Down the Frozen River

Tag: Ondrej Kase

  • Bergeron’s game-winner lifts B’s over Canes, 4-3, in 2OT

    Patrice Bergeron ended things much earlier on Wednesday than the National Hockey League’s 4th longest playoff game Tuesday night, but it took double overtime to reach the, 4-3, victory for the Boston Bruins over the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 1 of their 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs First Round matchup.

    Tuukka Rask (1-2 in three games played, 2.41 goals against average, .909 save percentage this postseason) made 25 saves on 28 shots against for an .893 SV% in the double overtime win for the Bruins at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario.

    Hurricanes goaltender, Petr Mrazek (2-1 in three games played, 2.09 GAA, .922 SV% this postseason) stopped 36 out of 40 shots faced for a .900 SV% in the loss.

    Game 1 for Boston and Carolina was delayed from Tuesday night at 8 p.m. ET until Wednesday morning at 11 a.m. ET due to Tuesday afternoon’s Game 1 matchup between the Columbus Blue Jackets and Tampa Bay Lightning requiring five overtime’s to determine a winner (Lightning, 3-2– puck drop was at 3:00 p.m. ET, but the game ended at 9:22 p.m. ET).

    The Hurricanes were without Justin Williams and Sami Vatanen in their lineup as both players were ruled “unfit to play” by Carolina’s head coach, Rod Brind’Amour, about 20 minutes before puck drop.

    On a positive note for Canes fans, Dougie Hamilton was back in action for Carolina after sustaining an injury that kept him out of Carolina’s Qualifier between breaking his left fibula in Columbus on Jan. 16th and Wednesday’s Game 1 against Boston.

    Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made no changes to his lineup from last Sunday’s, 2-1, loss to the Washington Capitals in Boston’s final Round Robin game to Game 1 against Carolina, while Brad Marchand took sole possession of seventh place in franchise history for most playoff games as a Bruin in his 112th career playoff game– surpassing Rick Middleton– at puck drop.

    Boston’s long list of healthy scratches on Wednesday included Zach Senyshyn, Par Lindholm, John Moore, Maxime Lagace, Urho Vaakanainen, Jakub Zboril, Jack Studnicka, Connor Clifton, Dan Vladar, Trent Frederic and Karson Kuhlman.

    Boston and Carolina are meeting for the sixth time in the postseason. The Bruins hold the all time series advantage, 4-1, with 19 wins and 11 losses in the process entering Wednesday.

    The B’s beat the Hartford Whalers in seven games in the 1990 Adams Division Semifinal and in six games in the 1991 Adams Division Semifinal, then beat the Hurricanes after the Whalers relocated to North Carolina in six games in the 1999 Eastern Conference Quarterfinal.

    In the last 20 years, however, the Hurricanes defeated the Bruins in seven games in the 2009 Eastern Conference Semifinal, while Boston swept Carolina in four games in the 2019 Eastern Conference Final.

    The Hurricanes made the playoffs after sweeping the New York Rangers in three games in their 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifier series– marking back-to-back postseason appearances for Carolina for the first time since 2001-2002.

    The B’s beat the Canes in the season series 1-0-0 in one prior meeting (a, 2-0, shutout victory for Jaroslav Halak and the Bruins on Dec. 3rd) before the ongoing pandemic shortened the 2019-20 regular season.

    Nino Niederreiter caught Torey Krug with an elbow and presented the Bruins with the game’s first power play at 3:24 of the first period.

    Carolina’s penalty killing unit successfully kept Boston off the scoreboard, however, and did not allow a power-play goal against.

    Almost midway into the opening frame, the Bruins recorded the first shot on goal of the game at 7:03.

    A couple of minutes later, Charlie McAvoy tripped up Morgan Geekie and presented the Hurricanes with a power play opportunity at 9:25, but the Canes did not convert on the ensuing skater advantage.

    Fear not, however, as Carolina had swung enough momentum in their favor for the game’s first goal after Warren Foegele broke into the attacking zone.

    Foegele moved the puck to Sebastian Aho, who then cycled it over to Teuvo Teravainen before No. 86 in white and red set up Joel Edmundson (1) for the one-timer goal as Rask had to work laterally across the crease while his Bruins teammates lacked pressure in front of him and gave up the, 1-0, lead to the Hurricanes.

    Teravainen (2) and Aho (6) notched the assists on Edmundson’s first goal of the postseason at 13:02 of the first period.

    Late in the period, however, Bergeron won a faceoff back to Marchand in the offensive zone, whereby Marchand cycled the puck around the faceoff dot before making a quick pass to David Pastrnak (1) for a redirection in the slot past Mrazek– tying the game, 1-1, in the process.

    Marchand (1) and Bergeron (2) tallied the assists on Pastrnak’s goal at 17:45.

    After 20 minutes of play, the the score was tied, 1-1, with the Bruins outshooting the Hurricanes, 9-4.

    Carolina held the advantage in blocked shots (9-6), takeaways (1-0) and hits (18-11), however, while Boston led in giveaways (7-2) and faceoff win percentage (63-37) entering the first intermission.

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

    Ondrej Kase was assessed a minor penalty for holding against Hamilton at 1:42 of the second period and sent the Hurricanes back on the power play early in the middle frame.

    Once more, however, the Canes didn’t convert on the skater advantage, however– a pattern that became a trend all afternoon for both teams.

    Moments later, Charlie Coyle (1) buried a loose puck from point blank to give Boston a, 2-1, lead at 4:38 of the second period, except there was just one thing– nobody knew if there had been goaltender interference, a hand pass or if Mrazek had frozen the puck.

    Brind’Amour made it clear to Hurricanes beat reporters after his media availability that no official had clarified what was or wasn’t called on the ice and offered Carolina’s head coach to “pick one” if he was interested in challenging the ruling on the ice.

    After a failed coach’s challenge by Brind’Amour for a “missed stoppage in the offensive zone”, the call on the ice (goal) was upheld and the Hurricanes were assessed a bench minor for delay of game.

    Brind’Amour’s comments regarding the “joke” of a league earned him a $25,000 fine from the NHL, by the way.

    In his defense, the league’s policy for clearly indicating and communicating what decision(s) have been made on calls by officials needs work (like, for instance, definitively making a call and alerting both coaches of exactly what call was made and options thereafter).

    While shorthanded, however, the Hurricanes benefitted from a blown play from Pastrnak when he tried to force a pass through the neutral zone that Brock McGinn (1) intercepted, made his own breakaway, waltzed into the attacking zone and scored on a backhand over Rask’s glove while Boston’s power play unit trailed behind.

    McGinn’s shorthanded goal tied the game, 2-2, at 4:59 of the second period– 21 seconds after Boston had taken their first lead since arriving in the bubble.

    Midway through the middle period, Andrei Svechnikov caught Pastrnak with a slash and was sent to the sin bin for two minutes at 11:54, but the Bruins didn’t score on the resulting power play.

    Shortly after returning to even strength action, the two teams dropped down to 4-on-4 play for a couple minutes after Jordan Staal and Coyle each received high sticking infractions for antagonizing one another at 14:07.

    Neither team had any issue and resumed full strength action at 16:07.

    Through 40 minutes of play, the score was tied, 2-2, while the Bruins were leading in shots on goal, 21-9.

    Boston held a, 12-5, advantage in shots on net in the second period alone and continued to lead in giveaways (12-6) and faceoff win% (63-37), while Carolina led in blocked shots (16-14), takeaways (5-2) and hits (28-17) entering the second intermission.

    The Hurricanes were 0/2 and the B’s were 0/3 on the power play heading into the final frame of regulation.

    Less than a minute into the third period, David Krejci (1) received a pass, deked and reached around Mrazek to put the Bruins back into the lead, 3-2.

    Kase (2) and McAvoy (2) collected the assists on Krejci’s goal at 59 seconds of the third period.

    Less than five minutes later, Jeremy Lauzon was guilty of holding against Niederreiter and was assessed a minor infraction at 5:12, but the Hurricanes were powerless on the ensuing skater advantage and couldn’t storm their way to a goal before Lauzon was released from the box.

    They did, however, swing momentum in their favor with sustained pressure in the third period and a shot from Haydn Fleury (1) that had eyes from the point and hit the twine while Carolina worked to screen Rask– tying the game, 3-3, at 9:49 of the third period.

    Vincent Trocheck (1) had the only assist on the goal and the score remained even at, 3-3, through the end of regulation.

    After 60 minutes of play– and for the second consecutive game in the Toronto bubble– overtime was necessary.

    The Bruins were outshooting the Hurricanes, 28-21, and leading in blocked shots (23-20), giveaways (17-9) and faceoff win% (53-48), while Carolina held the advantage in takeaways (8-4) and hits (39-24), as well as shots on goal in the third period alone (12-7).

    Both teams were 0/3 on the power play heading into the first overtime period.

    Midway through the first overtime, McAvoy briefly headed down the tunnel after an awkward collision and fall to the ice, but the Bruins defender made his return and missed little action in the extra frames.

    After letting the players play for quite some time, an official made a call against Carolina when Brady Skjei brought down Coyle with a hold at 18:24 of the overtime period.

    Boston’s power play would extend 24 seconds into the second overtime period, however, as the first overtime came to a close with no final result.

    The two clubs remained tied, 3-3, on the scoreboard, while the B’s led in shots on goal (39-27)– including an, 11-6, advantage in the first overtime alone– as well as blocked shots (29-28), giveaways (22-14) and faceoff win% (57-43).

    Meanwhile, Carolina continued to hold the advantage in takeaways (9-8) and hits (51-32) through 80 minutes of hockey.

    As there were no more penalties called in the game thereafter– and with Boston going scoreless on the power play that extended into the second overtime– the Canes finished 0/3 on the skater advantage, while the Bruins went 0/4 on the afternoon in power play tries.

    Shortly after Carolina killed off Skjei’s minor, however, the Bruins struck fast and ended the game with a quick zone entry from Marchand led to a pass to Pastrnak who then dished a backhand drop pass to Bergeron (1) for the shot that beat Mrazek on the far side, blocker side, and sealed the deal on a victory for Boston in Game 1.

    Pastrnak (1) and Marchand (2) tallied the assists on Bergeron’s game-winning double overtime goal that made the final result read, 4-3, in favor of the Bruins at 1:13 of the second overtime.

    The goal was Bergeron’s fourth career Stanley Cup Playoff overtime goal– the second most among active NHL players (Patrick Kane leads Bergeron with five playoff overtime goals)– and Bergeron’s first since double overtime in Game 3 of the 2013 Eastern Conference Final against the Pittsburgh Penguins on June 5, 2013.

    No. 37 in black and gold is now tied with 15 other NHLers for the fifth most career playoff overtime goals, while Joe Sakic’s eight Stanley Cup Playoff overtime goals remain the most all time (Maurice Richard had six and is second, while Glenn Anderson and Kane are tied for third with five).

    Bergeron also established a record for the most playoff overtime goals in Bruins franchise history, surpassing Mel Hill and Terry O’Reilly, who each had three Stanley Cup Playoff overtime goals in their careers with Boston.

    The league’s current longest tenured alternate captain also passed Johnny Bucyk for fourth among Bruins franchise leaders in all time playoff goals scored with 41.

    Cam Neely (55 playoff goals with Boston), Phil Esposito (46) and Rick Middleton (45) sit ahead of Bergeron in that statistical category.

    The Bruins finished the afternoon with the lead in shots on goal (40-28), blocked shots (30-28), giveaways (22-14) and faceoff win% (56-44), while the Hurricanes ended the game with the advantage in hits (51-32).

    Boston took the, 1-0, series lead with Game 2 scheduled for Thursday night at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario as part of the NHL’s Phase 4 Return to Play Eastern Conference bubble.

    Puck drop is scheduled for a little after 8 p.m. ET and fans in the United States can tune in on NBCSN, NESN or Fox Sports Carolinas, while those in Canada can catch the action on CBC, SportsNet or TVAS.

  • Capitals cap off Round Robin with, 2-1, win against Boston

    T.J. Oshie and Tom Wilson had the only goals for the Washington Capitals as they beat the Boston Bruins, 2-1, at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario in Sunday afternoon’s final Eastern Conference Round Robin matchup.

    Braden Holtby (1-1-1 in three games played, 1.98 goals against average, .925 save percentage this postseason) made 30 saves on 31 shots against for the .968 SV% in the win for the Capitals.

    Bruins goaltender, Tuukka Rask (0-2-0 in two games, 2.54 GAA, .917 SV% this postseason) stopped 23 out of 25 shots faced for a .920 SV% in the loss.

    Boston fell to 0-3-0 in the Round Robin tournament to determine the seeding for Eastern Conference matchups in the First Round of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs, while Washington improved to finish 1-1-1 in Round Robin action.

    As a result, the Caps will face the New York Islanders in the First Round, while the Bruins will square off with the Carolina Hurricanes in a rematch of the 2019 Eastern Conference Final.

    Ondrej Kase made his Round Robin debut for Boston in the club’s final matchup before the First Round of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs after missing their exhibition meeting with the Columbus Blue Jackets, as well as their two prior Round Robin matchups with the Philadelphia Flyers and Tampa Bay Lightning.

    Kase joined the team in Toronto a few days after the club arrived in time for Phase 4 of the NHL’s Return to Play plan began.

    Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci and Jaroslav Halak were all “unfit to participate” in practice on Friday, but rejoined the Bruins at practice on Saturday as expected after B’s head coach, Bruce Cassidy, tipped his hand to reporters in Friday’s media session.

    Cassidy made a few minor changes to his lineup from last Wednesday’s, 3-2, loss to the Lightning to Sunday’s matinee with the Capitals.

    Jake DeBrusk returned to the left side of the second line with Krejci at center and Kase on the right wing, while Nick Ritchie was bumped down to the left side on the third line with Charlie Coyle at center and Anders Bjork on the right side.

    On defense, Cassidy gave Matt Grzelcyk the afternoon off and slid Jeremy Lauzon in Grzelcyk’s place, while giving time to Connor Clifton on the right side of third defensive pairing.

    Boston’s long list of scratches on Sunday included Zach Senyshyn, Par Lindholm, John Moore, Maxime Lagace, Grzelcyk, Urho Vaakanainen, Jakub Zboril, Jack Studnicka, Dan Vladar, Trent Frederic and Karson Kuhlman.

    Almost midway into the opening frame, the Capitals finally recorded their first shot on goal at 9:09 of the first period after Boston spent much time in their attacking zone.

    Moments later, Washington defender, Dmitry Orlov, was penalized for holding Bruins forward, David Pastrnak, and the Bruins went on the power play for the first time of the afternoon at 13:34.

    Boston’s power play was powerless as Washington’s penalty kill was dominant and killed off Orlov’s minor.

    About a minute after Boston’s skater advantage came to an end, Clifton reacted to a slash from Evgeny Kuznetsov and the two players were sent to the penalty box at 17:11 of the first period– Clifton for cross checking, Kuznetsov for slashing.

    After two minutes of 4-on-4 action, the two teams resumed 5-on-5 play and the seconds ticked down towards the first intermission.

    Well, they would have anyway, if it weren’t for Oshie’s (1) lucky bounce and ensuing poke check that resulted in a, 1-0, lead for the Caps with 16 seconds remaining in the period.

    Rask made the initial save as the puck rebounded off his pad, then deflected off of Zdeno Chara’s stick right within reach of Oshie for the unassisted goal at 19:44.

    Washington entered the first intermission with the, 1-0, lead on the scoreboard, despite trailing Boston, 6-2, in shots on goal.

    The Capitals held the advantage in blocked shots (8-4) and hits (16-8), while the Bruins led in takeaways (4-2), giveaways (5-3) and faceoff win percentage (63-37) entering dressing room after 20 minutes of action.

    The B’s were 0/1 on the power play, while the Caps had yet to be on the advantage heading into the middle frame.

    Ilya Kovalchuk kicked off the second period with a hooking infraction against Torey Krug at 2:31 of the middle period, yielding the second power play of the game to the Bruins.

    Once more, however, Boston’s power play was ineffective.

    Almost midway through the middle frame, Brandon Carlo hooked Jakub Vrana at 7:01 of the second period and presented the Capitals with their first skater advantage of the game.

    Washington did not convert on the ensuing power play, however.

    A little over eight minutes later, DeBrusk was penalized for holding the stick at 15:29– sending the Capitals on their second power play of the game.

    Washington wasn’t able to convert on the skater advantage, though, and play resumed at even strength once Boston’s penalty kill successfully killed off DeBrusk’s minor infraction.

    At the end of the period, Sean Kuraly and Oshie got into a bit of a heated exchange that didn’t result in fisticuffs, but yielded matching roughing minor penalties– officially at 20:00 of the second period.

    The two teams would start the final frame 4-on-4 for two minutes before resuming 5-on-5 action.

    Through 40 minutes of action, the Capitals led, 1-0, on the scoreboard and trailed the Bruins, 16-15, in shots on goal despite holding the advantage in shots on net in the second period alone, 13-10.

    Washington also held the advantage in blocked shots (12-8) and hits (22-19), while Boston led in takeaways (8-4), giveaways (13-5) and faceoff win% (61-39).

    Both teams were 0/2 on the power play heading into the dressing room for the second intermission.

    Washington jumped out to a two-goal lead early in the final frame thanks to Wilson’s (1) quick break into the attacking zone and lob shot over Rask’s glove side from point blank.

    Ilya Kovalchuk (1) and Michal Kempny (1) tallied the assists on Wilson’s goal and the Capitals led, 2-0, at 2:49 of the third period.

    Almost midway through the third period, Charlie McAvoy tripped up Richard Panik and received a minor penalty for tripping at 7:29, but the Caps didn’t get a power play out of the infraction as Panik was sent to the sin bin as well with an embellishment minor.

    After two minutes at 4-on-4, the score remained, 2-0, Capitals and the two teams resumed full strength action.

    Just past the midpoint of the third period, however, DeBrusk (1) one-timed a shot through Holtby’s five-hole while crashing the slot after stepping over the puck and receiving the pass from Kase.

    Kase (1) and Krejci (1) were credited with the assists and the B’s cut the lead in half, 2-1, at 10:30 of the third period.

    After that, nothing else happened.

    No goals, no penalties, but a bunch of saves by each goalie.

    With one minute remaining in the game, Rask vacated his net for the extra attacker, but even after Boston used their timeout after a stoppage with 34.3 seconds left in regulation, the Bruins couldn’t tie the game and force overtime.

    At the final horn, the Capitals had won, 2-1, and finished the afternoon leading in blocked shots (21-14) and hits (31-24).

    The Bruins finished the game leading in shots (31-25), giveaways (19-12) and faceoff win% (64-36).

    Both teams finished the afternoon 0/2 on the power play.

    The 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs First Round start Tuesday with the full schedule yet to be announced.

  • Lightning strike three times in, 3-2, win against Boston

    Is it really August or is it actually just Groundhog Day for the Boston Bruins? The B’s dropped another one, 3-2, to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday in their second game of the Round Robin tournament to determine the No. 1-4 seeds for the Eastern Conference in the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

    Andrei Vasilevskiy (2-0-0, 1.92 goals against average, .933 save percentage in two games) turned aside 25 out of 27 shots faced for a .926 SV% in the win for the Lightning.

    Meanwhile, Bruins goaltender, Tuukka Rask (0-1-0, 3.10 GAA, .914 SV% in one game) made 32 saves on 35 shots against for a .914 SV% in the loss at the NHL’s Eastern Conference bubble– Scotiabank Arena– in Toronto, Ontario.

    Entering Wednesday, Patrice Bergeron had a day off at practice on Monday, which Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, later clarified to reporters was just a maintenance day, while Rask was back to practice on Monday and returned to the lineup against the Lightning.

    Rask mentioned at his media conference call after Monday’s practice that he spent a couple of days quarantined in his hotel room after having a cough and needed to have two negative tests for COVID-19 in order to return.

    “I had a cough so I just clicked ‘yes’ on the app and then all kinds of red lights started blinking so I was quarantined for two days. They wanted to do two negative tests after that,” Rask explained to reporters via Zoom.

    Nick Ritchie was also back in the lineup after missing last Sunday’s, 4-1, loss against the Philadelphia Flyers, while Ondrej Kase was ruled out of Wednesday’s action against Tampa, but should be good to go against Washington, according to Cassidy.

    As a result, Cassidy switched up his middle lines from last Sunday’s matchup with the Flyers to Wednesday’s meeting with the Lightning.

    Ritchie took to David Krejci’s left wing with Karson Kuhlman on the other side, while Anders Bjork was on the left side of Charlie Coyle on the third line– with Jake DeBrusk serving as the right winger.

    The Bruins made no other changes to their lineup.

    Meanwhile, Zach Senyshyn, Par Lindholm, John Moore, Kase, Maxime Lagace, Urho Vaakanainen, Jakub Zboril, Jack Studnicka, Connor Clifton, Dan Vladar and Trent Frederic served as Boston’s scratches.

    Jon Cooper’s Lightning were without their captain, Steven Stamkos, in the lineup once again. Stamkos has yet to make his Round Robin debut for the Bolts (with their last matchup before the First Round against Philadelphia set for Saturday).

    Less than a minute into the action, Jeremy Lauzon was caught trailing Blake Coleman and hooked the Lightning forward, resulting in a power play for the Bolts 43 seconds into the first period.

    Tampa was not able to convert on the ensuing skater advantage, however.

    Brayden Point (2) slipped a loose puck through Rask’s five-hole after Rask made the initial save and follow up stop, while the Bruins scrambled to defender after blowing a pair of chances to score at the other end.

    Ondrej Palat (1) and Nikita Kucherov (1) tallied the assists on Point’s goal and the Lightning led, 1-0, at 7:33 of the first period.

    A few minutes later, the Bruins had too many skaters on the ice and were assessed a bench minor for doing so at 10:19. Ritchie served the bench infraction, but Tampa’s power play struck fast.

    Alex Killorn (1) redirected a shot with the back of his skate blade after the puck deflected off of Sean Kuraly’s stick initially off a shot from teh point by Lightning defender, Victor Hedman.

    Hedman (1) and Tyler Johnson (1) notched the assists on the goal and the Bolts led, 2-0, at 10:32.

    Late in the period, chaos ensued as both teams took issue with one another– culminating in Torey Krug and Coleman exchanging fisticuffs at 17:07, and continuing almost 90 seconds later when Point and Charlie McAvoy shared an embrace and with it roughing minor penalties.

    Point earned two roughing infractions, while McAvoy was only charged with one at 18:25, yielding the first power play of the game for Boston, but the Bruins couldn’t hit the twine in the dying minutes of the opening frame.

    After one period of play, the Lightning led, 2-0, on the scoreboard, but the B’s held the advantage in shots on goal, 9-8.

    Boston held the advantage in blocked shots (6-2), but Tampa had the edge in just about every other statistical category, including takeaways (4-1), hits (13-11) and faceoff win percentage (61-39).

    Both teams had one giveaway aside, while the Bolts were 1/2 on the power play and the B’s were 0/1 heading into the first intermission.

    Early in the middle frame, Coleman was penalized for interference when he brought down Kuraly while crashing the net at 4:37 of the second period, but (in what was a trend for the afternoon) Boston’s power play wasn’t able to convert on the advantage.

    Late in the period McAvoy (1) one-timed a shot from the point on a pass from Krug off a faceoff win by Bergeron and cut Tampa’s lead in half.

    Boston was on the board, 2-1, while Krug (1) and Bergeron (1) picked up their first points of the Round Robin games at 16:43.

    Entering the second intermission, Tampa was ahead, 2-1, on the scoreboard and, 19-18, in shots on goal– including an, 11-9, advantage in the second period alone.

    The Lightning led in blocked shots (11-7) and takeaways (5-3) after 40 minutes of action, while the Bruins held the advantage in giveaways (7-3), hits (26-19) and faceoff win% (63-38).

    Tampa remained 1/2 on the power play, while Boston dropped to 0/2 on the skater advantage.

    Chris Wagner (2) tapped in a loose puck after Zdeno Chara fired a shot that leaked through Vasilevskiy at 1:47 of the third period and the Bruins tied the game, 2-2.

    Chara (1) and Kuraly (1) had the assists on Wagner’s goal and Boston swung momentum in their favor– only until about the midpoint of the final frame.

    Kucherov tripped Wagner at 5:13 of the third period, but the Bruins didn’t convert on the skater advantage.

    Midway through the third, Barclay Goodrow caught Bjork with a charge and was assessed a minor penalty at 10:19. Once more, Boston’s power play couldn’t get anything going and did not convert on the advantage.

    From there, momentum shifted back to Tampa as the Bruins let rush after rush enter their own zone.

    Yanni Gourde threw the puck on net, Rask made an initial pad save, but Johnson (1) scored on the rebound while Brandon Carlo was trailing behind the play and Krug was defending the other side where the Lightning entered the zone.

    Gourde (1) and Killorn (1) collected the assists on Johnson’s game-winning goal and the Bolts grabbed the, 3-2, lead at 18:33 of the third period– with just enough time to hold off any last ditch efforts from Boston.

    Cassidy pulled his netminder for an extra attacker with about 1:15 remaining, but it was to no avail as the final horn sounded and the Lightning won, 3-2.

    The Bolts finished the afternoon leading in shots on goal (35-27) and blocked shots (16-10), while the B’s finished with the advantage in giveaways (11-10), hits (31-28) and faceoff win% (61-39).

    Tampa finished 1/2 on the skater advantage and Boston went 0/4 on the power play on Wednesday.

    The Bruins fell to 0-2-0 in the Round Robin action and can finish no better than 3rd in the seeding with a win against the Washington Capitals in any fashion on Sunday.

    Meanwhile, the Lightning can all but assure themselves of the No. 1 seed with a win in any fashion against the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday.

  • Flyers down Bruins, 4-1, in Round Robin action

    Four different goal scorers’ combined efforts lifted the Philadelphia Flyers over the Boston Bruins, 4-1, in the first game of Round Robin action in the 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifier and Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario on Sunday.

    Carter Hart (1-0-0 in one game played, 1.00 goals against average, .971 save percentage) made 34 saves on 35 shots faced for a .971 SV% in the win for the Flyers.

    Bruins goaltender, Jaroslav Halak (0-1-0 in one game played, 4.29 GAA, .862 SV%) made 25 saves on 29 shots against for an .862 SV% in the loss.

    Tuukka Rask did not practice on Saturday in either session and was ruled “unfit to play” in Sunday’s matinee against Philadelphia. As a result, Dan Vladar took part in warmups and was Halak’s backup for the Bruins.

    It was the first time since 2012, that a goaltender other than Rask started a postseason game for Boston. Tim Thomas started all seven games in their 2012 Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series loss to the Washington Capitals.

    Sunday also marked the first postseason start for Halak since 2015.

    Three Bruins made their NHL postseason debuts as Jack Studnicka, Jeremy Lauzon and Anders Bjork were all in the lineup for Boston.

    Ondrej Kase joined the team in Toronto on Saturday and practiced in the second group session for the Bruins and might be available in time for their next matchup against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday afternoon.

    Kase, along with Nick Ritchie and Rask, were the big names out of the lineup for Boston on Sunday, but they weren’t the only ones not on the ice for the action as the B’s had a long list of healthy scratches including, Zach Senyshyn, Par Lindholm, John Moore, Maxime Lagace, Urho Vaakanainen, Jakub Zboril, Connor Clifton and Trent Frederic (Kevan Miller was not included on the Phase 3 and 4 roster and Steven Kampfer opted out of Phase 3 and 4 action).

    Meanwhile, Zdeno Chara skated in his 183rd career postseason NHL game, which is the second-most among active NHL players– trailing Pittsburgh Penguins forward, Patrick Marleau (192 Stanley Cup Playoff games and counting).

    Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy kicked things off with Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak as his usual first line, while Jake DeBrusk, David Krejci and Studnicka rounded out his top-six forwards.

    Bjork was on the third line with Charlie Coyle and Karson Kuhlman, while Joakim Nordstrom, Sean Kuraly and Chris Wagner were reunited as the fourth line trio after they were split among the bottom-six forwards in Boston’s, 4-1, exhibition loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets last Thursday.

    On defense, Cassidy opted for Chara alongside Charlie McAvoy, Torey Krug paired with Brandon Carlo and Matt Grzelcyk partnered with Lauzon.

    Almost midway through the opening frame, Michael Raffl slashed Bjork and presented Boston with the first power play of the afternoon at 8:51 of the first period.

    The Bruins did not convert on the ensuing skater advantage.

    Moments later, Krejci cut a rut to the box after hooking Travis Konecny at 14:41, but Philadelphia’s power play was powerless– a trend that would suit both teams all afternoon.

    At 19:08, Carlo was sent to the sin bin for tripping Tyler Pitlick, but despite the skater advantage overlapping with part of the second period, the Flyers were unsuccessful at finding the back of the net while the B’s were shorthanded.

    Through 20 minutes of action in Toronto, the Bruins and Flyers were still tied, 0-0, with Boston holding the advantage in shots on goal, 12-6.

    The Bruins also led in hits (9-7), while the Flyers led in takeaways (3-0) and faceoff win percentage (67-37).

    Both teams had seven blocked shots aside and four giveaways apiece.

    Philadelphia was 0/2 and Boston was 0/1 on the power play heading into the middle frame.

    Raffl (1) broke through Boston’s defense as Lauzon was caught out of position, deked and flipped the puck high over Halak to give Philly the game’s first goal and the game’s first lead, 1-0, at 5:33 of the second period.

    Travis Sanheim (1) had the only assist on Raffl’s tally, while the Bruins looked gassed as Raffl scored the goal on a shift lasting over a minute for Bergeron, Marchand, Krug and Lauzon.

    Then, moments later, Nate Thompson (1) rushed in with a burst of speed– catching the B’s behind the play again and sent the puck over Lauzon while the Bruins defender inadvertently screened his own goaltender.

    The rubber biscuit had eyes as it floated over Lauzon, over Halak’s blocker side, off Halak’s stick and into the twine behind the Boston netminder to extend Philadelphia’s lead to two goals.

    Raffl (1) and Ivan Provorov (1) notched the assists on Thompson’s goal and the Flyers led, 2-0, at 9:31 of the second period.

    Eight seconds later, Robert Hagg was chasing Bjork and penalized for interference at 9:39, but Boston wasn’t able to muster anything on the scoreboard while on the skater advantage.

    Late in the period, Wagner (1) collected a garbage goal and cut Philadelphia’s lead in half, 2-1, at 18:51.

    Nordstrom (1) and McAvoy (1) had the assists on Boston’s only goal of the afternoon, but the momentum the B’s generated was short-lived. Really short-lived.

    Eight seconds after Wagner made it a one-goal game, Philippe Myers (1) made it a two-goal lead for the Flyers once more after he broke free from the neutral zone while Chara was tripped up and left his netminder short a defender.

    Myers sniped a shot over Halak and just under the crossbar and made it, 3-1, Philly at 18:59 of the middle frame.

    Jakub Voracek (1) had the only assist on the goal.

    After two periods, the Flyers led, 3-1, on the scoreboard, but trailed the Bruins, 20-17, in total shots on goal– despite outshooting Boston, 11-8, in the second period alone.

    Philly also held onto the advantage in blocked shots (14-9), takeaways (5-0) and faceoff win% (53-47), while the Bruins led in giveaways (8-5) and hits (23-16).

    Both teams were 0/2 on the power play entering the final frame.

    At 4:07 of the third period, Scott Laughton (1) fired a shot over Halak’s glove after sneaking through Boston’s defense after Carlo bungled a pinch and Krug was left trailing the Flyers forward.

    Kevin Hayes (1) was credited with the only assist on Laughton’s goal and Philadelphia led, 4-1.

    Boston recorded their first shot on net in the third period at 9:39, before going on the power play 61 seconds later after Matt Niskanen caught Pastrnak with a high-stick at 10:40.

    The Flyers killed off Niskanen’s minor infraction with ease, then Raffl and Lauzon collided near the boards, resulting in an awkward collapse to the ice for Raffl that left the Philadelphia forward with an apparent lower body injury– requiring assistance off the rink from the trainer and one of his Flyers teammates.

    Laughton tried to spar with Lauzon, but the two players each received slashing minors and 10-minute misconducts at 13:48 of the third period.

    Studnicka served Lauzon’s minor, while James van Riemsdyk served Laughton’s minor infraction as well. Both teams skated at 4-on-4 for two minutes before resuming full strength.

    With about 3:30 remaining in regulation, Cassidy pulled Halak for an extra attacker, but it was to no avail.

    In the closing minutes, Krug and van Riemsdyk got tangled up, latched onto each other and received holding minors at 18:31– ending their nights early.

    At the final horn, the Flyers had won, 4-1, and finished the afternoon leading in blocked shots (16-11) and faceoff win% (53-47), while the Bruins led in shots on goal (35-29), giveaways (10-7) and hits (28-25).

    Philadelphia finished the game 0/2 on the skater advantage, while Boston went 0/3 on the power play.

    The two teams will remain in the Toronto bubble until the Bruins take on the Tampa Bay Lightning at 4 PM ET on Wednesday and the Flyers take on the Washington Capitals on Thursday. Both games will be at Scotiabank Arena as the NHL’s postseason plan rolls on while the threat of the pandemic lurks outside each and every day.

  • Rask, Bruins, shutout Flyers, 2-0

    The Boston Bruins snapped the Philadelphia Flyers’ nine-game winning streak with a, 2-0, shutout at Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday night.

    Tuukka Rask (26-8-6 record, 2.12 goals against average, .929 save percentage in 41 games played) made 36 saves en route to the shutout victory for the Bruins on his 33rd birthday.

    It was also his 5th shutout of the season and the 50th in his NHL career.

    Flyers goaltender, Carter Hart (24-13-3, 2.43 GAA, .913 SV% in 42 games played), stopped 27 out of 29 shots faced for a .931 SV% in the loss.

    Boston improved to 44-14-12 (100 points) on the season and became the first team to reach the 100-point plateau this season, while Philadelphia fell to 41-21-7 (89 points) and remained in 2nd place in the Metropolitan Division.

    The B’s also improved to 22-10-3 on the road this season.

    The Bruins were without the services of Kevan Miller (knee), Brandon Carlo (upper body) and Torey Krug (upper body) in Philadelphia.

    Miller has yet to make his season debut and has missed all 70 games this season.

    Meanwhile, Connor Clifton returned to the lineup for the first time since being injured in a game on Dec. 29th against Buffalo.

    B’s head coach, Bruce Cassidy, adjusted his defensive pairings with his usual second pair on the blue line out of the action on Tuesday.

    Matt Grzelcyk and Jeremy Lauzon were moved up to the second pairing, while John Moore and Clifton slid into the third pairing role with Moore on the left side and Clifton on the right side.

    Anders Bjork and Anton Blidh were the only healthy scratches for Boston against the Flyers.

    There were no other lineup changes from Saturday night’s, 5-3, loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning to Tuesday night’s matchup in Philadelphia.

    Tuesday night also marked the 400th career NHL game for Bruins winger, Joakim Nordstrom.

    Chris Wagner tripped Shayne Gostisbehere and presented the Flyers with their first power play opportunity of the night at 6:20 of the first period.

    Philadelphia did not convert on the ensuing skater advantage.

    Almost ten minutes later, Brad Marchand cut a rut to the sin bin for holding Jakub Voracek at 16:06 and the Flyers didn’t score on the resulting power play.

    Late in the opening frame, Ivan Provorov caught Ondrej Kase with a high stick at 19:50, but Boston did not convert on their first power play of the game– despite the advantage carrying over into the second period.

    Heading into the first intermission, the Bruins and Flyers were still tied, 0-0, on the scoreboard, despite Philadelphia holding the advantage in shots on goal, 12-8.

    Boston held the advantage in blocked shots (5-2) and hits (9-7), while Philly led in takeaways (2-1), giveaways (5-4) and faceoff win percentage (61-39) after one period.

    The Flyers were 0/2 and the B’s were 0/1 on the power play entering the middle frame.

    Past the midpoint of the second period, Marchand went back to the box for holding against Sean Couturier at 14:12.

    Once more, Philadelphia was not able to convert on the skater advantage as Rask and Boston’s penalty kill stood tall.

    Less than a minute after the two clubs resumed even strength action, Justin Braun was penalized for interference at 16:55 of the second period.

    Late in the ensuing power play, Boston worked the puck around in the attacking zone with an umbrella formation.

    David Krejci tossed the puck to David Pastrnak who gave it to Grzelcyk (4) for the shot from the point that beat Hart to give the Bruins the first lead of the night, 1-0, on the skater advantage.

    Grzelcyk’s power play goal was assisted by Pastrank (47) and Krejci (30) at 18:39 of the second period.

    Through 40 minutes of action in Philly, the Bruins led the Flyers, 1-0, on the scoreboard, despite Philadelphia holding a, 24-12, advantage in shots on goal.

    Entering the second intermission, Boston led in blocked shots (11-7), while the Flyers led in takeaways (4-3), giveaways (10-6), hits (16-13) and faceoff win% (62-39).

    Philadelphia was 0/3 and Boston was 1/2 on the power play heading into the final period.

    Late in the final frame of regulation, Patrice Bergeron (31) received a pass, broke into the attacking zone and wristed a shot over Hart’s blocker side to make it, 2-0, for the Bruins at 14:40 of the third period.

    Marchand (59) and Zdeno Chara (9) notched the assists on Bergeron’s goal and the B’s had their insurance marker for the victory.

    Just 20 seconds later, the Flyers were on the penalty kill as a result of Scott Laughton catching Pastrnak with a high stick at 15:00 of the third period, but Boston wasn’t able to convert on their last power play of the night.

    With 2:40 remaining in the game, Flyers head coach, Alain Vigneault, pulled his goaltender for an extra attacker, but Philadelphia couldn’t find a way to breakthrough Boston’s defense and goaltender.

    At the final horn, the B’s had won in Philly and defeated the Flyers for the first time in their last five regular season meetings.

    Boston won, 2-0, despite trailing in shots on goal, 36-29.

    The Bruins finished the night leading in blocked shots (12-11) and hits (23-22), while Philadelphia wrapped the night up with the advantage in giveaways (15-12) and faceoff win% (62-38).

    The Flyers finished 0/3 on the power play, while Boston went 1/3 on the skater advantage.

    With the win, Boston became the first team to reach the 100-point plateau and marked the third consecutive season of 100 points or more in a season for Cassidy in his third full-season with the club.

    Meanwhile, the Bruins improved to 26-7-8 (14-5-2 on the road in that span) when scoring the game’s first goal, 14-2-6 (7-1-0 on the road) when tied after one period, 28-1-6 (16-1-2 on the road) when leading after two periods and 17-4-5 (8-3-2 on the road) when being outshot this season.

    The Flyers, on the other hand, fell to 13-14-3 (5-3-4 at home) when allowing the game’s first goal, 17-3-3 (12-3-2 at home) when tied after one period, 2-21-4 (2-6-2 at home) when trailing after two periods and 22-15-4 (15-5-2 at home) when outshooting their opponent this season.

    Boston wraps up their two-game road trip (1-0-0) in Buffalo on Friday before returning home to face the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday and hosting the Columbus Blue Jackets next Monday (March 16th).

    The Bruins then venture out to California for their annual West Coast road trip.

  • Bolts top B’s in, 5-3, fight filled action

    It was fight night at TD Garden on Saturday as the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Boston Bruins, 5-3, in a game that had over 90 penalty minutes and multiple brawls.

    Andrei Vasilevskiy (35-13-3 record, 2.57 goals against average, .917 save percentage in 51 games played) made 35 saves on 38 shots against (.921 SV%) in the win for the Lightning.

    B’s netminder, Tuukka Rask (25-8-6, 2.18 GAA, .926 SV% in 40 games played) stopped 20 out of 24 shots faced for an .833 SV% in the loss.

    Tampa took the season series 3-1-0 and improved to 43-20-5 (91 points), but the Bolts remain 2nd in the Atlantic Division to the Bruins who are now 43-14-12 (98 points) on the season, as well as 22-4-9 on home ice.

    The Bruins were without the services of Kevan Miller (knee), Connor Clifton (upper body) and Brandon Carlo (upper body) on Saturday night.

    Prior to the game, however, Clifton was activated from the injured reserve, which means he’ll likely be back in the lineup sometime next week if all goes well at practice.

    Karson Kuhlman was reassigned to the Providence Bruins (AHL) to make way for Clifton’s activation.

    With Carlo out of the lineup, John Moore took over the right side of the second defensive pairing with Torey Krug, while Bruce Cassidy made two minor changes among his forward lines from Thursday night’s, 2-1, overtime victory in Florida to Saturday night’s battle with the Lightning.

    Cassidy moved Sean Kuraly up to the right wing of the third line with Jake DeBrusk and Charlie Coyle, while shifting Chris Wagner down to the right side of the fourth line with Joakim Nordstrom at left wing and Par Lindholm at center.

    Anders Bjork and Anton Blidh served as Boston’s healthy scratches against Tampa.

    Early in the opening frame, Barclay Goodrow delivered a blow to Bruins forward, Ondrej Kase, with the elbow and received a minor infraction at 5:01 of the first period.

    The ensuing power play for Boston was disastrous as the B’s allowed two shorthanded goals before Goodrow was allowed to return to the ice.

    First after Patrice Bergeron won the faceoff in the direction of the point, Anthony Cirelli (16) snuck in and stole the loose puck, skated to the opposite zone and sniped a shot past Rask on the blocker side for an unassisted shorthanded goal at 5:08 of the first period– giving Tampa the game’s first lead, 1-0.

    Cirelli’s goal marked the 19th time this season that Boston gave up the game’s first goal on home ice.

    Almost a minute later, Yanni Gourde worked the puck from deep in the corner to Mikhail Sergachev (10) in the low slot for the one-timer past Rask’s glove side.

    Gourde (18) had the only assist on Sergachev’s goal and the Bolts led, 2-0, at 6:10 of the opening period.

    After Goodrow returned to the ice from the penalty box, Wagner tried to engage No. 19 in blue and white in a fight for the actions Goodrow took against Kase in the first place that Wagner did not think highly of, but the two only tugged and grabbed at each other before the officials intervened and handed out matching unsportsmanlike conduct minors at 8:39.

    The game shifted to 4-on-4 for two minutes until the minor penalties would expire.

    Seconds after the two players emerged from the box, Wagner and Goodrow dropped the gloves in an agreed upon exchanging of the fisticuffs at 10:45 in what was the 19th fight this season for the Bruins and 12th since Jan. 1st.

    Moments later, Braydon Coburn was guilty of holding DeBrusk and presented Boston with their second power play opportunity of the night at 12:20.

    This time the Lightning didn’t score any shorthanded goals.

    Tampa got their first chance on the power play at 19:14 of the first period when Jeremy Lauzon was sent to the box for interfering with Pat Maroon.

    The Bolts did not score on the skater advantage, despite its overlap into the second period.

    After 20 minutes of action in Boston, the Lightning led, 2-0, on the scoreboard, despite the Bruins leading in shots on goal, 14-5.

    Tampa also held the advantage in blocked shots (8-6), takeaways (3-1), hits (12-5) and faceoff win percentage (64-36).

    Both teams had two giveaways aside, while the Bolts were 0/1 on the power play and the B’s were 0/2.

    Cedric Paquette (7) kicked off the second period with a goal to make it, 3-0, for Tampa after Boston’s defense was caught out of position and the Lightning forward snuck into the slot for a one-timer from point-blank.

    Zach Bogosian (6) and Coburn (3) had the assists on Paquette’s goal at 6:50 of the middle frame and the Lightning thundered their way to three unanswered goals for a three-goal lead.

    Past the midpoint of the second period, four Lightning skaters took a chance to jump one Bruins player while said player tried to play the puck along the wall.

    That player was Brad Marchand– whether it was justified or not– and a scrum ensued as all ten skaters on the ice piled on top of one another.

    Cirelli and Marchand both headed for the sin bin with matching roughing minors– meaning the two teams would once again spend a couple of minutes skating 4-on-4 at 14:13 of the second period.

    While on the ensuing even-strength, 4-on-4, action, Charlie McAvoy (5) snuck up on a rush with Coyle and DeBrusk and beat Vasilevskiy on the glove side to put Boston on the scoreboard and cut into Tampa’s lead.

    Coyle (21) and Matt Grzelcyk (17) tallied the assists on McAvoy’s goal as the Bruins trailed, 3-1, at 14:50.

    Almost four minutes later, Kuraly (6) poked a loose puck in the crease just over the goal line before Point was able to scoop it back out from the net and into play without any officials on the ice picking up on the fact that a goal had indeed been scored.

    As play continued for about 90 additional seconds, the video room in Toronto signaled to TD Garden that there had been a goal on the play and instructed the arena to use the siren to indicate an overrule by the video room.

    But as that happened, all hell broke loose.

    McAvoy (27) and Kase (17) were credited for the assists on Kuraly’s goal at 18:37 as Kuraly got entangled in a line brawl that resulted in a misconduct for No. 52 in black and gold and a list of penalties for players on the ice and even a Lightning staff member on the bench!

    The Bruins trailed, 3-2, as Zdeno Chara fought Maroon (each received five minutes for fighting), Erik Cernak and Kuraly traded misconducts and Tampa was assessed a bench minor for delay of game and a game misconduct for Todd Richards’ verbal abuse of an official at 18:37 of the second period.

    The chaos didn’t end after the already lit fuse had sparked once more.

    At the end of the second period, more shoves were exchanged and words shouted, leaving Marchand with a slashing minor against Blake Coleman, a misconduct for Coleman and a misconduct for Nick Ritchie at 20:00.

    Heading into the second intermission, Tampa led on the scoreboard, 3-2, but trailed Boston in shots on goal, 26-15.

    The B’s held the advantage in blocked shots (14-10) and giveaways (7-4) after 40 minutes of play, while the Lightning led in takeaways (5-3), hits (25-20) and faceoff win% (63-38).

    Boston was 0/4 on the power play and Tampa was 0/1 on the skater advantage heading into the final frame.

    Just 68 seconds into the third period, Alex Killorn (26) tipped a shot from the blue line past Rask under the Boston goaltender’s blocker and into the twine to make it, 4-2, for the Bolts.

    Killorn’s power play goal was assisted by Sergachev (24) and Point (39) at 1:08 of the third period and was not challenged despite initial concern from Rask that Killorn’s stick might have been above the crossbar.

    Almost four minutes later, Nikita Kucherov cross checked Grzelcyk and was sent to the box at 5:48.

    This time the Bruins capitalized on the skater advantage with a one-timed power play goal from the point by David Pastrnak (48) to make it a one-goal game.

    Krug (40) and Marchand (58) notched the assists on Pastrnak’s goal at 6:37 of the third period and the B’s cut Tampa’s lead to, 4-3.

    About two minutes later, Bergeron sent the puck out of play without touching anything else and received an automatic delay of game minor penalty– in addition to a roughing minor after Goodrow and several other skaters on the ice met for one last rouse.

    Krug and Mitchell Stephens joined Bergeron in the box with roughing minors, while the Lightning went on the power play one last time at 8:43 of the final frame.

    Moments later, Tyler Johnson hauled Kase down with a hook, but Kase was also hit by an unsportsmanlike conduct infraction for embellishing the penalty in the officials’ eyes and presented both sides with more 4-on-4 action at 13:10 of the third period.

    With 1:48 left in the game, Cassidy pulled his goaltender for an extra attacker, but it was too little, too late as Jon Cooper’s Lightning outmatched Boston’s last-ditch effort.

    David Krejci misplayed the puck while skating out of his own zone into the neutral zone and gave the rubber biscuit directly to Kucherov (33) for the empty net goal at 18:58– sealing the deal on Tampa’s, 5-3, victory over the Bruins in Boston.

    At the final horn, the Bolts had won, despite finishing the night trailing in shots on goal, 38-25.

    Boston wrapped up Saturday night’s loss with the advantage in blocked shots (19-14) and giveaways (11-6), while Tampa led in hits (30-26) and faceoff win% (57-43).

    The Lightning finished the night 1/2 on the skater advantage and the Bruins went 1/4 on the power play in the game.

    Boston fell to 18-7-4 when allowing the game’s first goal (10-2-3 at home in that span), 6-7-3 when trailing after one period (4-2-2 at home in that span) and 5-11-4 (5-4-3 at home in that span) when trailing after two periods this season.

    Tampa, on the other hand, improved to 30-9-2 (13-5-2 on the road) when scoring the game’s first goal, 23-2-3 (11-2-2 on the road) when leading after one period and 31-1-4 (14-0-2 on the road) when leading after two periods this season.

    The B’s begin a two-game road trip in Philadelphia on Tuesday (March 10th) before traveling to Buffalo next Friday (March 13th).

    The Bruins then return home to face the Toronto Maple Leafs next Saturday (March 14th) and host the Columbus Blue Jackets on March 16th before heading out to visit the three California teams later that week.

    The Flyers, in the meantime, are on a nine-game winning streak and host the Bruins on Tuesday at Wells Fargo Center.

  • Krug’s rocket leads Bruins to, 2-1, win in OT in Florida

    Torey Krug and the Boston Bruins pulled off a, 2-1, comeback win in overtime against the Florida Panthers on Thursday night at BB&T Center.

    Bruins goaltender, Jaroslav Halak (18-6-6 record, 2.39 goals against average, .919 save percentage in 31 games played), made 32 saves on 33 shots against for a .970 SV% in the win.

    Florida netminder, Chris Driedger (5-2-1, 2.29 GAA, .932 SV% in 10 games played) stopped 26 out of 28 shots faced for a .929 SV% in the overtime loss.

    The B’s improved to 43-13-12 (98 points) on the season and remain in command of the Atlantic Division, while the Panthers fell to 33-26-8 (74 points) and stuck in 4th place in the Atlantic.

    Boston improved to 21-10-3 on the road this season, as well.

    The Bruins were without the services of Kevan Miller (knee) and Connor Clifton (upper body) on Thursday night, while head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made one change to his lineup among his forwards– moving Sean Kuraly back to center the fourth line with Anders Bjork replacing Par Lindholm at left wing.

    Lindholm was joined by John Moore, Anton Blidh and Karson Kuhlman in the press box as Boston’s healthy scratches in Florida.

    Midway through the opening frame, Ondrej Kase awkwardly collided with Evgenii Dadonov, leaving Kase on his hands and knees and (somehow) a minor penalty for tripping Dadonov at 11:41 of the first period.

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

    A few minutes later, after Nick Ritchie tried to mix things up with Dadonov for the incidental contact with Kase that sent Kase down the tunnel before re-emerging from Boston’s dressing room moments after Jake DeBrusk served Kase’s minor for tripping Dadonov– Ritchie went square dancing with Riley Stillman.

    The two players exchanged fisticuffs and received five-minute majors for fighting at 14:35 in what was the 18th fight this season for Boston– and the 11th since Jan. 1st.

    It was Ritchie’s first fight in 46 personal games played this season and Stillman’s second fighting major in 33 personal games this season.

    Less than a minute to go in the first period, Mike Matheson tripped up Brad Marchand and was sent to the penalty box as a result at 19:01.

    Boston did not convert on their first skater advantage of the night.

    Heading into the first intermission, the game was still tied, 0-0, while the Bruins led in shots on goal, 12-4.

    The Panthers held the advantage in takeaways (8-4), hits (9-6) and faceoff win percentage (67-33), while the B’s led in giveaways (6-4).

    Both teams had six blocked shots aside and were 0/1 on the power play.

    Early in the middle frame, MacKenzie Weegar (6) kicked things off with a one-timer from the point that beat Halak over the blocker with net front screen by Lucas Wallmark.

    Brett Connolly (14) and Wallmark (13) had the assist’s on Weegar’s goal and Florida jumped out to a, 1-0, lead at 6:55 of the second period.

    Moments later, Dadonov threw an errant elbow on a reverse check in the corner, leaving Bruins defender, Brandon Carlo dazed as he was helped off the ice.

    Carlo did not return to the game and was ruled out by Boston’s public relations team with an upper body in a tweet during the third period.

    Dadonov was originally assessed a five-minute major penalty on the play, but a review lessened the infraction to two-minutes for elbowing at 10:46 of the second period.

    The 30-year-old forward is a pending-unrestricted free agent at season’s end and has 25-21–46 totals in 67 games with the Panthers this season and has never been fined or suspended in his National Hockey League career (2009-12, 2017-present).

    As a result of Thursday night’s loss, Florida is still four points outside of a playoff spot.

    Boston’s power play unit didn’t take long while Dadonov was in the box to capitalize on the skater advantage as Krug rocketed a shot from the point that Patrice Bergeron (30) tipped in to reach the 30-goal plateau for the sixth time in his career (2003-present).

    In doing so, Bergeron became the sixth Bruin in franchise history to record at least six 30-goal seasons, joining Phil Esposito (eight 30-goal seasons with Boston), Rick Middleton (eight), Johnny Bucyk (seven), Cam Neely (six) and Peter McNab (six).

    Krug (39) and Marchand (57) notched the assists on Bergeron’s power play tally at 11:00 of the middle frame and the Bruins tied the game, 1-1.

    Less than a minute later, Boston was back on the power play as Aleksander Barkov tripped up DeBrusk at 11:48, but the B’s weren’t able to convert on their third power play of the night.

    Shortly after the Panthers killed off Barkov’s infraction, Florida went on the power play after Marchand caught Mike Hoffman with a hook at 15:06.

    The Panthers didn’t score on the advantage, however.

    With 1:59 remaining in the period, Anton Stralman took a puck to the face off an inadvertent deflection, but remained in the game.

    Through 40 minutes of action at BB&T Center, the Bruins and Panthers were tied, 1-1, on the scoreboard with Florida holding an edge in shots on goal, 19-17.

    Boston led in blocked shots (10-8), hits (16-14) and faceoff win% (57-43), while Florida led in takeaways (10-8) and giveaways (11-9).

    The Panthers were 0/2 on the advantage, while the Bruins were 1/3 on the power play heading into the second intermission.

    Frank Vatrano slashed Jeremy Lauzon at 2:04 of the third period and was sent to the sin bin as a result, but Boston’s power play was cut short when Charlie Coyle tripped Stralman at 2:58.

    The two sides escaped 4-on-4 action unharmed, but upon Vatrano’s re-admittance to the game, No. 77 in Panthers red and blue played the puck while one of his legs was still in the penalty box– resulting in an automatic interference minor penalty at 4:06.

    Once more, the two clubs skated at 4-on-4 even strength until David Pastrnak got his stick between the legs of Barkov and brought down the Florida captain at 4:54 of the third period.

    The Panthers emerged with an abbreviated power play after the two sides went through 4-on-4 action again, but Florida remained powerless on the power play.

    At the end of regulation, the score remained tied, 1-1, and the Panthers led in shots on goal, 31-24.

    Florida maintained the advantage in takeaways (12-10) and hits (24-21), while Boston led in faceoff win% (53-48).

    Both teams had 14 blocked shots and 14 giveaways aside.

    As there were no penalties called in overtime, the Panthers finished the night 0/4 on the power play, while the Bruins went 1/4.

    In overtime, Florida’s head coach, Joel Quenneville, opted to start Barkov, Hoffman and Aaron Ekblad, while Cassidy countered the Panthers’ trio with Coyle, DeBrusk and Charlie McAvoy.

    Late in the five-minute overtime period, after both teams swapped chance for chance, Pastrnak worked to retrieve a puck along the end boards that was sent in by Krug.

    No. 88 in black and gold sent a pass back to Krug at the point, where No. 47 then wound up and blasted a slap shot past Driedger to end the game in overtime.

    Krug’s (9) goal was assisted by Pastrnak (46) and David Krejci (29) at 4:08 of the overtime period and lifted the Bruins over the Panthers, 2-1.

    Boston finished the game with victory on the scoreboard, but trailed Florida in shots on goal, 33-28.

    The Panthers also held the advantage in giveaways (15-14) and hits (24-22), while the Bruins led in faceoff win% (52-48).

    Both teams finished with 14 blocked shots each.

    Florida fell to 2-4 in overtime this season and 4-8 overall past regulation, while Boston improved to 6-2 in overtime and 6-12 past 60 minutes overall in the regular season.

    The Bruins improved to 13-2-6 (6-1-0 on the road) when tied after the first period, 18-6-4 (8-5-1 on the road) when giving up the game’s first goal and 11-2-2 (6-2-0 on the road) when tied after two periods this season.

    Meanwhile, the Panthers fell to 11-9-4 (4-5-2 at home) when tied after the first period, 25-5-4 (14-2-3 at home) when scoring the game’s first goal and 2-4-4 (0-3-2 at home) when tied after two periods this season.

    Boston wrapped up their three-game road trip (3-0-0) on Thursday and plays host to the Tampa Bay Lightning at TD Garden on Saturday.

  • Rask, Bruins, shutout Islanders, 4-0

    Four different players scored a goal in a, 4-0, shutout for the Boston Bruins over the New York Islanders at NYCB Live on Saturday afternoon.

    Tuukka Rask (24-7-6 record, 2.16 goals against average, .928 save percentage in 38 games played) had a 25-save shutout in the win for Boston.

    It was the fourth shutout of the season for Rask and the 49th shutout of his career.

    New York goaltender, Semyon Varlamov (19-13-5, 2.55 GAA, .917 SV% in 42 games played) stopped 26 out of 30 shots faced for an .867 SV% in the loss.

    Boston improved to 41-13-12 (92 points) and remained in command of the Atlantic Division, while New York fell to 35-21-8 (78 points) on the season and stuck in 4th place in the Metropolitan Division.

    The B’s also improved to 19-10-3 on the road this season and have won their last ten games in Long Island.

    The Bruins were without Kevan Miller (knee), Connor Clifton (upper body) and Chris Wagner (upper body) on Saturday.

    Boston’s head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made two changes to his lineup, replacing Anders Bjork on the third line right wing with Karson Kuhlman, as well as Wagner with Joakim Nordstrom on the fourth line.

    Bjork joined John Moore and Anton Blidh on the list of healthy scratches for Boston against the Islanders.

    Saturday marked the 200th career NHL game for Ondrej Kase and the first game on Feb. 29th for the B’s since they hosted the Ottawa Senators on Feb. 29, 2000 (a, 5-3, loss).

    Early in the action, David Pastrnak (47) rocketed a shot into the twine from about the point after Andy Greene knocked Patrice Bergeron into Varlamov and Varlamov had enough time to reset.

    Islanders head coach, Barry Trotz, didn’t make a fuss over the call on the ice and the Bruins jumped out to the, 1-0, lead at 4:30 of the first period.

    Torey Krug (36) and Brandon Carlo (15) notched the assists on Pastrnak’s goal.

    Midway through the opening frame, Jeremy Lauzon was cut and headed down the tunnel to receive some stitches before returning ahead of the second period.

    Moments later, Matt Grzelcyk (3) wasn’t going to be denied a second time by Varlamov as the Bruins defender fired a shot from the point that deflected off of Islanders defender, Johnny Boychuk, in the high slot and past the New York netminder.

    Brad Marchand (56) and Charlie McAvoy (25) tallied the assists on Grzelcyk’s goal and the B’s led, 2-0, at 13:10.

    It was Grzelcyk’s first goal since Nov. 19th in New Jersey.

    About a minute later, Nick Ritchie caught Anthony Beauvillier without the puck and was sent to the box with an interference infraction at 14:31.

    New York did not convert on their first power play of the afternoon.

    Pastrnak followed things up with a tripping minor of his own at 18:57, but the Islanders were once again unsuccessful on the skater advantage to close out the first period.

    After one period fo play at NYCB Live, the Bruins led the Islanders, 2-0, on the scoreboard and, 11-8, in shots on goal.

    Boston also held the advantage in blocked shots (7-5), takeaways (2-1) and faceoff win percentage (60-40), while New York led in giveaways (6-4) and hits (10-4).

    The Isles were 0/2 on the power play and the B’s had yet to see any time on the skater advantage entering the first intermission.

    Almost midway through the second period, Leo Komarov tripped up Par Lindholm and was sent to the penalty box at 8:20 of the middle frame.

    Boston’s ensuing power play became a 5-on-3 advantage for 32 seconds when Cal Clutterbuck caught Pastrnak with a high stick at 9:48 of the second period.

    The Bruins did not score on the advantage.

    After a few minutes of full strength action, the B’s began a run of minor penalties when Zdeno Chara slashed Mathew Barzal and was sent to the box at 14:32.

    Boston killed off Chara’s minor, but was back on the penalty kill when Ritchie retaliated against Boychuk and delivered a quick, swift, cross check to the Islanders defender at 18:02.

    Once more, however, New York did not score on the ensuing advantage.

    Through 40 minutes of play at NYCB Live, the Bruins led the Islanders, 2-0, on the scoreboard and, 23-12, in shots on goal.

    Boston also held the advantage in blocked shots (15-13), takeaways (5-2) and faceoff win% (55-45), while New York led in giveaways (14-10) and hits (15-8).

    Neither team had a power play goal through two periods as the Islanders were 0/4 on the skater advantage and the Bruins were 0/2.

    Midway through the final frame of regulation, Bergeron sent Marchand behind the net where Marchand (27) wrapped around the goal and slid a backhand shot through Varlamov’s five-hole while the Islanders goaltender had his paddle down.

    Bergeron (25) and McAvoy (26) had the assists on Marchand’s goal and the Bruins extended their lead to, 3-0, at 11:06 of the third period.

    Pastrnak responded to some tactics that he didn’t approve of and got into a bit of an exchange with Komarov almost three minutes later, but only Pastrnak received a roughing minor at 13:47.

    Once more, the Islanders were unsuccessful on the ensuing advantage– despite Trotz’s best efforts at turning a 5-on-4 power play into a 6-on-4 by pulling his goaltender with about 5:12 in the game.

    The Isles’ two-skater advantage was short lived as Barzal hooked McAvoy at 14:54 and presented both teams with 4-on-4 action for 54 seconds before the Bruins had an abbreviated power play.

    While on the ensuing short skater advantage, McAvoy skated into the attacking zone with the puck and sent a quick pass to Krug.

    Krug then skated around the net and sauced a pass back to McAvoy (4) for the one-timer goal from the faceoff circle to make it, 4-0, for the B’s while on the power play.

    McAvoy’s power play goal was assisted by Krug (37) and David Krejci (28) at 16:26 of the third period and capitalized a three-point game (one goal, two assists) for No. 73 on Boston’s blue line.

    Finally, Lauzon was penalized for holding Komarov at 18:47, but the Islanders weren’t able to score on their sixth power play opportunity of the afternoon.

    At the final horn, the Bruins had won, 4-0, and improved to 13-3-0 in their last 16 games.

    Boston finished Saturday afternoon’s matchup leading in shots on goal (30-25), blocked shots (23-17) and faceoff win% (51-49), while New York led in giveaways (21-13) and hits (26-14).

    The Isles went 0/6 on the power play and the B’s went 1/3 on the skater advantage.

    The Bruins improved to 24-7-8 when scoring the game’s first goal, 23-5-3 when leading after the first period and 26-1-6 when leading after two periods this season.

    Meanwhile, the Islanders are now 12-14-4 when allowing the game’s first goal, 8-10-2 when trailing after one period and 5-17-2 when trailing after two periods this season.

    Boston wrapped up the month of February against the Islanders on Saturday and begins the month of March in Tampa on Tuesday (March 3rd). The Bruins conclude their current three-game road trip (1-0-0) on Thursday, March 5th with a game against the Florida Panthers. 

  • New B’s help Bruins over Stars, 4-3

    The Boston Bruins beat the Dallas Stars, 4-3, Thursday night at TD Garden in a game that had a little bit of everything.

    Jaroslav Halak (17-6-6 record, 2.44 goals against average, .917 save percentage in 30 games played) turned aside 31 out of 34 shots faced for a .912 SV% in the win for the Bruins.

    Stars goaltender, Ben Bishop (21-14-4, 2.49 GAA, .921 SV% in 42 games played), made 24 saves on 28 shots against for an .857 SV% in the loss.

    Boston improved to 40-13-12 (92 points) on the season and remain in command of 1st place in the entire league, while Dallas fell to 37-21-6 (80 points) on the season, but remained in 3rd place in the Central Division.

    The B’s also improved to 22-3-9 at home this season.

    The Bruins were without the services of Kevan Miller (knee) and Connor Clifton (upper body) on Thursday.

    New acquisition, Ondrej Kase, made his Boston debut on the second line with David Krejci at center and Nick Ritchie at left wing.

    As a result, Bruce Cassidy moved Jake DeBrusk down to the third line left wing with Charlie Coyle and Anders Bjork– just like how he swapped DeBrusk and Ritchie during Tuesday night’s, 5-2, loss to the Calgary Flames.

    Cassidy made no other changes to the lineup, while Joakim Nordstrom, John Moore, Anton Blidh and Karson Kuhlman served as Boston’s healthy scratches against Dallas.

    Midway through the opening frame, Tyler Seguin tripped up Chris Wagner and was assessed a minor in fraction at 13:07 of the first period.

    Boston did not score on the ensuing power play– their first skater advantage of the night.

    Moments later, Matt Grzelcyk hooked Radek Faksa and was sent to the penalty box at 17:04.

    Dallas converted on the resulting power play when John Klingberg snapped a shot from the point that looked was tipped in by Jamie Benn (19) for his 300th career goal.

    Klingberg (25) and Joe Pavelski (16) had the assists on Benn’s goal, which made it, 1-0, for Dallas at 17:38.

    Benn became the fourth player in Dallas/Minnesota North Stars franchise history to amass at least 300 career regular season goals, joining Mike Modano (557 career goals), Brian Bellows (342) and Dino Ciccarelli (332).

    It marked the 18th time this season that Boston gave up the game’s first goal on home ice and the fifth straight game that Boston’s opponent scored first– regardless of the building.

    Less than a minute later, Andrew Cogliano was punished for slashing Coyle and sent to the sin bin at 18:18.

    While on the ensuing power play, Torey Krug sent a shot on goal from the point that rebounded off of Bishop and into Coyle’s strikezone whereby Coyle (16) batted the puck out of the air and into the twine for the home run power play goal.

    Krug (35) and Brad Marchand (55) tallied the assists and the B’s tied the game, 1-1, at 19:44 of the first period.

    Entering the first intermission, the score was even at, 1-1, while the Bruins led the Stars in shots on goal, 10-9.

    Boston also held the advantage in faceoff win percentage (53-47), while Dallas led in blocked shots (5-3), takeaways (3-1) and hits (9-8).

    Both teams had three giveaways each.

    The Stars were 1/1 on the power play and the Bruins were 1/2 on the skater advantage heading into the middle period.

    Things came to a crescendo when Krejci and Pavelski dropped the gloves and exchanged fisticuffs at 11:24 of the second period.

    The two players each received five-minute majors for fighting and play continued without any other major disruptions.

    A few minutes later, Charlie McAvoy tossed a pass from about the goal line to Marchand (26) in the slot for a point blank one-timer.

    McAvoy (24) and David Pastrnak (44) had the assists on Marchand’s goal and the Bruins led for the first time of the night, 2-1, at 14:44.

    Less than a couple minutes later, Boston went up by two-goals as Ritchie (9) scored his first goal as a Bruin after snapping a shot from the high slot through net front traffic, off of Seguin and past Bishop.

    Ritchie’s goal was unassisted and made it, 3-1, for the Bruins at 16:01 of the second period.

    Late in the period, Wagner tackled Mattias Janmark after a whistle in defense of a teammate, but received a roughing minor for his retaliatory actions at 18:49.

    Dallas didn’t score on the ensuing power play.

    Through 40 minutes of action, Boston was in command of the scoreboard, 3-1, and in shots on goal, 22-19.

    The Bruins also led in blocked shots (8-7), takeaways (4-3), giveaways (11-9) and faceoff win% (54-46), while the Stars held the advantage in hits (19-16).

    Both teams were 1/2 on the power play heading into the third period.

    Wagner wasn’t available to start the third period for the Bruins and later deemed “unlikely to return” to the game with an “upper body injury” by Boston’s media team.

    Meanwhile, Dallas cut Boston’s lead in half, 3-2, after Esa Lindell fired a shot that deflected off of Denis Gurianov’s (19) stick, then off of Krug’s leg and past Halak at 1:18 of the third period.

    Lindell (20) and Jason Dickinson (12) had the assists on Gurianov’s goal.

    Boston responded with a goal of their own when Pastrnak broke into the attacking zone on a rush with Ritchie, sent Ritchie a pass, then received a shot that Pastrnak (46) intentionally redirected into the open twine.

    Ritchie (12) and Jeremy Lauzon (1) notched the assists on Pastrnak’s goal and the B’s led, 4-2, at 3:53.

    Stars head coach, Rick Bowness, pulled Bishop for an extra attacker with less than three minutes remaining in the game.

    After Marchand missed the open net from just inside the blue line, Dallas charged down the length of the ice and sustained pressure in the attacking zone, while Boston was forced to defend.

    Miro Heiskanen (8) ripped a shot that rebounded off of Halak, but clipped Bruins captain, Zdeno Chara’s, skate at just the right angle to bounce off of the Bruin and slip between the post and the Boston goaltender to make it a one-goal game.

    Benn (18) and Seguin (33) tallied the assists on Heiskanen’s goal, but the Bruins still led, 4-3, at 17:36 of the third period.

    Dallas pulled their goaltender once more with 1:58 remaining in regulation, but despite their best efforts, Boston’s defense wasn’t about to make the same mistake twice and held on to the, 4-3, victory at the final horn.

    The Bruins won, 4-3, but finished the night trailing in shots on goal to the Stars, 34-28.

    Dallas also wrapped up Thursday night with the advantage in hits (28-25) and faceoff win% (51-49), while Boston finished the game leading in blocked shots (14-9).

    Both clubs had 11 giveaways and were 1/2 on the power play on Thursday.

    The Bruins are now 12-2-6 when tied after one period and 25-1-6 when leading after two periods this season.

    The Stars are 9-8-4 when tied after one period and 9-16-1 when trailing after two periods this season.

    Boston wrapped up their two-game homestand (1-1-0) on Thursday and finishes the month of February on the road against the New York Islanders on Saturday afternoon.

  • DTFR Podcast #183- Loyalty Loyalty Loyalty

    DTFR Podcast #183- Loyalty Loyalty Loyalty

    Nick talks a little about why Joe Thornton didn’t get traded and the moves the Boston Bruins made leading to the trade deadline.

    Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and/or on Spotify. Support the show on Patreon.