Down the Frozen River

Tag: New York Islanders

  • B’s comeback to win, 4-3, in Calgary

    After giving up two quick goals in the first period, the Boston Bruins came back to defeat the Calgary Flames, 4-3, on Friday night at Scotiabank Saddledome.

    Jaroslav Halak (16-6-6 record, 2.33 goals against average, .920 save percentage in 28 games played) made 18 saves on 21 shots against for an .857 SV% in the win.

    Flames goaltender, Cam Talbot (9-10-1, 2.83 GAA, .914 SV% in 23 games played) stopped 19 out of 23 shots faced for an .826 SV% in the loss.

    The Bruins improved to 39-11-12 (90 points) on the season and remain in 1st place in the Atlantic Division, while Calgary fell to 31-25-6 (68 points) and remained in 4th place in the Pacific Division.

    Boston also improved to 18-9-3 on the road this season with the victory and the B’s have now won 11 out of their last 12 games.

    For just the seventh time in NHL history, a team that gave up three goals in the opening four minutes of a game came back to win as Calgary scored three goals in a little over three minutes into Friday’s action, but lost.

    The Bruins were without the services of Kevan Miller (knee) on Friday, while Connor Clifton (upper body) is still with the Providence Bruins (AHL) on a conditioning stint.

    B’s head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made a few minor changes to his lineup from Wednesday night’s, 2-1, overtime win in Edmonton– swapping Danton Heinen and Karson Kuhlman on the second and third line right wings (reuniting Heinen with Jake DeBrusk and David Krejci and Kuhlman with Anders Bjork and Charlie Coyle in the process).

    Cassidy also re-inserted Anton Blidh on the fourth line left wing while scratching Joakim Nordstrom in the process.

    Earlier in the day on Friday, Boston General Manager, Don Sweeney, made a trade with Anaheim Ducks GM, Bob Murray– sending David Backes, defensive prospect, Axel Andersson and Boston’s 2020 1st round pick to the Ducks for Ondrej Kase.

    Boston retained 25% of Backes’ contract ($1.500 million through the 2020-21 season) in the transaction. Kase won’t join the team until Monday, when the Bruins are back from their current road trip and back to practice at Warrior Ice Arena.

    Kase has not played since Feb. 7th with “flu-like symptoms”, but resumed skating on Thursday with the Ducks (prior to being traded on Friday).

    Meanwhile, Nordstrom, Par Lindholm and John Moore served as healthy scratches for the Bruins on Friday.

    Calgary charged into the attacking zone and fired a shot off the post in the opening seconds of Friday night’s action.

    The puck rebounded right to the blade of Mikael Backlund (11), who promptly shot the puck past Halak as the Bruins netminder was committed to the initial shot off the iron and couldn’t recover in time.

    Rasmus Andersson (15) and Noah Hanifin (14) had the assists on Backlund’s first goal of the game 20 seconds into the first period and the Flames had the game’s first lead, 1-0.

    About two minutes later, Backlund (12) scored again on a one-timer as a result of a saucer pass from Tobias Rieder on a two-on-one break with Zdeno Chara as the lone defender for Boston.

    Rieder (6) and Matthew Tkachuk (31) tallied the assists on Backlund’s second goal of the game and Calgary jumped out to a, 2-0, lead at 2:24 of the first period.

    Not to be outdone, Patrice Bergeron (28) responded quickly after a shot from the point was deflected wide and caromed off the end boards to Bergeron in the slot for the backhand goal 24 seconds after the Flames extended their lead to two-goals.

    David Pastrnak (42) and Charlie McAvoy (22) notched the assists on Bergeron’s first goal of the night as the B’s cut Calgary’s lead in half, 2-1, at 2:58 of the first period.

    Less than a minute later, Johnny Gaudreau (15) beat Halak with a backhand shot and put the Flames back in command of a two-goal lead.

    Elias Lindholm (22) had the only assist on Gaudreau’s goal at 3:23 and Calgary led, 3-1.

    Then for a short period of time (less than three minutes) neither team scored a goal.

    But Bergeron wasn’t done scoring for the night as the lively boards at Scotiabank Saddledome worked in his favor once more and Bergeron (29) pocketed his second goal of the night on Talbot to pull the B’s within one-goal once more.

    Pastrnak (43) and Brad Marchand (53) were credited with the assists on Bergeron’s second goal and the Bruins trailed, 3-2, at 6:12 of the first period.

    Less than 30 seconds after the ensuing faceoff after Bergeron’s goal, Matt Grzelcyk leveled Rieder with a huge hit in the neutral zone, but was dealt a minor infraction for elbowing– yielding the first power play of the game to the Flames at 6:33.

    Calgary didn’t convert on their first power play opportunity of the night.

    Midway through the opening frame, Kuhlman sent Coyle into the attacking zone on a breakaway, whereby Coyle (15) deked backhand to forehand and wired a shot over Talbot’s glove to tie the game, 3-3, at 12:20 of the first period.

    Kuhlman (5) and Bjork (10) tallied the assists on Coyle’s goal as the tow teams entered the first intermission deadlocked, 3-3, on the scoreboard, despite Boston leading in shots on goal, 12-6.

    The Bruins also held the advantage in blocked shots (7-2) and faceoff win percentage (62-38), while the Flames led in giveaways (6-3) and hits (7-6).

    Both teams had one takeaway aside, while Calgary was 0/1 on the power play. Boston did not see any time on the skater advantage in the entire game.

    Less than a minute into the middle frame, Marchand (24) redirected a shot from Brandon Carlo and gave Boston their first lead of the night, 4-3, at 52 seconds of the second period.

    Carlo (14) and Torey Krug (33) had the assists on Marchand’s goal and both teams combined for seven goals in the game in the first 21 minutes of action.

    Nobody scored again for the rest of the night, however.

    Midway through the second period, Jeremy Lauzon dropped the gloves with Tkachuk and the two players were sent to the box with fighting majors at 10:17 of the middle frame.

    It was the 14th fight this season for Boston and the first career fighting major for the rookie Bruins defender, Lauzon.

    Through 40 minutes of play in Calgary, the B’s led the Flames, 4-3, on the scoreboard and, 17-11, in shots on goal.

    Boston also held the advantage in blocked shots (12-6) and giveaways (9-8), while Calgary held the advantage in takeaways (5-4) and faceoff win% (55-45).

    Both teams had 16 hits aside and the Flames were still 0/1 on the power play.

    Early in the final frame, Bergeron tripped up Derek Ryan and was assessed a minor infraction at 5:55 of the third period.

    Calgary didn’t score on the ensuing power play.

    There were no goals and no more penalties scored in the final frame of regulation as both teams swapped chances and both goaltenders found their rhythm.

    Flames interim head coach, Geoff Ward, pulled Talbot for an extra attacker with about a minute left in the game, but it was to no avail as the Bruins won, 4-3, at the final horn.

    Boston finished Friday night’s effort leading in shots on goal (23-21), blocked shots (19-9), while Calgary ended the night leading in hits (22-20) and faceoff win% (54-46).

    Both teams had 11 giveaways each and the Flames ended the night 0/2 on the power play.

    The Bruins have now won 11 out of their last 12 games and improved to 11-2-6 when tied after one period and 24-1-6 when leading after two periods this season.

    Boston also improved to 16-4-4 when allowing the game’s first goal this season, while Calgary fell to 17-7-3 when scoring the game’s first goal this season.

    The Flames also fell to 10-10-2 when tied after one period and 7-24-2 when trailing after two periods this season.

    Boston wraps up their four-game road trip (3-0-0) on Saturday against the Vancouver Canucks.

    The B’s return home for a two-game homestand on Feb. 25th and Feb. 27th for meetings with the Flames and Dallas Stars, respectively, before wrapping up the month of February with a road game against the New York Islanders on Feb. 29th.

  • Pastrnak, Bruins, beat Oilers, 2-1, in OT

    David Pastrnak lifted the Boston Bruins over the Edmonton Oilers, 2-1, in overtime with his game-winning breakaway goal about a minute into the extra frame at Rogers Place on Wednesday night.

    Bruins goaltender, Tuukka Rask (23-5-6 record, 2.04 goals against average, .932 save percentage in 35 games played) made 28 saves on 29 shots against for a .966 SV% in the win.

    Oilers goaltender, Mike Smith (16-10-5 record, 2.89 GAA, .905 SV% in 33 games played), stopped 32 shots out of 34 shots faced for a .941 SV% in the overtime loss.

    Boston improved to 38-11-12 (88 points) on the season and maintained their dominance atop the Atlantic Division, while Edmonton fell to 32-21-7 (71 points), but remained in command of the Pacific Division.

    With the win, the Bruins have now won 11 out of their last 13 games (including ten out of their last 11 games) and improved to 17-9-3 on the road this season.

    Boston was without the services of Kevan Miller (knee) and Connor Clifton (upper body/AHL conditioning loan) on Wednesday, while Par Lindholm, John Moore and Anton Blidh served as healthy scratches for the B’s.

    Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made no changes to his lineup from Sunday afternoon’s, 3-1, victory in New York against the Rangers.

    Almost midway through the opening frame, Pastrnak worked the puck to Brad Marchand as the veteran winger brought the rubber biscuit into the attacking zone along the boards.

    Marchand flipped a quick pass to Patrice Bergeron (27) in the slot, whereby Bergeron deked and got a forehand shot around Smith to give Boston the game’s first lead, 1-0, at 8:28 of the first period.

    Bergeron’s goal was assisted by Marchand (52) and Pastrnak (41) as No. 37 in black and gold amassed his fifth goal in his last six games.

    About 90 seconds later, Ethan Bear slashed Marchand and was assessed a minor infraction, yielding the game’s first power play to the Bruins at 10:56.

    Boston did not score on the ensuing power play opportunity.

    A few minutes after the Oilers killed off Bear’s minor, Joakim Nordstrom tripped up Gaetan Haas and presented Edmonton with their first power play of the night at 15:12, but the Oilers’ skater advantage was short lived.

    Kailer Yamamoto caught Charlie Coyle with a high stick at 16:07 of the first period and drew some blood– resulting in a four-minute double minor infraction assessed to Yamamoto and 4-on-4 action for a span of 1:05 before Boston had an abbreviated extended power play.

    After 20 minutes of action in Edmonton, the Bruins were leading the Oilers, 1-0, on the scoreboard and, 10-2, in shots on goal.

    Edmonton held the advantage in blocked shots (10-4), giveaways (6-5) and faceoff win percentage (67-33), while Boston led in takeaways (5-4) and hits (9-7).

    The Oilers were 0/1 on the skater advantage and the Bruins were 0/3 on the power play entering the first intermission.

    Early in the middle frame, Adam Larsson slashed Marchand and was sent to the sin bin at 3:37 of the second period.

    Boston did not score on the ensuing power play– a trend which lasted the entire night for the Bruins.

    Moments later, Torey Krug tripped up Haas and cut a rut to the penalty box at 6:49, but Edmonton didn’t capitalize on the resulting power play.

    Just past the midpoint of Wednesday night’s action, Bergeron was called for hooking Bear at 10:56 as Boston was forced to kill off back-to-back penalties.

    While on the power play, Oilers forward, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was penalized for holding the stick while tying up Coyle from entering the neutral zone and assessed a minor penalty at 12:15– resulting in 41 seconds of 4-on-4 action before the Bruins had an abbreviated power play.

    Through two periods of play at Rogers Place, Boston still held a, 1-0, lead over Edmonton, despite trailing the Oilers, 20-19, in shots on goal heading into the second intermission.

    Edmonton actually held an, 18-9, advantage in shots on goal in the second period alone, while also leading in blocked shots (16-9), takeaways (5-4) and faceoff win% (64-36) after 40 minutes of action.

    Boston held the advantage in giveaways (10-9) and hits (18-15) as neither team had mustered a power play goal– with the Oilers operating at 0/3 and the B’s at 0/5 on the skater advantage.

    Karson Kuhlman tripped Caleb Jones at 1:59 of the third period and presented Edmonton with a power play early in the final frame.

    This time the Oilers took advantage of their skater advantage as Bear wired a shot from the point that Sam Gagner (5) deflected over Rask’s glove from in front of the net.

    Bear (14) and Nugent-Hopkins (30) were credited with the primary and secondary assists as the Oilers tied the game, 1-1, with Gagner’s power play goal at 3:42 of the third period.

    Less than a couple minutes later, Edmonton had too many skaters on the ice at what was supposed to be regular 5-on-5 action. As a result, the Oilers were charged with a bench minor for too many men at 5:25 and Yamamoto was elected to serve the infraction.

    Moments later, after failing to capitalize on their legal skater advantage, the Bruins found themselves shorthanded once again as Nordstrom was dealt a roughing minor at 9:34 after a fracas developed behind the Boston net.

    Edmonton didn’t score on the resulting power play and, in fact, cut short their own skater advantage when Darnell Nurse slashed Coyle to breakup a shorthanded breakaway for the Bruins center.

    Nurse was sent to the box at 11:10 and the two teams skated 4-on-4 once more for 24 seconds before Boston went on an abbreviated power play.

    Late in the period, Pastrnak tripped up William Lagesson and was sent to the box at 17:30, but the Oilers weren’t able to score on their last power play of the night.

    At the end of regulation, the game was tied, 1-1, despite the Bruins holding the advantage in shots on goal, 33-29.

    Edmonton led in blocked shots (17-12), takeaways (8-7) and faceoff win% (62-28), while both teams had 15 giveaways and 22 hits aside.

    As there were no penalties called in the overtime period, the Oilers finished 1/6 and the Bruins finished 0/7 on the power play.

    Cassidy started Coyle, Jake DeBrusk and Charlie McAvoy in overtime, while Oilers head coach, Dave Tippett, opted for Leon Draisaitl, Yamamoto and Bear.

    A little over a minute into the extra action, David Krejci sent Pastrnak on a breakaway into the attacking zone with a lead pass through the neutral zone.

    Pastrnak (43) deked and sent a backhand shot through Smith’s five-hole– clinching the game-winning overtime goal in the process– and lifting the Bruins over the Oilers, 2-1, in overtime.

    Krejci (27) and Krug (32) notched the assists on Pastrnak’s goal at 1:14 of the overtime period.

    Boston finished the night leading in shots on goal (34-29), while Edmonton wrapped up Wednesday night with the advantage in blocked shots (19-12), giveaways (16-15) and faceoff win% (62-38).

    Both teams finished the night with 22 hits each, while the Oilers fell to 3-5 in overtime this season.

    Boston, in the meantime, improved to 5-5 in overtime this season, while Pastrnak recorded his 25th multi-point game this season with a goal and an assist in Wednesday night’s effort.

    The Bruins improved to 23-7-8 when scoring the game’s first goal, 22-5-3 when leading after the first period and 23-1-6 when leading after two periods this season.

    The B’s also improved to 5-5 in overtime this season and 5-12 past regulation overall.

    Boston continues their four-game road trip (2-0-0) with stops against the Calgary Flames on Friday and Vancouver Canucks on Saturday.

    The Bruins return home for a two-game homestand on Feb. 25th and Feb. 27th for meetings with the Flames and Dallas Stars, respectively, before wrapping up the month of February with a road game against the New York Islanders on Feb. 29th.

  • Halak, B’s beat Rangers, 3-1

    The Boston Bruins beat the New York Rangers, 3-1, at Madison Square Garden on Sunday afternoon and swept their regular season series (3-0-0) against New York for the first time since the 2013-14 season.

    Jaroslav Halak (15-6-6 record, 2.31 goals against average, .922 save percentage in 27 games played) stopped 25 out of 26 shots faced for a .962 SV% in the win for the Bruins.

    Rangers goaltender, Alexandar Georgiev (14-12-1, 2.98 GAA, .912 SV% in 28 games played) made 31 saves on 33 shots against for a .939 SV% in the loss.

    Boston improved to 37-11-12 (86 points) on the season and remained in command of the Atlantic Division, while New York fell to 30-24-4 (64 points) and in 7th place in the Metropolitan Division.

    The B’s also improved to 16-9-3 on the road this season and have won ten out of their last 12 games.

    Boston was without the services of Kevan Miller (knee) on Sunday as the Bruins defender has yet to make his season debut due to lingering issues from his knee injury last season and subsequent re-injuries since then.

    Connor Clifton (upper body), while listed as “day-to-day” since being injured against the Buffalo Sabres on Dec. 29th, was reassigned to the Providence Bruins (AHL) ahead of Sunday’s contest as part of a conditioning stint and is likely to return to full health with Boston in the near future.

    Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made no changes to his lineup from Saturday’s, 4-1, win against the Detroit Red Wings, while Halak was back in the net for the first time since Feb. 5th (a, 2-1, overtime win in Chicago).

    Par Lindholm, John Moore and Anton Blidh served as Boston’s healthy scratches on Sunday.

    Midway through the opening frame, Ryan Lindgren checked Brad Marchand along the wall at the benches and got into a bit of an exchange that resulted in only the Rangers defender heading to the penalty box with a minor infraction for roughing at 11:31 of the first period.

    Boston didn’t convert on the ensuing power play.

    In the final minute of the first period, Charlie McAvoy (3) ripped a shot from the point that appeared to have redirected off a New York skater prior to the puck floating in the air and over Geogiev’s shoulder for the game’s first goal at 19:18.

    McAvoy’s goal– his third in the last six games for the B’s– was unassisted with 41.7 seconds left in the period.

    The Bruins led, 1-0, on the scoreboard entering the first intermission and, 11-9, in shots on goal.

    Boston also held the advantage in giveaways (4-3), while New York led in blocked shots (6-4), hits (11-6) and faceoff win percentage (52-48). Both teams had one takeaway aside.

    The Rangers had yet to see time on the skater advantage and the Bruins were 0/1 on the power play heading into the second period.

    Early in the middle frame, David Krejci caught Lindgren with a high stick on a follow through while both players went after a bouncing puck.

    Krejci’s high stick drew blood and resulted in a four-minute double minor penalty at 5:06 of the second period. The Rangers failed to capitalize on the lengthy power play.

    Late in the period, Marchand cross checked Lindgren after the Rangers defender shoved Bruins forward, Patrice Bergeron, after a stoppage in play in front of the New York net.

    Marchand was assessed a minor infraction at 17:14 and the Rangers went on the power play.

    While on the ensuing penalty kill, Charlie Coyle (14) stole the puck from New York defender, Jacob Trouba, and created his own breakaway before elevating the puck over Georgiev’s glove side to give Boston a two-goal lead.

    Coyle’s short handed goal was unassisted and gave the Bruins a, 2-0, lead at 18:42 of the second period.

    Less than a minute later, after killing off Marchand’s minor, Boston went on the power play after Mika Zibanejad tripped up Marchand in Boston’s own zone at 19:33.

    The B’s did not score on the resulting power play.

    After two periods of play, the Bruins led, 2-0, on the scoreboard and in shots on goal, 24-17.

    The B’s also held the advantage in takeaways (5-4), hits (18-17) and faceoff win% (56-44), while the Rangers led in blocked shots (10-8) and giveaways (14-8).

    New York was 0/3 on the power play and Boston was 0/2 on the skater advantage heading into the third period.

    Karson Kuhlman kicked off the final frame with an interference minor infraction against Marc Staal at 4:23 of the third period. The Rangers did not score on the resulting power play, but got another chance almost midway through the final frame.

    Torey Krug tripped up Zibanejad at 9:05 and presented New York with their fifth power play opportunity of the afternoon.

    Less than a minute into the ensuing skater advantage, Zibanejad (25) rocketed a shot from the point that ricocheted off a Bruins player’s stick and into the twine behind Halak– cutting Boston’s lead in half, 2-1.

    Artemi Panarin (49) and Ryan Strome (36) tallied the assists on Zibanejad’s goal at 9:52 of the third period and New York surged in momentum.

    Boston was able to withstand the Rangers’ rally as New York’s head coach, David Quinn, pulled Georgiev for an extra attacker with 90 seconds remaining in regulation.

    After the Bruins iced the puck with 35.5 seconds left in the game, the Rangers used their timeout to draw up one last plan in effort to tie the game, but it was to no avail as the B’s worked the puck out of their own zone upon the ensuing faceoff.

    Marchand found Bergeron (26) in the dying seconds of the game for the empty net goal that assured Boston of the, 3-1, victory.

    Bergeron’s goal was assisted by Marchand (51) at 19:47 of the third period and sealed the deal for the Bruins as the final horn sounded 12.2 seconds later.

    Boston finished the afternoon with a “W” in the win column and the lead in shots on goal (34-26) and faceoff win% (55-45), while New York finished the game with the advantage in blocked shots (16-12), giveaways (20-12) and hits (29-25).

    The Rangers finished Sunday’s effort 1/5 on the power play, while the Bruins went 0/2 on the skater advantage.

    The Bruins improved to 22-7-8 when scoring the game’s first goal, 21-5-3 when leading after the first period and 22-1-6 when leading after two periods this season.

    New York, on the other hand, fell to 10-16-1 when they allow the game’s first goal, 5-14-2 when trailing after the first period and 2-18-0 when trailing after two periods this season.

    Boston continues their four-game road trip (1-0-0) with stops against the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday (Feb. 19th), Calgary Flames on Friday (Feb. 21st) and Vancouver Canucks next Saturday (Feb. 22nd).

    The B’s return home for a two-game homestand on Feb. 25th and Feb. 27th for meetings with the Flames and Dallas Stars, respectively, before wrapping up the month of February with a road game against the New York Islanders on Feb. 29th.

  • Coyle notches pair in, 4-2, win for Bruins over Coyotes

    Charlie Coyle scored two goals in the Boston Bruins’, 4-2, victory over the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday afternoon at TD Garden– extending Boston’s winning streak to six-games in the process.

    In the meantime, Arizona has not defeated the Bruins in their last 16 meetings.

    Tuukka Rask (20-4-6 record, 2.15 goals against average, .930 save percentage in 31 games played) stopped 29 out of 31 shots faced for a .935 SV% in the win for Boston.

    The Bruins goaltender improved to 12-0-6 at TD Garden this season, which is the best home point streak record to start a season in B’s franchise history– surpassing Gilles Gilbert’s record set in the 1970-71 season.

    Only Bill Durnan (25 games with a point in 1943-44 with the Montreal Canadiens) and Tony Esposito (20 games with a point in 1970-71 with the Chicago Blackhawks) had longer point streaks in NHL history.

    Rask is now tied with Evgeny Nabokov (18-game point streak in 2008-09 with the San Jose Sharks), Ken Dryden (18-game point streak in 1978-79 with the Canadiens) and Billy Smith (18-game point streak in 1977-78 with the New York Islanders).

    Coyotes goaltender, Adin Hill (2-3-2, 2.54 GAA, .918 SV% in 11 games played), made 29 saves on 32 shots against for a .906 SV% in the loss.

    Boston improved to 34-10-12 (80 points) on the season and remain atop the NHL standings, as well as the Atlantic Division, while Arizona fell to 27-23-7 (61 points) and stuck in 4th place in the Pacific Division.

    The B’s also improved to 19-2-9 at home this season and have won seven out of their last eight games.

    The last time the Bruins lost to the Coyotes was on Oct. 9, 2010, when both teams opened the 2010-11 season with a pair of games against each other in Prague, Czech Republic. Boston lost the first game, 5-2, on Oct. 9th before defeating the then known as Phoenix Coyotes, 3-0, on Oct. 10th.

    The Bruins were without the services of Kevan Miller (knee), Connor Clifton (upper body), Joakim Nordstrom (allergy complications) and Brandon Carlo (personal leave) on Saturday.

    Danton Heinen served as the only healthy scratch for Boston against the Coyotes.

    Clifton participated in practice with the rest of the team, but in a red non-contact sweater, while Nordstrom and Carlo are expected to join the rest of the team in Detroit on Sunday (with Carlo at least being re-inserted into the lineup).

    As a result of Carlo’s personal matters, John Moore was the only change to Bruce Cassidy’s lineup from Wednesday night’s, 2-1, overtime win in Chicago to Saturday afternoon’s meeting with Arizona.

    Moore was paired with Torey Krug on the second defensive pairing for Boston.

    Meanwhile, Karson Kuhlman and Jeremy Lauzon were reassigned to the Providence Bruins (AHL) on Thursday and subsequently recalled on Friday in a paper transaction for salary cap related purposes.

    Prior to the game, Boston honored their captain, Zdeno Chara, for having surpassed 1,500 career NHL games played and 1,000 career games played as a Bruin earlier in the season.

    Midway through the opening frame, Charlie McAvoy hooked Taylor Hall and was sent to the penalty box with a minor infraction at 9:09 of the first period.

    The Coyotes did not convert on their first power play opportunity of the afternoon.

    Late in the first period, Conor Garland presented the Bruins with their first skater advantage of the game after Garland caught Chara with a high stick at 14:06.

    The B’s did not score on the ensuing power play.

    Moments later, Lauzon unintentionally returned the favor and caught Vinnie Hinostroza with a high stick at 17:27– yielding a power play to Arizona, but the Coyotes weren’t able to capitalize on their second power play of the game.

    Less than 20 seconds after getting out of the box, Lauzon charged down the ice in a race for a loose puck that Derek Stepan got to first, then delivered a miscalculated check on the vulnerable Arizona skater and was assessed a match penalty for an illegal hit to the head at 19:39 of the first period.

    The Coyotes earned a five-minute major power play as a result that would carry over into the second period as the horn sounded on the opening frame with the score still tied, 0-0.

    Boston led in shots on goal (9-6), blocked shots (7-4), takeaways (3-2) and faceoff win percentage (58-42), while Arizona led in giveaways (6-0) and hits (8-7) after 20 minutes of play.

    Entering the first intermission, the Coyotes were 0/3 on the power play and the B’s were 0/1.

    Boston almost made it the full five minutes without allowing a power play goal against until Phil Kessel (12) kicked off the game’s scoring with a garbage goal off a rebound to give Arizona the, 1-0, lead at 3:26 of the second period.

    Kessel’s goal was unassisted and marked the 15th time this season that the Bruins gave up the game’s first goal on home ice.

    A little over a minute later, Lawson Crouse was guilty of roughing McAvoy when he delivered a quick shot to the head while skating by at 4:46.

    Seconds after their power play ended, Boston scored on a beautiful setup when David Krejci dropped a short pass back to McAvoy, who then managed to send a quick backhand pass over to Coyle (11) for the one-timed redirection from point-blank to tie the game, 1-1.

    McAvoy (20) and Krejci (26) had the assists on Coyle’s first goal of the game at 6:50 of the second period.

    Midway through the middle frame, Brad Richardson bumped into Chris Wagner without the puck and was charged with an interference minor at 11:59.

    This time around, Boston was successful at capitalizing on the skater advantage as Patrice Bergeron won the faceoff to Brad Marchand, which led to Marchand tossing the puck back to the point whereby Krug corralled the puck and sent it across the blue line to David Pastrnak for the purposeful shot to the slot where Bergeron (23) outstretched his blade for the redirection goal to give the Bruins their first lead of the day, 2-1.

    Pastrnak (38) and Krug (31) tallied the assists on Bergeron’s power play goal at 12:06 of the second period.

    About a couple minutes later, Niklas Hjalmarsson hooked Wagner and was assessed a minor penalty at 14:13.

    This time the Bruins took a few extra seconds before hitting the back of the twine on a Jake DeBrusk (18) tip-in from the doorstep off of another shot from Pastrnak from the faceoff circle.

    Pastrnak (39) and Bergeron (22) notched the assists on DeBrusk’s power play goal and the B’s led, 3-1, at 14:35.

    Through 40 minutes of play on Saturday, the Bruins led, 3-1, on the scoreboard and shots on goal were even, 21-21. Boston also held the advantage in blocked shots (11-7), takeaways (5-2) and hits (14-12), while Arizona led in giveaways (10-2) and faceoff win% (56-44).

    The Coyotes were 1/4 on the skater advantage, while Boston was 2/4 on the power play heading into the third period.

    Just 26 seconds into the third period, Jakob Chychrun (11) sent a shot off of Rask’s glove and into the twine– cutting Boston’s lead in half to just one goal.

    Clayton Keller (22) and Hinostroza (15) notched the assists on Chychrun’s goal.

    Until about 1:40 remaining in regulation, both teams swapped chances, but neither team committed a penalty nor scored a goal.

    With less than two minutes left in the game, Coyotes head coach, Rick Tocchet, pulled his goaltender for an extra attacker, but it was not enough for Boston’s defensive efforts in their own zone as Coyle (12) cleared a loose puck from his own end down the ice and into the open twine at 19:11 of the third period.

    Bergeron (23) recorded the only assist on Coyle’s empty net goal and the Bruins secured the, 4-2, win against Arizona as a result.

    At the final horn, Boston finished the afternoon leading in shots on goal (33-31), blocked shots (15-12), hits (21-15) and faceoff win% (52-48).

    Arizona, meanwhile, led in giveaways (14-5) and finished the game 1/4 on the power play.

    The B’s went 2/4 on the skater advantage on Saturday and improved to 10-1-6 when tied after one period, as well as 18-1-6 when leading after two periods this season.

    Boston travels to Detroit to face the Red Wings on Sunday afternoon before returning home for a two-game homestand against the Montreal Canadiens next Wednesday (Feb. 12th) and Red Wings next Saturday (Feb. 15th) before going on a four-game road trip with stops against the New York Rangers, Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks.

  • 2019-20 NHL Mascot Power Rankings

    Back by popular demand– though a few months later than last season– it’s once again time to rank the NHL mascots.

    In January 2017, DTFR began a new tradition of giving props for great efforts made in the community, laughs shared, smiles brought to everyone’s faces and (most importantly) character displayed by every mascot in the National Hockey League.

    So without further ado, let’s get started.

    31) New York Rangers 31st in 2018-19, 30th in 2017-18

    The Rangers still don’t have a mascot, which in today’s day and age is a crime. Just march Brian Leetch around Madison Square Garden once in a while or something. Maybe even let Henrik Lundqvist become the team’s first mascot once he retires.

    30) Al the Octopus (Detroit Red Wings) 30th in 2018-19, 26th in 2017-18

    It’s a yearly tradition at this point to mention how awesome any Al the Octopus plush toy is and that it’s a shame the Red Wings never made Al the Octopus into a real thing instead of just a prop that ended up being sold for $7,700 at an auction in 2017 after Joe Louis Arena was closed and Detroit moved into their current home, Little Caesars Arena.

    29) Spartacat (Ottawa Senators) 21st in 2018-19, 9th in 2017-18

    Just like the Senators, Spartacat has fallen on hard times and really needs someone to love him. Unfortunately for Spartacat, he probably needs a haircut first or at least that rebrand to finally come around and give Ottawa a fresh look all-around (with new jerseys, new logos and new players).

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    28) Thunderbug (Tampa Bay Lightning) 18th in 2018-19, 15th in 2017-18

    Being as cute as a bug no longer cuts it when you have Gritty running around causing chaos, plus other mascots really drumming up their personality bits. Perhaps Thunderbug has gotten too casual in recent years and that’s the reason why the Lightning haven’t won the Cup since 2004.

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    27) Nordy (Minnesota Wild) 28th in 2018-19, 24th in 2017-18

    Like Minnesota sports as a whole, Nordy is just comfortable where he’s at. Nobody’s really sure whether he’s a fox, a wolf or some hybrid northern animal native to the wild, but the Wild’s mascot might also be on General Manager, Bill Guerin’s, list of assets to move at this year’s trade deadline if he’s not careful.

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    26) Wild Wing (Anaheim Ducks) 17th in 2018-19, 3rd in 2017-18

    Wild Wing would be the perfect mascot for a roller hockey team, which is fitting for his location in southern California– where you could play roller hockey year-round. What might be a better option for the Ducks, however, would be to have legendary surfer, Rob Machado, make more appearances at Honda Center in an Anaheim sweater.

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    25) Sparky the Dragon (New York Islanders) 29th in 2018-19, 25th in 2017-18

    With a new arena in Belmont Park looming, one would think the Islanders would make the natural switch to a horse-based mascot because, you know, horse racing and stuff. Either that or just give Sparky the Dragon a more fish-based appearance. Just add a few cuddly scales or perhaps give him a fishing rod that can also double as a hockey stick. Props go a long way at improving ratings.

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    24) Tommy Hawk (Chicago Blackhawks) 20th in 2018-19, 14th in 2017-18

    Something about Tommy Hawk just feels off these days. Perhaps his contract will be traded in the offseason too while the Blackhawks adjust from their decade of dominance in the early 2010s to life in the 2020s.

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    23) Stanley C. Panther/Viktor E. Ratt (Florida Panthers) 25th in 2018-19, 20th in 2017-18

    The Panthers have what some might call the “Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly of mascots”. Sure their early works were great, but their recent comedy has shown their age. Florida should put all of their focus in on one or the other– or at least give Olli Jokinen a proper display case inside BB&T Center.

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    22) Hunter (Edmonton Oilers) 26th in 2018-19, 23rd in 2017-18

    Hunter’s redeeming quality this year is the new alternate threads for the Oilers. Edmonton’s new third sweaters help take away the scary qualities of this lovable lynx if you could only see through his otherwise terror inducing mane.

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    21) Howler (Arizona Coyotes) 27th in 2018-19, 21st in 2017-18

    The Coyotes are embracing their kachina sweaters like never before and we can only hope that Howler will have to wear them full-time in the near future. If not, he’ll continue to be average in ranking. Your move, Arizona.

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    20) Bernie the St. Bernard (Colorado Avalanche) 22nd in 2018-19, 22nd in 2017-18

    There’s nothing inherently wrong with Bernie the St. Bernard, since St. Bernard dogs are usually the go-to rescue animals in the event of an avalanche in the real world, but it’s just a little too on the nose compared to the Yeti that once walked the corridors of Pepsi Center.

    It was as close to a Sasquatch as you’d see in an NHL arena– until Seattle joins the fray in 2021, that is (hopefully they take our suggestion for a mascot). So yeah… the Avalanche have an average mascot.

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    19) Youppi! (Montreal Canadiens) 10th in 2018-19, 6th in 2017-18

    Look, there’s nothing bad about Youppi!, but has anyone heard from him lately? I mean, is everything ok? First the Tampa Bay Rays jettison their plans for a potential split-season between St. Petersburg and Montreal, then the Canadiens just seem to have really overlooked how much he means to the mascot world lately.

    Fear not, this may be a down year in the rankings, but Youppi! should bounce back once the Expos return from their quick run to get bread and milk.

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    18) Bailey (Los Angeles Kings) 3rd in 2018-19, 1st in 2017-18

    Cranky mascots on Twitter is getting kind of old. We’re just putting Bailey here so he can tweet at us and change our minds.

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    17) Harvey the Hound (Calgary Flames) 23rd in 2018-19, 18th in 2017-18

    Put a shirt on for heaven’s sake. It’s winter! Canadians, man. They’re an interesting breed.

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    16) Chance (Vegas Golden Knights) 9th in 2018-19, 31st* in 2017-18

    We gave Chance a chance, but now the Golden Knights’ mascot just seems average, if not just old news thanks to something we call “the Gritty Factor” in the industry. A good performance at the 2020 NHL Mascot Showdown could boost his ranking.

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    15) Mick E. Moose (Winnipeg Jets) 16th in 2018-19, 11th in 2017-18

    Mick E. Moose looked stunning in Winnipeg’s 2019 Heritage Classic sweater, but unfortunately for the Jets mascot, there’s not much else going for him these days. Maybe next year.

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    14) Gnash (Nashville Predators) 19th in 2018-19, 17th in 2017-18

    Gnash gets some bonus points for Nashville’s 2020 Winter Classic sweater, but he hasn’t done anything out of this world lately to try to capture a few more spots.

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    13) Slapshot (Washington Capitals) 5th in 2018-19, 4th in 2017-18

    Once a rising star in the mascot ranking world, Slapshot lost a little of his edge while the Capitals roll right along with the Metropolitan Division lead. Another Stanley Cup Final run could be the cure for his ails.

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    12) Victor E. Green (Dallas Stars) 12th in 2018-19, 19th in 2017-18

    We’re over the moon for this huggable alien in his Stars 2020 Winter Classic threads. Victor E. Green’s also still got those cute hockey stick ears going for him, but could use another viral video or two to really move him up the ranks. Anyone know if he’s on TikTok?

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    11) Stinger (Columbus Blue Jackets) 15th in 2018-19, 27th in 2017-18

    Stinger’s quips with Greg Wyshynski are amusing and have us concerned about just how sentient all NHL mascots have become in today’s world. We’d hate for him to sting us next. The Blue Jackets, in the meantime, are slowly being forgiven over the years for the mistake that was Boomer. Meanwhile, Elvis Merzlikins’ post-win celebrations might merit their own felt-based mascot sometime soon.

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    10) Louie (St. Louis Blues) 14th in 2018-19, 12th in 2017-18

    The Blues win one Cup in 52 years and everyone loses their minds except one being– Louie. Louie will never give you up. He’s never going to let you down (anymore). He’s never going to run around and desert you. Also, he’s just really nice, so let’s reward him with Top-10 status this season.

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    9) Stormy (Carolina Hurricanes) 24th in 2018-19, 28th in 2017-18

    Our biggest improvement this season belongs to none other than Stormy. It may or may not have something to do with him rocking Hartford Whalers gear on Whalers Night for the past two seasons, but the Hurricanes mascot is looking fine as ever in every thread that covers that hog body.

    Plus we’ll give bonus points for Hamilton the Pig and free street-cred to the wonderful fans that own and care for Hamilton.

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    8) Blades the Bruin (Boston Bruins) 8th in 2018-19, 5th in 2017-18

    The Bruins almost saw Blades fall in this year’s rankings if it weren’t for how well he’s able to pull off that “B” on their new alternate jerseys. It seems fitting that Blades wears the first letter of his name big and bright on his jersey once in a while. Now if only we could get him to do a backflip or something.

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    7) Carlton the Bear (Toronto Maple Leafs) 11th in 2018-19, 13th in 2017-18

    The Maple Leafs mascot is in the Top-10 for the first time in our ranking and he is looking classier than ever before for some reason. Did someone say “everything old is new again”? Because he’s old, but never going out of style. Alexa, play “Style” by Taylor Swift while we jam with Carlton the Bear and his friends.

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    6) Fin (Vancouver Canucks) 7th in 2018-19, 10th in 2017-18

    Slow but steady has been the progress of the Canucks over the last few years that this season they might make the playoffs and next season Fin just might make the Top-5 in our mascot ranking. Unfortunately for Vancouver’s favorite orca, he’s just one spot shy of being a certified superstar in the making.

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    5) Gritty (Philadelphia Flyers) 4th in 2018-19, 29th* in 2017-18 (pre-Gritty)

    We swear we didn’t take the easy way out by picking Gritty as this year’s top 5th place mascot, but would you honestly blame us if we did? We are all gritizens these days anyway and Gritty rules us all. It certainly helps that the Flyers introduced their “Disassembly Room” and continue to go all-in on the chaos that Gritty brings everywhere he goes.

    Plus, look at all the props, costumes and sheer grit that Philly’s orange monster has for each and every event, game and everything in between.

    (We also wrote this before learning of the current allegations against Philadelphia’s beloved orange ball of fur.)

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    4) Iceburgh (Pittsburgh Penguins) 1st in 2018-19, 7th in 2017-18

    Iceburgh won top-dog– er, penguin– in last season’s mascot ranking, but things have cooled off for a bit while the Penguins mascot comes down from the many highs of being the No. 1 mascot. He’s ready to settle down and chill in his nest for a while, then go right back for the krill next year.

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    3) Sabretooth (Buffalo Sabres) 6th in 2018-19, 8th in 2017-18 

    Just look at how phenomenal the Sabres’ 50th anniversary sweaters are, then look how much they bring out all the best qualities in Sabretooth to the forefront of this rising mascot in the ranking.

    Sabretooth’s a shoe-in for Runner-Up or First Place next season when Buffalo goes back to royal blue as their primary color. The question is, will Sabretooth’s stripes change accordingly?

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    2) S.J. Sharkie (San Jose Sharks) 2nd in 2018-19, 2nd in 2017-18

    For the third year in-a-row, S.J. Sharkie came in 2nd in our ranking. It’s nothing personal, it’s just that we think Sharkie won’t be able to win this competition like how the Sharks always find a way to disappoint their fans before (or during) the Final.

    One of these years, San Jose. One of these years. Unfortunately it won’t be this year, as the Sharks are likely to miss the postseason and don’t even have their first round pick.

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    1) N.J. Devil (New Jersey Devils) 13th in 2018-19, 16th in 2017-18

    What’s hotter than hell these days? The N.J. Devil himself.

    Seriously, just look at this gorgeous mascot and you too will start questioning if you’re really that attracted to his facial hair or the fact that this guy can bench more than your cousin Tony. New Jersey, your next reason to shutdown your beaches is right in front of you and it looks way hotter.

    Also, has there ever been a more relatable mascot that loves pizza just like us?

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    In all seriousness though, all of the league’s mascots do a great job of being an entertaining part of the game, as well as wonderful ambassadors for spreading kindness and cheer in their community.

    Hats off to the people living inside the sweaty costumes and the marketing teams behind them.

  • Flyers overcome three-goal deficit to beat Bruins, 6-5, in shootout

    The Philadelphia Flyers overcame a three-goal lead and dismantled the Boston Bruins, 6-5, in a shootout on Monday night at Wells Fargo Center.

    Carter Hart (15-11-3 record, 2.61 goals against average, .905 save percentage in 32 games played) made 26 saves on 31 shots against for an .839 SV% in the win.

    Bruins goaltender, Jaroslav Halak (10-4-6, 2.46 GAA, .920 SV% in 20 games played) stopped 34 out of 39 shots faced for an .872 SV% in the shootout loss.

    Boston fell to 27-8-12 (66 points), but remained in command of the Atlantic Division. Meanwhile, Philadelphia improved to 24-16-6 (54 points) and remained in 5th place in the Metropolitan Division.

    The B’s also fell to 12-6-3 on the road this season.

    Boston was without the services of Kevan Miller (knee) and Connor Clifton (upper body) on Monday against the Flyers, while head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made no changes to his lineup from Saturday night’s, 3-2, win in overtime against the Islanders in New York.

    Bruins captain, Zdeno Chara, skated in his 1,000th game with the club– becoming just the 6th player in franchise history to do so, joining Ray Bourque, Johnny Bucyk, Don Sweeney, Wayne Cashman and current teammate, Patrice Bergeron.

    Chara has played in 1,530 career NHL games with the Islanders, Ottawa Senators and Bruins.

    Par Lindholm, David Backes and Steven Kampfer served as Boston’s healthy scratches in Philadelphia.

    Anders Bjork (7) scored his first goal in nine games after sending the puck into the twine on a backhand shot while Hart dove paddle first to try to make a save.

    Jake DeBrusk (12) had the only assist on Bjork’s goal at 4:15 of the first period and the Bruins led, 1-0.

    Midway through the opening frame, Mark Friedman and Bjork got tangled up after a stoppage at 11:55. Each received minor penalties for roughing and the two side escaped the ensuing 4-on-4 action unharmed.

    Late in the period, Michael Raffl tripped Bergeron and presented Boston with their first power play opportunity of the night at 15:30.

    Almost 90 seconds into the resulting skater advantage, the Bruins capitalized on the power play after David Krejci (10) redirected a pass from Danton Heinen behind the Flyers goaltender.

    Krejci’s goal extended the current franchise record for the most consecutive games with at least one power play goal to 14 and was assisted by Heinen (12) and Charlie Coyle (16) at 16:49.

    The B’s led, 2-0, but not for long, however, as Bergeron caught Scott Laughton with a high stick at 18:00 of the first period and drew blood.

    Bergeron’s infraction was upgraded to a high sticking double minor penalty and Philadelphia began a four-minute power play as a result.

    The Flyers struck fast on the ensuing skater advantage when Kevin Hayes (14) rocked home a one-timer off the bar and in while Boston’s defense was out of position.

    Hayes’ goal put Philly on the board and cut Boston’s lead in half, 2-1, while Travis Konecny (25) and James van Riemsdyk (12) notched the assists at 18:22.

    Entering the first intermission, the Bruins led the Flyers, 2-1, on the scoreboard and, 14-12, in shots on goal.

    Boston also held the advantage in hits (7-6) and faceoff win percentage (71-29) through 20 minutes of play, while Philadelphia led in blocked shots (4-3), takeaways (3-2) and giveaways (4-1).

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

    Less than a minute into the second period, David Pastrnak (36) drew the puck quickly to his backhand after receiving a break-in pass from Brad Marchand and slipped the rubber biscuit through Hart’s exposed five-hole to give the B’s another two-goal lead, 3-1.

    Marchand (43) and Chara (9) had the assists on Pastrnak’s goal 33 seconds into the second period, but once more the Bruins couldn’t get too comfortable.

    Less than a minute later, Travis Sanheim (6) sniped a wrist shot past Halak from just outside the high slot with traffic in front of the net to bring Philadelphia back to within one-goal at 1:12 of the second period.

    Sean Couturier (25) and Jakub Voracek (27) tallied the assists on Sanheim’s first goal of the night and the Flyers trailed, 3-2, 39 seconds after Pastrnak scored for Boston.

    A few minutes later, after Heinen sent a flawless pass to Coyle in the attacking zone, Coyle (9) ripped a shot over Hart’s glove and into the corner of the twine to give the Bruins another two-goal lead.

    Heinen (13) and Brandon Carlo (10) had the assists on Coyle’s goal at 4:50 and the B’s led, 4-2.

    Less than a few minutes later, Krejci (11) tallied his second goal of the night after Boston worked the puck deep before Bjork ultimately wrapped around the net and tossed a quick pass to the second line center for the one-timer over Hart while the Flyers goaltender dove from one side of the net to the other in desperation.

    Bjork (7) and DeBrusk (13) were credited with the assists on Krejci’s goal and Boston led, 5-2, at 7:21.

    For just the second time this season, however, the Bruins blew a three-goal lead as the rest of the game did not go as planned for Cassidy’s crew.

    First, Chris Wagner was penalized for roughing Konecny after the whistle was blown on a play in the corner whereby Konecny made contact with Charlie McAvoy as both players were nowhere near the puck that some B’s players took offense to and responded accordingly in effort to stand up for their young blue liner.

    Wagner was sent to the box at 9:02 and the Bruins killed off the minor infraction, but couldn’t quite escape the momentum that swayed into Philly’s hand.

    Couturier (13) slipped a fluke goal through Halak’s five-hole on what became a recurring theme for the Boston netminder Monday night– soft goals.

    Voracek (28) and Matt Niskanen (13) had the assists on Couturier’s goal at 13:12 and the Flyers trailed by two-goals once more, 5-3.

    About a minute later, Friedman threw a shot towards the net that deflected off of Connor Bunnaman (1) and bounced off a Bruins defender before beating Halak and hitting the twine to bring Philadelphia to within one at 14:46.

    Friedman (1) and Robert Hagg (5) had the assists on Bunnaman’s inadvertent first career NHL goal as Boston’s lead was cut to, 5-4.

    After two periods of action in Philadelphia, the Bruins led the Flyers, 5-4, on the scoreboard, but trailed in shots on goal, 27-20.

    Philly’s stronghold on the second period included a, 15-6, advantage in shots on net in the middle frame alone, as well as the lead in takeaways (5-3) and giveaways (7-5).

    Boston, meanwhile, led in blocked shots (7-6) and faceoff win% (60-40) through two periods, while both teams had 19 hits aside.

    The Flyers were 1/3 on the power play and the B’s were 1/1 on the skater advantage heading into the second intermission.

    Niskanen interfered with Marchand 28 seconds into the third period, but Boston’s power play couldn’t muster the desired outcome of another power play goal.

    Midway through the final frame of regulation, Joel Farabee and Torey Krug became entangled and received roughing minors at 12:30.

    Just 28 seconds later, the Flyers got what they had wanted as Sanheim (7) scored his second goal of the game while Halak was helpless as his defense lacked in coverage.

    Philippe Myers (11) and Couturier (26) tallied the assists on Sanheim’s game-tying goal and the score was even, 5-5, at 12:58 of the third period.

    At the horn, the two teams were heading to overtime, tied, 5-5, on the scoreboard, despite the Flyers leading the Bruins, 35-28, in shots on goal.

    Philadelphia notched the advantage in takeaways (7-3) and giveaways (9-7), while Boston led in blocked shots (15-8), hits (28-24) and faceoff win% (59-41)

    As there were no penalties called past regulation, the Flyers finished 1/3 on the skater advantage, while the B’s went 1/2 on the power play.

    In overtime, Cassidy elected to start Bergeron, Pastrnak and John Moore, while Philadelhia’s head coach, Alain Vigneault, matched Boston’s starters with Couturier, Voracek and Ivan Provorov on the blue line.

    Neither team could find the back of the net in the extra frame, despite the Flyers leading in shots on goal in overtime, 4-3.

    At the horn the Flyers finished the evening leading in shots on goal (39-31) and giveaways (10-7), while the Bruins ended the night leading in blocked shots (19-10), hits (31-24) and faceoff win% (59-41).

    Before both teams could vacate the ice, however, a shootout was needed to determine the winner of the extra point in the league standings.

    Philadelphia chose to shoot first and sent out Hayes, but the veteran forward tried to go low with a forehand shot and was denied by Halak’s leg pad.

    Boston retaliated with the NHL’s leading goal scorer in Pastrnak, but No. 88 in black and gold deked and tried to go backhand and was stopped by Hart with a pad save– leaving the first round of the shootout still even at, 0-0.

    Next up for the Flyers was none other than Philly’s captain himself, Claude Giroux, as Giroux skated in on Halak– elevating a shot over the Bruins goaltender that rang the post and bounced off of Halak’s back and out.

    Cassidy matched Vigneault’s second shooter with Coyle, but Coyle was denied by Hart with a glove save after the third line center sitckhandled and didn’t get enough on his shot to duplicate Giroux’s effort at elevating the puck.

    Couturier was the first shooter of the third round and hit the post with a backhand shot that might had deflected off of Halak’s glove before catching the iron and going wide.

    DeBrusk was Boston’s third choice in the shootout, but tried to go five-hole (a classic move for the B’s in shootouts this season) and was stoned by Hart with a predictable save.

    Farabee had the chance to put the Flyers ahead with the first advantage in the shootout, but couldn’t get enough on a low-blocker side attempt as Halak turned the puck away.

    Despite scoring two goals in the game, Krejci’s shootout attempt left more to be desired as the veteran Bruin tried to go short side on Hart with a close range backhand shot that the Philadelphia netminder stopped with his leg pad.

    Finally, in the 5th round of the shootout, Konecny connected on a goal with a shot off the post and in behind Halak’s glove.

    Boston had to score to continue the shootout or they would lose, so Cassidy sent out Marchand thinking the noted puck handler could get the job done and extended the already extended effort.

    Nope.

    Marchand skated towards the puck at the center ice dot, barely scrapped the top of the vulcanized rubber with his stick and moved it a few inches from where an official had left it prior to the attempt and had his chance waved off by the refs as an official shot that did not reach the net.

    The game ended on an untimely error that Marchand shrugged off in his postgame interview, whereas other players might have been too frustrated with themselves to speak or too embarrassed to show their face to reporters afterwards.

    It’s one game. It was one attempt. It went wrong.

    Unfortunately for the Bruins and their fans, it cost them the game.

    But for the Flyers and the home crowd, Philadelphia had won, 6-5, in the shootout and handed Boston their 7th loss in a shootout this season.

    The Flyers improved to 5-5 in shootouts, while the Bruins fell to 0-7 in the one-on-one– skater vs. goaltender mini-games.

    Boston is now 3-12 past regulation this season as a result of the loss on Monday.

    The Bruins fell to 18-6-8 when scoring the game’s first goal, 16-4-3 when leading after the first period and 14-0-6 when leading after two periods this season.

    Boston concludes their three-game road trip (1-0-1) on Tuesday in Columbus before returning home for a home-and-home series with the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday and Sunday. After the Bruins swing through Pittsburgh on Jan. 19th, the B’s finish their game action before the All-Star break with a home game against the Vegas Golden Knights on Jan. 21st. 

  • Rask’s 35 saves and Bergeron’s OT winner secure, 3-2, win for Boston against Isles

    Patrice Bergeron scored the game-winning power play goal in overtime as the Boston Bruins defeated the New York Islanders, 3-2, at Barclays Center on Saturday night.

    With the goal, the Bruins set a new franchise record for most consecutive games with at least one power play goal (13)– surpassing the previous record (12) set in the 1987-88 season.

    Tuukka Rask (17-4-6 record, 2.27 goals against average, .925 save percentage in 27 games played) made 35 saves on 37 shots against for a .946 SV% in the win for the B’s.

    Islanders goaltender, Semyon Varlamov (15-5-4, 2.33 GAA, .923 SV% in 28 games played) stopped 30 out of 33 shots faced for a .909 SV% in the overtime loss.

    Boston improved to 27-8-11 (65 points) and remained in command of the Atlantic Division, while New York fell to 27-12-4 (58 points) and stagnant in 3rd place in the Metropolitan Division.

    The Bruins improved to 12-6-2 on the road this season in what was Torey Krug’s 500th career NHL game and Sean Kuraly’s 200th career NHL game.

    Kevan Miller (knee) and Connor Clifton (upper body) were the only Bruins out of the lineup due to injury, while Zdeno Chara made his return after missing the last game due to his lingering jaw recovery.

    B’s head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made one change among his forwards– swapping David Backes with Brett Ritchie on the third line.

    Backes, Par Lindholm and Steven Kampfer served as Boston’s healthy scratches against the Isles.

    Early in the opening frame, Mathew Barzal sent the puck back to the point whereby Scott Mayfield (5) sniped a shot into the corner of the twine over Rask’s glove to give the Islanders the first lead of the night, 1-0.

    Barzal (20) and Noah Dobson (3) had the assists on Mayfield’s goal at 4:36 of the first period as New York dominated the first period in shots on net.

    Midway through the opening period, Charlie McAvoy hooked Brock Nelson and was assessed a minor infraction at 12:31.

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

    Entering the first intermission, New York led, 1-0, despite dominating in shots on goal, 14-5.

    The Isles also led in giveaways (10-7) and hits (10-9), while the Bruins held the advantage in blocked shots (7-2). Both teams had three takeaways aside as the Islanders were the only team to see any time on the skater advantage and went 0/1 through 20 minutes.

    After taking an errant stick down low from Derick Brassard in the first period, Matt Grzelcyk was ruled “unlikely to return to the game” as announced by Boston on their Twitter account early in the middle frame.

    Moments later, the Bruins tied the game, 1-1, on a whacky play whereby Jake DeBrusk (14) poked at a loose puck over Varlamov that had rebounded off of someone in front of the net after McAvoy’s initial shot was blocked.

    Anders Bjork (6) and McAvoy (16) were credited with the assists as Boston evened the score at 8:33 of the second period.

    Late in the period, Mayfield was penalized for roughing against Charlie Coyle, but Boston was not successful on their first power play opportunity of the night.

    Through 40 minutes at Barclays Center, the Bruins and Islanders were tied, 1-1, on the scoreboard and, 11-11, in shots on goal in the second period alone.

    New York held the total shots on goal advantage (25-16) and led in faceoff win percentage (52-49).

    Boston held the lead in blocked shots (12-9) and takeaways (4-3), while both teams had 14 giveaways and 17 hits each.

    Heading into the third period, each team was 0/1 on the power play as well.

    John Moore (2) rocketed a shot from the point that redirected off of the skate of former Bruins defender turned current Islanders defender, Johnny Boychuk, and behind Varlamov while Ritchie acted as a screen in front of the goal.

    Danton Heinen (11) and Coyle (15) tallied the assists on Moore’s first goal in 11 games as Boston took their first lead of the night, 2-1, at 5:48 of the third period.

    Less than four minutes later, Barzal (17) deflected the puck through Rask’s five-hole on a slap pass from Josh Bailey– tying the game in the process.

    Bailey (16) had the only assist on Barzal’s goal at 9:33 and the Islanders knotted things up, 2-2.

    With about five minutes remaining in regulation, McAvoy blocked his second Boychuk slap shot of the night and skated off slowly before returning to action.

    The stinger caused a brief scare for the Bruins– having already lost Grzelcyk for the night in the first period on the blue line.

    After 60 minutes of regulation, the game went to overtime with the score tied, 2-2, and New York leading in shots on goal (37-30), despite Boston holding the advantage in shots on net in the third period alone (14-12).

    The Islanders led in hits (30-29) and faceoff win% (52-48) heading into overtime, while the Bruins led in blocked shots (18-17) and giveaways (20-17).

    Both teams had five takeaways and were 0/1 on the power play entering the extra frame.

    Cassidy elected to start David Krejci, Brad Marchand and McAvoy in overtime, while Isles head coach, Barry Trotz, went with Anthony Beauvillier, Nelson and Nick Leddy.

    Just 40 seconds into the overtime period, Nelson trailed Marchand and tripped up the Bruins winger, yielding a power play to Boston and the 4-on-3 advantage for the B’s as a result.

    While on the ensuing power play, Casey Cizikas blocked a shot from David Pastrnak and went down only for play to continue a few more seconds before the officials determined a stoppage was necessary to tend to the injured Cizikas.

    Shortly thereafter, the Bruins worked back into the attacking zone on the skater advantage after New York cleared the puck down the length of the ice.

    Krug fed Bergeron (19) in his usual bumper role as No. 37 in black and gold scored the game-winner at 1:33 of the overtime period.

    Krug (26) and Rask (2) had the assists on Bergeron’s power play goal as the Bruins took home the, 3-2, victory on the road in the first game at Barclays Center in about six weeks.

    Boston finished the night leading in shots on goal in the overtime period, 3-0, but trailing to New York in the final shot totals, 37-33.

    The Islanders managed to finish the night leading in blocked shots (19-18), hits (31-29) and faceoff win% (54-46) despite the overtime loss. They also went 0/1 on their only skater advantage opportunity of the game.

    The B’s wrapped up Saturday night with the advantage in giveaways (20-17) and went 1/2 on the power play.

    New York fell to 7-3 overall in overtime this season.

    The Bruins improved to 1-3-3 when trailing after the first period and 8-2-3 when tied after two periods this season as a result of the win. The B’s are now 3-4 in overtime this season.

    Boston continues their three-game road trip (1-0-0) on Monday (Jan. 13th) in Philadelphia for a meeting with the Flyers before finishing up their current road trip in Columbus on Tuesday (Jan. 14th).

    The Bruins return home to face the Pittsburgh Penguins on Jan. 16th before facing the Penguins in Pittsburgh for the second game their home-and-home matchup and finish up their game action before the All-Star break with a home game against the Vegas Golden Knights on Jan. 21st.

  • Pastrnak’s hat trick helps B’s soar over Jets, 5-4

    David Pastrnak scored his 7th career regular season hat trick as the Boston Bruins mounted a comeback and defeated the Winnipeg Jets, 5-4, at TD Garden on Thursday.

    Jaroslav Halak (10-4-5 record, 2.34 goals against average, .923 save percentage in 19 games played) made 17 saves on 21 shots against for an .810 SV% in the win for Boston.

    Winnipeg netminder, Laurent Brossoit (4-5-0, 3.65 GAA, .886 SV% in 13 games played) stopped 31 out of 36 shots faced for an .861 SV% in the loss.

    The Bruins improved to 26-8-11 (63 points) on the season and remain in command of the Atlantic Division, while the Jets fell to 24-17-4 (52 points) and remain in 4th place in the Central Division.

    The B’s improved to 15-2-9 at home this season and 2-0-0 with their moms in attendance.

    Boston was without Kevan Miller (knee), Connor Clifton (upper body) and Zdeno Chara (jaw) on Thursday night.

    Torey Krug (illness) was a game-time decision, but was good to go, took part in warmups and slotted in his usual role on the second defensive pairing with Brandon Carlo.

    Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made a couple minor swaps among his forwards– re-inserting David Backes and Joakim Nordstrom into the lineup after Backes was a healthy scratch and Nordstrom was out with an illness in the last game.

    Backes took over the third line right wing spot with Danton Heinen at left wing and Charlie Coyle at center, while Nordstrom was reunited with Sean Kuraly and Chris Wagner on the fourth line.

    On defense, without Chara on the first pairing, Matt Grzelcyk was promoted to the top pairing on the left side of Charlie McAvoy while Krug resumed his duties on the second pairing with Carlo.

    John Moore slid over to the left side of the third defensive pairing with Steven Kampfer rejoining the lineup on the right side.

    Brett Ritchie and Par Lindholm were the only healthy scratches for Boston on Thursday.

    Almost midway through the first period, Kyle Connor (22) waltzed around Krug and sent a backhand shot over Halak’s glove to give Winnipeg the, 1-0, lead at 7:35 of the opening frame.

    Connor’s goal marked the 12th time this season that the Bruins gave up the game’s first goal on home ice, but almost ten minutes later, the B’s tied things up.

    Kuraly worked the puck deep along the endboards whereby Nordstrom sent a pass to Pastrnak as No. 88 in black-and-gold was fresh off the bench subbing on the fourth line for Wagner while Wagner was taken off the ice by a concussion spotter for the remained of the first period.

    Pastrnak (33) rocketed a one-timer while crashing the high slot and tied the game, 1-1, at 17:14 of the first period.

    Nordstorm (2) and Kuraly (13) had the assists on Pastrnak’s goal as the NHL’s leading goal scorer extended his current point streak to 12 games.

    After scoring his first goal of the night, Pastrnak became the third player in Bruins history to have multiple point streaks of at least 12 games in one season– joining Phil Esposito and Bobby Orr (both in the 1973-74 season), according to Conor Ryan of Boston Sports Journal.

    Entering the first intermission, the Bruins and Jets were tied, 1-1, on the scoreboard, despite Boston holding the advantage in shots on goal, 12-6.

    The B’s also led in takeaways (4-2), giveaways (6-3) and faceoff win percentage (67-33), while the Jets led in blocked shots (3-1) and hits (14-8).

    There were no penalties called in the first period.

    Less than a minute into the middle frame, Luca Sbisa tripped up Brad Marchand and was assessed a minor infraction 29 seconds into the second period– presenting Boston with the game’s first power play of the night.

    The Bruins weren’t able to convert on the skater advantage and followed the special teams action up with a penalty of their own for an illegal skater advantage– too many skaters on the ice– at 4:23 of the second period.

    Backes served Boston’s bench minor and the B’s had nearly killed it off until Josh Morrissey blasted a shot from the point that Andrew Copp (7) deflected past Halak to put Winnipeg back into the lead, 2-1.

    Morrissey (21) and Nikolaj Ehlers (19) notched the assists on Copp’s goal as the Jets pulled ahead of the Bruins with a power play goal at 6:00 of the second period.

    Almost a few minutes later, Blake Wheeler tripped David Krejci at 9:23 and Boston went back on the power play as the Jets traded special teams opportunities.

    This time around, however, the Bruins were sure to convert on the power play as Pastrnak (34) was left alone from just above the faceoff circle and fired a one-timer over Brossoit’s glove side shoulder– tying the game, 2-2, while on the power play.

    Krug (25) and Marchand (42) tallied the assists on Pastrnak’s second goal of the game at 9:41.

    Late in the period, Jake DeBrusk (12) broke free from Winnipeg’s defense on an individual effort and sent the puck high, glove side to give Boston their first lead of the night, 3-2, on the breakaway at 18:49.

    Less than a minute later, Grzelcyk followed suit with an interference penalty at 19:17 yielded a power play to the Jets.

    Neal Pionk (4) whizzed a shot from the point that had eyes and found its way to the twine behind the Bruins goaltender– tying the game, 3-3, while Winnipeg was on the power play.

    Wheeler (26) and Patrik Laine (26) had the assists on Pionk’s goal at 19:52 and the Jets responded to DeBrusk’s goal with a goal of their own just 1:03 after Boston took their first lead of the night.

    Entering the second intermission, the Bruins and Jets were even, 3-3, on the scoreboard, despite Boston maintaining a, 24-14, advantage in shots on goal– including a, 12-8, advantage in the second period alone.

    Winnipeg led in blocked shots (4-3) and hits (26-20), while Boston led in takeaways (11-3), giveaways (11-6) and faceoff win% (70-30).

    The Jets were 2/2 on the skater advantage heading into the third period, while the Bruins were 1/2 on the power play through 40 minutes.

    Early in the final frame of regulation, Morrissey tripped Coyle and presented the B’s with another power play at 3:09 of the third period.

    Boston didn’t capitalize on the ensuing advantage.

    Moments later, Mark Scheifele (22) squeaked the puck between Halak’s leg pad and the post as the Bruins goaltender neglected to seal the pad to the post and Scheifele gave the Jets yet another lead, 4-3.

    Connor (22) and Dmitry Kulikov (4) tallied the assists on Scheifele’s goal at 7:50.

    Less than four minutes later, Pastrnak (35) completed his hat trick after DeBrusk initiated a scoring chance and a rebound whereby Pastrnak was able to bury a loose puck over Brossoit’s blocker for his 7th career regular season hat trick– and his 3rd this season alone (with his most recent hat trick prior to Thursday night having been on Nov. 26th in Boston’s, 8-1, win in Montreal).

    Krejci (21) and DeBrusk (11) had the assists on Pastrnak’s hat trick goal at 11:13 and the Bruins tied the game, 4-4.

    But the score didn’t remain tied for long as DeBrusk (13) tipped in a shot from McAvoy to put the B’s ahead, 5-4, just 33 seconds after Pastrnak completed his hat trick.

    McAvoy (15) and Grzelcyk (12) notched the assists on DeBrusk’s second goal of the game at 11:46 of the third period and the Bruins didn’t look back from that moment onward.

    Ehlers hooked Krug at 12:12 and presented Boston with one last chance on the power play, but the Bruins weren’t able to extend their one-goal lead.

    With about 1:25 remaining in the game, Jets head coach, Paul Maurice, pulled his goaltender for an extra attacker, but it was to no avail– even after Winnipeg managed to get the puck deep into their attacking zone and took a timeout after a stoppage with 7.3 seconds remaining.

    At the final horn, Boston had landed the Jets with a, 5-4, win on home ice and finished the night leading in shots on goal (36-21), giveaways (13-7) and faceoff win% (62-38).

    Winnipeg left TD Garden leading in hits (33-28), while both teams were tied in blocked shots (7-7).

    The Jets finished Thursday night’s action 2/2 on the power play and the Bruins went 1/4 on the skater advantage as the B’s matched a franchise record of 12 consecutive games with a power play goal (originally set in the 1987-88 season).

    Pastrnak, in the meantime, recorded the 32nd instance in NHL history of a player scoring three or more hat tricks in consecutive seasons (three in 2018-19 and three so far in 2019-20) as the Bruins improved to 6-1-6 when tied after one period and 7-2-3 when tied after two periods this season.

    Boston begins a three-game road trip on Saturday in New York against the Islanders before venturing to visit the Philadelphia Flyers next Monday (Jan. 13th) and the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday (Jan. 14th).

    The Bruins return home to face the Pittsburgh Penguins on Jan. 16th before facing the Penguins in Pittsburgh for the second game their home-and-home matchup and finish up their game action before the All-Star break with a home game against the Vegas Golden Knights on Jan. 21st.

  • Bruins score touchdown in Nashville, win, 6-2

    Six different players scored goals in the Boston Bruins’, 6-2, victory over the Nashville Predators Tuesday night at Bridgestone Arena.

    B’s netminder, Tuukka Rask (16-4-6 record, 2.29 goals against average, .924 save percentage in 26 games played) stopped 33 out of 35 shots faced for a .943 SV% in the win.

    Predators goaltender, Pekka Rinne (14-9-3, 3.06 GAA, .894 SV% in 26 games played) made 30 saves on 35 shots against for an .857 SV% in the loss.

    Boston remained in command of the Atlantic Division with a 25-8-11 record this season and 61 points. Meanwhile, Nashville fell to 19-16-7 (45 points), but remained in 6th place in the Central Division.

    The Bruins improved to 11-6-2 on the road this season and snapped a three-game losing streak.

    Kevan Miller (knee) has yet to make his season debut and missed his 44th game this season due to complications stemming from an injury last season.

    Meanwhile, the Bruins were also without the services of Connor Clifton (upper body) and Joakim Nordstrom (illness) against the Predators.

    Steven Kampfer was assigned to the Providence Bruins (AHL) on Sunday before being recalled on Monday likely for cap reasons and as a result of Clifton’s extended stay in the press box with an injury.

    Boston’s head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made a few minor moves to his lineup entering Tuesday night in Nashville– most notably moving up Anders Bjork to the second line right wing with Jake DeBrusk at left wing and David Krejci at center.

    Danton Heinen, Charlie Coyle and Brett Ritchie comprised of the third line, while Sean Kuraly moved over to the left wing of the fourth line with Par Lindholm at center and Chris Wagner on the right side.

    On defense, Zdeno Chara remained paired with Charlie McAvoy on the top pairing, while Torey Krug and Brandon Carlo rounded out the top-four defenders as usual.

    John Moore was back on the left side of the third pairing with Matt Grzelcyk on his right side.

    David Backes and Kampfer were the only healthy scratches for the B’s on Tuesday.

    While Boston made line changes, Nashville made a head coaching change prior to their meeting with the Bruins.

    After losing to the Ducks, 5-4, in a shootout on Sunday night in Anaheim, the Predators fired Peter Laviolette on Monday and hired John Hynes as just their third head coach in franchise history Tuesday afternoon.

    Kevin McCarthy was also let go by the Preds and Rob Scuderi was hired as an assistant coach in place of McCarthy.

    Brad Marchand cross checked Viktor Arvidsson 14 seconds into the first period, but Arvidsson also cut a rut to the penalty box for embellishment on the delayed call.

    The two teams played 4-on-4 for two minutes and were almost unscathed except for when David Pastrnak (32) glided through the neutral zone, skated around Calle Jarnkrok and blasted a shot past Rinne just a couple of feet after entering the offensive zone to give Boston the, 1-0, lead at 1:36 of the first period.

    McAvoy (14) and Grzelcyk (10) had the assists on Pastrnak’s goal.

    Moments later, Kuraly hit Matt Duchene from behind along the glass and received a two-minute minor for boarding at 6:10.

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

    Entering the first intermission, the Bruins led the Predators, 1-0, on the scoreboard and, 13-8, in shots on goal.

    Boston also held the advantage in blocked shots (3-1) and faceoff win percentage (53-47), while the Preds led in giveaways (3-2) and hits (8-2).

    Both teams had four takeaways aside and the Predators were 0/1 on the skater advantage heading into the middle frame. Boston had yet to see any action on the power play.

    Nashville thought they had tied the game up 61 seconds into the second period when Nick Bonino batted the puck out of the air and over the goal line while the net was knocked off its moorings, but after review it was determined that the actions of a Predators player had caused the net to come off– therefore negating the goal.

    Rocco Grimaldi bumped McAvoy and sent the Bruins defender barreling into the post– knocking the net off its pegs as Bonino worked his magic.

    The score remained, 1-0, for Boston at 1:01 of the second period.

    About a minute later, the B’s had too many skaters on the ice and were assessed a bench minor penalty that was served by Ritchie.

    Once more the Preds couldn’t convert on the ensuing legal skater advantage.

    Almost midway through the second period, Heinen (7) sniped a shot over Rinne’s blocker side and into the corner pocket of the twine to score his first goal in eight games and give the Bruins a two-goal lead.

    Grzelcyk (11) and Coyle (14) tallied the assists on Heinen’s goal at 8:21 of the second period and Boston led, 2-0.

    But less than a minute later the Bruins found themselves shorthanded yet again as Carlo tripped Arvidsson at 9:01– resulting in a 5-on-4 advantage for Nashville.

    Things escalated to a 5-on-3 power play for the Predators after Grzelcyk caught Craig Smith with a high stick at 10:28.

    A short, 33-second, two-skater advantage would be followed by an abbreviated standard power play, but the Preds didn’t need that long to connect on the 5-on-3 advantage.

    A bang-band play led to Filip Forsberg (15) rocketing the puck behind Rask with assists from Duchene (20) and Roman Josi (31).

    With the secondary assist on Forsberg’s power play goal, Josi extended his scoring streak to 11-games and Nashville cut Boston’ lead in half, 2-1, at 10:54 of the second period.

    The B’s escaped the remainder of the penalty kill unharmed.

    Late in the middle frame, Nashville lost track of basic numbers and had too many skaters on the ice at 16:29.

    Kyle Turris took the long skate across the ice to serve the bench minor infraction and the Bruins capitalized on their first power play of the night.

    Patrice Bergeron (18) followed up on a second-effort and sent a shot over Rinne’s blocker to once again give the Bruins a two-goal lead.

    DeBrusk (10) and Marchand (41) had the assists on Bergeron’s power play goal and Boston led, 3-1, at 17:42.

    Through 40 minutes of play in Nashville, the Bruins (and their moms– as it was Boston’s moms trip) led the Preds, 3-1, on the scoreboard and, 26-24, in shots on goal despite trailing in the second period shots on net alone– 16-13.

    Boston also maintained the advantage in blocked shots (9-2), takeaways (5-4) and faceoff win% (51-49).

    Nashville led in giveaways (5-3) and hits (13-6).

    The Predators were 1/4 on the skater advantage, while the B’s were a perfect 1/1 on the power play heading into the final frame of regulation.

    Wagner (4) kicked off the third period with a quick goal as he unintentionally redirected a shot after he was pushed by a Predators defender into Rinne at 2:51.

    Lindholm (1) and Krug (24) notched the assists on Wagner’s goal and the Bruins extended their lead, 4-1.

    Almost a minute later, Grimaldi tripped Chara and was assessed a minor infraction at 3:52 of the third period.

    Boston’s ensuing power play was not successful.

    Midway through the third period, Yakov Trenin tried to engage Chara in a fight and got the Bruins captain to exchange fisticuffs at 11:40.

    Chara received an extra minor for roughing while both received majors for fighting and thus the Predators were headed on the power play after just the 8th fight this season for Boston– and 3rd in a row for their captain.

    Four seconds later, Moore hooked Arvidsson and joined Ritchie (serving Chara’s roughing minor) and Chara in the box as the B’s faced Nashville’s 5-on-3 advantage at 11:44.

    The Predators weren’t able to get anything done with the two-skater advantage and took a penalty of their own at 15:38 when Josi hooked Lindholm.

    Shortly after Boston’s resulting power play expired, Coyle tripped Mikael Granlund at 17:46 and presented the Preds with their seventh power play opportunity of the night.

    Just as the saying goes “the seventh time’s a charm”, the Predators managed to squib a puck through Rask and just over the line while chaos ensued in the crease at 18:06.

    Granlund (7) notched the power play goal for Nashville and the Preds cut the lead back to, 4-2. Mattias Ekholm (19) and Forsberg (15) had the assists on Granlund’s goal.

    With 1:07 remaining in the game, Hynes pulled his goaltender for an extra attacker, but things didn’t go quite as planned when Krejci (9) received the puck on a pass from Rask and fired the rubber biscuit into the empty goal frame about 170-feet away from where he was standing at 19:05.

    Rask (1) picked up his first assist of the season and the only assist on Krejci’s empty net goal as Boston all but confirmed the win, 5-2.

    It only took another 22 seconds for the Bruins to rub salt in the wounds of Smashville– adding one more tic-toc-goal from Coyle (8) at 19:27 as Boston pulled ahead to a four-goal lead with seconds remaining in the action.

    Ritchie (4) and Heinen (10) were credited with the assists on Coyle’s goal and the B’s sealed the deal on a, 6-2, win in Nashville.

    Boston finished the night leading in shots on goal (36-35), blocked shots (15-6) and faceoff win% (56-44), while Nashville wrapped up the night with the advantage in giveaways (7-3) and hits (15-8).

    The Predators wrapped up Tuesday night’s action 2/7 on the power play and the B’s finished the game 1/3 on the skater advantage.

    The Bruins improved to 16-4-2 when leading after the first period, 14-0-5 when leading after two periods and 18-6-7 when scoring the game’s first goal this season.

    Boston returns home to face the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday before venturing on the road to visit the New York Islanders on Jan. 11th, the Philadelphia Flyers on Jan. 13th and the Columbus Blue Jackets on Jan. 14th.

  • Smith makes 35 saves in Oilers, 4-1, win in Boston

    A pair of soft goals in the second period kicked off the Edmonton Oilers’ four unanswered goals in a, 4-1, win against the Boston Bruins on Saturday at TD Garden.

    Mike Smith (8-9-3 record, 3.01 goals against average, .897 save percentage in 22 games played) stopped 35 out of 36 shots faced for a .972 SV% in the win for the Oilers.

    Bruins goaltender, Jaroslav Halak (9-4-5, 2.25 GAA, .928 SV% in 18 games played) made 22 saves on 25 shots against for an .880 SV% in the loss.

    Boston fell to 24-8-11 (59 points) on the season, but remained in 1st place in the Atlantic Division, while Edmonton improved to 22-17-5 (49 points) and moved into 3rd place in the Pacific Division.

    The B’s lost just their 2nd game in regulation on home ice this season and are now 14-2-9 overall at TD Garden in 2019-20.

    The Bruins were without the services of Kevan Miller (knee) and Connor Clifton (upper body) against the Oilers, while Matt Grzelcyk (illness) was also out of the action on Saturday.

    As a result, despite being assigned to the Providence Bruins (AHL) on Friday, Steven Kampfer was recalled from Providence on Saturday to go in the lineup for Grzelcyk on the third defensive pairing with John Moore.

    Bruce Cassidy made one minor change among the forward lines from Thursday night’s, 3-2, overtime loss to Columbus– swapping Sean Kuraly with Par Lindholm at center on the third line and moving Kuraly back to the fourth line.

    Brett Ritchie and David Backes were the only healthy scratches for the B’s against Edmonton.

    A few minutes into the game, after David Pastrnak rocked Oscar Klefbom with a huge hit behind the Oilers net after Klefbom rid himself of the puck to a teammate, Leon Draisaitl tried to avenge the clean, but half-a-second late hit from Pastrnak on Klefbom by elbowing Torey Krug at 3:05 of the first period.

    Boston’s power play didn’t take long to convert on their first opportunity of the afternoon as Pastrnak (31) rocketed a shot that deflected off of Edmonton defender, Kris Russell, and floated over Smith’s glove.

    Krug (23) and Brad Marchand (40) notched the assists on Pastrnak’s power play goal and the Bruins led, 1-0, at 3:10.

    Per Conor Ryan of Boston Sports Journal, the Bruins have scored a power play goal in 10 straight games for the first time since March 7-27, 1996.

    Pastrnak and Marchand are the seventh pair of Bruins teammates to each reach 60 points in a season prior to the team’s 45th game of the season. They’re the first teammates to do so since Phil Esposito and Bobby Orr did so in the 1974-75 season (32 GP).

    Late in the opening frame, Gaetan Haas slashed Marchand and was sent to the penalty box at 15:26.

    Boston did not score on the ensuing power play.

    Heading into the first intermission, the B’s led the Oilers, 1-0, on the scoreboard, but trailed Edmonton in shots on goal, 9-6.

    The Oilers also held the advantage in giveaways (4-1) and hits (14-11), while Boston led in faceoff win percentage (53-47).

    Both teams had three blocked shots and two takeaways each after one period.

    Edmonton had yet to see any time on the skater advantage and Boston was 1/2 on the power play entering the middle frame.

    Cassidy juggled his lines throughout the second period as the Bruins looked flat.

    Kuraly tripped up Haas at 2:25 of the second period and presented the Oilers with their first power play of the afternoon.

    Boston killed off the penalty and avoided injury after Charlie McAvoy took a shot up high and went down to the ice before getting up and skating off on his own. He showed no signs of anything major and played the rest of the game without obvious discomfort.

    Almost midway through the middle frame, Jake DeBrusk mishandled the puck in his own zone and coughed up a slow-moving glider right into the slot where Haas swooped in, faked a shot and got Halak to open up his five-hole before slipping the rubber biscuit through the opening to tie the game, 1-1, at 7:41.

    Haas’ goal was unassisted.

    Moments later, Zdeno Chara was guilty of a phantom holding call against Joakim Nygard (it could’ve been interference or a trip, but the eye test didn’t show much of a hold) at 12:03.

    Edmonton didn’t capitalize on the skater advantage, but they did capitalize on another soft goal in the dying seconds of the second period.

    Darnell Nurse (3) flung a shot from a bad angle just before the goal line and the puck snuck between Halak and the post on the short side– giving the Oilers their first lead of the night, 2-1, in the process.

    Draisaitl (41) had the only assist on Nurse’s goal at 19:53.

    The two teams went back to their dressing rooms with Edmonton ahead of Boston, 2-1, on the scoreboard and, 19-15, in shots on goal after 40 minutes of action.

    The Oilers also dominated in giveaways (9-5), hits (22-20) and faceoff win% (56-44), while the Bruins held the advantage in blocked shots (12-7) and takeaways (7-2).

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

    Oilers captain, Connor McDavid, emerged from the second intermission fresh with energy as Zack Kassian setup the Edmonton phenom on a breakaway less than two minutes into the third period.

    McDavid (23) scored on Halak while Kampfer chased after Kassian and Chara trailed behind the play– giving Edmonton a two-goal lead.

    Kassian (15) and Ethan Bear (10) had the assists on McDavid’s goal and the Oilers led, 3-1, at 1:48.

    Bear followed up his secondary assist with a high sticking infraction at 4:02, but the Bruins weren’t able to capitalize on their third power play opportunity of the afternoon.

    Then a large swath of the third period was filled with Boston firing pucks at the net only to be stopped by Smith and no other events on the scoresheet until 2:51 remaining in regulation when Cassidy pulled Halak for an extra attacker.

    Edmonton nearly scored seconds later, but hit the outside part of the twine and thus play rolled on uninterrupted.

    With 1:35 left in the game, Boston used their timeout in effort to rally a comeback, but it was too late for the Bruins as Draisaitl (24) pocketed the empty net goal at 19:51 to seal the deal on a, 4-1, win for the Oilers.

    Edmonton won, 4-1, despite being outshot by Boston, 36-26– including a season-high 21 shots on goal for the Bruins in the third period alone.

    The Oilers left TD Garden with the final result and the advantage in giveaways (11-8), hits (31-29) and faceoff win% (56-44), while the B’s suffered the loss despite being even in blocked shots, 14-14.

    Boston finished the matinee matchup 1/3 on the power play, while Edmonton went 0/2 on the advantage.

    The Bruins fell to 15-4-2 when leading after the first period, 4-6-4 when trailing after two periods and 17-6-7 when scoring the game’s first goal this season.

    Boston finished their two-game homestand (0-1-1) and travels to Nashville to face the Predators next Tuesday. The Bruins return home for a Thursday night (Jan. 9th) matchup with the Winnipeg Jets before venturing on the road to visit the New York Islanders on Jan. 11th, the Philadelphia Flyers on Jan. 13th and the Columbus Blue Jackets on Jan. 14th.