Tag: Rick Middleton

Bruins first line bedevils New Jersey, 5-1

The Boston Bruins are flirting with the 100-point plateau this season after their 5-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on Thursday.

Boston can reach 100 points on the season in Saturday night’s tango with the Florida Panthers as the B’s roll on with their four-game road trip.

Patrice Bergeron had two goals in Thursday’s effort, while David Pastrnak, Danton Heinen and David Backes each added a goal and Brad Marchand had three assists for Boston.

Drew Stafford had the lone goal for the Devils.

Tuukka Rask (26-10-5 record, 2.35 goals against average, .918 save percentage in 42 games played) made 21 saves on 22 shots against (.955 SV%) in the win for the Bruins.

New Jersey goaltender, Cory Schneider (5-12-3, 3.18 GAA, .898 SV% in 23 GP) stopped 22 out of 26 shots faced for an .846 SV% in the loss after entering Thursday night, 3-1-1, in his last five home games.

The Bruins improved to 45-20-9 (99 points) on the season and in control of 2nd place in the Atlantic Division, while the Devils fell to 27-39-9 (63 points) and remain last (8th) in the Metropolitan Division.

Boston also improved to 17-13-6 on the road this season, 30-6-5 when scoring first this season and 27-1-3 when leading after two periods.

Bruce Cassidy told reporters he wasn’t going to make any changes to his lineup for Boston on Thursday, while also informing them that Kevan Miller (upper body), Marcus Johnasson (lung contusion) and Matt Grzelcyk (upper body) would all be joining the club in Florida on Friday.

There’s a chance all three skaters rejoin the lineup for Saturday night’s matchup against the Florida Panthers.

Meanwhile, Torey Krug (concussion) skated on his own after morning skate on Thursday, but is not yet ready to return to game action.

Paul Carey served as the only healthy scratch for the Bruins on Thursday.

Late in the first period, Bergeron (29) scored the game’s first goal after the B’s alternate captain received a pass from Pastrnak and buried the puck while Schneider was caught in desperation behind the play– diving across the crease.

Pastrnak (36) and Marchand (57) had the assists on Bergeron’s goal and the Bruins led, 1-0, at 18:34 of the first period.

After 20 minutes of play, Boston led, 1-0, on the scoreboard and was tied in shots on goal with New Jersey, 7-7.

The Devils led in blocked shots (5-2), giveaways (6-0) and hits (13-6), while the Bruins held the advantage in takeaways (5-2) and face-off win percentage (67-33). Neither team had yet to see time on the power play entering the first intermission.

Almost midway through the second period, Steven Santini cross checked Pastrnak and was assessed a two-minute minor penalty at 8:58.

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

A couple of minutes after the power play expired, Pastrnak (32) made it a two-goal game with a goal shortly after the Bruins won a face-off in the offensive zone at 12:58 of the second period.

Marchand (58) and Bergeron (41) tallied the assists on Pastrnak’s goal and the B’s led, 2-0.

For the 2nd consecutive game, the Bruins increased their lead to two-goals after scoring the first goal of the game.

Almost two minutes later, former Bruin, Stafford (3) got a quick one-timer past Rask as the Boston goaltender dove across the crease a la Schneider back in the first period after the Bruins flubbed an attempt to clear the puck out of the defensive zone.

Stafford’s goal– his first in 35 games– cut the lead in half, 2-1, and was assisted by Pavel Zacha (7) at 14:51 of the second period.

Zacha had his first point for the Devils in his first game back since missing the last 16 games due to injury.

Through 40 minutes of play, Boston led, 2-1, on the scoreboard and, 16-15, in shots on goal. Boston also maintained an advantage in face-off win% (67-33), while New Jersey led in blocked shots (11-4), giveaways (8-0) and hits (23-11).

Both teams managed five takeaways aside after two periods and the Bruins were 0/1 on the power play entering the second intermission.

Sean Kuraly blocked a shot less than a minute into the third period and the puck caromed off the Bruins forward back into the neutral zone and onto Heinen’s stick blade.

Heinen (10) beat Schneider high on the blocker side on the ensuing breakaway 29 seconds into the third period.

Boston led, 3-1, thanks to Heinen’s goal. Kuraly (13) was tabbed with the only assist in the effort.

Less than a minute later, Blake Coleman was penalized for interference at 1:21 of the third period.

Boston’s resulting power play was cut short when Pastrnak committed his own interference infraction at 3:01.

Despite an abbreviated skater advantage for New Jersey after a brief 21 seconds of 4-on-4 action, the Devils did not score on their only power play of the night.

Travis Zajac hooked Bergeron at 7:11 and served a two-minute minor penalty, but the B’s did not capitalize on their third and final power play opportunity of the evening.

With about two minutes left in regulation, Devils head coach, John Hynes, pulled his goaltender for an extra attacker.

Bergeron (30) pocketed the empty net goal– his second goal of the game– for Boston from the neutral zone at 18:42, while Marchand (59) and David Krejci (45) were credited with the assists.

With his 30th goal of the season, Bergeron reached the 30-goal plateau for the 5th time in his 15-year NHL career and for the first time in back-to-back seasons.

He became the 4th player to record at least three 30-goal seasons after age 30 in Bruins franchise history, joining Johnny Bucyk (7x), Phil Esposito (4x) and Rick Middleton (3x).

Bergeron also became the 3rd 30-goal scorer for Boston this season, joining his linemates, Pastrnak and Marchand, as the Bruins have now had at least three players with 30 or more goals in consecutive seasons since last season.

Marchand, meanwhile, became the first Bruins player to record 90-plus points in a season (31-59–90 totals) since Marc Savard did so with 22-74–96 totals in 2006-07.

With almost 20 seconds left in regulation, Backes (6) fired a shot past Schneider’s glove from near the goal line along the boards to make it a four-goal lead for Boston, 5-1.

Noel Acciari (7) had the only assist on Backes’ first goal in 23 games.

At the final horn the Bruins secured the, 5-1, victory and finished the night leading in shots on goal (27-23), as well as face-off win% (53-47).

New Jersey capped off Thursday night leading in blocked shots (15-7), giveaways (9-1) and hits (26-14).

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

Boston is now 2-0-0 on their current four-game road trip and outscoring their opponents, 10-1.

The Bruins head to Florida on Saturday and Tampa next Monday before returning home to face the New York Rangers on March 27th. Boston hosts the Florida Panthers on March 30th before traveling to Detroit on the 31st to close out the month.

March 21, 2019

Game of the week: November 26-December 2

If you’re the proud owner of an NHL-themed Advent calendar, hopefully you’ve got it ready to go for the official first day of the Christmas season this Sunday. As for the rest of us that don’t have such a beautiful possession, we’ll just have to use the NHL’s schedule.

Speaking of, here’s this week’s offerings:

NHL SCHEDULE: November 26-December 2
TIME (ALL TIMES EASTERN)	VISITOR	HOST	NATIONAL BROADCAST(S)/ Result
Monday, November 26
7 p.m.	Boston	Toronto	2-4
7 p.m.	New Jersey	Florida	3-4 (OT)
7 p.m.	Washington Capitals	New York Islanders	4-1
7 p.m.	Ottawa Senators	New York Rangers	2-4
7:30 p.m.	Columbus	Detroit	7-5
Tuesday, November 27
7 p.m.	San Jose	Buffalo	2-3 (OT)
7 p.m.	Ottawa	Philadelphia	4-3
7:30 p.m.	Carolina	Montréal	2-1
7:30 p.m.	Anaheim	Tampa Bay	3-1
8 p.m.	Colorado	Nashville	3-2
8 p.m.	Arizona	Minnesota	4-3
8 p.m.	Pittsburgh	Winnipeg	4-3
8 p.m.	Vegas	Chicago	8-3
9 p.m.	Dallas	Edmonton	0-1 (OT)
10 p.m.	Los Angeles	Vancouver	2-1 (OT)
Wednesday, November 28
7 p.m.	St. Louis	Detroit	3-4
7 p.m.	Anaheim	Florida	3-2
7:30 p.m.	San Jose	Toronto	3-5
9 p.m.	Dallas	Calgary	4-3 (OT)
9:30 p.m.	Pittsburgh	Colorado	3-6
Thursday, November 29
7 p.m.	New York Islanders	Boston Bruins	1-2 (SO)
7 p.m.	Minnesota	Columbus	2-4
7:30 p.m.	New York Rangers	Ottawa Senators	0-3
7:30 p.m.	Buffalo	Tampa Bay	4-5
8 p.m.	Arizona	Nashville	3-0
8 p.m.	Chicago	Winnipeg	5-6
9 p.m.	Los Angeles	Edmonton	2-3
10 p.m.	Vegas	Vancouver	4-3
Friday, November 30
7 p.m.	Buffalo	Florida	2-3 (OT)
7 p.m.	New Jersey	Washington	3-6
7:30 p.m.	Anaheim	Carolina	2-1 (OT)
9 p.m.	St. Louis	Colorado	3-2 (OT)
9 p.m.	Los Angeles	Calgary	1-4
Saturday, December 1
1 p.m.	San Jose	Ottawa	TVAS
4 p.m.	Dallas	Vancouver
7 p.m.	Toronto	Minnesota	CBC, SN1
7 p.m.	Detroit	Boston
7 p.m.	New York Rangers	Montréal Canadiens	SN, TVAS
7 p.m.	Tampa Bay	Florida
7 p.m.	Winnipeg	New Jersey	CITY, SN360
7 p.m.	Columbus Blue Jackets	New York Islanders
7 p.m.	Philadelphia	Pittsburgh	NHLN
8 p.m.	St. Louis	Arizona
8 p.m.	Chicago	Nashville
10 p.m.	Vegas Golden Knights	Edmonton Oilers	CBC, CITY, SN, SN1, SN360
Sunday, December 2
3 p.m.	Anaheim	Washington	SN
6 p.m.	Winnipeg Jets	New York Rangers
7 p.m.	Calgary	Chicago	NHLN
7 p.m.	San Jose	Montréal	RDS, SN, SN1
7 p.m.	Colorado	Detroit
10:30 p.m.	Carolina	Los Angeles

Nothing rings in the holiday season quite like a good rivalry, and there was more than a few of those to choose from this week. A total of three Original Six matchups were contested (Boston at Toronto, Detroit at Boston and the Rangers at Montréal), not to mention six more feuds with slightly little less history (Washington at the Islanders, St. Louis at Detroit, Los Angeles at Edmonton, Philadelphia at Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay at Florida and Colorado at Detroit).

In a similar strain, there were also three rematches from last season’s playoffs. Beyond the already mentioned rivalries that were contested last postseason, Colorado made the trip to Nashville in a rematch of the Western Quarterfinals on Tuesday, avenging their series loss with a 3-2 victory.

For those that get excited about player returns, no game is bigger than the Sharks’ trip to Ottawa this afternoon, as D Erik Karlsson will be making his premier visit back the arena he called home for the first nine seasons of his career.

Finally, two numbers are being retired this week, both by teams in the Eastern Conference. On Thursday, the Boston Bruins hoisted RW Rick Middleton‘s No. 16 to the TD Garden rafters before their game against the Islanders, while the New York Rangers are extending the same honor to LW Vic Hadfield‘s No. 11 before tomorrow’s tilt against Winnipeg.

As usual, there’s more than a few excellent options for this week’s featured contest. As to not slight either Hadfield or Middleton, we’ll intentionally show no preference to one or the other. Instead, I think we’ll make a trip to the Big Apple for a homecoming of a different variety to Karlsson’s.

Before you start scouring the Blue Jackets’ roster for players that have donned blue and orange in the past (spoiler alert: no active Jackets have played for the Isles), I should probably let you know that this matchup is not being featured for any sort of player return.

Instead, we’re more worried about the Islanders returning to Nassau Coliseum (officially NYCB Live: Home of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, but that’s an obnoxious mouthful that I’m not willing to type again), their original home arena from 1972-2015.

The list of Islanders events the Coliseum has witnessed is surely a long list, but nothing shines quite as bright as New York’s four consecutive Stanley Cup championships from 1980-83. In fact, the Isles boast an unbelievable 11-1 record at the Coliseum in Stanley Cup Finals games, surely among the league’s best of any team at any particular arena.

The Coliseum has seen some real greats of the game take to its ice. RW Mike Bossy, LW Clark Gillies, RW Bob Nystrom, D Denis Potvin, G Billy Smith and C Bryan Trottier were all members of the Isles’ Stanley Cup-winning rosters, not to mention fellow Hall of Famer C Pat LaFontaine, who donned the blue-and-orange from 1983-91.

The club has run into more than its fair share of troubles – including attendance, a stat in which the Islanders rank dead-last in the NHL by almost 2000 patrons – during its tenure at Barclays Center, but I’m optimistic that the team’s most devoted fans will have no trouble filling the almost 14,000-seat barn they used to call home.

However, one aspect where New York was expected to struggle this season was in its play on the ice. Without C John Tavares, the Islanders were expected to set up camp at the bottom of the NHL standings in a season focused on “Losing for Hughes.” Instead, new Head Coach Barry Trotz has led his team to a surprising 12-9-3 record that trails the rival Rangers by only one point (the Isles have two games in hand) for the East’s second wild card.

Looking more closely at their play over the last week (New York has posted a 2-1-1 record in its last four outings), the Islanders’ best player has been none other than 8-4-1 G Thomas Greiss. While his record may pale in comparison to 14-7-0 G Frederik Andersen‘s, Greiss boasts a .925 save percentage and 2.45 GAA for the entire season as a whole, not to mention managing a .924 save percentage and 2.31 GAA in his last three starts despite playing behind a defense that has yielded a (t)15th-worst 32.25 shots against per game since November 23.

Greiss owns a career 5-6-3 record against the Blue Jackets, due in large part to the current 0-3-1 skid he’s riding against tonight’s opposition dating back to February 25, 2017.

Speaking of the Blue Jackets, they enter tonight’s game with a solid 15-8-2 record that’s good enough for second place in the Metropolitan Division. Columbus has been riding high for the past month, as it has managed an impressive 8-2-2 record since November 4.

The main reason for that outstanding play has been the Jackets’ great defensive work. Led by RW Josh Anderson (2.9 blocks per game since November 4) and D Seth Jones (2.1 blocks per game during this run) – both of whom are tied at 10 takeaways apiece since November 4 – Columbus’ blue line has allowed only 30.42 shots against per game in its last 12 games, the 10th-best mark in the NHL in the past 27 days.

As might be expected, none are happier about that defensive play than 10-7-0 G Sergei Bobrovsky (yes, the goaltender is more appreciative than Head Coach John Tortorella – believe me). Behind this solid defense, Bobrovsky has posted a 7-1-0 record with an impressive .932 save percentage and 2.01 GAA – both numbers far better than his season marks of a .912 save percentage and 2.7 GAA.

This is the part where I usually pick my winner, but it should probably be stated that the real winners tonight are the Islanders fans getting to see a game in a historic venue designed to host an ice hockey game.

As for who will walk away with two points tonight, I’m strongly leaning towards Columbus. Both have netminders playing in peak form right now, but the Jackets boasting a defense keeping all but the best offerings away from Bobrovsky will likely be a major benefit to them this evening. Pair in the Jackets averaging 3.52 goals per game this season (compared to New York’s three goals per game), and any traveling fans from Ohio should leave happy.

December 1, 2018

That was Nifty! B’s retire Middleton’s No. 16, win in shootout, 2-1 over Islanders

Brad Marchand tied the game on the power play in the second period and Ryan Donato had the only goal in the shootout to secure the 2-1 victory for the Boston Bruins on Thursday at TD Garden against the New York Islanders.

Tuukka Rask (6-4-2, 2.54 goals against average, .917 save percentage in 12 games played) turned aside 28 out of 29 shots against (.966 SV%) in regulation and all four shots he faced in the shootout in the win for the Bruins.

Meanwhile, Robin Lehner (4-6-1, 2.79 GAA, .918 SV% in 12 GP) made 35 saves on 36 shots against in regulation (.972 SV%) and went three-for-four on shots against in the shootout in New York’s loss.

Prior to Thursday night’s matchup, Boston retired Rick Middleton‘s No. 16 and raised his jersey banner to the rafters in a ceremony that pushed back puck drop about an hour later than usual.

Middleton is the 11th player to have his jersey number retired by the Bruins, joining Nos. 2 (Eddie Shore), 3 (Lionel Hitchman), 4 (Bobby Orr), 5 (“Dit” Clapper), 7 (Phil Esposito), 8 (Cam Neely), 9 (Johnny Bucyk), 15 (Milt Schmidt), 24 (Terry O’Reilly) and 77 (Ray Bourque) in the rafters at TD Garden.

He ranks 3rd all-time in franchise history in goals (402) and 4th all-time in assists (898) with the Bruins, while leading the club record in shorthanded goals with 25 (Derek Sanderson had 24, Brad Marchand has 23) and spent 12 seasons with Boston from 1976-88 after being acquired in a trade with the New York Rangers.

One of the many highlights of the ceremony was when Middleton quipped in his speech about not inviting a lot of former teammates to his special night because he didn’t want to have too many men on the ice again (Middleton then gave a glance over to former Bruins head coach, Don Cherry, who was in attendance).

B’s fans alive during the 1979 Stanley Cup Playoffs will remember. Keep reading on if you don’t and/or weren’t alive then.

With Thursday night’s shootout victory, the Bruins improved to a 14-7-4 record (32 points) on the season. The Islanders fell to 12-9-3 (27 points) on the year.

Prior to the matchup, Ryan Donato was recalled from a stint with the Providence Bruins (AHL), while Anders Bjork was assigned to Boston’s AHL affiliate after his less than stellar play just over a quarter of the way through the regular season.

Kevan Miller will be reevaluated after five weeks, having sustained a cartilage injury to the larynx, per Bruce Cassidy earlier in the week and Brandon Carlo may rejoin the Bruins blue line on Saturday against the Detroit Red Wings.

Charlie McAvoy remains out with a concussion, but participated in Thursday’s morning skate in a red non-contact sweater.

Cassidy inserted Donato on the third line in place of Bjork alongside Joakim Nordstrom and Noel Acciari, while the rest of the forwards remained unchanged.

On defense, however, Torey Krug was paired with Connor Clifton on the first pairing, John Moore played alongside Steven Kampfer and Jeremy Lauzon was matched with Matt Grzelcyk on the bottom defensive pair.

Zdeno Chara (lower body, left MCL), Patrice Bergeron (upper body) and Urho Vaakanainen (concussion) joined Carlo, McAvoy and Miller in the press box up on level nine out of the lineup with injuries.

Anders Lee (8) kicked off the game’s scoring past the midpoint of the first period, giving the Islanders a, 1-0, lead on a garbage goal in stereotypical fashion from Lee after an odd carom off the end boards went his way into the low slot.

Mathew Barzal (18) and Scott Mayfield (8) had the assists on Lee’s goal at 12:17 of the first period.

Entering the first intermission, the Bruins were outshooting New York, 13-7, and held an advantage in blocked shots (8-7), hits (15-13) and face-off win percentage (56-44). The Islanders led in takeaways (6-5) and both teams had three giveaways each.

Almost midway through the second period, Acciari tripped up Islanders forward, Anthony Beauvillier, and gave New York their first and only power play of the night at 8:05 of the second period. It was not successful.

Moments later, Nick Leddy, caught David Backes with a stick up high and received a minor infraction for high-sticking at 11:43. Boston converted on the ensuing power play thanks to the quick work of Krug to David Pastrnak and a cross-ice pass to Brad Marchand (7) for the one-timer past Lehner at 12:09 of the second period.

Marchand’s power play goal ended a seven-game goalless drought for No. 63 in black-and-gold and tied the game, 1-1. Pastrnak (10) and Krug (11) were credited with the assists and the score remained tied throughout the remainder of the period.

Heading into the dressing room for the second intermission, the score was tied, 1-1, and the Bruins led in shots on goal (25-16), as well as face-off win% (61-39). The Islanders had the advantage in takeaways (14-8), giveaways (9-7) and hits (26-22), while both teams had 11 blocked shots apiece.

New York went 0/1 on the power play on the night, while the B’s went 1/1.

Neither team could breakthrough on the scoreboard in the third period– or in overtime, for that matter– so here’s a quick glance at the stats from the back-and-forth battle over the final 20 minutes of regulation, plus five minutes of 3-on-3 overtime.

After Three: Shots on Goal, 34-27 BOS (9-7 in the 3rd period alone for BOS), Blocked Shots, 16-16, Takeaways, 23-12 NYI, Giveaways 11-8, NYI, Hits 35-30 NYI, Face-off Win% 61-39 BOS

After Overtime: SOG (36-29 BOS, 6-2 in OT for NYI), BS 16-16, Takeaways (27-12 NYI), Giveaways (11-8 NYI), Hits (35-32 NYI), Face-off Win% (62-39 BOS)

In the shootout Barzal shot first for the Islanders and was denied by Rask. Jake DeBrusk had the first attempt for Boston and was denied by Lehner. The remaining rounds went as such:

Round 2: NYI, Brock Nelson (saved), BOS, Pastrnak (hit post)– (0-0 after two rounds of the shootout)

Round 3: NYI, Valtteri Filppula (saved), BOS, Marchand (saved)– (0-0 after three rounds)

Round 4: NYI, Josh Bailey (saved), BOS, Donato (goal)– (1-0 BOS after four rounds)– Bruins win shootout, 1-0, and the game, 2-1

The shootout victory was Boston’s first shootout win of the season in their first shootout appearance of the regular season– in just their 25th game on the schedule.

Boston takes on the Red Wings on home ice this Saturday before traveling to Sunrise, Florida for the start of a quick, two-game, road trip against the Florida Panthers on Tuesday (Dec. 4th) and heading up to Tampa, Florida to take on the Tampa Bay Lightning next Thursday (Dec. 6th).

November 30, 2018
DTFR Podcast #134- Slinging First Round Picks

The Board of Governors meeting gets underway next week involving the Seattle expansion vote, Bill Peters took a puck to the jaw and Rick Middleton and Vic Hadfield are having their numbers retired this week.

The Chicago Blackhawks and Arizona Coyotes made another trade with each other, Karl Alzner is being Wade Redden’ed, Ron Hextall got ousted as the Philadelphia Flyers GM, the Buffalo Sabres win streak reached double digits and the Winnipeg Jets brought back their Heritage Jerseys.

Nick and Connor also encourage all of Long Island to go to the New York Islanders game at NYCB Live (it’s the Nassau Coliseum) this week and quickly plan a hopeful trip to see Sporting KC play in Atlanta.

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

November 28, 2018
Marner’s three assists, Leivo’s GWG beat Bruins, 4-2

Mitch Marner led the way with three assists for the Toronto Maple Leafs– sans Auston Matthews for the 14th time this season due to his shoulder injury– as Josh Leivo had the game-winning goal late in the second period to defeat the Boston Bruins, 4-2, at Scotiabank Arena Monday night.

Frederik Andersen (13-7-0, .932 save percentage, 2.22 goals against average in 20 games played) had 38 saves on 40 shots against for a .950 SV% in the win for Toronto, while Jaroslav Halak (8-3-2, .936 SV%, 2.05 GAA in 15 GP) made 27 saves on 30 shots faced for a .900 SV% in the loss.

Patrick Marleau participated in his 1,600th career NHL game Monday night– becoming the 11th player in league history to reach 1,600 games, joining Gordie Howe (1,767 games played), Mark Messier (1,756 GP), Jaromir Jagr (1,733 GP), Ron Francis (1,731 GP), Mark Recchi (1,652 GP), Chris Chelios (1,651 GP), Dave Andreychuk (1,639 GP), Scott Stevens (1,635 GP), Larry Murphy (1,615 GP) and Ray Bourque (1,612 GP).

Among active NHLers, Marleau leads San Jose’s Joe Thornton (1,508 games played), Pittsburgh’s Matt Cullen (1,463 GP), Boston’s Zdeno Chara (1,411 GP) and Carolina’s Justin Williams (1,185 GP).

Marleau was originally drafted 2nd overall in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft by the San Jose Sharks and signed a three-year contract with Toronto on July 2, 2017 after spending 1997-2017 with San Jose.

And if you’ve been under a rock since the Maple Leafs signed John Tavares this summer, William Nylander is still unsigned and has until *checks calendar* 5 p.m. ET Saturday to sign a deal and participate in the 2018-19 season.

Anyway, with the win on Monday, Toronto improved to 17-8-0 (34 points) on the season and remained 3rd in the Atlantic Division, while Boston fell to a 13-7-4 record (30 points) and stayed in 4th in the Atlantic.

Bruce Cassidy juggled his bottom-six forwards and defensive pairs Monday night with Anders Bjork back in the lineup on the third line to the left of Joakim Nordstrom and Noel Acciari after having been a healthy scratch since Nov. 23rd.

Colby Cave began the night centering the fourth line with Sean Kuraly joining Steven Kampfer as the healthy scratches against Toronto.

John Moore started the night on the first defensive pair as the left shot to Kevan Miller‘s right shot on the blue line with Torey Krug remaining partners with Connor Clifton and Jeremy Lauzon on the third pair with Matt Grzelcyk.

Brandon Carlo (upper body), Chara (lower body, left MCL), Patrice Bergeron (upper body), Urho Vaakanainen (concussion) and Charlie McAvoy (concussion) remained sidelined due to injury, though Carlo and McAvoy could be back as early as this week.

A tight goaltending battle began to unwind late in the first period as the Bruins couldn’t clear their own zone and the Maple Leafs capitalized on their chances.

Travis Dermott (1) notched his first goal of the season to give Toronto the 1-0 lead at 17:44 of the first period. Marner (25) had the only assist on the goal.

Miller took an errant puck to the throat area prior to the goal and went down the tunnel to the dressing room. Boston later tweeted during the second intermission that he would not return to Monday night’s action.

After one period the Leafs held onto a, 1-0, lead, while trailing in shots on goal to the Bruins, 10-9. The B’s had an advantage in blocked shots (6-4), but Toronto dominated just about every other stat category entering the first intermission leading in takeaways (3-2), giveaways (5-4), hits (8-7) and face-off win percentage (72-28). Neither team had yet to see any action on the extra skater advantage on the power play.

Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson was removed from the first line to start the second period as Cave earned a promotion in-game between Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak that would soon pay off.

Par Lindholm hooked Moore early in the middle frame and the Bruins had their first power play of the night at 1:55 of the second period.

On the ensuing power play, Marchand worked a pass through the crease to Pastrnak (18) on the right side of Andersen for the shot on goal from close range that hit the twine, yielding a power play goal and tying the game, 1-1.

Marchand (16) and Krug (9) had the assists on Pastrnak’s goal at 3:39 of the second period and Boston came to life for a few moments thanks to the swing in momentum.

Toronto followed up Lindholm’s penalty with a minor infraction for too many men on the ice at 10:48. The bench minor was served by Frederik Gauthier and the B’s did not convert on the resulting power play.

Instead, Gauthier played a key role fresh out of the box while the Bruins skaters still on the ice from the advantage in strength had tired legs and the Maple Leafs made them pay.

Igor Ozhiganov (1) notched his first career National Hockey League goal off the right post and past Halak at 13:06 of the second period. Marner (26) and Gauthier (3) had the assists and the Leafs once again had a one-goal lead, 2-1.

Just over a minute later, Pastrnak (19) worked his magic again thanks to a slap pass from Krug to the young Bruins winger in front of the goal, whereby Pastrnak deked enough for Andersen to overcommit and give way to a mostly empty goal for Pastrnak to slip the puck past the Toronto netminder and into the twine.

Boston tied the game, 2-2, on Pastrnak’s second goal of the night– assisted by Krug (10) and Marchand (17)– at 14:22.

With the Bruins mounting a crescendo in the middle period, the Maple Leafs worked to play smarter, not harder as Toronto started to regain dominant control of zone time possession and drew a penalty after Bjork was sloppy with his stick and tripped up Tyler Ennis at 16:58 of the second period.

If Boston could’ve held off the Leafs onslaught on the power play for just 20 more seconds things might have been different, but an inexperienced penalty killing unit allowed Toronto to waltz into the attacking zone with ease and set up Leivo (4) for the power play goal and eventual game-winner at 18:38.

Ennis (3) and Marleau (9) had the assists and Toronto led, 3-2.

Heading into the second intermission, the Bruins trailed by a goal, but led in shots on goal, 28-18. Boston had 18 shots on goal in the second period, which was a season high for the club in one period.

Toronto led in takeaways (5-3), giveaways (10-5), hits (19-14) and face-off win% (55-45), while the Bruins led in blocked shots (13-12). The Maple Leafs were 1/1 on the power play and the B’s were 1/2.

Midway through the third period, Jake DeBrusk had a brush with near-injury after he was pushed down in front of the goal by Nikita Zaitsev while Danton Heinen unloaded a one-timed shot on goal, hitting DeBrusk square in the back of the head.

It appeared the puck caught nothing but helmet, but DeBrusk felt the vulcanized rubber biscuit nonetheless and took a second to get up before continuing to play after a quick stoppage.

With 2:37 remaining in regulation, Cassidy pulled his netminder for an extra attacker, but it was to no avail as Toronto took their time to wait it out and gather the puck before sending Zach Hyman (4) in all alone for the empty net goal at 18:25 of the third period.

Tavares (13) and Marner (27) had the assists on the insurance goal for the Leafs, as Toronto put away the Bruins, 4-2.

At the final horn, Boston suffered the loss while outshooting Toronto, 40-31, after 60 minutes of play. The Maple Leafs actually led in shots on goal in the third period alone, however, 13-12, and maintained the advantage in blocked shots (22-17), giveaways (16-11), hits (23-19) and face-off win% (57-43).

The Leafs finished the night 1/1 on the power play, while the B’s went 1/2.

The Maple Leafs improved to 11-0-0 when scoring first this season and 12-0-0 when leading after two periods. Boston is now 0-6-1 when trailing after 40 minutes this season.

After going 1-1-0 on their two-game road swing through Montreal and Toronto, the Bruins return home to TD Garden for a matchup against the New York Islanders on Thursday night.

Boston will retire Rick Middleton‘s No. 16 sweater before the game and fans are asked to be in their seats by 6:30 p.m. ET to witness the ceremony and jersey retirement.

November 26, 2018
Bruins will have some Moore of that, beat Habs, 3-2, in Montreal

The Boston Bruins got out to a two-goal lead in the first period, then the Montreal Canadiens were mounting what looked to be a comeback in the third– until John Moore scored his first goal as a Bruin on a power play thanks to Jonathan Drouin‘s costly high-sticking double-minor penalty.

Boston won, 3-2, in Montreal Saturday night at Bell Centre.

These two rivals will meet again December 17th in Montreal before closing out their season series on January 14, 2019 in Boston with the season series currently tied, 1-1-0 after their 744th all-time meeting (the most among all NHL clubs). The Bruins previously lost to the Canadiens, 3-0, on October 27th.

Tuukka Rask (5-4-2, .913 save percentage, 2.72 goals against average in 11 games played) got the start for Boston after Jaroslav Halak made 36 saves en route to Friday night’s, 2-1, overtime win at home against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Rask made 31 saves on 33 shots against for a .939 SV% in the win for Boston, while Carey Price (7-6-4, .897 SV%, 3.17 GAA in 17 GP) turned aside 32 out of 35 shots faced for a .914 SV% in the loss.

Boston improved to 13-6-4 on the season (30 points) in 23 games played– good enough to maintain 4th in the Atlantic Division, while Montreal fell to 11-8-5 (27 points) in 24 games played (5th in the Atlantic).

Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made one change to his lineup, swapping John Moore on the second defensive pair with Connor Clifton. Moore spent the night paired with Jeremy Lauzon as the bottom-pair, while Clifton was back with Torey Krug on the second pairing.

Cassidy left his forward lines and first pair on the blue line the same from Friday night’s, 2-1, overtime win against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Anders Bjork and Steven Kampfer were once again healthy scratches with Brandon Carlo (upper body), Zdeno Chara (lower body, left MCL), Patrice Bergeron (upper body), Urho Vaakanainen (concussion) and Charlie McAvoy (concussion) still out of the lineup due to injury.

Andrew Shaw was charged with the game’s first minor infraction for elbowing David Pastrnak at 8:26 of the first period, but Boston’s power play would be short-lived as Brad Marchand was penalized for cross-checking Karl Alzner in retaliation to a couple of chops from the Canadiens defender that went uncalled at 9:16.

Nothing happened on either abbreviated power play for both squads.

Shortly past the midpoint of the first period, David Backes (1) forced a turnover at Montreal’s blue line and broke into the zone, firing a wrist shot past Price to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead at 13:01.

Backes’ goal was unassisted and was just his second point of the season in 18 games played after missing five games due to a concussion.

After a stoppage in play about a minute later, Marchand again went back to the penalty box, but this time with a Hab in hand as Drouin and Marchand were tabbed with roughing minors at 14:26.

While on the ensuing 4-on-4 action, Krejci sent a pass to Krug down low for the give-and-go back to Jake DeBrusk (10) as DeBrusk was heading for low slot whereby the young Bruins forward wristed a shot past Price to make it, 2-0, Boston at 14:42 of the first period.

Krug (8) and Krejci (16) had the assists on DeBrusk’s goal and the B’s had a two-goal lead, having scored a pair of goals in 1:41 elapsed time.

In the final minute of the opening frame, David Schlemko caught a stick up high and Noel Acciari was sent to the sin bin for high-sticking at 19:28.

Schlemko later sent a shot on goal that actually hit the twine, but time had expired and the first intermission had begun.

As the intermission was getting underway, Brendan Gallagher was busy slashing Kevan Miller below the belt. Miller responded in kind with his own shoves after the horn and both players were assessed minor penalties at 20:00 of the first period– Gallagher for slashing and Miller for roughing.

After one period, Boston led, 2-0, on the scoreboard and, 14-12, in shots on goal. The Bruins also led in blocked shots (9-5) and face-off win percentage (63-38) heading into the dressing room for the first intermission, while Montreal led in takeaways (4-2) and hits (14-8). Both teams had four giveaways each and the Habs were 0/2 on the power play, while the B’s were 0/1.

There were no goals scored in the second period, but there were plenty of penalties to go around as Max Domi led the string of minor infractions in the middle frame with an interference minor for a late hit on Pastrnak at 4:11.

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

Jeff Petry was guilty of tripping Matt Grzelcyk at 15:30 of the second period as Grzelcyk entered the offensive zone on a rush with a decent scoring chance. Boston’s power play was short-lived as Krug cut a rut to the sin bin for high-sticking Artturi Lehkonen at 17:15.

While on the power play, Montreal couldn’t stay out of hot water as Petry hooked Acciari at 18:51. About a minute later, Krejci was guilty of holding Michael Chaput and the Bruins abbreviated skater advantage came to an end at 19:36 of the second period.

Through 40 minutes of play, Boston held onto a 2-0 lead and led in shots on goal, 26-21. The Bruins also led in blocked shots (14-12), giveaways (10-6) and face-off win% (61-40). Montreal maintained an advantage in takeaways (9-5) and hits (32-22).

The B’s were 0/4 on the power play after two periods and the Canadiens were 0/3.

Early in the third period, Lehkonen thought he had scored a goal as a mad scramble in front of the net led to Lehkonen crashing the crease and pushing the puck in the goal. There was just one problem– he pushed Rask and the puck in the goal, thereby disallowing what would’ve cut Boston’s lead in half.

But the Canadiens began to mount momentum for what was looking like a surefire comeback as Drouin (9) worked his way to the goal with a soft shot that deflected off of Rask and trickled through the Bruins netminder’s five-hole and into the net to put the Habs on the scoreboard, 2-1.

Alzner (1) and Victor Mete (4) had the primary and secondary assists on Drouin’s goal at 6:46 of the third period.

Less than a couple of minute later, Pastrnak was caught retaliating for a late hit from Andrew Shaw and penalized for slashing at 8:15 of the final frame of regulation.

In the closing seconds of the ensuing power play, Tomas Tatar (10) pocketed one behind Rask on the skater advantage to tie the game, 2-2, at 10:09. Shaw (6) and former Bruin, Kenny Agostino (3), recorded the assists on Tatar’s tying goal.

With a seemingly insurmountable swing in momentum the Bruins kept working the puck back into the attacking zone, but to no avail until Drouin caught Backes well behind the play with a high-stick that drew some blood and resulted in a four-minute double-minor penalty at 14:39.

While on the power play, after finally generating some zone time on offense, Boston fired chances on goal that Price started churning into rebounds as Danton Heinen failed to come up with a loose puck on one of the opportunities.

Price was down and out of position in desperation as Heinen fanned on a rebound and Moore (1) swept in from the point to bury what would become the game-winning goal on the power play.

Backes (2) and Krejci (17) had the primary and secondary assists on Moore’s first goal as a Bruin at 17:03 of the third period.

Montreal head coach, Claude Julien, pulled his netminder with two minutes remaining in regulation for an extra attacker, but it was too little, too late.

At the final horn, Boston had beaten the Canadiens, 3-2, and outshot the Habs, 35-33. Montreal finished the night leading in hits (51-27), while the B’s led in blocked shots (28-17) and giveaways (16-11). Both teams were 50-50 in face-off win% and had one power-play goal aside with the Canadiens going 1/5 on the skater advantage and the Bruins going 1/6.

The B’s improved to 9-0-2 this season when scoring first as a result of their victory at Bell Centre on Saturday.

Boston rolls on to face the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena on Monday night before returning home to take on the New York Islanders on Thursday. The Bruins will retire Rick Middleton’s No. 16 sweater prior to Thursday’s matchup with the Islanders.

November 24, 2018
Nordstrom lifts B’s over Pens in OT, 2-1

Joakim Nordstrom scored the game-winning goal in overtime Friday night at TD Garden almost two minutes into the extra period on a slap-pass turned redirection for the 2-1 Boston Bruins victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Jaroslav Halak (8-2-2, .939 save percentage, 1.98 goals against average in 14 games played) made 36 saves on 37 shots against for a .973 SV% in 61:57 time on ice for the win for Boston, while Tristan Jarry (0-0-1, 1.94 GAA in one GP) made his season debut and stopped 35 out of 37 shots faced for a .946 SV% in the loss.

Boston improved to 14-7-1-3 all-time in 26 games on Black Friday since the club played their first game on Black Friday in 1990.

The B’s improved to a 12-6-4 record (28 points) on the season and remained 4th in the Atlantic Division with the win, while the Pens fell to 8-8-5 on the season (21 points) and remain in 8th place in the Metropolitan Division with starting goaltender, Matt Murray, back on the injured reserve.

Pittsburgh is tied with the New Jersey Devils in points for 7th in their division, but trails in the tiebreaker of regulation-plus-overtime wins by one (New Jersey has nine, Pittsburgh has eight), heading back home to play the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday.

John Moore returned to the lineup on the blue line for the Bruins on Friday after missing the last three games with a lower body injury, while Bruce Cassidy inserted Colby Cave into the lineup centering the third line alongside Nordstrom and Noel Acciari.

In addition to Brandon Carlo (upper body), Zdeno Chara (lower body, left MCL), Patrice Bergeron (upper body), Urho Vaakanainen (concussion) and Charlie McAvoy (concussion), Anders Bjork and Steven Kampfer joined were out of the lineup as healthy scratches.

Cassidy indicated before Friday night’s matchup that it is unlikely McAvoy, Vaakanainen or Carlo may rejoin the lineup on the upcoming two-game road trip starting Saturday night in Montreal against the Canadiens.

With Halak getting the start (and win) against the Penguins on Friday, Tuukka Rask will tend the net on Saturday against the Habs.

Cassidy adjusted his top-two lines with Cave in the lineup at center on the third line, by promoting Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson to the first line between Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak.

David Krejci started the night at center on the second line between Danton Heinen and Jake DeBrusk.

With Moore back on defense, Matt Grzelcyk remained on the first pair with Kevan Miller and Torey Krug suited up alongside Moore. Jeremy Lauzon and Connor Clifton rounded out the remaining defensive pair.

A back and forth goaltender battle resulted in no goals allowed by either club in the first period. Both teams played aggressively, but neither went over the line as no penalties were called in the opening frame, as well.

After one period, the game was still tied, 0-0, with the Bruins outshooting the Penguins, 12-9. Pittsburgh had the advantage in blocked shots (6-3), takeaways (9-3), giveaways (6-2) and face-off win percentage (63-38) entering the first intermission, while Boston led in hits (10-7).

Coming out of the dressing room for the second period, the Pens upped the ante with some tilted action in their attacking zone, leaving the Bruins trailing behind the play.

Krejci tripped up Juuso Riikola at 5:05 of the middle frame and gave Pittsburgh their first power play of the night.

A little over a minute later, while working the puck around the offensive zone on the skater advantage, Evgeni Malkin (9) blasted a one-timed slap shot past Halak to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead.

Malkin’s power play goal was assisted by Kris Letang (11) and Phil Kessel (16) at 6:09.

Moments later, the B’s responded with a give-and-go of their own as DeBrusk (9) carried the puck into the offensive zone, sent it to Krejci and received the drop pass back for the connection on a one-timer slap shot of his own to tie the game, 1-1.

Krejci (15) and Miller (2) had the assists on DeBrusk’s goal at 13:40 of the second period.

With the goal, DeBrusk now has eight points (six goals, two assists) in his last nine games and with an assist on the goal, Krejci tied Peter McNab for 11th overall on the franchise’s all-time points list with 587 career points in a Bruins sweater.

Bergeron ranks 7th (760 points with Boston), Ken Hodge is 8th (674 points), Terry O’Reilly is 9th (606 points) and Cam Neely is 10th on the list with 590 points in Boston.

David Backes thought he had the go-ahead-goal in the second period, but referee Wes McCauley deemed it otherwise as the puck appeared trapped between Jarry’s leg pad and the inside of the net hidden from the naked eye.

Upon video review, the call on the ice was confirmed– no goal.

Through 40 minutes of play, the Bruins and Penguins were tied, 1-1, on the scoreboard and, 25-25, in shots on goal (with Pittsburgh outshooting Boston, 16-13, in the second period alone).

Boston held an advantage in blocked shots (11-10), hits (20-17) and face-off win% (53-48) heading into the second intermission, while the Pens led in takeaways (15-6) and giveaways (10-4). Pittsburgh was 1/1 on the power play and the B’s had yet to see the skater advantage on the night.

Miller sent the puck clear over the glass midway through the third period and gave the Penguins their second power play opportunity of the night with an automatic delay of game infraction at 10:41.

The Penguins did not convert on the ensuing power play and the Bruins managed to kill off Miller’s minor penalty.

After regulation, Pittsburgh was leading in shots on goal, 36-35, having outshot Boston, 11-10, in the third period alone. The game was still tied, 1-1, and the Bruins led in blocked shots (15-14), as well as hits (27-24). Meanwhile, the Penguins held onto the advantage in takeaways (19-9), giveaways (15-6) and face-off win% (56-44).

Pittsburgh was 1/2 on the power play after 60 minutes and the Bruins did not get a chance on the skater advantage in Friday night’s matchup.

After surviving an onslaught by the Penguins in overtime, the Bruins managed just enough puck control in the attacking zone for Pastrnak to send a cross-ice pass over to Krug for the slap-pass intentionally wide of the goal where Nordstrom (4) was standing for the redirection pass Jarry.

Nordstrom’s goal at 1:57 of the overtime period, secured the 2-1 victory for Boston and was assisted by Krug (7) and Pastrnak (9).

Boston improved to 2-4 in overtime on the season with the win and finished the night tied in shots on goal with Pittsburgh, 37-37, despite leading in shots on goal in overtime, 2-1.

The Bruins also led in blocked shots (16-14), and hits (28-25) after the final horn, while the Pens held onto the lead in giveaways (16-6) and face-off win% (56-44). Pittsburgh finished the night 1/2 on the power play.

Boston begins a two-game road trip after Friday night’s home game against the Penguins, swinging through Montreal on Saturday and Toronto on Monday, Nov. 26th before returning home for a Thursday night matchup with the N.Y. Islanders on Nov. 29th in which the Bruins will retire Rick Middleton’s No. 16 sweater before the game.

November 23, 2018
Bergeron’s 4th career hat trick lifts Boston, 6-3, over Sens

Patrice Bergeron was part of the Hart Trophy conversation last season until he was sidelined by injuries late in the year, but he’s making himself an early Hart Trophy favorite this season with his 4th career hat trick on the tails of a four-point afternoon for the Boston Bruins in Monday’s 6-3 win over the Ottawa Senators.

It’s only October, of course.

In the calendar year, 2018, Bergeron has three hat tricks alone– including two last season (January 6th vs. Carolina– he had four goals that night, actually– and January 18th at N.Y. Islanders) and Monday afternoon’s matinee matchup. It was also his first hat trick against the Senators since January 11, 2011.

Bergeron wasn’t the only storyline for the Bruins against Ottawa, as David Pastrnak also had a four-point game, notching two goals and two assists. Brad Marchand had three assists in the effort as Boston’s first line led the offensive effort for the Bruins.

The two players with four-points in the game (Bergeron and Pastrnak) marked the first time in franchise history that multiple players recorded at least four points in Boston’s home opener.

Tuukka Rask had 28 saves on 31 shots faced for a .903 save percentage in the win, while Ottawa netminder, Mike Condon, had 24 saves on 29 shots against for an .828 SV% in the loss.

Condon made his first career start at TD Garden for the Senators. His previous start “in Boston” was actually in Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium for the Montreal Canadiens in the 2016 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic.

Walpole, Massachusetts native, Chris Wagner, made his home debut with his new club in Boston, as did defender John Moore. Joakim Nordstrom was a healthy scratch for the Bruins and Jaroslav Halak served as the backup on the bench.

One more debut Monday afternoon was made by Senators forward– and 4th overall pick in the 2018 Draft– Brady Tkachuk in his NHL debut. Tkachuk played college hockey at Boston University and is the son of former NHLer and Melrose, Massachusetts native, Keith Tkachuk. Despite being born in Scottsdale, Arizona, the younger Tkachuk spent plenty of time growing up in and around Boston (as well as St. Louis, Missouri).

Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy juggled the lines a bit between last Thursday’s shutout victory in Buffalo and Monday’s matinee, putting David Backes at center on the third line in place of Nordstrom and moving Anders Bjork up a line into Backes’s right wing slot.

Additionally, Wagner slid in on the left side of Sean Kuraly and Noel Acciari on the fourth line. There were no changes to the defensive pairings.

It didn’t take long for Boston’s offense to strike as Bergeron (2) found a rebound and slid it under Condon while falling to the ice 30 seconds into the action to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead. Pastrnak (1) and Charlie McAvoy (2) had the assists on the goal.

Danton Heinen was guilty of an interference minor against Ottawa’s Mikkel Boedker shortly thereafter and was sent to the penalty box at 2:21 of the first period.

The Senators failed to convert on the ensuing power play as Boston continued to do a better job of controlling the overall game flow, even through chaos at times where Backes was left to make a desperation save on a shot block midway through the period.

Mark Borowiecki tripped Brandon Carlo at 11:21 of the first period and gave the Bruins their first power play of the afternoon. Boston did not convert on their first skater advantage, but would connect on the power play the second time around when Colin White took a hooking penalty against Acciari at 15:31.

Standing from his stereotypical bumper position in the low slot, Marchand sent a pass to Bergeron (3) for the one-timer power play goal past Condon for a 2-0 lead. Marchand (5) and Pastrnak (2) notched the assists on Bergeron’s second goal of the day at 17:12 of the first period.

After 20 minutes, the Bruins led 2-0 and led in shots on goal, 15-9. Ottawa dominated in blocked shots (8-3) and takeaways (4-3), while Boston also held the advantage in giveaways (4-3) and face-off win percentage (55-45). Through one period, hits were even, 5-5, and the Senators were 0/1 on the power play, while the B’s were 1/2.

Ryan Dzingel (1) opened scoring in the second period and got the Sens on the scoreboard, cutting Boston’s lead in half to make it 2-1. Mark Stone (1) and Zack Smith (3) had the assists on Dzingel’s goal as Stone found Dzingel creeping down the middle to find a loose puck in the slot and beat Rask at 2:21 of the second period.

Ottawa came out of the first intermission with a lot of moxie, spending more time in the offensive zone than they did in their own end and in the first period. In fact, the Senators wound up outshooting the Bruins, 12-6, in the second period as part of their offensive display.

Moments after Dzingel made it a one-goal game, Charlie McAvoy fired a shot that was redirected by Chris Wagner (1) for his first goal of the season and his first with his hometown team since joining the Bruins via free agency in July after splitting last season with the Anaheim Ducks and New York Islanders.

McAvoy (3) and Kuraly (1) were credited with the assists at 7:08 and Boston led, 3-1.

Matt Grzelcyk and Chris Wideman were charged with roughing minors after a stoppage in play at 8:18 of the second period and left both teams with two minutes of 4-on-4 action.

Nearly four minutes later, while McAvoy fumbled a wrap around the boards in his own end, Dzingel (2) pounced on the loose puck and threw it on goal from halfway between the point and the face-off circle along the wall, squeaking one past Rask– as Zdeno Chara partially screened his own goaltender– and again pulling Ottawa within one to make it, 3-2.

Dylan DeMelo (1) and Thomas Chabot (3) notched the assists on Dzingel’s second goal of the afternoon at 12:13.

Through two periods, Boston led, 3-2, and shots on goal were tied, 21-21. The Senators domination of the second period pulled them to within a goal and gave them the advantage in blocked shots (11-6), takeaways (8-6) and face-off win% (60-40). Both teams had six giveaways through 40 minutes and hits were even, 14-14.

Bergeron (4) opened scoring in the third period with his hat trick goal at 4:38. His third goal of the afternoon deflected off of Sens defender Cody Ceci and past Condon after Bergeron initially tried to send the puck to Pastrnak in the slot.

Marchand (6) and McAvoy (4) picked up the assists on Bergeron’s third goal of the day that made it 4-2 Boston.

A couple minutes later, Alex Formenton crashed the net and ran into the Bruins goaltender as Rask aggressively played the puck outside his crease and tripped up Formenton– sending the Ottawa forward airborne over Rask.

Bruins defender, John Moore, didn’t take too kindly to his own teammate’s antics and received a minor penalty for roughing Formenton at 6:42 of the third period.

While on the penalty kill, Bergeron attempted to clear the puck down the frozen river and instead sent the rubber biscuit over the glass and out of the playing surface. He was given a delay of game minor penalty and Ottawa went on a 5-on-3 advantage at 7:26 of the third.

The Bruins killed off both minor penalties.

David Pastrnak (2) added his second goal of the season late in the third period and made it a three-goal game for Boston. Bergeron (2) and Zdeno Chara (1) had the assists and the Bruins had a 5-2 lead at 16:31.

Less than a minute later, Bobby Ryan (1) deflected a shot from DeMelo through traffic and past Rask to bring the Senators to within two goals and make it 5-3 at 17:03 of the third period.

DeMelo (2) and Chris Tierney (3) recorded the assists on Ryan’s first goal of the season and Ottawa can thank the Erik Karlsson trade for the pair of former San Jose Sharks members that led to Ryan’s goal.

With 1:50 remaining in regulation, Sens head coach Guy Boucher pulled Condon for an extra attacker, but it was to no avail as 28 seconds later Pastrnak (3) added an empty net goal to make it, 6-3, Boston.

Marchand (7) recorded his third assist of the afternoon on Pastrnak’s second goal of the game and the Bruins went on to walk away from their home opener with a 6-3 victory.

Ottawa finished Monday afternoon leading in shots on goal (31-30), blocked shots (14-8), giveaways (8-6) and face-off win% (57-43). Boston finished the afternoon with the win and leading in hits (18-17). The Senators were 0/3 on the power play, while the Bruins went 1/2.

Among some other stats from the matinee game…

Moore led all Bruins with four hits on the afternoon, while Boston’s fourth line combined for seven hits in the game with Wagner and Acciari each leading the Bruins forwards with three hits apiece (Kuraly had one hit).

Boston’s second line of David Krejci, Ryan Donato and Jake DeBrusk were all a minus-2, while Pastrnak led the Bruins in shots on goal with six. Bergeron had four.

Speaking of Bergeron, his first goal of the day marked the third fastest to begin a home-opening game in franchise history. Bergeron’s goal 30 seconds into the game trails Brad Boyes (18 seconds on October 19, 2006) and Terry O’Reilly (23 seconds on October 8, 1981).

98.5 The Sports Hub Bruins beat reporter, Ty Anderson, noted Bergeron’s hat trick was the first home opener hat trick since Cam Neely‘s 1995 home opener hat trick and The Boston Globe‘s Matt Porter followed that up with all of the home opener hat tricks for Boston since 1967, including Phil Esposito (October 10, 1973), Rick Middleton (October 7, 1976), Neely (October 7, 1995) and Bergeron (October 8, 2018).

Middleton’s No. 16 will be retired this November, joining Esposito’s No. 7 and Neely’s No. 8 (among others) in the rafters of TD Garden, so surely this means Bergeron’s No. 37 is a shoe-in to be retired someday.

The Bruins improved to 2-1-0 on the season and are currently tied for 1st place in the Atlantic Division with the Buffalo Sabres and Toronto Maple Leafs. Each team has four points on the season.

Boston takes on the visiting Edmonton Oilers Thursday night at TD Garden.

October 8, 2018
Down the Frozen River Podcast #118- Bad Puns

The Original Trio analyze the Jeff Skinner trade, recent one year extensions, upcoming jersey retirement nights, 2018-19 Calder Memorial Trophy predictions and more.

Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts (iTunes), Stitcher and/or on Spotify.

August 11, 2018
Down the Frozen River Podcast #93- One More Than Gretzky

Nick and Connor take a moment to celebrate doing something Wayne Gretzky never did. Also, the Dion Phaneuf trade, 2018 Winter Games reactions and more.

Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts (iTunes) and/or on Stitcher.

February 16, 2018