William Nylander scored a pair of goals in a, 5-2, victory for the Toronto Maple Leafs over the Boston Bruins Friday night at Scotiabank Arena.
Erik Källgren (8-4-1, 3.31 goals-against average, .888 save percentage in 14 games played) made 24 saves on 26 shots against in the win for the Leafs.
Bruins goaltender, Jeremy Swayman (23-24-3, 2.41 goals-against average, .914 save percentage in 41 games played), stopped 22 out of 26 shots faced in the loss.
Boston finished the regular season with a 51-26-5 record (107 points)– good enough for 4th in the Atlantic Division and the first wild card in the Eastern Conference.
The B’s will face the Carolina Hurricanes in the First Round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs as a result.
Toronto improved to 54-21-7 (115 points) overall and finished 2nd in the Atlantic Division. They will host the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2022 First Round.
The Bruins went 25-13-3 on the road and 0-3-0 against the Maple Leafs this season after going 2-0-1 against Toronto in 2019-20.
The two teams did not meet last season due to the temporarily realigned divisions in light of the ongoing COIVD-19 pandemic.
Boston’s list of injured players and healthy scratches got a bit of a shakeup heading into the final game of the regular season as Jakub Zboril (right ACL) and Jesper Frödén (lower body) were joined by Hampus Lindholm, Patrice Bergeron, Matt Grzelcyk, Erik Haula, Brad Marchand, Taylor Hall, Charlie McAvoy and David Pastrnak among those held out of the lineup.
Zboril missed his 62nd game this season due to an injury sustained on Dec. 2nd in Nashville, while Hall missed his first game of the season as a healthy scratch.
As a result, Charlie Coyle was the only Bruin to suit up in all 82 games this season– marking the first time that anyone in a Boston uniform played in all 82 games in a full 82-game season since Pastrnak and Tim Schaller did so in 2017-18.
Since then, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic shortened the 2019-20 regular season and kept 2020-21 limited to 56 games.
Chris Wagner made his season debut on Friday after being recalled from the Providence Bruins (AHL) with Jack Studnicka, Oskar Steen and Jack Ahcan to fill in for the regulars.
Boston’s head coach, Bruce Cassidy, opted to keep Trent Frederic, Coyle and Craig Smith together on the same line, while he moved Jake DeBrusk to the second line left wing with Studnicka at center and Marc McLaughlin on right wing.
Curtis Lazar centered the third line with Nick Foligno and Steen on his wings, while Tomáš Nosek held the fourth line together– flanked by Anton Blidh and Wagner.
On defense, Ahcan was paired with Brandon Carlo on the first pairing, while Mike Reilly and Josh Brown comprised the second pairing with Derek Forbort and Connor Clifton in their regular roles filling out the bottom pair.
The Bruins struck first in quick fashion as Smith wrapped the puck around the back of the net and slipped a pass to Frederic (8) for the flub shot through Källgren’s five-hole.
Smith (19) and Coyle (28) tallied the assists on the goal and the B’s led, 1-0, at 1:10 of the first period.
Boston didn’t hold the lead for long, however as McLaughlin caught Mark Giordano with a high stick at 1:48 of the first period that was reviewed for an injury on the infraction– resulting in a four-minute double minor.
Toronto made it a little past the midpoint of the skater advantage before Giordano sent a shot towards the net that Ilya Mikheyev (21) tipped past Swayman to tie the game, 1-1, at 3:51.
Giordano (27) and Timothy Liljegren (18) notched the assists on Mikheyev’s power-play goal.
Midway through the opening frame, William Nylander (33) got a breakaway and buried the puck in the twine on a forehand tuck after pulling Swayman to the right side of the crease.
Nylander’s goal was unassisted and gave the Maple Leafs their first lead of the night, 2-1, at 13:16 of the first period.
Late in the period, Morgan Rielly floated a shot towards Swayman that Nick Abruzzese (1) tipped for his first career National Hockey League goal.
Rielly (58) had the only assist on the goal as a result and the Leafs extended their lead to two goals at 19:52.
After one period, Toronto led, 3-1, on the scoreboard and, 10-6, in shots on goal.
The Maple Leafs also led in blocked shots (10-2) and takeaways (2-0), while the Bruins held the advantage in giveaways (4-3), hits (20-15) and faceoff win percentage (56-44) entering the first intermission.
The Leafs were 1-for-2 on the power play, while Boston had yet to see time on the skater advantage heading into the middle frame.
DeBrusk went hard into the boards early in the second period, but skated off on his own power and sat on the bench until his next shift without much discomfort despite play briefly coming to a stop while he laid on the ice.
Late in the period, Foligno tripped Wayne Simmonds and presented the Leafs with a power play at 14:49 of the second period, but Toronto failed to convert on the skater advantage.
Shortly thereafter, Nosek cross checked Liljegren and became entangled in a quick exchange of pleasantries with Rielly– resulting in minor infractions for both Nosek and Rielly for cross checking and roughing, respectively at 19:30.
The two clubs skated at 4-on-4 into the third period as a result.
Through 40 minutes of action Friday night, the Maple Leafs led, 3-1, on the scoreboard and, 20-15, in shots on goal– including a, 10-9, advantage in the second period alone.
Toronto also maintained control in blocked shots (11-5), takeaways (8-3) and giveaways (8-7), while Boston led in hits (45-27) and faceoff win% (53-47).
The Leafs were 1-for-3 and the Bruins were 0-for-0 on the power play heading into the final frame.
Nylander (34) collected his second goal of the night on a similar backhand-forehand effort from his first goal of the game and the Maple Leafs grabbed a, 4-1, lead at 8:00 of the third period.
Moments later, Foligno thought he had his 500th career NHL point by scoring a would-be goal on the doorstep, but Toronto’s head coach, Sheldon Keefe, challenged the call on the ice on the basis that he believed Boston was offside entering the zone prior to the goal.
Upon video review, it was determined that Lazar had gone over the blue line into the attacking zone before Steen broke the plane for a zone entry, rendering the call on the ice reversed. No goal.
Toronto still led, 4-1, and Foligno will have to wait until next season for his 500th point.
Shortly thereafter, T.J. Brodie cut a rut to the box for holding and Boston went on the power play for the first time at 11:55.
Smith sent a shot on goal that DeBrusk (25) buried on the rebound past Källgren’s short side to give the Bruins their third power-play goal in their last two games.
Boston trailed, 4-2, while Smith (20) and Reilly (13) picked up the assists on DeBrusk’s goal at 12:49 of the third period.
With about a minute left in the action, Cassidy pulled Swayman for an extra attacker, but the B’s weren’t able to muster any last-minute comeback efforts.
Pierre Engvall (15) capitalized on a turnover and buried the rubber biscuit in the empty twine for an empty net goal in addition to a three-goal lead at 19:50 of the third period.
Engvall’s goal was unassisted and the Leafs finished their season with a, 5-2, victory on home ice.
At the final horn, Toronto had won and wrapped things up leading in shots on goal, 27-26, despite trailing, 11-7, in shots on net in the third period alone.
The Maple Leafs finished the night leading in blocked shots (13-8) and giveaways (13-11), while the Bruins exited the ice with the advantage in hits (54-48) and faceoff win% (53-47).
The Leafs went 1-for-3 on the power play, while the B’s went 1-for-1 on the skater advantage Friday night.
Boston fell to 37-10-2 (19-5-1 on the road) when scoring first, 6-15-2 (2-8-1 on the road) when trailing after one and 4-20-2 (1-9-1 on the road) when trailing after two this season.
Toronto improved to 19-15-4 (13-7-2 at home) when allowing the game’s first goal, 29-3-3 (17-0-0 at home) when leading after the first period and 40-1-3 (23-1-0 at home) when leading after the second period in 2021-22.
With the 2021-22 regular season in the rearview mirror, the Bruins look ahead to the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs and their First Round matchup with the Carolina Hurricanes.
Patrice Bergeron scored a hat trick in a, 5-0, victory for the Boston Bruins over the Buffalo Sabres as Linus Ullmark recorded his first shutout with the Bruins against his former team.
Bergeron’s trio of goals earned him his 398th, 399th and 400th career tallies in his 1,216th career National Hockey League game– becoming just the fourth player in Bruins franchise history to score 400 goals with the club, while trailing Rick Middleton (402) for third overall.
Ullmark (26-10-2, 2.45 goals-against average, .917 save percentage in 41 games played) finished his regular season campaign with his first shutout of the year in a 37-save effort for his fourth career shutout win overall.
He set a career-best 2.45 goals-against average and .917 save percentage in the most games he’s played as a starter in the first season of his four-year, $20 million contract that he signed with Boston on July 28, 2021, with the future of Tuukka Rask then uncertain in the wake of major surgery and Jeremy Swayman as a young goaltender of the future– still a few years away from taking the full-time reins in the crease.
Though technically you could say both Ullmark and Swayman were the starting goaltenders for Boston all season long as they’ll split the 82-game season in half– 41 appearances each– in their 2021-22 workload.
Even as Rask made a midseason comeback attempt before retiring in February due to his hip not being up to par.
Swayman is expected to get the start Friday night in Toronto as the B’s take on the Maple Leafs in their 2021-22 regular season finale.
With the win on Thursday night, Boston improved to 51-25-5 (107 points) on the season and remained in command of 4th place in the Atlantic Division– one point behind the Tampa Bay Lightning for 3rd place in the Atlantic.
Tampa needs to win in any fashion to secure a First Round matchup with Toronto, while Boston needs the Lightning to lose in regulation and at least get one point against the Maple Leafs to surpass the Bolts in the division and face the Leafs in the First Round.
If the Bruins and Lightning tie in points, Boston holds the tiebreaker on regulation wins.
Otherwise, if Boston ends up losing Friday night and Tampa gets a point in any fashion, the B’s will face the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2022 First Round.
If you’re confused just watch the game and/or wait for Friday night’s recap. You’ll know by then.
Dustin Tokarski (9-12-3, 3.32 goals-against average, .899 save percentage in 28 games played) made 27 saves on 32 shots against in the loss for Buffalo.
The Sabres fell to 31-39-11 (73 points) overall and remain in command of 5th place in the Atlantic Division.
For the first time since the 2019-20 regular season, Boston swept Buffalo in their regular season series, 4-0-0.
The Bruins went 7-1-0 against the Sabres last season and 3-0-0 against Buffalo in 2019-20.
Boston finished the 2021-22 regular season with a 26-13-2 record on home ice overall.
The B’s were without Jakub Zboril (right ACL) and Jesper Frödén (lower body) on Thursday, while head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made no changes to his lineup.
As a result, Mike Reilly, Marc McLaughlin, Josh Brown and Anton Blidh served as healthy scratches for the Bruins against the Sabres.
Prior to puck drop, NESN presented its annual 7th Player Award as voted on by the fans to this year’s recipient– Jeremy Swayman.
Swayman has gone 23-13-3 in 40 games this season with a 2.37 goals-against average and a .915 save percentage as part of Boston’s tandem goaltending apparatus for 2021-22.
Henri Jokiharju tripped Jake DeBrusk and presented the Bruins with the night’s first power play at 1:26 of the first period, but the B’s fell to 0-for-37 on the skater advantage in their last 13 games instead as the Sabres managed to kill off Jokiharju’s infraction.
Late in the period, Trent Frederic cut a rut to the sin bin for catching Alex Tuch with a slash at 16:41, but Buffalo wasn’t able to convert on the ensuing advantage.
Less than a few minutes later, Brad Marchand rattled off four hacks with his stick before the fifth slash resulting in a minor penalty at 19:30.
Boston managed to kill Marchand’s infraction despite Buffalo’s power play spewing over into the middle frame.
After one period, the B’s and Sabres were tied, 0-0, on the scoreboard despite Buffalo attaining a, 12-6, advantage in shots on goal.
The Sabres dominated in blocked shots (10-2), takeaways (5-3), giveaways (6-4) and faceoff win percentage (63-38), while the Bruins led in hits (12-5).
Buffalo was 0-for-2 and Boston was 0-for-1 on the power play heading into the middle frame.
Taylor Hall tripped John Hayden at 2:55 of the second period, yielding another skater advantage to the Sabres that went unconverted.
Moments later, Bergeron (23) gathered a loose puck on the doorstep and buried it in the twine to give the Bruins a, 1-0, lead at 6:16 of the second period after DeBrusk fired an initial shot on goal.
Bergeron’s first goal of the game was unassisted, however.
A couple minutes later, Jeff Skinner tripped Erik Haula and made his way to the sin bin at 8:54.
Boston failed to capitalize on the resulting power play, however.
Midway through the middle period, Bergeron (24) scored one of his patented goals from the bumper to extend the lead to two-goals.
This time, DeBrusk (17) and Marchand (47) tallied the assists as the B’s took a, 2-0, lead at 12:29 of the second period.
Sabres coach, Don Granato, challenged the call on the ice, however, on the basis that he believed Nick Foligno had been offiside prior to the goal.
Upon video review, however, Foligno had extended his right leg far enough to break the plane at the blue line in the midst of a line change while Boston entered the attacking zone– thereby remaining onside.
The call on the ice stood as a result and the Sabres were charged with a bench minor for delay of game due to their unsuccessful challenge at 12:29.
Victor Olofsson skated across the rink to serve Buffalo’s infraction, but Boston fell to 0-for-39 on their last 39 power plays as neither team took another penalty nor scored another goal before the second intermission.
Through 40 minutes Thursday night, the Bruins led, 2-0, on the scoreboard, but trailed, 27-20, in shots on goal as the Sabres continued to outshoot Boston– including a, 15-14, advantage for Buffalo in the second period alone.
The Sabres led in blocked shots (13-4), takeaways (8-5), giveaways (13-6) and faceoff win% (53-47), while both teams had 16 hits aside and were 0-for-3 on the power play heading into the final frame.
Then it happened.
Peyton Krebs caught Marchand with a high stick at 1:28 of the third period.
Less than a minute later, Hall setup David Pastrnak (40) for a power-play goal through the five-hole– reaching the 40-goal plateau for the second time in his career in the process.
Oh, also, Boston snapped their drought on the power play in their 40th consecutive opportunity.
Hall (41) and Marchand (48) notched the assists as Pastrnak’s power-play goal put the Bruins up, 3-0, at 2:11 of the third period, but not before Granato challenged the call on the ice on the basis that he believed Hall had gone offside prior to the goal while Marchand dangled the puck at the blue line.
Video review confirmed the call on the ice, however, as Marchand did not drag the puck completely past the blue line back into the neutral zone and Hall remained onside.
The Sabres, as a result, were charged with a four-minute double minor for delay of game due to their second unsuccessful challenge of the night at 2:11.
Shortly after the second consecutive power play began while Olofsson was back in the box serving the bench minor, Hall (20) collected the garbage on the doorstep of the crease off the right leg pad and slipped the puck into the net to give Boston a four-goal lead.
Pastrnak (38) and Bergeron (40) tallied the assists on Hall’s power-play goal and the B’s led, 4-0, at 4:16 of the third period.
With the secondary assists on the goal, Bergeron reached the 40-assist plateau for the fifth time in his 18-year NHL career.
Meanwhile, Hall reached 20 goals or more for the seventh time in his 12 NHL seasons.
Less than a minute later, Tomáš Nosek and Casey Fitzgerald went to the box for roughing and brought the action down from 5-on-5 to 4-on-4 for a couple minutes.
Late in the period, Bergeron (25) scored another bumper goal for his second hat trick of the season (eighth of his career), as well as his 400th career goal.
Charlie McAvoy (46) and Hampus Lindholm (22) had the assists on Bergeron’s third goal of the game and the Bruins took a, 5-0, lead at 17:47 of the third period.
Only four Bruins have ever scored 400 or more goals; Johnny Bucyk (545), Phil Esposito (459), Rick Middleton (402) and now Bergeron (400).
At the final horn, the Bruins won, 5-0, and Ullmark picked up his first shutout of the season, as well as his first shutout with Boston, despite Buffalo outshooting the B’s, 37-32.
The Bruins left their own ice leading in blocked shots (17-4) and faceoff win% (59-41), while the Sabres exited TD Garden leading in giveaways (17-10) and hits (21-19).
Buffalo went 0-for-3 on the power play, while Boston went 2-for-6 on the skater advantage.
The Bruins honored Don DelNegro in his final home game of the regular season. After 29 years working for the organization, DelNegro is retiring from his head athletic trainer role to go hit up the local golf courses some more on his own time.
Bergeron and the rest of the B’s surrounded DelNegro at center ice for a team photo.
In addition to his hat trick, Bergeron also moved ahead of Bucyk for the most career game-opening goals in franchise history Thursday night with his 86th career game-opening goal.
Marchand (795), meanwhile, had two points on the night to surpass Wayne Cashman (793) for sole possession of the seventh-most points in Bruins history.
No. 63 in black and gold trails Bobby Orr (888) by 93 points for sixth overall and is now five points shy of his 800th career NHL point.
The Bruins snapped Buffalo’s four-game winning streak by extending their own win streak to four games and improved to 17-6-2 (8-3-1 at home) when tied after the first period, 37-9-2 (18-5-1 at home) when scoring first and 33-1-3 (16-1-1 at home) when leading after two periods this season.
The Sabres fell to 13-10-3 (5-5-1 on the road) when tied after one, 8-26-6 (3-15-2 on the road) when allowing the game’s first goal and 2-29-2 (2-15-2 on the road) when trailing through the second period in 2021-22.
The Bruins visit Toronto on Friday night in their final road game– as well as the final game– of the 2021-22 regular season.
The B’s will face either the Leafs or Hurricanes in the First Round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs with Games 1 and 2 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto or PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina depending on the matchup.
Games 3 and 4 will be Boston’s first taste of postseason action on home ice.
It was a historic night at Bell Centre Sunday night as the Montréal Canadiens and their fans honored the life and memory of the late Guy Lafleur with a tribute and a 10-minute standing ovation before the Patrice Bergeron and Erik Haula each scored a pair of goals in a, 5-3, win for the Boston Bruins.
Bergeron surpassed Montréal native, Ray Bourque, for sole possession of the fourth-most goals in Bruins franchise history, while Haula scored the second penalty shot goal of the season in an unconventional fashion.
Meanwhile, Charlie McAvoy’s late second period goal held up to be the game-winner for Boston as goaltender, Jeremy Swayman (23-13-3, 2.37 goals-against average, .915 save percentage in 40 games played), made 23 saves on 26 shots agaisnt in the win.
Canadiens netminder, Sam Montembeault (7-18-6, 3.79 goals-against average, .892 save percentage in 37 games played), turned aside 37 out of 41 shots faced in the loss.
The Bruins improved to 49-25-5 (103 points) overall and remain in command of 4th place in the Atlantic Division as well as the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Montréal fell to 20-49-11 (51 points) on the season and stuck in 8th place in the Atlantic Division as Habs fans await the 2022 NHL Draft Lottery on May 10th.
For the first time since the 2017-18 season, Boston swept Montréal in their regular season series, 4-0-0. The B’s also went 4-0-0 against the Habs in 2017-18, and did not face the Canadiens last season due to the temporarily realigned divisions and condensed 56-game schedule.
Boston went 3-1-0 against Montréal in 2019-20.
The Bruins were without Jakub Zboril (right ACL) and Jesper Frödén (lower body) on Sunday, while David Pastrnak and Hampus Lindholm joined Josh Brown and Anton Blidh on the list of healthy scratches against the Canadiens as expected.
Bruce Cassidy promoted Tomáš Nosek from his usual fourth line center duties to that of the second line right wing role, while Curtis Lazar slid over on the fourth line to Nosek’s regular spot with Marc McLaughlin re-entering the lineup.
On defense, Matt Grzelcyk was paired with McAvoy, while Mike Reilly and Brandon Carlo rounded out the top-four defenders.
Linus Ullmark served as Swayman’s backup, while Pastrnak, Lindholm and Ullmark were all expected to be given the night off as Cassidy told reporters ahead of the game that he’d manage playing time with the playoffs in mind.
A pair of milestones unrelated to performance were met on Sunday as Carlo suited up in his 400th career NHL game, while Charlie Coyle took part in his 700th career game.
Joel Edmundson tripped Connor Clifton at 6:23 of the first period, but Boston wasn’t able to convert on the resulting power play– their first and only skater advantage of the night.
The Bruins matched their longest streak of games without a power play goal (10) for the first time since their inaugural season (1924-25).
Midway through the opening frame, Josh Anderson and Derek Forbort each cut a rut to their respective sin bins for roughing at 10:55.
After two minutes of 4-on-4 action, the two teams resumed 5-on-5 play without issue.
Late in the period, Bergeron (21) gathered a loose puck on the doorstep and buried it into the open twine as Montembeault was caught behind the play after Jake DeBrusk fired the initial shot on net.
DeBrusk (16) and Brad Marchand (44) tabbed the assists on Bergeron’s goal and the Bruins took a, 1-0, lead at 15:03 of the first period.
Bergeron’s first goal of the game put him in sole possession of the fourth-most goals in club history for the B’s, surpassing Bourque in the process as Bergeron collected his 396th career goal (all with Boston).
The goal also marked Boston’s 2,000th goal against Montréal in franchise history.
A few minutes later, Mike Hoffman slashed Haula’s stick while skating alongside No. 56 in black and gold yielding– for some reason– a penalty shot for Haula at 18:03 as the on-ice officials determined that Hoffman’s infraction was enough to negate a scoring chance on a breakaway, apparently.
Haula (16) skated past the puck on his initial entry on the penalty shot, but as he never touched the rubber biscuit with his blade– and therefore did not move it forward before going back to retrieve it– he kept his composure, collected the puck, approached Montembeault and wired a shot under the glove side to give Boston a two-goal lead, 2-0.
For just the fourth time in franchise history, Haula joined Tim Taylor (April 15, 1998), Leo Boivin (Jan. 4, 1964) and Woody Dumart (Jan. 14, 1940) as the only Bruins to score a penalty-shot goal against the Canadiens.
Less than a minute later, Marchand retaliated against Jeff Petry for a clean hit that Petry made on Bergeron.
As a result, Marchand was sent to the box with a roughing infraction at 18:52 of the first period.
The B’s would be down two skaters after the first intermission when Trent Frederic picked up an unsportsmanlike conduct minor at 20:00 of the first period after he tried to engage Petry after the opening frame came to an end.
After one period of action, the Bruins led, 2-0, on the scoreboard and led in shots on goal, 17-8, as well as in blocked shots (4-2) and hits (14-11).
The Canadiens held the advantage in giveaways (7-5), while both teams had two takeaways each and split faceoff win percentage, 50-50.
Montréal and Boston were also 0-for-1 on the power play heading into the middle period.
The B’s survived Marchand’s minor, but couldn’t survive Frederic’s infraction as the Canadiens continued to pressure in the attacking zone before Petry forged a pass via Brendan Gallagher to Anderson (19) for a power-play goal on a shot with eyes past Swayman.
Gallagher (16) and Petry (19) had the assists on Anderson’s goal and the Habs trailed, 2-1, at 1:51 of the second period.
Boston responded less than a few minutes later as Clifton sent a pass up to Nosek on a rush before Nosek setup Haula (17) with a tape-to-tape pass for the catch and release goal at 4:04 of the second period.
Nosek (14) and Clifton (8) notched the assists and the Bruins went ahead by two goals once more, 3-1.
About a minute later, Haula headed off to the box for interference– taking Jake Evans with him, though, as Evans was assessed an embellishment infraction to present some more 4-on-4 action at 5:16.
Less than a minute later, however, Grzelcyk tripped Anderson and yielded an abbreviated 4-on-3 power play to the Canadiens at 5:47.
Montréal could not convert on the ensuing skater advantage.
Moments later, Laurent Dauphin checked Taylor Hall along the boards leaving Hall out of breath, but the Bruins forward managed to skate off on his own after a stoppage and never went down the tunnel.
Cassidy informed reporters that Hall must have simply “had the wind knocked out of him” and indicated that he didn’t expect the Boston forward to miss any time.
Marchand and Anderson exchanged pleasantries late in the period yielding slashing and cross checking minors, respectively, at 16:12 and resulting in more 4-on-4 action for the two squads.
On an attacking zone faceoff, the Bruins won the puck back to the point where McAvoy (10) snapped a shot past Montembeault’s blocker side to give Boston a three-goal lead.
Bergeron (37) had the only assist on the goal as McAvoy made it, 4-1, at 18:09 of the second period.
Through 40 minutes of action Sunday night, the Bruins led, 4-1, on the scoreboard and held a, 31-16, advantage in shots on goal– including a, 14-8, advantage in shots on net in the second period alone.
Boston also led in hits (23-22), while Montréal led in takeaways (4-3), giveaways (13-9) and faceoff win% (51-49) after two periods.
Both teams had eight blocked shots aside, while the Canadiens were 1-for-3 and the Bruins were 0-for-1 on the skater advantage.
McLaughlin lifted the puck over the glass for an automatic delay of game infraction at 3:10 of the third period and the Habs didn’t take long to capitalize on the ensuing advantage.
Montréal won a faceoff back to the point where Petry slid a pass across the ice to Hoffman (13) for a one-timer blast off the iron and in– bringing the Canadiens to within two goals at 3:13.
Petry (20) and Christian Dvorak (19) had the assists on Hoffman’s power-play goal and the Habs trailed, 4-2.
Almost midway through the final frame, Nick Suzuki (21) caught a pass and released a shot from the slot past Swayman after the Bruins failed to clear their own zone.
Mathieu Perreault (4) and Michael Pezzetta (4) had the assists on Suzuki’s goal and the Canadiens trailed, 4-3, at 7:19 of the third period.
With 2:20 remaining in the action, Montréal’s interim head coach, Martin St. Louis, pulled his goaltender for an extra attacker.
After Forbort’s shot attempt was knocked down by a high stick in Boston’s attacking zone, however, Montembeault had to return to the crease otherwise the Canadiens would’ve allowed a surefire empty net goal.
With 51.8 seconds remaining, Montembeault vacated the net once more.
After a stoppage with 26.2 seconds left, St. Louis used his timeout to rally his skaters for one last chance, but the Bruins wound up getting another rush in the dying seconds of the game after Nosek and Marchand won a battle along the boards.
Marchand fed an indirect pass off the boards across the width of the ice for Bergeron (22) to retrieve and skate into the attacking zone mostly unguarded before burying the puck in the empty net for his second goal of the game and another two-goal advantage for Boston.
Marchand (45) had the only assist on Bergeron’s empty net goal and the Bruins led, 5-3, at 19:53 of the third period.
As a result of the goal, Bergeron now trails Rick Middleton by five goals for the third-most in franchise history, while Marchand is nine points away from reaching the 800-point plateau in his career.
He’s also two points away (791) from tying Wayne Cashman (793) for the seventh-most points in Bruins franchise history.
At the final horn, Boston had won, 5-3, and left Bell Centre leading in shots on goal, 42-26, including an, 11-10, advantage in the third period alone.
The Bruins also finished the night leading in giveaways (19-16) and hits (36-28), while the Canadiens exited their own ice with the advantage in blocked shots (17-10) and faceoff win% (52-48).
Montréal went 2-for-4 on the power play on Sunday, while Boston went 0-for-1.
Meanwhile, Swayman picked up his 23rd win of the season and moved into sole possession of the fourth-most wins by a rookie goaltender in B’s franchise history, trailing Frank Brimsek (33), Andrew Raycroft (29) and Tiny Thompson (26) as a result.
Tuukka Rask, Marco Baron and Jack Gelineau are now tied for the fifth-most with 22.
The Habs are now on a nine-game losing streak (all in regulation) and fell to 6-38-8 (3-21-3 at home) when allowing the game’s first goal, 4-32-8 (2-16-3 at home) when trailing after one period and 3-40-6 (1-22-2 at home) when losing after two periods in 2021-22.
Boston improved to 36-9-2 (19-4-1 on the road) when scoring first, 28-5-1 (14-2-1 on the road) when leading after the first period and 31-1-3 (17-0-2 on the road) when leading after the second period this season.
The B’s have three games remaining in the regular season, while the Toronto Maple Leafs have two games and the Tampa Bay Lightning have three games left in their schedules.
Toronto is 2nd in the Atlantic Division and can clinch home ice in the First Round with at least one point in their remaining games, while Tampa would need to win out their final three games and hope for the Maple Leafs to lose their last two games in regulation.
Boston cannot finish higher than 3rd in the Atlantic and is not destined to have home ice in the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs unless they meet another wild card in the later rounds.
Entering Monday, the B’s would face the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2022 First Round, though if Boston falls behind the Washington Capitals (100 points) in the wild card standings, there’s always a chance they’ll face the Florida Panthers.
In any case, Toronto would face Tampa if Boston is a wild card team.
Otherwise, we could be looking at another Bruins vs. Leafs First Round series if Boston is able to overcome the Lightning in the division standings.
The Bruins host the Florida Panthers on Tuesday and Buffalo Sabres on Thursday before closing out the 2021-22 regular season Friday night on the road against the Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena.
Jake DeBrusk had the game’s first goal less than a minute into the second period and assisted on Charlie Coyle’s game-winning overtime goal a little past the midpoint of the extra frame as the Boston Bruins beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 2-1, in overtime at Amalie Arena Friday night.
Linus Ullmark (23-9-2, 2.58 goals-against average, .912 save percentage in 36 games played) made 28 saves on 29 shots against in the win for Boston.
Tampa netminder, Andrei Vasilevskiy (35-16-5, 2.45 goals-against average, .917 save percentage in 56 games played), stopped 35 out of 37 shots faced in the overtime loss.
The Bruins cemented 3rd place in the Atlantic Division as a result of the win– gaining a one point lead over the Lightning in the standings with a 45-21-5 record (95 points) to Tampa’s 43-20-8 record (94 points).
Boston trails the Toronto Maple Leafs by three points for 2nd place in the Atlantic with the two clubs set to meet in the regular season finale on April 29th at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.
The B’s, Bolts and Leafs each have 11 games remaining in their 2021-22 regular season schedules and are vying for home ice advantage behind the Atlantic Division leading, Florida Panthers, who’ve amassed 106 points so far with a 50-15-6 record (both are Panthers franchise records) in 71 games.
As a result of Friday night’s win, the Bruins clinched their regular season series against the Lightning– finishing 3-0-1 against Tampa in the 2021-22 regular season– marking the first time that Boston beat the Bolts overall in their regular season matchups since 2017-18, when the Bruins went 3-1-0 against Tampa before losing in five games in the 2018 Second Round to the Lightning.
Boston did not play Tampa last season as a result of the condensed 56-game regular season schedule and temporarily realigned divisions due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The B’s went 2-0-1 against the Bolts in 2019-20.
The Bruins were without the services of Jakub Zboril (right ACL), David Pastrnak (undisclosed) and Hampus Lindholm (lower body) on Friday.
Trent Frederic returned to the lineup after missing Tuesday night’s, 5-3, loss in Detroit with an upper body injury.
As a result, B’s head coach, Bruce Cassidy, promoted Marc McLaughlin to the second line right wing with Frederic and Nick Foligno returning to their usual roles on the third and fourth line respectively.
Tomáš Nosek was relegated from the second line back to his regular spot as the fourth line center– flanked by Foligno and Curtis Lazar on his wings as Jack Studnicka, Josh Brown and Anton Blidh served as Boston’s healthy scratches in Tampa.
On defense, Mike Reilly suited up alongside Charlie McAvoy on the first pairing with Lindholm out of action, while Connor Clifton joined Derek Forbort on the third pairing.
Among injured players, Lindholm is closer to a return than Pastrnak and may be ready to go in Washington, D.C. on Sunday afternoon.
Reilly caught Corey Perry with a high stick to kick things off at 2:18 of the first period– yielding the night’s first power play to the Lightning as a result.
Tampa, however, failed to convert on the ensuing skater advantage.
Midway through the opening frame, Matt Grzelcyk cross checked Brandon Hagel and cut a rut to the sin bin as a result at 11:33.
The Bolts’ power play was cut short when Alex Killorn tripped Forbort at 11:50.
After a span of 1:43 at 4-on-4, the Bruins had an abbreviated power play with Killorn in the box, but Boston couldn’t take advantage of their short skater advantage.
Entering the first intermission, the score remained tied, 0-0, despite Tampa outshooting Boston, 11-10, in shots on goal.
The Lightning held the advantage in blocked shots (6-3), giveaways (2-1), hits (12-10) and faceoff win percentage (53-47), while both teams had one takeaway each.
Tampa was 0/2 on the power play, while the Bruins were 0/1 heading into the middle frame.
Reilly’s indirect pass intended for Brad Marchand bounced off the boards shortly after play resumed for the second period, whereby Patrice Bergeron was able to scoop up the loose puck and enter the attacking zone with Marchand in tow.
Together, the two forwards worked their way towards the slot before Bergeron sent the puck to Marchand that Marchand quickly one-touched a pass over to DeBrusk (22) as No. 74 in black and gold crashed the net and slid the rubber biscuit through Vasilevskiy’s five-hole on a backhand shot.
Marchand (41) and Bergeron (36) had the assists on DeBrusk’s goal as the Bruins took a, 1-0, lead 47 seconds into the second period.
Boston’s lead, however, wasn’t for long as Tampa mounted a surge in momentum that road on the coattails of a long shift for the Bruins as the B’s failed to clear their own zone.
Perry received a pass from Jan Rutta and sent the puck across the slot to the opposite circle whereby Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (8) one-timed a shot past Ullmark– tying the game, 1-1, in the process at 3:28 of the second period.
Perry (18) and Rutta (14) notched the assists on the goal.
Midway through the middle frame, Anthony Cirelli tripped Marchand and presented the Bruins with another power play at 11:21.
Less than a minute later, though, Erik Haula was assessed a roughing infraction for exchanging pleasantries with Rutta at 12:08.
After 1:14 of 4-on-4 action, the Lightning had an abbreviated power play come and go with no result to show on the scoreboard.
Late in the period, Foligno tripped Zach Bogosian, but despite their fourth power play of the night at 17:20 of the second period, the Bolts weren’t able to capitalize on the special teams action.
Through 40 minutes of play, the score was tied, 1-1, while the Bruins outshot the Lightning, 26-17, including a, 16-6, advantage in the second period alone.
Tampa held the advantage in blocked shots (11-5), takeaways (4-3), hits (22-21) and faceoff win% (55-46), while both teams managed three giveaways aside.
The Bolts were 0/4 and the B’s were 0/2 on the power play heading into the final frame of regulation.
Reilly cut a rut to the box for catching another Lightning skater with a high stick– this time Ondrej Palat– at 1:33 of the third period.
Boston’s penalty kill, however, stood tall once more.
The two teams swapped chances as they went up and down the ice– end-to-end– at blistering speeds as Ullmark and Vasilevskiy wracked up save after save.
Ullmark denied Brayden Point with his left pad on a breakaway almost midway through the third period after Boston had sustained offensive zone time, but couldn’t muster anything past Vasilevskiy at the other end.
Palat tripped Marchand at 15:45 of the third period, but the Bruins couldn’t beat the Lightning’s penalty killing units.
Overtime became a necessity with the score still tied, 1-1, after regulation.
Boston outshot Tampa, 36-28, despite both teams managing to amass 11 shots on goal each in the third period alone.
The Bolts led in takeaways (6-3), giveaways (6-5), hits (35-32) and faceoff win% (51-49) after 60 minutes. The B’s led in blocked shots (13-7).
As no penalties were called in the extra frame, the Lightning finished the night 0/5 on the power play, while the Bruins went 0/3.
Cassidy sent out Coyle, DeBrusk and McAvoy to begin overtime, while Tampa’s head coach, Jon Cooper, countered with Point, Nikita Kucherov and Victor Hedman.
The Lightning recorded the first shot of the overtime period, but it was Boston that’d win the game.
After several short shifts, Tampa emerged with an upper hand in momentum as Kucherov and Point were back on the ice.
Point couldn’t get a shot off as a loose puck bounced before him on the doorstep while DeBrusk backchecked the Lightning forward and took him out of the play.
McAvoy skated up into the neutral zone with possession before dropping a pass back to DeBrusk as No. 74 rushed into the attacking zone– leading to a 2-on-1 with Coyle.
DeBrusk flipped a pass to Coyle for a one-timer that went wide and caromed off the glass behind the net where the two forwards worked to win a battle for the loose puck.
Coyle (16) wrapped around the net and got his own rebound to follow up with a second chance shot that hit the back of the twine– sealing the deal on a, 2-1, overtime victory for Boston as a result.
DeBrusk (14) and McAvoy (43) had the assists on Coyle’s game-winning goal at 3:37 of the overtime period as the Bruins finished the night leading in shots on goal, 37-29, despite both teams managing to fire one shot on net each in the extra frame alone.
Boston emerged victorious with the all-important bonus point in the standings to separate themselves from Tampa, while exiting Amalie Arena with the advantage in blocked shots (13-9) by the end of the night as well.
The Lightning left their own ice leading in giveaways (7-5), hits (36-32) and faceoff win% (52-48).
Tampa is now on a four-game losing streak for the first time this season, while Boston improved to 9-0-1 in games following a game in which they’ve allowed five or more goals this season.
Ullmark, meanwhile, is 6-1-1 in nine games (eight starts) since March 1st– amassing a 2.02 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage in that span.
The Bruins improved to 8-3 in overtime (10-5 past regulation) this season, while the Lightning fell to 9-3 in overtime (11-8 past regulation) n 2021-22.
Boston is now 15-5-2 (9-2-1 on the road) when tied after the first period, 33-8-2 (18-4-1 on the road) when scoring first, and 13-4-0 (6-3-0 on the road) when tied after two periods this season.
As a result of the overtime loss Friday, Tampa fell to 13-7-2 (7-3-2 at home) when tied after one, 19-17-3 (9-5-3 at home) when allowing the game’s first goal and 11-4-2 (5-1-2 at home) when tied through two periods in 2021-22.
The Bruins wrap up their four-game road trip (2-1-0) Sunday afternoon at Capital One Arena against the Washington Capitals.
Boston returns to TD Garden for a three-game homestand beginning on April 12th against the St. Louis Blues.
John Tavares and Auston Matthews each had a pair of goals in the Toronto Maple Leafs’, 5-2, victory over the Boston Bruins Saturday night at Scotiabank Arena.
Saturday night marked Boston’s return to Canada in the regular season for the first time since the 2019-20 season due to the temporary realignment for the entire 2020-21 regular season in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Jack Campbell (6-2-1, 1.88 goals-against average, .936 save percentage in 10 games played) made 42 saves on 44 shots against in the win for the Leafs.
Meanwhile, Linus Ullmark (3-2-0, 2.60 goals-against average, .918 save percentage in five games played) stopped 31 out of 35 shots faced in the loss.
The Bruins dropped to 5-4-0 (10 points) on the season and fell to 6th place in the Atlantic Division, while Toronto improved to 7-4-1 (15 points) overall and in command of 2nd place in the Atlantic.
Prior to Saturday night’s matchup, it had been 722 day since the B’s beat the Leafs, 4-2, in Toronto on Nov. 15, 2019.
Once again, Nick Foligno (upper body), Anton Blidh (upper body), Jack Studnicka and Jakub Zboril were out of the lineup for Boston, while head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made no changes to his lineup after Thursday night’s, 5-1, victory against the Detroit Red Wings.
A few minutes into the action, a mad scramble in front of Boston’s own net led to a great scoring chance for Morgan Rielly, whereby the Leafs defender sent a shot at a mostly open net as Ullmark dove across the crease in desperation, but Patrice Bergeron stood tall behind his goaltender and blocked the rubber biscuit from entering the open twine.
Bergeron may be in search of his fifth Frank J. Selke Trophy in his career, but he also might have just made the save of the season and could receive a vote or two towards the Vezina Trophy as the league’s best goaltender in 2021-22.
Moments later, Connor Clifton was penalized for roughing and yielded the night’s first power play to the Toronto at 5:18 of the first period.
The B’s made the kill on the ensuing infraction, however.
Maple Leafs defender, Jake Muzzin, knocked his own net off its moorings and received a delay of game minor at 8:23, presenting the Bruins with their first power play of the night.
It didn’t take Boston long to win the ensuing offensive zone faceoff, work the puck around the attacking zone from Brad Marchand to Bergeron for a one-timer that Taylor Hall (3) tipped past Campbell from point blank without any pressure in front of the net.
Bergeron (4) and Marchand (9) tallied the assists on Hall’s power-play goal as the Bruins pulled ahead, 1-0, at 8:37 of the first period.
Almost four minutes later, however, Tavares (5) inadvertently redirected a shot with his leg past Ullmark that Mitchell Marner originally fired towards the net– tying the game, 1-1, in the process.
Marner (7) and Rielly (7) had the assists on the goal, which had briefly been reviewed before being upheld as the officials checked to make sure there was a legitimate scoring chance imminent as Bergeron bumped into Tavares, thereby knocking the net off of its pegs immediately prior to the goal at 12:21.
After one period of action in Toronto, the scoreboard was even, 1-1, despite the Bruins leading in shots on goal, 13-9.
Boston held the advantage in blocked shots (6-2), takeaways (3-1) and giveaways (3-1), while both teams managed to have 10 hits each and split the faceoff winning percentage, 50-50, in the first period.
The Maple Leafs were 0/1 and the Bruins were 1/1 on the power play heading into the first intermission.
Leafs head coach, Sheldon Keefe, couldn’t have been too pleased early in the middle frame when his skaters botched a line change and had one too many on the ice– resulting in a bench minor for too many men 40 seconds into the second period.
This time, however, Boston’s power play was unsuccessful.
Moments later, David Pastrnak was assessed a minor for boarding as he collided with T.J. Brodie awkwardly along the boards and presented Toronto with a skater advantage at 7:34 of the second period.
The Leafs did not convert on the ensuing skater advantage.
Late in the period, Matt Grzelcyk caught Marner with a high stick and cut a rut to the penalty box as a result at 14:35.
Toronto made quick work of the ensuing power play as Marner worked a zone entry to Tavares, who sent the puck back to Marner off of Bruins defender Derek Forbort’s stick.
While continuing to approach the slot, Marner sent a quick pass to Matthews for the shot off of Ullmark’s pad that rebounded right back to Matthews (4), who promptly pocketed the rubber biscuit in the twine under the bar to give Toronto a, 2-1, lead.
Marner (8) had the only assist on Matthews’ first goal of the night at 14:59 of the second period.
Minutes later, Marchand gave Timothy Liljegren a quick stick to the face, yielding an infraction for high sticking as a result and giving the Maple Leafs another chance on the power play at 18:03.
Once more, Matthews (5) made Boston pay with a power-play goal on a one-timer from the faceoff dot off of Ullmark’s glove and into the back of the net.
Rielly (8) and Marner (9) tabbed the assists on Matthews’ second goal of the night and the Leafs led, 3-1, at 18:54 of the second period.
Through 40 minutes of action, the Maple Leafs led, 3-1, on the scoreboard and in shots on goal, 27-21, including an, 18-8, advantage in the second period alone.
Toronto also held the advantage in takeaways (5-4) and faceoff win% (55-45), while the Bruins led in blocked shots (12-5), giveaways (12-4) and hits (20-16).
The Maple Leafs were 2/4 on the power play, while the Bruins were 1/2 on the skater advantage after two periods.
Tavares hooked Pastrnak 32 seconds into the third period, but the Bruins were not successful on the ensuing power play.
Instead, shortly after emerging from the penalty box, Tavares (6) slipped a rebound under Ullmark to give Toronto a, 4-1, lead at 2:53 of the third period.
William Nylander (5) and Rasmus Sandin (4) had the assists on Tavares’ second goal of the game.
Almost midway through the final frame, Pastrnak (3) rocketed a one-timer through Campbell’s six-hole after Marchand entered the zone, cut in and fed Pastrnak for the goal.
Marchand (10) had the only assist on Pastrnak’s goal and the Bruins trailed, 4-2, at 8:29 of the third period.
Michael Bunting tripped Clifton at 15:44, but Boston couldn’t take advantage of the resulting skater advantage.
With 1:43 remaining in the game, Cassidy pulled his netminder for an extra attacker, but things did not go as he planned as Marner (3) quickly pocketed an empty net goal to extend Toronto’s lead to three-goals once again.
Tavares (6) and Alexander Kerfoot (4) tallied the assists on Marner’s empty net goal at 19:17 of the third period and at the final horn the Leafs had won, 5-2.
The Maple Leafs finished Saturday night’s action leading in blocked shots (16-13), as well as in faceoff win% (51-49), while the B’s exited Scotiabank Arena with the advantage in shots on goal (44-36), including a, 23-9, advantage in the third period alone.
Boston also wrapped the night up leading in giveaways (15-11) and hits (32-22).
Toronto went 2/4 and Boston went 1/4 on the power play in Saturday night’s, 5-2, win for the Maple Leafs.
The B’s fell to 5-2-0 (1-2-0 on the road) when scoring the game’s first goal, 0-2-0 (0-2-0 on the road) when tied after one period and 0-3-0 (0-3-0 on the road) when trailing after two periods this season.
The Maple Leafs, meanwhile, rose to 4-3-1 (3-1-1 at home) when allowing the game’s first goal, 2-2-0 (2-1-0 at home) when tied after the first period and 4-0-0 (4-0-0 at home) when leading after the second period in 2021-22.
The Bruins return to TD Garden for a two-game homestand next Tuesday and Thursday against the Ottawa Senators and Edmonton Oilers, respectively, prior to going to New Jersey next Saturday for a road game against the Devils.
Boston hosts the Montréal Canadiens for the first time since the 2019-20 season on Nov. 14th.
Patrice Bergeron recorded his first career natural hat trick and second career four-goal game in Thursday night’s, 5-1, victory for the Boston Bruins over the Detroit Red Wings.
Bruins goaltender, Jeremy Swayman (2-2-0, 2.28 goals-against average, .900 save percentage in four games played) made 14 saves on 15 shots against in the win and improved to 6-0-0 on home ice at TD Garden.
Meanwhile, Red Wings netminder, Thomas Greiss (3-3-0, 3.45 goals-against average, .897 save percentage in six games played) stopped 32 out of 37 shots faced in the loss.
Boston improved to 5-3-0 (10 points) on the season and moved ahead of Detroit for 5th place in the Atlantic Division standings.
Though the Red Wings are 4-5-2 (10 points) overall, the Bruins lead in their tiebreaker for 5th by virtue of having amassed more points in fewer games played (the B’s have 10 points through eight games, while Detroit has 10 points in 11 games thus far).
Boston is now 1-0-0 against Detroit this season, having most recently gone 1-2-0 in their season series in 2019-20 (the two teams did not play each other last season due to the temporarily realigned divisions in light of the ongoing pandemic).
The Bruins were once again without Nick Foligno (upper body) and Anton Blidh (upper body) on Thursday, while head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made no changes to his lineup– rendering Jack Studnicka and Jakub Zboril as healthy scratches as Oskar Steen was reassigned to the Providence Bruins (AHL) on Oct. 30th.
Thursday night’s win also marked the 199th career victory behind the bench as Boston’s head coach for Cassidy.
Prior to puck drop, the Bruins held a moment of silence for former Boston Red Sox All Star second baseman and NESN color commentator for 33 years, Jerry Remy, 68, who died on Oct. 30th after a long, courageous, battle with cancer.
Erik Haula tripped up Joe Veleno and yielded the night’s first power play to Detroit at 2:55 of the first period, but the Red Wings couldn’t muster anything on the ensuing skater advantage.
Midway through the opening frame, Vladislav Namestnikov tried to check someone near the benches while making his way back to Detroit’s bench without a helmet, resulting in a minor penalty for playing without a helmet at 10:58.
It didn’t take Boston long to capitalize on their first power play of the night as Charlie McAvoy worked the puck to Brad Marchand before Marchand setup Bergeron (1) for the power-play goal from his usual spot in the bumper on the skater advantage at 11:03.
Marchand (5) and McAvoy (3) tallied the assists on Bergeron’s first goal of the season and the Bruins took a, 1-0, lead.
Late in the period, Nick Leddy tripped McAvoy and was assessed a minor infraction at 16:14, but the Red Wings penalty kill managed to go unscathed as Leddy returned from the box without issue.
Heading into the first intermission, the B’s led, 1-0, on the scoreboard, and, 11-3, in shots on goal.
Detroit held the advantage in blocked shots (4-1), takeaways (6-2) and giveaways (6-2), while Boston dominated in hits (14-8) and faceoff win percentage (71-29) after 20 minutes of action.
The Red Wings were 0/1 and the Bruins were 1/2 heading into the middle frame.
Tyler Bertuzzi took down McAvoy without the puck and was assessed an interference minor at 9:39 of the second period.
Once more, the Bruins would score on the ensuing advantage as Marchand teed up Bergeron (2) from the trapezoid to the slot for a catch and release goal to put Boston ahead, 2-0.
Marchand (6) had the only assist– tying Terry O’Reilly for the ninth-most assists in a Bruins uniform in franchise history (402) in the process– on Bergeron’s second power-play goal of the night at 10:52 of the second period.
Several minutes later, Moritz Seider was sent to the box for holding and presented Boston with another power play at 17:48.
Once again, Bergeron (3) scored a power-play goal– his third of the night, capping off a natural hat trick in the process– to give the Bruins a, 3-0, lead at 18:45.
Marchand (7) and McAvoy (4) tabbed the assists on Bergeron’s hat trick goal– marking the Bruins captain’s first hat trick since April 6, 2021 (4-2 win at Philadelphia) and giving Marchand his third assist of the night in the process, surpassing O’Reilly for sole possession of the ninth-most assists in a Bruins uniform with 403 assists in his career to O’Reilly’s 402.
Through 40 minutes of play, the B’s led, 3-0, on the scoreboard as well as, 26-9, in shots on goal– including a, 15-6, advantage in the second period alone.
Detroit maintained the advantage in blocked shots (8-5), takeaways (10-4) and giveaways (7-4), while Boston led in hits (19-18) and faceoff win% (52-48).
The Red Wings were 0/1 and the Bruins were 3/4 on the power play heading into the final frame.
In his 100th career NHL game, Connor Clifton had a plus-1 rating, one shot on goal, two hits and two penalty minutes as a result of his tripping minor 24 seconds into the third period on Thursday.
The Bruins managed to kill off Clifton’s infraction, however.
Later on in the third, David Pastrnak caught Robby Fabbri with a high stick and was assessed a minor penalty as a result at 6:08 of the third period, presenting the Red Wings with their second power play of the evening.
Detroit earned a 5-on-3 advantage shortly thereafter when Bergeron tripped Filip Hronek at 6:59.
As a result of the resulting two-skater advantage, Red Wings head coach, Jeff Blashill, used his timeout to draw up a plan to get his team back in the game.
Boston’s penalty killing unit was severely hampered by the fact that Bergeron was in the box– limiting their strength at winning the ensuing defensive zone faceoff on the penalty kill.
Detroit played around with the puck in the attacking zone for less than a minute before whipping the rubber biscuit along the blue line from Seider to Hronek before setting up Lucas Raymond (5) for a one-timer goal from the faceoff dot unopposed.
Hronek (3) and Seider (9) notched the assists on Raymond’s power-play goal as the Red Wings trailed, 3-1, at 7:46 of the third period.
It didn’t take long for Boston to respond, however.
24 seconds after giving up a power-play goal against, the Bruins scored a shorthanded goal when Curtis Lazar streaked from one end to the attacking zone on a breakaway before Mike Reilly (1) pounced on the rebound for his first goal as a Bruin– as well as his first goal since Jan. 28, 2020, when he helped contribute to a, 5-2, victory for the Ottawa Senators in Buffalo.
Lazar (2) and Tomáš Nosek (2) had the assists on Reilly’s goal as the Bruins regained a three-goal lead, 4-1, at 8:10 of the third period.
It was also Boston’s first shorthanded goal this season.
Midway through the final frame, Veleno cleared the puck over the glass and received an automatic delay of game penalty at 10:34, but the Bruins weren’t able to capitalize on the ensuing advantage.
In fact, less than a couple minutes later, Hronek and Matt Grzelcyk entered the box together for their respective teams after a scrum ensued after Swayman froze the puck, resulting in an unsportsmanlike conduct minor for Hronek and a roughing penalty for Grzelcyk at 12:14 of the third period.
Boston’s skater advantage was unchanged as a result and the Red Wings managed to kill off the remainder of Veleno’s infraction.
Finally, in the dying minutes of the third period, Reilly entered the attacking zone on a rush and dropped a quick pass back to Marchand before Marchand wired a pass across the ice to Bergeron (4) for a shot that squibbed through Greiss to make it, 5-1, Boston at 15:52.
Bergeron, in the process, scored his fourth goal of the night, while Marchand (8) and Reilly (2) were credited with the assists.
It was the 26th time in franchise history that a player scored four goals in a game, as well as the first time since Pastrnak notched four against the Anaheim Ducks in a, 4-2, victory on Oct. 14, 2019.
It was also Bergeron’s first four-goal game (the second of his career) since he scored four goals in a, 7-1, win against the Carolina Hurricanes on Jan. 6, 2018.
Marchand, meanwhile, finished the night with four assists (all primary assists) on Bergeron’s goals– trailing Rick Middleton (496) by 92 assists for the eighth-most assists in Bruins franchise history.
At the final horn, Boston had won, 5-1, and wrapped things up leading in shots on goal, 37-15, including an, 11-6, advantage in the third period alone.
The Bruins exited their own arena leading in blocked shots (11-10), as well as faceoff win% (59-41), while the Red Wings finished Thursday night’s action leading in giveaways (7-5) and hits (25-24).
Detroit went 1/4 on the power play, while Boston went 3/5 on the skater advantage en route to the victory.
The B’s improved to 5-1-0 (4-0-0 at home) when scoring the game’s first goal, 5-0-0 (4-0-0 at home) when leading after the first period and 3-0-0 (2-0-0 at home) when leading after two periods this season.
Meanwhile, the Red Wings fell to 1-4-1 (1-3-0 on the road) when allowing the game’s first goal, 1-5-1 (1-4-0 on the road) when trailing after one period and 1-5-1 (1-4-0 on the road) when trailing after two periods in 2021-22.
The Bruins venture up to Canada for the first time since the 2019-20 season due to the ongoing global pandemic and take on the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday before returning home for a quick, two-game, homestand next week against the Ottawa Senators next Tuesday and Edmonton Oilers next Thursday.
The Boston Bruins scored first, scored last and scored the only shootout goal in their, 3-2, shootout victory over the Florida Panthers at TD Garden on Saturday.
Charlie Coyle notched the only tally in the shootout, while Linus Ullmark (3-1-0, 2.23 goals-against average, .927 save percentage in four games played) made 33 saves on 35 shots against in the win for Boston.
Florida netminder, Spencer Knight (2-0-1, 1.96 goals-against average, .929 save percentage in three games played) stopped 31 out of 33 shots faced in the shootout loss– snapping the Panthers’ winning streak at eight games.
The Bruins improved to 4-3-0 (eight points) on the season and in command of 6th place in the Atlantic Division, while Florida fell to 8-0-1 (17 points), but remained in command of 1st place the Atlantic.
Nick Foligno (upper body) and Anton Blidh (upper body) remained out of the lineup for Boston, while Craig Smith returned to action after missing the last three games with an undisclosed injury.
With Smith back into the fold, Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy started the night reuniting Coyle with his familiar wingers, Taylor Hall and Smith on the second line.
Midway through the first period, however, Smith was promoted to the first line alongside Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand, while David Pastrnak took over Smith’s usual role on the second line.
Erik Haula centered the third line with Jake DeBrusk on his left wing and Curtis Lazar on his right wing, while Tomáš Nosek controlled the fourth line with Trent Frederic and Karson Kuhlman on his wings.
Derek Forbort started the night on the first defensive pairing with Charlie McAvoy, while Matt Grzelcyk and Brandon Carlo rounded out the top-four defenders.
Connor Clifton rejoined the lineup on the third pairing with Mike Reilly after Jakub Zboril took Clifton’s spot in Thursday night’s, 3-0, loss to the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena.
Jack Studnicka joined Oskar Steen and Zboril as Boston’s shot list of healthy scratches with Foligno and Blidh out due to injury.
Prior to the game, both teams wore special warmup jerseys to honor Jimmy Hayes, who tragically died on Aug. 23rd at the age of 31. Hayes played for both the Panthers and Bruins in his career and was also honored with a tribute video by the Bruins and a moment of silence prior to the singing of “The Star-Spangled Banner” as traditionally performed by Todd Angilly.
Florida wore jerseys that were all No. 12 and read “Broadway” on the nameplate, while Boston wore their own jerseys with “Hayesy” in place of the regular player names.
Both sets of warmup jerseys are being auctioned with proceeds benefiting a charity chosen by the Hayes family, as well as both teams.
An oddity occurred at puck drop, when the Bruins had four skaters with letters on the front of their jersey denoting captain and alternate captain status.
Bergeron had his usual “C” as Boston’s captain, while Marchand, McAvoy and Carlo each had an “A” as the team’s alternate captains.
In accordance with the National Hockey League rulebook, you can only have three alternates in a game where your captain is not present (or you don’t have one altogether), so the “A” on McAvoy’s sweater became the sacrificial lamb for the night during the first intermission.
It was a simple mistake (but fun if you notice the little nuances of the game) and ultimately costs the team nothing when it happens. Well, except for the unstitching part.
Carry on.
Late in the opening frame, Brandon Montour caught Smith away from the puck and received an interference minor at 15:33 of the first period.
Boston’s first power play, however, couldn’t get anything going, but generated enough momentum to dominate the attacking zone in the minutes leading up to the first intermission.
As a result of Lazar’s effort to keep the puck in the zone before heading off the ice to complete a line change, Hall setup Coyle (3) for a snap shot over Knight’s glove from the dot to give the Bruins the, 1-0, lead at 19:18 of the first period.
Hall (2) and Lazar (1) tallied the assists on the goal, which gave Hall his 600th career NHL point as a result of the primary assist.
After 20 minutes of action Saturday night, the B’s led, 1-0, on the scoreboard and led in shots on goal, 14-13.
Florida held the advantage in blocked shots (6-3) and hits (11-10), while Boston led in takeaways (4-2), as well as faceoff win percentage (58-42).
Each team had three giveaways aside, while only the Bruins had seen any time on the skater advantage heading into the dressing room for the first intermission and were 0/1 prior to the middle frame.
Less than a minute into the second period, Anthony Duclair (6) tied it, 1-1, on a pump fake while crashing the net before roofing the puck over Ullmark’s glove and under the bar.
Carter Verhaeghe (3) and Aaron Ekblad (5) recorded the assists on Duclair’s goal as the Panthers evened things up 47 seconds into the second period.
Midway through the middle frame, Verhaeghe hooked DeBrusk and was sent to the penalty box at 12:37 as a result, but once more Boston’s power play was powerless as Florida killed off Verhaeghe’s minor.
Entering the second intermission, the score was tied, 1-1, while the Panthers were outshooting the Bruins, 28-24, including a, 15-10, advantage in the second period alone for Florida.
The B’s maintained the advantage in takeaways (6-5), hits (21-18) and faceoff win% (64-36), while the Panthers led in blocked shots (11-6) and giveaways (6-5) through 40 minutes of play.
Once more, the Panthers had yet to see any time on the power play through two periods, while Boston was 0/2 on the skater advantage.
Midway through the final frame, Coyle tripped Owen Tippett and presented Florida with their first power play of the night at 7:43 of the third period.
It didn’t take the Panthers long to capitalize on the ensuing 5-on-4 advantage as Florida won the offensive zone faceoff back to the point where Ekblad quickly worked the puck to Jonathan Huberdeau before finding Aleksander Barkov (5) for the catch and release goal while Ullmark was behind the play.
Huberdeau (8) and Ekblad (6) tallied the assists on Barkov’s power-play goal and the Panthers led for the first time of the night, 2-1, at 7:49.
Moments later, Verhaeghe went back to the box– this time for hooking Smith at 13:17 of the third period– and Boston’s power play finally converted on the ensuing opportunity.
McAvoy (1) snuck in from the point to the slot to receive a tape-to-tape pass from Marchand before sending the puck into the twine on a catch and release goal of his own to tie the game, 2-2, at 13:35.
Marchand (4) and Hall (3) had the assists– giving Marchand his 400th career assist in the process and becoming the 10th player in Bruins franchise history to notch at least 400 helpers with Boston.
The 33-year-old winger is now two assists away from tying Terry O’Reilly (402) for the 9th-most in franchise history.
At the horn, 60 minutes of regulation was not enough for the Bruins and Panthers, who were tied, 2-2, on the scoreboard, despite Florida leading in shots on goal, 35-32, while Boston rallied to an, 8-7, advantage in shots on net in the third period alone.
The Panthers held the advantage in blocked shots (13-9), while the B’s led in takeaways (10-8), hits (28-25) and faceoff win% (61-39). Both teams had seven giveaways each after three periods of play.
With no penalties having been called in overtime, Florida finished 1/1 on the power play, while Boston went 1/3 on the skater advantage Saturday night.
Cassidy sent out Bergeron, Marchand and McAvoy to start overtime, while Panthers interim head coach, Andrew Brunette, countered with Barkov, Huberdeau and Ekblad.
Overtime brought quite a few trips up and down the ice for both teams, but only resulted in one shot on goal in the five minutes of 3-on-3 action.
It did not go in, thus necessitating a shootout.
After 65 minutes of action, the score remained even, with the Panthers leading in shots on goal, 35-33, despite trialing Boston, 1-0, in shots on net in overtime alone.
Before the shootout commenced, Florida wrapped up the night leading in blocked shots (14-11) and giveaways (9-7), while the Bruins led in hits (28-25) and faceoff win% (63-37).
The Panthers shot first in the shootout, sending out Huberdeau to kick things off in the first round of the 1-on-1 action, but Ullmark stoned him cold with the right pad.
DeBrusk followed with a shot into Knight’s chest as the two teams were even, 0-0, through one round of the shootout.
Brunette elected Barkov to shoot next as the Florida captain waltzed to the center ice faceoff dot, then skated towards Ullmark with tremendous stickhandling skills before firing a shot attempt wide of the net to the Bruins netminder’s right side.
Cassidy sent Coyle out for Boston’s second shootout attempt and No. 13 in black and gold burst into the zone with speed before cooling things down to a skillful glide, going backhand then pulling the puck to his forehand for the wraparound Knight’s outstretched pad– giving Boston the go-ahead shootout goal.
Florida’s fate in their undefeated start to the regular season rested in the hands of Tippett as the young skater made his way towards Ullmark before wiring a shot into the Bruins goaltender’s glove from the slot.
Boston didn’t need to send out a third shooter as Ullmark had beaten Florida’s first three shots in the shootout, yielding the victory to the Bruins, 3-2, on the final scoreboard.
The Bruins improved to 1-0 in shootouts (1-0 past regulation) this season, while the Panthers fell to 0-1 in shootouts (2-1 past regulation) in 2021-22.
Last season, the B’s went 4-5 in overtime and 4-2 in shootouts (8-7 past regulation).
Boston improved to 4-1-0 (3-0-0 at home) when scoring the game’s first goal, 4-0-0 (3-0-0 at home) when leading after the first period and 2-1-0 (2-0-0 at home) when tied after two periods this season.
Florida fell to 2-0-1 (0-0-1 on the road) when allowing the game’s first goal, 0-0-1 (0-0-1 on the road) when trailing after the first period and 2-0-1 (1-0-1 on the road) when tied after two periods in 2021-22.
The Bruins went 4-3-0in the month of October and will begin November with a matchup against the Detroit Red Wings on home ice next Thursday before hitting the road to face the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena on Nov. 6th.
Frederik Andersen picked up his first assist and first shutout with the Carolina Hurricanes in their, 3-0, shutout over the Boston Bruins Thursday night at PNC Arena.
Andersen (6-0-0, 1.33 goals-against average, .956 save percentage in six games played) turned aside 33 out of 33 shots faced en route to his 20th career shutout, while becoming the first Carolina netminder to record an assist and a shutout in the same game since Arturs Irbe did so on March 30, 2002.
Coincidentally, Irbe also had an assist and a shutout against the Bruins that day.
Boston goaltender, Jeremy Swayman (1-2-0, 2.71 goals-against average, .893 save percentage in three games played) made 21 saves on 23 shots against in the loss.
The Bruins dropped to 3-3-0 (eight points) on the season and stuck in 6th place in the Atlantic Division in the process. Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Division leading Hurricanes improved to 6-0-0 (12 points) overall for the first time in franchise history.
The B’s were without the services of Nick Foligno (upper body), Anton Blidh (upper body) and Craig Smith (undisclosed) on Thursday, as Boston’s head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made one change to his lineup from Wednesday night’s, 4-1, loss to the Florida Panthers at FLA Live Arena.
Jakub Zboril replaced Connor Clifton on the third defensive pairing– giving Zboril his first appearance of the 2021-22 season since being relegated (it seems) to the seventh defender slot on a regular night.
Clifton joined Oskar Steen as the only healthy scratches for Boston against Carolina.
Ethan Bear checked Brad Marchand off of the opening draw– kicking off a physical night for both teams in the second night of back-to-back games for Boston.
Late in the opening period, Tony DeAngelo (1) wired a shot from the point that floated through traffic and beat Swayman on the glove side to give the Hurricanes the game’s first goal.
Brady Skjei (2) and Vincent Trocheck (4) had the assists on DeAngelo’s first goal with Carolina as the Canes took a, 1-0, lead at 15:16 of the first period.
Through 20 minutes of action, the Hurricanes led, 1-0, on the scoreboard, despite both teams amassing 11 shots each and recording zero penalties in the opening frame.
The Bruins held the advantage in blocked shots (4-2), takeaways (1-0) and hits (22-20), while the Canes led in giveaways (7-3) and faceoff win percentage (63-37).
Thursday night’s intensity picked up early in the middle frame as Nino Niederreiter and Marchand became entangled 42 seconds into the second period and earned minor infractions, yielding 4-on-4 action in the process.
Niederreiter was sent to the box for roughing, while Marchand was assessed a cross checking minor.
Neither team took advantage of the extra room on the ice.
Minutes later, Mike Reilly cut a rut to the penalty box with a roughing minor against Niederreiter at 5:36 of the second period– presenting Carolina with the night’s first power play as a result.
Boston’s penalty kill managed to rid themselves of their shorthanded burden in the ensuing special teams action.
Midway through the second period, however, Tomáš Nosek tripped up Sebastian Aho and was sent to the sin bin as a result at 13:17.
It didn’t take long for the Hurricanes to capitalize on their second power play opportunity of the night as Niederreiter (3) tossed a shot pass to the slot that bounced off of Bruins defender, Derek Forbort’s, skate and deflected past Swayman to extend Carolina’s lead to, 2-0, at 13:35 of the second period.
Brett Pesce (4) and Andersen (1) tallied the assists on Niederreiter’s power-play goal.
A minute later, Canes captain, Jordan Staal, knocked Patrice Bergeron off his skates away from the puck and received an interference infraction at 14:35– presenting Boston with their first power play of the night.
Jordan Martinook cross checked Charlie Coyle at 16:16 of the second period, yielding a two-skater advantage to the Bruins for about 20 seconds before returning to a regular 5-on-4 power play for Boston.
The B’s weren’t able to score on the short 5-on-3 advantage and ruined their chance on the ensuing 5-on-4 action as Bergeron tripped up Aho at 16:49.
Upon Martinook’s return from the penalty box, the Hurricanes began an abbreviated power play that ultimately went nowhere as the second period winded down.
After two periods of play, Carolina led, 2-0, on the scoreboard, despite Boston leading in shots on goal, 24-20, including a, 13-9, advantage in the second period alone.
The Bruins held the advantage in blocked shots (6-4), takeaways (5-0) and hits (37-25), while the Hurricanes led in giveaways (11-6) and faceoff win% (52-48) heading into the second intermission.
Carolina was 1/3 and Boston was 0/2 on the power play heading into the final frame.
Charlie McAvoy was sent to the box for tripping Martin Nečas at 1:59 of the third period, but the Canes weren’t able to capitalize on the ensuing power play.
Moments later, Ian Cole knocked Karson Kuhlman down away from the puck and received an interference infraction as a result at 5:59, presenting the B’s with another power play opportunity.
Boston’s skater advantage became a 5-on-3 power play once more when Aho tripped Taylor Hall at 6:58, but Carolina’s penalty kill shutdown any and all hope on the advantage for the Bruins.
Staal checked McAvoy while the latter was falling to the ice and received a minor for boarding as the on ice officials surmised McAvoy was in a vulnerable position when Staal made the check at 10:35 of the third period.
While on the power play, Boston botched their advantage with one too many skaters– yielding a bench minor for too many men on the ice at 12:29, which was served by Hall and resulted in six seconds of 4-on-4 action before an abbreviated power play for the Hurricanes ensued.
With 1:47 remaining in the game, Swayman vacated his crease for an extra attacker.
At 19:35 of the third period, Andrei Svechnikov (6) scored an empty net goal to seal the deal on Carolina’s, 3-0, victory. Teuvo Teräväinen (5) and Aho (4) had the assists on Svechnikov’s insurance goal.
The Hurricanes finished the night with a, 3-0, shutout, despite trailing the Bruins, 33-24, in shots on goal, including a, 9-4, advantage in shots on net in the third period alone for Boston.
Carolina left their own ice leading in blocked shots (11-9), giveaways (15-13) and faceoff win% (56-44), while the Bruins hit the road after the game leading in hits (46-29).
The Canes went 1/5 and the B’s went 0/5 on the power play on Thursday.
Boston fell to 0-2-0 (0-2-0 on the road) when allowing the game’s first goal, 0-2-0 (0-2-0 on the road) when trailing after one period and 0-2-0 (0-2-0 on the road) when trailing after two periods this season.
The Hurricanes, meanwhile, improved to 4-0-0 (1-0-0 at home) when scoring the game’s first goal, 4-0-0 (2-0-0 at home) when leading after the first period and 5-0-0 (3-0-0 at home) when leading after two periods in 2021-22.
The Bruins wrap up the month of October back on home ice against the Florida Panthers on Saturday before kicking off November with a matchup against the Detroit Red Wings next Thursday prior to hitting the road for a game at Scotiabank Arena against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Nov. 6th.
Additions: F Michael Amadio, F Michael Bunting, F Kurtis Gabriel, F Joshua Ho-Sang (signed to a PTO), F David Kämpf, F Ondrej Kaše, F Nikita Gusev (signed to a PTO), F Nick Ritchie, F Brett Seney, D Alex Biega, D Carl Dahlström, D Brennan Menell, G Petr Mrázek
Subtractions: F Kenny Agostino (KHL), F Nick Foligno (signed with BOS), F Alex Galchenyuk (signed to a PTO with ARI), F Zach Hyman (signed with EDM), F Denis Malgin (NL), F Jared McCann (acquired from PIT, expansion, SEA), F Riley Nash (signed with WPG), F Joe Thornton (signed with FLA), D Zach Bogosian (signed with TBL), G Frederik Andersen (signed with CAR)
Still Unsigned: D Ben Hutton
Re-signed: F Wayne Simmonds, F Jason Spezza, D Travis Dermott, D Joseph Duszak, G Joseph Woll
Offseason Analysis: Whereas the Maple Leafs loaded up on veterans you may have heard of before last offseason in Wayne Simmonds, Joe Thornton and others, then acquired Nick Foligno and Riley Nash at the trade deadline, this year’s approach for Toronto has gone in a different direction.
This year, Leafs General Manager, Kyle Dubas, is signing guys you might not even know exist, plus a few underdogs.
Michael Bunting and David Kämpf might not be the first players you think of when you think about quality depth down the lineup, but Toronto is out to prove the naysayers wrong this season and show forward progress in the postseason– at the very least, if not win it all.
Though it’s a small sample size, Bunting had 10-3–13 totals in 21 games with the Arizona Coyotes last season. In 26 career NHL games, he has 11-3–14 totals, but again, that was with players not of the same caliber as Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares or William Nylander.
Now he finds himself in competition for a top-six role– if he can beat his competition in Nick Ritchie and Ilya Mikheyev among top-nine forwards on the left wing.
Kämpf, meanwhile, can switch out with Jason Spezza at center on the fourth line and amassed 1-11-12 totals with Chicago in 56 games last season.
In 2019-20, Kämpf had 8-8–16 totals in 70 games– three points shy of his career-high 19 points (four goals, 15 assists) in 63 games in 2018-19 with Chicago.
Playing alongside Simmonds and Spezza should make Toronto’s fourth line more competitive with Kurtis Gabriel rotated in for some added oomph.
Speaking of Ritchie, however, Leafs-centric media might have you thinking he’s the next Matthews, but buyer beware– his 26 points (15 goals, 11 assists) in 56 games with the Boston Bruins last season wasn’t so much of a breakout or a fluke as it was a return to his expectations.
Ritchie played up in Boston’s lineup due to injury and became a unique piece of their power play at one point in that (strangely enough) it worked.
He spent pretty much the first half of last season playing with David Krejci at center and that’s not to say Matthews isn’t as skilled or better than Krejci, but rather a testament to Krejci’s status as a playmaker that elevates all around him.
Luckily for Toronto, Krejci’s gone back to Czechia to play in front of family and friends in his home country, so the Maple Leafs are better matched down the middle against the Bruins.
Yet, Ritchie’s impressive first half of the season regressed to the norm by the second half and down the stretch. He’s no Zach Hyman, but anything over 30 points in the upcoming season is a success for a player that had 9-22-31 totals with the Anaheim Ducks in 60 games in the 2018-19 season.
At the very least, Ritchie’s two-year deal worth $2.500 million per season is manageable. In fact, it’s the most Dubas spent on a skater this offseason.
If you can’t beat them– steal them.
Former Bruin, Ondrej Kaše, also joins Ritchie as a new Leaf and Kaše’s really looking to turn over a new leaf, since he’s coming off of a season in which he played three games and was sidelined by a concussion between Game 2 and Game 55 of a 56-game regular season.
In nine games as a Bruin, Kaše amassed one point, an assist, after he was acquired by Boston for David Backes, Axel Andersson and a 2020 1st round pick on Feb. 21, 2020.
Whether or not Kaše can get back up to speed– let alone continue his career– remains to be seen, but for now he’s signed to a one-year deal worth $1.250 million per season.
The defense is the same, Alexander Kerfoot did not get selected by the Seattle Kraken at the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft and Toronto essentially traded goaltenders with the Carolina Hurricanes without actually making a trade.
No, David Ayres isn’t taking his talents to Scotiabank Arena in a Leafs uniform, but Petr Mrázek is on a three-year deal worth $3.800 million per season.
At 29-years-old, he’s the same age as Jack Campbell and signed through 2023-24, whereas Campbell is a pending-unrestricted free agent as of July 2022.
Mrázek was limited to 12 games due to injury last season and went 6-2-3 with three shutouts, a 2.06 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage in that span.
It was his best performance in three seasons with the Canes, though in both 2018-19 and 2019-20, he played in 40 games, so was last season just a testament to Carolina’s defense or….
Nevertheless, when the Hurricanes faced the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Second Round, Mrázek was called upon to replace Alex Nedeljkovic for a pair of starts.
Though he extended Carolina’s postseason to a Game 5 against Tampa in the Second Round, Mrázek went 1-1 with a 3.90 goals-against average and an .873 save percentage.
So it appears as though there’ll be healthy competition for the starting job– at least come time for the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs as it wasn’t entirely Campbell’s fault the Leafs blew a 3-1 series lead against a low-scoring Montréal Canadiens offense.
Anyway, Frederik Andersen left for the Hurricanes– the team that originally drafted him in the 7th round (187th overall) in 2010, before he re-entered the draft and was selected in the 3rd round (87th overall) by Anaheim in 2012.
Before we grade the Toronto’s offseason, let’s review a pair of trades that Dubas made this summer.
First, on July 17th, he dealt Filip Hallander and a 2023 7th round pick to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Jared McCann, who was then left exposed for the Kraken to take over Kerfoot. Whoops.
Then on July 26th, James (J.D.) Greenway was traded to Boston for future considerations.
Maybe that’s all it takes to get out of the First Round for the first time since 2004.
Offseason Grade:B-
With about $80,200 in cap space, the Maple Leafs aren’t doing themselves any favors if they’re looking to add without subtracting around the 2022 trade deadline.
That said, Dubas would likely have to get creative if things are dire anyway, since the runway is getting shorter and shorter year-by-year.
Nylander is not the problem when a trio of players are getting paid more than him against the cap and producing… …not as much.
Sometimes points per dollar in the playoffs should be accounted for more than points per game in the regular season or something like that– not looking to stir up any more arguments than there already are on Leafs Twitter.
Though it may not look it on paper like last season, Toronto has made improvements where it counts and trimmed the excess where it dragged them down in crucial moments, but if all else fails yet again this season– they still need to resolve a true “goaltender of the future” problem, tweak the defense and make some big, bold, moves.
Apparently the National Hockey League’s Board of Governors were up to something this month as it was reported by Sportico on Tuesday that the Board unanimously approved ads on the front of NHL jerseys beginning with the 2022-23 season.
The ads will be no bigger than a 3-inch-by-3.5-inch rectangle, which is slightly larger than the ads featured on the front of National Basketball Association (NBA) jerseys.
It was only a matter of time before the NHL followed the NBA in generating additional revenue by doing what professional hockey leagues outside of North America have been doing for many years, as well as what’s been done for at least a few seasons now in the American Hockey League (AHL) and ECHL minor league levels on this side of the pond.
As always, hockey Twitter is taking the news well.
Let’s embrace the chaos for a moment and pick some sponsors for all 32 NHL teams that would make so much sense they’ll obviously be overlooked for, well, actual revenue generating streams instead.
Anaheim Ducks
What we want: Disney+ or TCL
What we’ll get: Honda
The Ducks play at Honda Center and, yeah, there’s really nothing besides Disney swooping in and sponsoring the team that they used to own as a means of cross promoting both the Ducks and The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers on Disney+, so we’re stuck with a Honda logo at center ice and on the front of Anaheim’s jerseys.
In any case, Honda’s red logo works pretty well with the Orange County orange featured as an accent color on Anaheim’s home and road jerseys.
NHL teams have a tendency to go back to the well with their partners– think of how many teams have either the same helmet sponsor as another team or just slapped on the same brand as their venue’s naming rights deal– but if we want to expand the playground a little bit perhaps TCL could be of interest for the Ducks.
Come to think of it, that’s probably a better option.
*Opens up Photoshop*
Arizona Coyotes
What we want: P.F. Chang’s or Cold Stone Creamery
What we’ll get: Fry’s or something, probably
Believe it or not the Los Angeles Chargers won’t be the only team tweeting about P.F. Chang’s for long as the restaurant chain was founded in 1993, and opened their first location in Scottsdale, Arizona, so it only makes sense to go back to their roots and toss an ad on the Coyotes’ jersey.
Also founded in Arizona– Cold Stone Creamery.
We figured that’d probably make sense on an AHL team’s jersey, though, despite the obvious cold ice, cold ice cream connection.
The Coyotes had Mountain America on their helmets at home and Dignity Health on their road helmets in 2020-21, so in reality we’ll probably get one of those two on the front of their jerseys in 2022-23.
Boston Bruins
What we want: Dunkin’ or bust
What we’ll get: TD Bank or O.R.G. Packaging, probably
What could possibly be more Boston than a Bruins jersey with a Dunkin’ logo on it?
Their AHL affiliate– the Providence Bruins– already play in the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Rhode Island and have a Dunkin’ ad patch on their jerseys. Why not call it up to the major league?
That said, with some NBA teams earning up to about $20 million in jersey ad space revenue, the B’s likely will reach for a brand with deeper pockets than doughnuts and coffee.
Delaware North likes their relationship with a certain bank from Toronto (TD Bank) and has had one of the league’s longest relationships with a Chinese company (O.R.G. Packaging) as part of the NHL’s intended growth beyond the continents of North America and Europe, so one of the two brands is more likely to appear on a Bruins jersey.
Buffalo Sabres
What we want: Super Chexx
What we’ll get: KeyBank
The Sabres could use some fun in their lives these days and you know what really helps put the mind at ease? Bubble hockey.
That’s right, Innovative Concepts in Entertainment, Inc. (ICE)– the manufacturers of the popular bar and arcade classic, Super Chexx, that your rich friend down the street growing up also had in the comforts of their home– is based outside Buffalo and would be a match made in heaven right about now.
Especially as Sabres fans are looking for something to do while the game’s on TV.
So yeah, we’re definitely going to get KeyBank, Tim Horton’s or something else entirely instead.
Calgary Flames
What we want: WestJet or Duraflame
What we’ll get: Scotiabank
If you, as an American, can name any other Canadian airline other than Air Canada, then congratulations. If you can’t, then may I introduce you to WestJet?
WestJet’s headquarters are next to Calgary International Airport and it’d be nice to prove to the world that Canada is more than just a land of Tim Horton’s, Roots, Canadian Tire, Rogers, Scotiabank and Mr. Sub.
If Duraflame isn’t available, then you might as well dip into the low-cost airline industry as a means of attracting tourists to Banff National Park, Calgary Stampede or whatever it is that sets Calgary apart from the rest of Alberta (so… not being Edmonton).
Carolina Hurricanes
What we want: Surge
What we’ll get: PNC, Diehard, maybe Cheerwine or something else
This should be obvious, but if you haven’t paid attention to the Hurricanes for at least the last few seasons now they do a “Storm Surge” celebration after every win on home ice in the regular season (and sometimes playoffs).
Surge (the soda) is one of those drinks that makes headlines every few years for being pulled straight out of the vault and placed back on grocery store shelves– speaking of which, does anyone know if it’s currently available?
If not, it’ll definitely be back by the 2022-23 season.
Yes, it’s hard to envision where an ad will be placed on the road jersey as the prime real estate is used up by the diagonal “CANES” letters and– for a few players– the captain’s “C” or alternate captain’s “A”.
Chicago
What we want: Portillo’s
What we’ll get: United
Look, between Walgreens, Sears and Portillo’s there’s a few legendary brands that Chicago could partner with as their first jersey ad in franchise history (not including practice jerseys).
Obviously only one of the three mentioned above is the right choice and its the one that might lead you to Walgreens later if you have a weak stomach. Besides, Sears is fading from our collective memory whether it is out of business already or not.
Clark Griswold would be proud of Portillo’s proudly being displayed on a, well, if a WHL team can rebrand, so can you, Chicago.
Colorado Avalanche
What we want: Chipotle or Coors
What we’ll get: Ball
Look, whether or not Nathan MacKinnon eats Chipotle is a debate for another day, but one thing’s for sure– both Chipotle and MacKinnon started their careers in Colorado.
Though Coors or Coors Light would make more sense, we have to consider the fact that kids might be wearing these jerseys to the game and we haven’t heard whether or not the jerseys that are sold in the proshops in 2022-23 and beyond will include the front jersey ad or not.
If they do, then we probably can’t market beer to children.
I’m pretty sure there’s a law about that and it’s also the reason why all my 1:64 scale diecast Rusty Wallace and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. cars from when I was a kid said “Team Rusty” and “Dale Jr.” on them, respectively, instead of Miller Lite and Budweiser.
Columbus Blue Jackets
What we want: Wendy’s
What we’ll get: Nationwide
Coinciding with the uptick in Columbus born and raised players on the Blue Jackets roster, it would be a great idea to add Wendy’s– which was founded in Columbus in 1969– to the team in such a way that perhaps Jack Roslovic and Sean Kuraly star in local commercials to the Blue Jackets viewing area during the 2022-23 season.
I know that’s assuming Roslovic signs an extension, but the pending-restricted free agent at the end of the 2021-22 season helped facilitate the Pierre-Luc Dubois for Patrik Laine trade with the Winnipeg Jets by forcing Winnipeg into trading him to his hometown team.
Unlike several recent stars that left the city via free agency, Roslovic will stick around for the long term.
Especially if there’s some goods in kind involved with a Wendy’s sponsorship. I mean, I would at least.
Dallas Stars
What we want: Whataburger
What we’ll get: AT&T
Though Whataburger would be a welcome party in the burger wars when Columbus and Dallas would “meat” up, there’s no beef to be found in this hypothetical because AT&T has already made that decision for us.
Sometimes you just can’t think too hyperlocal and AT&T fetches a more national audience than a regional chain that primarily serves Texas.
Besides, if you go to Dallas for a Stars game, you can always just get Whataburger then. It’s not like they’re going to send you a meal with a jersey if ads are on the jerseys sold to fans in 2022-23.
Detroit Red Wings
What we want: Little Caesars
What we’ll get: Little Caesars
The last few teams have all involved food and we’re going to be stuck on this theme for at least one more team after this.
Both the Red Wings and Little Caesars are owned by the Ilitch family and if you think adding one more connection between Detroit and pizza is a bad thing then you clearly don’t understand the marketing behind this.
Kids love pizza. Adults love pizza. There’s a lot of good memories involving pizza.
Plus, with General Manager, Steve Yzerman, in charge, the Red Wings are on the rise, which will only further tap into the nostalgia from when Detroit was doing what the Tampa Bay Lightning are currently doing to the rest of the league.
Edmonton Oilers
What we want: Boston Pizza
What we’ll get: Rogers
Edmonton thought they could replicate the success Ken Holland had in Detroit by hiring Holland as their General Manager and when they see that we’ve got a pizza establishment heading for the front of the Red Wings’ jersey, then the Oilers will think it’s also a good idea to snag a slice.
That’s where Boston Pizza comes in.
Whether or not they’ll get Connor McDavid to do an ad read or be left with whatever scraps surround him on the Oilers roster remains to be seen.
In all likelihood, Rogers Communications will probably just get to slap their logo on another element of Edmonton’s brand.
Florida Panthers
What we want: Royal Caribbean International
What we’ll get: Baptist Health or something
The Blockbuster guy (the late Wayne Huizenga) founded the team and almost named them the “Florida Block Busters”, so it’d be neat to incorporate an homage to the days of Blockbuster (rest in peace) with the almost Blockbuster-like colors of Royal Caribbean International on the jersey.
Plus, who among us hasn’t uttered the words “I need a vacation from my vacation” before?
If you’re an out of town fan visiting the Panthers in Florida or watching the Panthers come to your town— there’s a cruise line for you even if you wouldn’t go remotely near a cruise before the ongoing pandemic began.
Los Angeles Kings
What we want: Dollar Shave Club
What we’ll get: Anschutz Entertainment Group
Never doubt for a second that a team owner wouldn’t give up the chance to toot their own horn, which is why it’s quite possible that one of the world’s biggest entertainment entities would slap their own logo on the front of a Kings jersey.
If you’re not able to finagle a way to write things off as a deduction, then Dollar Shave Club presents a unique opportunity despite the fact that shaving isn’t something that’s in Drew Doughty’s vernacular (or any hockey player, for that matter, when the Stanley Cup Playoffs roll around).
Manscaped could also make a run here and in any case, fine.
Minnesota Wild
What we want: Target or General Mills
What we’ll get: Xcel Energy
When you think of Minnesota what’s the first thing you think about?
That’s right, the very place where you could be standing right now reading this while you’re waiting for a cash register to open up or aimlessly perusing the aisles for those impulse purchases you somehow always make at Target.
It fits the Wild color scheme well and if we’re not going to get General Mills involved then at least getting more than the standard 5% discount for having a Target RedCard via goods in kind might be enough to convince Kirill Kaprizov to stay in Minnesota long-term.
Montréal Canadiens
What we want: CCM and/or Molson
What we’ll get: Bell
CCM makes more than just jerseys, but it’s not like adidas would be just fine with a CCM logo appearing on the front of an adidas ADIZERO jersey.
So, we’re left with two obvious choices– Molson or Bell.
If there’s nothing against a Canadian team bearing an alcoholic beverage on the front of their jersey with the potential for that brand to be marketed towards kids, then perhaps Molson– whose family ties own the Habs– might make an appearance near the crest.
That or we’ll just get more airtime for Bell. Either way, Montréal would be attractive enough as a franchise to bring in more than one jersey ad sponsor if the league doesn’t have any specific rules outside of the size of the ad.
Nashville Predators
What we want: Curb Records or CMT
What we’ll get: Fifth Third Bank
The music city could attract a music label if they wanted to, but Fifth Third Bank loves investing in Nashville for some reason– like, a lot, despite being headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio and primarily serving Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, West Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia and Florida more than all of Tennessee.
In any case, good for the Predators. They’ll have some deep pockets to reach into while other teams surely will have to squabble for seven figures related to the going rate for the prime ad space.
Still feels like we’d be missing out on a sweet Curb Records patch close enough to the guitar pick on the right shoulder though.
New Jersey Devils
What we want: Honestly, just Prudential is fine
What we’ll get: Prudential
The Devils are overlooked and let’s admit it, you couldn’t think of something distinctly New Jersey either– besides not being allowed to fill your own gas tank.
Bruce Springsteen is not sponsoring the Devils alone.
Whether it’s settling on an old reliable or simply making use of what’s trustworthy and already available, Prudential and New Jersey just seem like a good fit.
New York Islanders
What we want: Gorton’s
What we’ll get: Not Gorton’s
“We want fishsticks!”
O.K., you got them. Take that, Rangers fans. The Islanders are cool now because they’re steering into the skid.
They just won’t go as far as bringing back the fisherman jersey from the dead, but alas, they’ll show a spark of creativity and even crack a smile on Lou Lamoriello’s face with the real Gorton’s fisherman making an appearance on the jersey.
Obviously this will never happen.
New York Rangers
What we want: Liberty Mutual if they’re bringing back the “Lady Liberty” jerseys as an alternate
What we’ll get: Chase for sure, maybe New York Life too
Liberty Mutual (a Boston company) on the “Lady Liberty” jersey would be a sight to see, but New York will never let it happen.
Instead, Chase, which already has quite a great partnership with the team, Madison Square Garden, Manhattan, etc. will likely just step up and foot the bill for one– if not all– of the jerseys in full.
That’s fine. The Rangers will suffer the same consequences of having a diagonal wordmark on their jersey like Carolina’s road jersey, but at least New York’s pretty much always been this way so they should have some ideas of how to work around that.
Ottawa Senators
What we want: Canada Post
What we’ll get: Bell, Scotiabank or Canadian Tire
Canada’s capital city gets the honor of having Canada Post on their jerseys because it breaks up the trend of having the same three or four companies sponsoring all seven Canadian teams (like how their helmets were for 2020-21).
In reality, we’ll probably get more of the same from the Sens and either Bell, Canadian Tire or Scotiabank will make an appearance on Ottawa’s jersey.
At the very least, Canada’s postal service sponsoring a team is more economically viable than the United States Postal Service sponsoring a team.
Philadelphia Flyers
What we want: Wawa or Audacy
What we’ll get: Comcast or GlaxoSmithKline
Remember how I said you don’t want to go too local for a jersey ad? Well, Wawa on a Flyers jersey is an exception.
That said, it probably wouldn’t have the staying power to work on a road jersey too, so Philadelphia could tap into the artist formerly known as Entercom, since rebanded as Audacy, for more.
Audacy maintained their Philadelphia headquarters and covers a broad range of Internet radio, digital content, regular radio and podcasting platforms, plus their logo is orange which fits the Flyers brand.
It’s either that or Comcast will slap their own logo on the jersey or something.
Pittsburgh Penguins
What we want: Duolingo
What we’ll get: PPG Industries
Duolingo is headquartered in Pittsburgh and as a website and mobile app, every sports league with ads on jerseys needs at least one that makes you scratch your head at first before realizing the connection between the company and the city.
The dating app, Bumble, once was featured on the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers jerseys prior to the Clippers replacing Bumble with their more jersey ad with the online browser extension coupon company, Honey.
Dating and living expenses in Los Angeles are probably harder than learning a few new languages through Duolingo, so combining Duolingo with the Penguins makes perfect sense since hockey players can come from all over and speak many languages.
Besides, it might give your team an advantage if they can communicate with one another in a setting that is more comfortable for them.
St. Louis Blues
What we want: Busch
What we’ll get: Enterprise
I know we’ve been over the whole “can they market beer to kids with these jerseys” thing, but St. Louis is the city of Anheuser-Busch, so it’s only fitting that the Blues get a jersey ad that 1) is Anheuser-Busch related and 2) works with their color palette.
If Major League Baseball’s St. Louis Cardinals play in Busch Stadium and get Budweiser by default with red as a primary color for the ball club, then the Blues naturally get Busch blue and Busch beer. I don’t make the rules.
Plus Midwesterners really like the stuff.
San Jose Sharks
What we want: Adobe
What we’ll get: SAP or Zoom
Look, we weren’t going to get away with making these in Photoshop and not having to give Adobe something— and with headquarters in San Jose it only made sense.
The Sharks have a deep relationship with SAP, though, so it’s more likely than not that the team will just go further with the brand that also is featured on their helmets at home and holds the current naming rights for SAP Center.
Plus with the uptick in the use of Zoom, San Jose could double-dip and match SAP on the home jersey with SAP stickers on their helmets with Zoom covering the road set (jersey ad and helmet ads).
Seattle Kraken
What we want: Boeing
What we’ll get: Alaska Airlines
The Kraken already have a deal with Alaska Airlines as the official airline of the franchise, but what’s bigger than an airline itself?
That’s right, Boeing, the company that makes a lot of planes and other aerospace stuff, was founded in Seattle and still has a major presence in Washington as the largest private employer in the state.
Want to see your newest expansion team take flight? Just add some Boeing engineering to the jerseys.
You might have thought Microsoft would make sense for a Seattle-based team, but the league’s agreement with Apple probably puts a quick end to that.
Tampa Bay Lightning
What we want: Accusoft
What we’ll get: DEX Imaging
Every sport with ads on jerseys has that one company that nobody’s really sure what they do, but they appreciate that they’re spending their money on their favorite team.
That just might be Accusoft’s relationship with the Lightning come time for ads on jerseys in 2022-23.
The private computer software company is headquartered in Tampa and was founded back in 1991, as Pegasus Imaging– one year prior to the Lightning’s debut season as an NHL team in 1992-93.
Toronto Maple Leafs
What we want: Swiss Chalet, Sun Life Financial
What we’ll get: Scotiabank, Sun Life Financial
Scotiabank already has a stronghold on Toronto both financially and in the sense that the Maple Leafs play inside Scotiabank Arena and proudly display Scotiabank’s logo on their helmets, so it seems inevitable that Scotiabank would also make an appearance on the Leafs jersey.
But Toronto is strong enough to maximize the value of a 3-by-3.5-inch ad and capitalize on the Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) brand.
MLSE already has an agreement with Sun Life Financial on their NBA team’s jerseys and the Toronto Raptors were able to go on to win their first championship in 2019.
Perhaps the key to ending the Maple Leafs’ Stanley Cup drought lies within attracting Sun Life Financial to an NHL jersey ad.
Vancouver Canucks
What we want: Hootsuite
What we’ll get: Rogers
Remember when you’d see Hootsuite on just about every tweet with a photo? Am I the only one imagining that?
In any case, Hootsuite was founded and is based in Vancouver and still plays a major role in social media management for brands.
Whereas Rogers is accessible to most every day Canadians, Hootsuite would be more of a “corporate” target audience and you need sponsors at all levels to attract a wide base of potential clients, fans, etc.
That said, the Canucks have had a long relationship with Rogers in that they play in Rogers Arena, so it’s probably going to be Rogers.
Vegas Golden Knights
What we want: Zappos.com
What we’ll get: MGM Resorts International or Allegiant Air
Want to have fun with a local Nevada brand? Zappos is the way to go!
Want to be realistic and attract out of town fans to a destination like Las Vegas? MGM Resorts International is your sponsor and with Allegiant Air as an ultra-low cost airline that’ll gladly bring you to Vegas for a Golden Knights game…
Yeah, it’s inevitable that between MGM and Vegas’ current road helmet sponsor (Allegiant) that there’d quickly be no room for a company like Zappos.
Credit One Bank is on the home helmets for the Golden Knights, so don’t be surprised if they’re a wild card for a jersey ad too.
Washington Capitals
What we want: Marriott International
What we’ll get: Capital One, Custom Ink
Sportswriters rejoice! Your Marriott points may soon reward you with a Capitals jersey or something like that.
Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Marriott International would make sense from a local and international brand recognition stance.
But you know what we’re probably going to get instead? Sheer confusion as Capital One places an ad on front of a jersey that already says “Washington Capitals”. The Capital One Washington Capitals– live at Capital One Arena!
Either that or Caps owner, Ted Leonsis, might like to make a connection between making custom jerseys for local adult league co-ed softball teams or something and, well, Custom Ink’s logo appearing on Capitals jerseys.
Winnipeg Jets
What we want: A&W or SkipTheDishes
What we’ll get: Canada Life or Bell
A&W was founded in Winnipeg, while SkipTheDishes is headquartered in Winnipeg.
Since it’s 2021, and not 1956, we’re more than likely to see SkipTheDishes on a Jets jersey, but if their helmet ads from 2020-21 are any indication for 2022-23 and beyond, then Bell is probably going to land a spot near Winnipeg’s crest.
Canada Life is taking over as the new naming rights holder for Canada Life Centre where the Jets play, so there’s always a chance they’ll end up with their logo on the front of the jersey too.
Down the Frozen River 
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