’s have won six out of their last ten games against Pittsburgh, but are on a six-game losing streak at PPG Paints Arena.

    The Bruins fell to 200-2-6 when leading by at least three goals since 2010-11.

    Boston returns home for their last game prior to the All-Star break next Tuesday against the Vegas Golden Knights. The Bruins resume play on Friday, Jan. 31st in Winnipeg thereafter.