Down the Frozen River

Tag: TD Garden

  • Senators at Bruins preview: 3/9/2019

    The Ottawa Senators (23-39-6, 52 points, 8th in the Atlantic Division) visit the Boston Bruins (41-17-9, 91 points, 2nd in the Atlantic Division) Saturday night at TD Garden in their final meeting of the season. The Bruins are 3-0-0 in the season series and are looking to sweep the Senators in back-to-back regular seasons.

    Boston defeated Ottawa, 6-3, on Oct. 8th in Boston, 4-1, on Oct. 23rd in Ottawa and, 2-1, in overtime on Dec. 9th in Ottawa.

    After being recalled from the Providence Bruins (AHL) on emergency basis, Lee Stempniak is set to make his season debut for the B’s as Jake DeBrusk (lower body) is expected to miss this weekend’s action, along with his fellow second-line winger, Marcus Johansson (lung contusion).

    David Pastrnak (left thumb) and Kevan Miller (upper body) are also still out of the lineup for Boston as the Bruins look to extend their 18-game point streak.

    Tuukka Rask (23-8-5, 2.31 goals against average, .921 save percentage in 37 games played) will be in net for the B’s on Saturday, while Jaroslav Halak will start Sunday night on the road against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

    John Moore will take part in his 500th career NHL game and the B’s are looking to close out their current homestand with a perfect 6-0-0 record.

    Joakim Nordstrom is expected to lineup alongside David Krejci’s left side on the second line, while Stempniak will fill in for Johansson on Krejci’s right wing.

    Peter Cehlarik will take Nordstrom’s slot on the third line left wing alongside Charlie Coyle and David Backes, while Boston’s first and fourth lines remain the same.

    The Bruins have not lost a game in regulation since Jan. 19th and are 20-3-5 this season since Jan. 1st.

    Ottawa is slated to start Craig Anderson (14-22-4, 3.54 GAA, .903 SV% in 42 GP) in net on Saturday as the Sens are coming off a, 4-2, loss to the New York Islanders on Thursday.

    Boston is coming off a, 4-3, comeback victory against the Florida Panthers on Thursday as Matt Grzelcyk and Patrice Bergeron scored the game-tying and game-winning goals for the B’s in the final minute of regulation.

    Grzelcyk’s goal was his first in 49 games.

    It was just the 2nd time in franchise history that the Bruins overcame a deficit to win in the final minute of regulation (previous, Dec. 4, 1986) as Boston extended it’s current points streak to 18 games– matching their 2nd best point streak in franchise history back in the 1968-69 season (Dec. 16, 1968-Jan. 30, 1969, 14-0-4).

    The longest point streak in Bruins franchise history was 23 games (15 wins, eight ties) from Dec. 22, 1940 to Feb. 23, 1941.

    Rask made 22 saves on 25 shots faced in the win against Florida, while Bergeron scored a pair of goals for his 39th career multi-goal game.

    Krejci also had a goal for Boston on Thursday.

  • Krejci and DeBrusk’s chemistry shines in B’s, 4-3, OT win

    An incredible pass from Jake DeBrusk to David Krejci harpooned the Carolina Hurricanes’ chances of emerging victorious– clad in Hartford Whalers throwback sweaters– at TD Garden on Tuesday as the Boston Bruins won, 4-3, in overtime.

    Jaroslav Halak (18-9-4 record, 2.31 goals against average, .924 save percentage in 33 games played) made 34 saves on 37 shots against for a .919 SV% in the overtime win for the Bruins.

    Carolina goaltender, Curtis McElhinney (17-7-2, 2.31 GAA, .921 SV% in 26 GP) stopped 34 out of 38 shots faced for an .895 SV% in the overtime loss.

    Sebastian Aho had two goals for the Hurricanes, while Justin Williams also had a goal for Carolina.

    Chris Wagner, DeBrusk, Patrice Bergeron and Krejci had goals for the B’s.

    Boston improved to 40-17-9 (89 points) and remained 2nd in the Atlantic Division standings, while the Hurricanes fell to 36-23-7 (79 points), but remained 3rd in the Metropolitan Division.

    Carolina is tied in points with the Pittsburgh Penguins, but leads in regulation-plus-overtime wins (35-34 this season over Pittsburgh).

    The Bruins have only dropped three games in regulation since the start of 2019 and have not lost in regulation since Jan. 19th. In fact, since Jan. 1st, the Bruins are 19-3-5 (Carolina is 20-6-2 in that same span).

    The B’s are 4-0-0 on their current six-game homestand and 2-0-0 in the month of March. They’re also 8-0-0 in their last eight home games dating back to Feb. 5th.

    Kevan Miller remains out of the lineup and is now week-to-week with an upper body injury, while David Pastrnak (left thumb) started skating with a stick in his hands at practice. Pastrnak is closer to a return, but still not yet available for the Bruins.

    Sean Kuraly (concussion protocol), in the meantime, is progressing well and should take part in Wednesday’s practice before likely returning to action Thursday night against the Florida Panthers for Boston.

    Those updates were provided by B’s head coach, Bruce Cassidy, prior to Tuesday night’s matchup with the Hurricanes.

    Cassidy made no adjustments to his lineup from Saturday night against the New Jersey Devils as Miller (upper body), Pastrnak (left thumb) and Kuraly (concussion protocol) remained out of the lineup due to injury and Steven Kampfer was the only healthy scratch.

    Things started to look like an old Adams Division rivalry matchup when Carolina forward Micheal Ferland laid out a massive hit on Bruins winger Marcus Johansson.

    Johansson was leveled by the clean hit and nursing his shoulder as he struggled to get up and was helped off the ice by Boston’s athletic trainer, Don DelNegro, about three minutes into the game.

    Less than a minute later, David Backes stood up for his fallen teammate and fought Ferland. Both received five-minute major penalties for fighting at 3:53 and Ferland actually left the game with an upper body injury as a result of the fight.

    It was Backes’ 3rd fighting major in 54 games this season– including three fights in his last four games.

    Things did not settle down after the fisticuffs, however, as both teams exchanged pleasantries during play and after the whistle throughout the remainder of the first period.

    Calvin de Haan intentionally fired a shot off of Aho (28) in front of the goal, seeking a deflection and gave the Hurricanes the first lead of the night, 1-0.

    Aho’s goal was assisted by de Haan (12) and Trevor van Riemsdyk (11) at 6:30 of the first period.

    Having misread the numbers on the back of a Hurricanes sweater, John Moore took out his frustrations less than a minute later on Brock McGinn with a cross check that was penalized at 7:02.

    Carolina went on their first power play of the night, but it was short lived after Williams hooked Brandon Carlo at 7:44 of the opening frame.

    The soon-to-be abbreviated power play for Boston after Moore’s minor was set to expire didn’t come to fruition as Charlie McAvoy tripped up Warren Foegele during the 4-on-4 action at 8:27.

    The Canes still couldn’t convert on the resulting skater advantage and didn’t take full advantage of Boston’s bench minor for too many men on the ice at 13:49.

    After 20 minutes of play, the Hurricanes led, 1-0, on the scoreboard, while the Bruins led, 12-11, in shots on goal.

    Entering the first intermission, Boston held the advantage in blocked shots (5-3) and giveaways (6-5), while Carolina led in takeaways (6-4) and hits (13-8). Both teams were even in face-off win percentage (50-50), while the Hurricanes were 0/3 on the power play.

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    Aho (29) had a breakaway about 70 seconds into the second period and pulled Halak far enough out of the crease to expose his five-hole, thereby slipping the puck through the goaltender to give Carolina a two goal lead at 1:10 of the middle frame.

    Nino Niederreiter (24) and Justin Faulk (18) tallied the assists on the goal as Aho picked up his eighth point in his last six games.

    Prior to trailing, 2-0, on Tuesday, the last time the Bruins trailed by multiple goals in a game this season was on Jan. 16th.

    Moments after the Canes scored, Bergeron tripped up Jaccob Slavin and was assessed a minor infraction at 3:50 of the second period.

    Jordan Staal followed up with a slashing penalty of his own against Bergeron at 9:43 and the Bruins went on the power play for the first time of the night. They did not convert on the ensuing skater advantage.

    Boston did respond in the vulnerable minute after special teams play, however, as Carlo threw the puck on goal to generate a rebound while Wagner (10) collected the garbage in the low slot to but the B’s on the board and cut the lead in half, 2-1.

    Carlo (6) had the only assist on the goal at 12:28 of the second period.

    Wagner now has four goals in his last nine games for Boston.

    Late in the period, Krejci moved the puck through the neutral zone and forced a rebound for DeBrusk (22) to bury behind McElhinney and tie the game, 2-2, at 18:12.

    Krejci (41) had the only assist on DeBrusk’s goal.

    Through two periods of play, the game was tied, 2-2, while the Bruins led in shots on goal (27-21). Boston also led in blocked shots (9-6), while Carolina led in giveaways (14-11), hits (21-13) and face-off win% (52-48).

    Both teams had nine takeaways aside, while the Hurricanes were 0/4 on the power play and the Bruins were 0/1.

    The Bruins were again penalized for too many men on the ice at 2:14 of the third period.

    While shorthanded, Brad Marchand led a two-on-one with Bergeron, whereby Marchand sent a quick pass over to the 15-year NHL veteran for the one-timer goal from one knee.

    Bergeron (23) had given Boston their first lead of the night, 3-2, at 2:45 of the third period while shorthanded. The goal was Boston’s fourth shorthanded goal this season (two for Bergeron and two for Marchand).

    Marchand (50) had the only assist on the effort and reached the 50-assist plateau for the 2nd consecutive season.

    As for Bergeron, the goal was his 794th career point with the Bruins, putting him in sole command of 6th all-time in Bruins franchise history in points ahead of Wayne Cashman (793 points with Boston).

    Next on the list to reach for Bergeron is 5th place, Bobby Orr, who had 888 career points in the spoked-B.

    Past the midpoint of the final frame of regulation, Williams (19) sent a shot from the face-off circle to left of Halak past the Bruins goaltender as Halak was deep in the crease and certainly not square enough to the shooter.

    Jordan Martinook (6) and Brett Pesce (14) had the assists on Williams’ game-tying goal at 12:17.

    At the end of regulation, the game remained tied, 3-3, with shots on goal even at 36-36.

    Hurricanes head coach, Rod Brind’Amour sent out Teuvo Teravainen, Staal and Slavin to begin the overtime period, while Cassidy matched Carolina with Charlie oyle, Wagner and Moore.

    Almost two minutes into the 3-on-3 overtime period, DeBrusk shook off a Canes defender, then worked a spin move pass over to Krejci as No. 46 in black-and-gold was crashing the slot– catching McElhinney in desperation.

    Krejci (16) deked and pocketed the puck in the empty twine with McElhinney fully out of position to give Boston the overtime victory, 4-3.

    DeBrusk (12) had the only assist on the goal at 1:46 of overtime.

    At the final horn, the Bruins won the game and finished the night leading in shots on goal (38-37), blocked shots (14-9) and giveaways (16-15). Carolina led the night in hits (28-24) and face-off win% (52-49).

    The Hurricanes finished the night 0/5 on the power play, while Boston went 0/1.

    Boston improved to 8-6 on the season in overtime and Carolina fell to 4-5 in games that end before a shootout– but past regulation– this season.

    The Hurricanes’ five-game winning streak was snapped and the club fell to 27-6-3 when scoring first this season as Boston overcame a two-goal deficit to win in overtime.

    The Bruins improved to 13-2-4 when tied after two periods this season.

    Boston continues their six-game homestand on Thursday against the Florida Panthers. Boston wraps up their homestand with a Saturday night matchup against the Ottawa Senators before traveling to Pittsburgh to face the Penguins Sunday night at PPG Paints Arena.

    The B’s take on the Columbus Blue Jackets next Tuesday (March 12th) and Winnipeg Jets next Thursday (March 14th) before returning home to face Columbus on March 16th.

  • Bruins thunder past Lightning, 4-1

    After receiving 15 stitches after taking a puck to the mouth on Tuesday, Noel Acciari scored the eventual game-winning goal in the third period Thursday night, as the Boston Bruins defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning, 4-1, at TD Garden.

    For the first time in league history, two teams met in the midst of a 14-game point streak. Tampa entered the night on a franchise record, 10-game, winning streak.

    Tuukka Rask (21-8-5 record, 2.36 goals against average, .920 save percentage in 35 games played) made 20 saves on 21 shots against for a .952 SV% in the win.

    Lightning goaltender, Louis Domingue (19-5-0, 2.92 GAA, .908 SV% in 24 GP) stopped 37 out of 41 shots faced for a .902 SV% in the loss.

    The Bruins improved to 38-17-9 (85 points) on the season and remained in 2nd place in the Atlantic Division standings behind their Thursday night opponent, the Lightning, who fell to 49-12-4 (102 points) and remained in control of the Atlantic.

    Boston improved to 25-4-5 when scoring first this season and 24-1-3 when leading after two periods. The B’s are 11-0-4 in their last 15 games and went without a loss in regulation in the month of February for just the 9th time in franchise history.

    The last time Boston went without a regulation loss in one month’s time was in November 2011.

    The Bruins finished February with an 11-0-2 record.

    Kevan Miller (upper body) and David Pastrnak (left thumb) remained out of the lineup as Bruce Cassidy kept his lines the same from Tuesday night’s, 4-1, win over the San Jose Sharks.

    Peter Cehlarik and Karson Kuhlman were recalled on emergency basis on Wednesday, but re-assigned back to the Providence Bruins (AHL) by puck drop Thursday night.

    Steven Kampfer was the only healthy scratch for Boston with Miller and Pastrnak out due to injury.

    Early in the first period, after taking a cross check into the frame of the net, David Backes dropped the gloves and went square dancing with Adam Erne.

    It was Backes’ second fight in the last two games as both players were assessed five-minute major penalties for fighting at 2:54 of the opening frame.

    Neither team could buy a goal or a penalty in the first period, as the Bruins and Lightning went back to their respective dressing rooms for the first intermission, tied, 0-0.

    The B’s led Tampa in shots on goal (17-4), while the Bolts led Boston in blocked shots (8-2), takeaways (6-2), giveaways (4-3), hits (14-7) and face-off win percentage (58-42).

    Bruins captain, Zdeno Chara, was assessed a two-minute minor infraction for cross checking Tyler Johnson at 4:54 of the second period.

    The Bolts did not convert on the ensuing power play.

    Almost midway through the middle frame, Victor Hedman was sent to the penalty box for interference at 8:11.

    While on the power play, Bruins winger, Jake DeBrusk (21) ripped a wrist shot off of Lightning defender, Anton Stralman, and through Domingue’s five-hole to score the game’s first goal and give Boston the lead, 1-0, at 8:43 of the second period.

    Torey Krug (39) and Rask (2) were credited with the primary and secondary assists.

    Through 40 minutes of play, the Bruins led, 1-0, on the scoreboard and, 32-9, in shots on goal.

    That’s right, Boston only allowed nine shots against entering the second intermission against the best team in the NHL– and even outshot the Bolts, 15-5, in the second period alone.

    Tampa led in blocked shots (14-11), takeaways (9-5), giveaways (9-6) and hits (24-15), while the Bruins led in face-off win% (52-48).

    The Lightning were 0/1 on the power play, while the B’s went 1/1 on the skater advantage heading into the third period.

    Almost midway through the final frame of regulation, Hedman took a skate to the sin bin for the second time of the night for tripping Acciari at 9:29.

    In the vulnerable minute after the ensuing power play, Chris Wagner sent a shot off of Domingue’s pads, generating a rebound, whereby Acciari (3) buried the loose puck in on the far side of the twine.

    Boston led, 2-0, at 11:47 of the third period thanks to Acciari’s goal.

    Wagner (6) had the only assist, but the Bruins were not done scoring.

    Less than a minute later, Patrice Bergeron (22) received a pass from Danton Heinen and let go of a shot from the bumper through the five-hole of the Lightning goaltender to put the B’s ahead, 3-0, on two goals in a span of 45 seconds.

    Heinen (14) and Acciari (5) tallied the assists on Bergeron’s goal at 12:32 of the third period.

    Prior to Bergeron’s goal, Domingue had stopped 36 out of 37 shots against.

    Brad Marchand (26) completed Boston’s run of four unanswered goals– including three goals in a span of 1:28– with a breakaway goal at 13:15.

    Heinen (15) and Krug (40) notched the assists as the Bruins led, 4-0.

    Almost 40 seconds later, Anthony Cirelli (13) tipped in a shot from the point by Ondrej Palat after the Tampa forward kept the puck in the offensive zone for the Bolts.

    Palat (20) had the only assist on Cirelli’s goal at 13:52, as the Lightning trailed, 4-1.

    Almost a minute later, Hedman hooked Charlie Coyle and went to the box for the third time of the night at 14:30.

    Boston’s ensuing power play was cut short when Charlie McAvoy hooked Cedric Paquette at 15:54, resulting in 37 seconds of 4-on-4 action before an abbreviated power play for the Bolts.

    Late in the third, Matt Grzelcyk cross checked J.T. Miller and was assessed an infraction at 17:59.

    Tampa did not score on the ensuing power play.

    With about 90 seconds remaining in the game, Lightning head coach, Jon Cooper, pulled his goaltender for an extra attacker, but it was not successful as time expired in the action.

    Boston completed the, 4-1, victory and snapped Tampa’s 10-game winning streak.

    The Bruins finished the night leading in shots on goal (41-21), while the Lightning led in blocked shots (16-12), giveaways (16-7) and hits (35-22).

    Both teams went 50-50 in face-off win%, while the Bolts went 0/3 on the skater advantage. The B’s finished 1/3 on the power play Thursday night.

    Heinen (two assists), Krug (two assists) and Acciari (one goal, one assist) each had two points in the effort, while Tampa fell to 6-3 on the second night of back-to-back games this season.

    Boston meets with Tampa two more times in the regular season, including once more in Tampa on March 25th and for their final game of the regular season at TD Garden on April 6th.

    The Bruins kick off the month of March with the continuation of their six-game homestand on Saturday against the New Jersey Devils. Next Tuesday, the Carolina Hurricanes visit the B’s and will be wearing their Hartford Whalers throwbacks.

    Boston takes on the Florida Panthers next Thursday (March 7th) and the Ottawa Senators that Saturday (March 9th) before hitting the road to Pittsburgh on March 10th.

  • Bruins take bite out of the Sharks, 4-1

    The Boston Bruins returned home for the first time in two weeks on Tuesday night and promptly beat the San Jose Sharks, 4-1, at TD Garden– eight days after the two teams collided for a thrilling (and controversial) battle in San Jose.

    Boston swept the season series with the Sharks, 2-0-0, after Tuesday’s win and Feb. 18th’s, 6-5, victory in overtime.

    David Krejci, Charlie McAvoy, Jake DeBrusk and Brad Marchand had goals for the Bruins, while Logan Couture had the only goal for the Sharks.

    Jaroslav Halak (17-9-4 record, 2.29 goals against average, .924 save percentage in 32 games played) made 19 saves on 20 shots against for a .950 SV% in the win for the B’s.

    Sharks goaltender, Martin Jones (29-13-5, 2.95 GAA, .875 SV% in 48 GP), stopped 28 out of 32 shots faced for an .875 SV% in the loss.

    The Bruins improved to 23-1-3 when leading after two periods and 10-0-2 in the month of February.

    Boston also improved to 37-17-9 (83 points) on the season and remained in 2nd place in the Atlantic Division standings, while San Jose fell to 37-19-8 (82 points) on the season, but still in 2nd place in the Pacific Division.

    Weymouth, Massachusetts native, Charlie Coyle, made his home debut for Boston and Marcus Johansson made his debut (at home and for the team) with the Bruins on Tuesday.

    Johansson was acquired in a trade with the New Jersey Devils on Monday prior to the league’s trade deadline in exchange for a 2019 2nd round pick and a 2020 4th round pick. He is the first player in franchise history to wear No. 90.

    The Bruins also signed Lee Stempniak to a one-year, $650,000 contract on Sunday and formally assigned the veteran NHL winger to the Providence Bruins (AHL).

    Upon the acquisition of Johansson, the B’s re-assigned Karson Kuhlman and Peter Cehlarik to Providence to keep them eligible for the 2019 Calder Cup Playoffs.

    Boston General Manager Don Sweeney provided an update on David Pastrnak (left thumb) during his press conference after the trade deadline on Monday and announced Pastrnak would be in a cast for about two more weeks, then he’d need to get a splint and a sense as to his measure of comfort for his eventual return to the lineup.

    With Kevan Miller (upper body) day-to-day after blocking a shot up high in Vegas against the Golden Knights, John Moore was inserted on the third defensive pairing.

    Bruce Cassidy kept his usual first and fourth lines together, as well as his first two defensive pairings, while adjusting his second and third lines to account for the additions of Johansson and Coyle.

    Johansson suited up to the right side of Krejci and DeBrusk, while Coyle centered the third line with David Backes on his right wing and Joakim Nordstrom returning to the lineup as the left wing (Nordstrom was a healthy scratch in St. Louis).

    Steven Kampfer was the only healthy scratch for Boston on Tuesday with Miller and Pastrnak out of the lineup due to injury.

    Early in the first period, Justin Braun slashed Coyle as the Bruins center was in the midst of a scoring chance at 5:41.

    Boston did not convert on the ensuing power play and instead committed the game’s next infraction, when Matt Grzelcyk hooked Michael Haley at 11:58 of the first period.

    Less than a minute into San Jose’s first power play of the night, Couture (23) banked one off of Halak’s leg pad and squeezed the puck between Halak’s pad and the inner post.

    Couture’s power play goal was unassisted and gave the Sharks the lead, 1-0, at 12:47 of the opening frame.

    Less than two minutes later, Timo Meier caught DeBrusk with a high-stick and drew some blood. As a result, Meier was assessed a double-minor penalty at 14:29.

    Just ten seconds into the resulting 5-on-4 advantage for the next four minutes, Boston worked the puck around the umbrella setup, yielding a one-timer from Krejci (15) that blew past Jones to tie the game, 1-1.

    Torey Krug (38) and Marchand (48) notched the assists on Krejci’s power play goal at 14:39.

    Entering the first intermission, the score was tied, 1-1, while the Bruins led the Sharks in shots on goal (16-8). The B’s also held the advantage in blocked shots (5-3), takeaways (4-3), giveaways (8-4), hits (11-3) and face-off win percentage (68-32).

    San Jose was 1/1 on the power play, while Boston went 1/3 on the skater advantage heading into the second period.

    Erik Karlsson had battled a groin injury earlier in the month of February and missed the last time these two teams went toe-to-toe on Feb. 18th, but he was on the ice for a grueling effort.

    Early in the middle frame, Karlsson tried to defend McAvoy in the Sharks’ defensive zone, but appeared to have overexerted himself and tweaked something in his leg.

    Karlsson went to the dressing room and returned later in the period, only to once again make an exit after Marchand danced around the Sharks defender for a shorthanded goal later in the period.

    The veteran blue liner did not return for the third period of action.

    Meanwhile, almost halfway through the second period, McAvoy (5) sniped a wrist shot past Jones’ blocker on a give-and-go from Marchand after the feisty Bruin received a pass from Danton Heinen entering the zone.

    Marchand (49) and Heinen (13) tallied the assists on what would become the game-winning goal at 9:09 of the second period and the Bruins had their first lead of the night, 2-1.

    A mere 37 seconds later, DeBrusk (20) reached the 20-goal plateau for the first time in his career as Boston entered the attacking zone on a three-on-one with tremendous puck movement.

    Krejci (40) and Johansson (16) were credited with the assists on DeBrusk’s goal at 9:46, as the Bruins led, 3-1.

    With the assist on the goal, Johansson picked up his first point as a member of Boston.

    Less than a minute later, Sean Kuraly tripped up Joe Thornton and took a trip to the penalty box at 10:29.

    While shorthanded, Marchand (25) received a pass and broke free from Karlsson and the rest of the Sharks to dangle and get a shot off with the backhand through the five-hole on the San Jose netminder to make it, 4-1, for Boston at 12:28 of the middle frame.

    Marchand’s shorthanded goal was the 25th of his career and tied Rick Middleton for the most in Bruins franchise history.

    Of course, Patrice Bergeron (36) had the primary assist on Marchand’s goal, while Brandon Carlo (5) had the secondary assist.

    Late in the period, Evander Kane tried to fight Kuraly, but the linesmen intervened as Kuraly had not had the chance to take off his gloves.

    Kane received two roughing minors to Kuraly’s one roughing infraction, leaving the Sharks shorthanded at 14:55. Kevin Labanc served Kane’s extra minor.

    A few minutes later, Barclay Goodrow and Chris Wagner got tangled up in front of the benches and exchanged brief fisticuffs before the linesmen got in the way and ended the fight early.

    Goodrow and Wagner both received five-minute major penalties for fighting at 17:54.

    Less than a minute after that, Moore was penalized for cross-checking Meier at 18:25.

    San Jose did not score on the ensuing power play and both teams went into the second intermission with Boston leading on the scoreboard, 4-1, and in shots on goal, 24-12.

    The B’s also led in blocked shots (10-6), takeaways (6-5), giveaways (11-9), hits (18-16) and face-off win% (58-42) as they continued to flat-out dominate the Sharks on home ice.

    Boston was 1/4 on the power play, while San Jose was 1/3 heading into the third period.

    Early in the third period, while going hard for the puck, Zdeno Chara caught an elbow on Kane, which led to Kane pulling down the 6-foot-9 captain of the B’s from behind and throwing a couple punches.

    Chara, in return, got back to his feet and was willing to fight a fair fight. He promptly delivered several well placed punches as Kane hunched over to avoid an otherwise surefire death sentence from the tallest player in NHL history in his 2nd fight in 44 games this season.

    Kane received an instigating penalty on top of his five-minute major for fighting. As such, he automatically was charged with a ten-minute misconduct, while Chara picked up two minutes for elbowing and a five-minute major for fighting.

    As a result of Kane’s instigating penalty, the Sharks were left shorthanded at 3:22 of the third period.

    Almost 30 seconds later, Kane received a game misconduct for his continued verbal argument with the refs at 3:51.

    Seconds after the ensuing face-off Haley didn’t even bother to make a play and instead dropped the gloves with Backes as the game further descended into chaos.

    After Backes and Haley were sent to the sin bin– each with five-minute majors for fighting– at 3:56 of the third period, neither team scored a goal, nor committed another infraction.

    By the final horn, Boston had secured the win, 4-1, over San Jose and dominated shots on goal, 32-20.

    The Bruins finished the night leading in blocked shots (16-7) and face-off win% (58-42), while the Sharks finished the action ahead in giveaways (15-13) and hits (27-21).

    Boston finished Tuesday’s action 1/4 on the power play, while San Jose went 1/3 on the skater advantage.

    The B’s finish off the month of February with a Thursday night matchup against the league leading, Tampa Bay Lightning. Boston then sets its sights on the month of March as their six-game homestand continues against the Devils on Saturday and the Carolina Hurricanes next Tuesday (March 5th).

    Next Thursday (March 7th), the Florida Panthers visit Boston, followed by the Ottawa Senators (March 9th), before the Bruins hit the road in Pittsburgh (March 10th) for their first road trip since the trade deadline.

  • Backes’ shootout winner lifts B’s, 3-2, over Vegas

    David Backes scored the game-winning shootout goal in the sixth round to lift the Boston Bruins over the Vegas Golden Knights, 3-2, at T-Mobile Arena on Wednesday.

    As a result, the Bruins are 4-0-0 on their current five-game road trip and a seven-game winning streak.

    Jake DeBrusk and Brad Marchand had goals for Boston, while Reilly Smith and Nate Schmidt scored in the loss for the Golden Knights.

    Jaroslav Halak (16-9-4 record, 2.33 goals against average, .924 save percentage in 31 games played) made 31 saves on 33 shots against for a .939 SV% in the shootout victory for the B’s.

    Vegas goaltender, Marc-Andre Fleury (29-18-5, 2.60 GAA, .908 SV% in 52 GP) stopped 25 out of 27 shots faced for a .926 SV% in the shootout loss.

    The Bruins improved to 36-17-8 (80 points) on the season and remain in 2nd place in the Atlantic Division, while the Golden Knights fell to 32-25-5 (69 points) and remained 3rd in the Pacific Division.

    Boston also improved to 9-0-1 in the month of February.

    Prior to puck drop in Wednesday night’s action, the Bruins completed a trade with the Minnesota Wild, sending Ryan Donato and a conditional 2019 5th round pick to Minnesota in exchange for Charlie Coyle. If Boston advances to the Second Round of the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the conditional 5th round pick becomes a 2019 4th round pick (originally from the New York Rangers).

    The 2019 4th round pick was previously acquired along with Steven Kampfer from New York in return for Adam McQuaid on Sept. 11, 2018.

    As a result of the acquisition, since the Bruins were already at the 23-player roster limit, Peter Cehlarik was reassigned to the Providence Bruins (AHL) during the first intermission of Boston’s Wednesday night battle with Vegas (at which point, the trade was officially announced).

    Bruce Cassidy kept the same lines from Monday night’s, 6-5, overtime win over the San Jose Sharks, while Kampfer joined John Moore as the only official healthy scratches at the arena (as Coyle had yet to join the team and Cehlarik was assigned).

    David Pastrnak remains out of the lineup due to surgery on his left thumb.

    Early in the first period, Schmidt was penalized for high-sticking when he got his stick up in Marchand’s face at 4:58 of the first period. Boston did not convert on the ensuing skater advantage.

    Midway through the first period, DeBrusk (19) struck first on the scoreboard after receiving a pass from David Krejci, spinning past a defending Golden Knight skater and scoring from the low slot to make it, 1-0, Bruins.

    Krejci (39) and Karson Kuhlman (1) tallied the assists on DeBrusk’s fifth goal in the last five games at 11:17.

    Moments later, Danton Heinen tripped up Vegas defender, Jon Merrill, sending the Golden Knights on the power play at 14:24 of the first period.

    Vegas did not convert on the ensuing power play.

    Two minutes after the Bruins killed off Heinen’s minor infraction, the Golden Knights were pressing with a shot from the point that rebounded off of Halak’s leg pad.

    Smith (10) jumped at the loose puck and pocketed his first goal in 13 games, tying the game, 1-1, at 18:24.

    Cody Eakin (17) and Merrill (8) notched the assists on the goal.

    After one period, the game was tied, 1-1, despite Vegas leading in shots on goal, 10-6. Boston led in blocked shots (9-6) entering the first intermission, while the Golden Knights led in takeaways (7-2), giveaways (4-2), hits (15-5) and face-off win% (57-44).

    Both teams were 0/1 on the power play heading into the second period.

    Vegas was caught with too many men on the ice early in the second period and was charged with a bench minor. Gerard Gallant sent Oscar Lindberg to serve the penalty and the Golden Knights’ penalty kill successfully thwarted Boston’s power play advances.

    Brayden McNabb was nabbed for holding Chris Wagner at 12:21 of the middle frame, but the Bruins struck out on the extra skater advantage once again.

    Through 40 minutes of play, the score was still tied, 1-1, with the Golden Knights outshooting the Bruins, 22-14.

    The B’s led in blocked shots (14-13) and giveaways (8-7) after two periods, while Vegas led in takeaways (14-4), hits (28-16) and face-off win% (52-48).

    Entering the third period the Golden Knights were 0/1 on the skater advantage and the Bruins were 0/3.

    Just 69 seconds into the third period, Marchand (24) ripped a one-timer past Fleury to give Boston the lead, 2-1, early in the final frame.

    Heinen (12) and Charlie McAvoy (14) had the assists on Marchand’s fifth goal in the last seven games for the Bruins.

    A mere 27 seconds after Marchand put the B’s ahead, Schmidt (7) waltzed past the B’s defense and roofed the puck past Halak’s glove side to tie the game, 2-2.

    Smith (24) and Jonathan Marchessault (22) had the assists on Schmidt’s goal at 1:36 of the third period.

    There were no other events on the scoresheet until the final horn in regulation.

    With the score knotted up at two goals aside, overtime would commence after the Golden Knights led in shots on goal (30-26) through 60 minutes of play. Vegas also led in blocked shots (18-17), takeaways (15-6), giveaways (12-9) and hits (37-24).

    Entering the five-minute, 3-on-3 overtime period, Boston led in face-off win% (53-47).

    Sean Kuraly, Wagner and Matt Grzelcyk started the overtime period for the Bruins, while Max Pacioretty, Marchessault and Shea Theodore kicked things off for the Golden Knights.

    After Boston was sluggish getting out of their own zone almost midway through overtime, they finally managed to change their forwards, leaving Krug behind the play.

    While Krug took his time getting off the ice, McAvoy jumped onto the playing surface and received a pass, but the whistle was blown– the Bruins had too many men on the ice.

    Cassidy sent Heinen to the penalty box to serve the bench minor at 2:14 of the overtime and Boston dug in deep to kill of the penalty.

    After 65 minutes of action, the score was still, 2-2, but the Golden Knights led in shots on goal, 33-27 (3-1 in OT).

    The Bruins finished the night leading in blocked shots (20-18) and face-off win% (52-48), while Vegas led in giveaways (12-9) and hits (38-24).

    Vegas went 0/2 on the power play, while Boston went 0/3 on the skater advantage Wednesday night.

    Gallant elected to have his team shoot first in the ensuing shootout, sending Brandon Pirri to the net against Halak with the first shot.

    Halak made the save.

    DeBrusk kicked things off in the shootout for Boston with a soft handed shot elevated just enough to ring the crossbar on its way into the net behind Fleury, giving the Bruins the lead in the shootout, 1-0, after one round.

    William Karlsson followed up DeBrusk’s goal with a snap shot goal of his own, tying the shootout, 1-1, through two rounds (Patrice Bergeron‘s attempt was denied by Fleury).

    Alex Tuch and Marchand were both denied in the third round. The same went for Marchessault and Heinen in the fourth round.

    Gallant and Cassidy sent out their defenders in the fifth round, with Theodore getting a chance (denied) and Krug getting a shot off on Fleury (easy save).

    In the sixth round, Gallant sent out Lindberg’s skilled hands, but Halak kept the paddle down to block his five-hole and make the save.

    Finally, Backes emerged from the Bruins bench and made his way towards the net with the puck casually on his stick.

    He unloaded a wrist shot up high on Fleury and scored the game-winning shootout goal, notching the, 3-2, victory for Boston in the sixth round of the shootout.

    Boston’s point streak was extended to 12 games as the B’s improved to 2-2 in shootouts this season. Vegas fell to 2-2 in shootouts and lost on home ice for the first time to the Bruins in Golden Knights franchise history.

    The Bruins improved to 24-4-5 when scoring first this season and improved to 15-10-5 on the road. They have not lost a game in regulation since Jan. 19th.

    Boston travels to St. Louis to wrap up their five-game road trip on Saturday against the Blues. Coyle is expected to make his Bruins debut with the team on the road before his homecoming debut at TD Garden next Tuesday (Feb. 26th) against the team that originally drafted him, the San Jose Sharks.

    The B’s close out the month of February with a home matchup with the Tampa Bay Lightning next Thursday (Feb. 28th).


  • Cassidy coaches Bruins to his 100th win with Boston in, 6-3, victory over Chicago

    Jake DeBrusk had the defacto game-winning goal in the Boston Bruins, 6-3, victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday night at TD Garden as David Krejci added a pair of goals and Danton Heinen notched three points in the win.

    It was a rematch from January 1st’s 2019 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic at Notre Dame Stadium, in which Boston defeated Chicago, 4-2.

    Brad Marchand (1-3–4 totals) became the first Bruins player to record four or more points in a regular season game against the Blackhawks since Jason Allison did so on Nov. 2, 2000 (2-2–4 totals).

    Tuukka Rask (18-8-4 record, 2.38 goals against average, .920 save percentage in 31 games played) made 23 saves on 26 shots against for an .885 SV% in the win for Boston, while Collin Delia (6-3-3, 3.23 GAA, .920 SV% in 31 GP) stopped 31 out of 37 shots faced (.838 SV%) in the loss for Chicago.

    Boston improves to 32-17-8 (72 points) and stayed put in 3rd place in the Atlantic Division, while the Blackhawks fell to 23-25-9 (55 points) and remain 7th (last) in the Central Division.

    The Bruins also improved to 5-0-1 in the month of February while snapping Chicago’s seven-game winning streak.

    Bruce Cassidy earned his 100th career victory behind the bench for Boston in the win.

    He is the second-fastest B’s coach to reach the milestone, having done so in 166 games (Tom Johnson holds the franchise record for fastest to 100 wins in 138 games coached). Cassidy is 100-44-21 in his tenure with the Bruins since becoming the head coach on Feb. 7, 2017.

    Adding to the impressive feat, Cassidy was originally drafted by the Blackhawks 18th overall in the 1983 NHL Draft.

    David Pastrnak sustained a left thumb injury on Sunday night after attending a sponsorship dinner with several teammates. He underwent surgery and will be out at least two weeks.

    As a result of Pastrnak’s injury, Krejci is the only player for Boston to suit up in every game this season.

    Cassidy was left with minimal line changes to account for Pastrnak’s injury, placing DeBrusk alongside Peter Cehlarik and Krejci on the second line, while bringing back David Backes into the fold on the third line with Joakim Nordstrom and Trent Frederic.

    Everything else was left the same, while Steven Kampfer (healthy scratch, AHL conditioning loan), Matt Grzelcyk (lower body) and Pastrnak (left thumb) were out of the lineup on Tuesday.

    Alex DeBrincat (29) kicked things off with a floater from about the face-off circle in the attacking zone that Rask inadvertently redirected off his blocker and into the net behind him, giving Chicago the first lead of the night, 1-0.

    Dominik Kahun (17) and Dylan Strome (23) recorded the assists on DeBrincat’s goal at 4:22 of the first period. With the goal, DeBrincat established a new career-high in goals and is on a nine-game point streak.

    After Patrick Kane pushed Marchand into Delia, Marchand was assessed a two-minute minor penalty for goaltender interference at 7:12 of the opening period.

    Zdeno Chara followed that up with a subtle roughing infraction against Kane at 8:23.

    The Blackhawks had 49 seconds of a 5-on-3 power play opportunity, but could not convert on either skater advantage.

    Midway through the first period, Brent Seabrook tripped up Chris Wagner at 13:43 and the Bruins went on the power play for the first time of the night.

    A little over a minute into the ensuing power play, Krejci (13) unloaded a one-timer on a cross-ice pass from Patrice Bergeron past Delia to tie the game, 1-1, at 14:47.

    Bergeron (32) and DeBrusk (6) tallied the assists on Krejci’s power play goal.

    Just 49 seconds later, the Bruins were in command of their first lead of the night as Heinen (9) put home the rebound as the puck bounced off of Marchand on a pass from Bergeron to make it, 2-1, Boston at 15:36.

    Marchand (45) and Chara (5) were credited with the primary and secondary assists, respectively.

    Late in the first period, Marchand again got his name on the scoresheet as he one-timed his 22nd goal of the season past the Blackhawks goaltender.

    Heinen (9) and Bergeron (33) notched the assists on the goal at 18:59 of the first period and the Bruins led, 3-1.

    After one period, Boston led, 3-1, on the scoreboard and, 14-7, in shots on goal. The B’s also held the advantage in blocked shots (5-4), takeaways (5-2) and hits (7-6), while Chicago led in giveaways (7-3) and face-off win percentage (54-46).

    The Blackhawks went 0/2 on the power play, while the Bruins were 1/1 entering the first intermission.

    Erik Gustafsson tripped Krejci at 11:49 of the second period as both teams settled into a cool rhythm whereby the Bruins largely dominated possession and shots on goal, but neither team could muster one into the twine until late in the middle frame.

    Connor Murphy cross-checked Heinen at 15:42 and Jonathan Toews high-sticked Bruins defender, Torey Krug, at 16:02, but Boston could not convert any of their three power play opportunities in the second period.

    Shortly after Chicago killed Toews’ minor penalty, the B’s caught the Blackhawks in the vulnerable minute after a skater advantage with DeBrusk (15) tipping in a slap pass from Krejci at 18:06 of the middle frame to make it, 4-1, Boston.

    Krejci (32) and Marchand (46) had the assists on DeBrusk’s first goal in 13 games.

    Not to be outdone, Duncan Keith (3) unloaded a blast from the point in the final minute of the second period to make it a two-goal game.

    Murphy (6) and Kahun (18) had the assists on Keith’s goal at 19:37 and the Bruins went into the second intermission leading the Blackhawks, 4-2.

    After 40 minutes of play, Boston led in shots on goal, 28-13, including a, 14-6, advantage in the second period alone.

    Chicago held the advantage in blocked shots (9-8) and giveaways (16-8) through two periods, while the B’s led in takeaways (9-6), hits (19-13) and face-off win% (60-40).

    The Blackhawks were still 0/2 on the power play, while the Bruins were 1/4 on the skater advantage entering the third period.

    Sean Kuraly got things going in the third period with a hooking penalty at 1:16 of the final frame of regulation, but the Blackhawks didn’t convert on their last power play chance of the night.

    A couple minutes later, after Noel Acciari delivered a clean hit on Kane, John Hayden found Acciari and dropped the gloves. Despite the two exchanging fisticuffs, the scrap was only so brief and thus, only worthy of matching roughing minor penalties at 3:53 of the third period.

    During the ensuing 4-on-4 action, Gustafsson (12) waltzed through the slot and sniped a wrist shot past Rask’s blocker side to make it a one-goal game.

    Keith (21) and Kane (49) had the assists on Gustafsson’s goal as the Blackhawks trailed the Bruins, 4-3, at 4:48 of the third period.

    With his assist on the goal, Kane matched the longest assist streak in Blackhawks franchise history, which was set by the late Stan Mikita from Nov. 26th to Dec. 25, 1967 (14 games played in that duration).

    Strome slashed Kevan Miller at 5:42 and the Bruins went on the power play for the fifth time Tuesday night.

    Late in the ensuing skater advantage, Cehlarik (4) received a pass from Heinen and fired a one-timer into a mostly empty net as Delia was caught behind the play.

    Boston led, 5-3, thanks to Cehlarik’s goal at 7:18 of the third period. Heinen (10) and Krug (35) had the assists on the power play goal.

    Finally, late in the third period, Krejci (14) notched his second goal of the game at 15:42, with Marchand (47) and DeBrusk (7) picking up the tab on the assists.

    The Bruins led, 6-3, and by the time the final horn signaled the end of the game, they had secured the win in their third straight home game.

    Boston finished the night leading in shots on goal, 37-26, despite being outshot, 13-9, in the third period alone. The B’s also led in his (26-18) and face-off win% (56-44), while Chicago finished the game ahead in blocked shots (12-11) and giveaways (22-10).

    The B’s went 2/5 on the power play Tuesday night and the Blackhawks went 0/3.

    The Bruins begin a two-week road trip starting in Anaheim against the Ducks on Friday before visiting the Los Angeles Kings (on Sat.), San Jose Sharks (Feb.18th), Vegas Golden Knights (Feb. 20th) and St. Louis Blues (Feb. 23rd).

    Boston’s next home game this month is Feb. 26th against the Sharks.


  • Bruins beat Avs for the first time at home in 21 years, 2-1 in OT

    Brad Marchand‘s 14th career game-winning overtime goal clinched a, 2-1, victory for the Boston Bruins over the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday afternoon at TD Garden.

    Following the game, the Bruins partied like it was *1998 (it was Boston’s first win on home ice against the Avalanche since March 30, 1998– a, 4-1, victory for the B’s).

    Jaroslav Halak (14-9-4 record, 2.44 goals against average, .921 save percentage in 29 games played) made 35 saves on 36 shots against for a .921 SV% in the overtime win for the Bruins.

    Semyon Varlamov (13-13-8, 2.91 GAA, .906 SV% in 35 GP) stopped 33 out of 35 shots faced for a .906 SV% in the overtime loss for Colorado.

    The Bruins improve to 31-17-8 (70 points) on the season and move ahead of the Montreal Canadiens for 3rd place in the Atlantic Division, while the Avalanche fell to 22-22-11 (55 points) and remain 6th in the Central Division (tied in points with the Chicago Blackhawks, but ahead in the standings thanks to having a game in-hand on Chicago).

    Boston leads Montreal by one point in the standings for the final divisional spot in the Atlantic. Colorado is four points out of a wild card spot in the Western Conference.

    Prior to Sunday’s matinee, the Bruins hosted the Los Angeles Kings for a Saturday afternoon matchup. Boston defeated the Kings, 5-4, in overtime thanks to an overtime game-winning power play goal from Patrice Bergeron (20) at 2:34 of the overtime period.

    Bergeron was honored prior to the game with gifts– including the traditional “Silver Stick”– and a ceremony for having played in his 1,000th career regular season game on Tuesday against the New York Islanders.

    Charlie McAvoy, Danton Heinen, David Krejci and Marchand also had goals for the Bruins in the win, while Alex Iafallo, Anze Kopitar, Nate Thompson and Oscar Fantanberg notched goals for Los Angeles.

    Tuukka Rask (17-8-4 , 2.36 GAA, .922 SV% in 30 GP) made 25 saves on 29 shots against in the win for Boston.

    Entering Sunday, Bruce Cassidy made minor adjustments to his lineup, inserting Trent Frederic on the fourth line, centering Jake DeBrusk and Joakim Nordstrom, while scratching David Backes.

    Sean Kuraly, Noel Acciari and Chris Wagner were reunited on the third line.

    Marchand, Bergeron and Heinen were kept together on the first line with Peter Cehlarik lining up alongside Krejci and David Pastrnak.

    Steven Kampfer (healthy scratch, on conditioning loan to the Providence Bruins, AHL) and Matt Grzelcyk (lower body) joined Backes out of the lineup on Sunday.

    Almost midway through the opening frame, Heinen got a stick up high on Erik Johnson and received a two-minute minor penalty at 9:54. The Avalanche didn’t convert on the ensuing power play.

    Almost five minutes later, Gabriel Landeskog tripped Heinen and presented Boston with their first power play opportunity of the afternoon at 16:19 of the first period.

    While on the power play, Torey Krug hooked Matt Calvert in effort to disrupt a shorthanded chance by Colorado. Krug was assessed an infraction and went to the box at 17:27, leaving both teams even strength at 4-on-4 for about 52 seconds before the Avs had an abbreviated power play.

    Late in the first period, Nathan MacKinnon (29) roofed a shot over Halak’s glove from close range to give Colorado the first lead of the night, 1-0, at 19:27.

    Landeskog (28) and J.T. Compher (11) collected the assist’s on MacKinnon’s goal as the Avalanche took the, 1-0, lead into the first intermission.

    After one period, Colorado led in shots on goal (12-7), takeaways (5-3), giveaways (6-4) and hits (10-9), while Boston led in blocked shots (5-4). Both teams were 50-50 in face-off win percentage, while the Avs were 0/2 on the power play and the B’s were 0/1.

    John Moore (3) tied the game, 1-1, as Bergeron acted as a screen in front of Varlamov at 3:40 of the second period. Moore fired a shot off the far post and in as McAvoy (13) and Marchand (44) picked up the assists and the Bruins tied the game.

    MacKinnon was penalized for holding at 6:18 of the second period and was followed to the penalty box almost 30 seconds later by Carl Soderberg after Soderberg interfered with McAvoy at 7:45.

    Boston had 34 seconds of a two-skater power play advantage before, but couldn’t convert on either opportunity.

    Moore sent an odd puck bounce off the curved glass next to the Bruins bench and into the net behind Varlamov, but it was immediately waved off as “no goal” with 24.1 seconds remaining in the second period.

    Through 40 minutes of action, the game was tied, 1-1, on the scoreboard, but the Avalanche maintained the advantage in shots on goal, 24-22– despite being outshot by Boston, 15-12, in the second period alone.

    Entering the third period, Colorado led in takeaways (10-6), giveaways (7-5) and hits (19-16), while the B’s led in face-off win% (56-44). Both teams had 10 blocked shots aside as the Avs were 0/2 and the Bruins were 0/3 on the power play.

    A string of hooking penalties kicked things off in the third period with Kuraly hooking Samuel Girard at 7:16, followed by Krug hooking Matt Nieto at 9:53. Finally, Colorado’s Tyson Barrie hooked Bergeron at 10:08 of the third period.

    Neither team capitalized on the special teams play.

    Late in the final frame of regulation, Sheldon Dries was penalized for holding Krug at 17:45 and the Bruins went on the power play. Despite forging a couple shots at the net, Boston couldn’t buy a power play goal.

    As time expired on regulation, the Avalanche led in shots on goal, 34-31, and the score remained tied, 1-1.

    Boston led in blocked shots (18-12), hits (28-21) and face-off win% (53-47) after 60 minutes of play, while Colorado led in takeaways (13-8) and giveaways (11-10).

    No penalties were called in the overtime period, meaning the Avs finished 0/4 and the B’s finished 0/5 on the skater advantage Sunday afternoon.

    For the 5th time in the last seven games, Boston was heading for extra hockey.

    Cassidy started Kuraly, Moore and McAvoy in overtime. Marchand, Bergeron and Krug ended overtime.

    Just past the four-minute mark of the five-minute 3-on-3 overtime period, Marchand (21) unleashed a wrist shot from about the face-off circle to Varlamov’s left side and sent the puck off an Avalanche defender and into the twine.

    Bergeron (31) and Krug (34) notched the assists on Marchand’s game-winning goal at 4:03 of overtime.

    Marchand’s goal sealed the deal on a, 2-1, win for Boston, leaving the Bruins with a 6-6 record in overtime this season. Colorado fell to 1-10 in overtime.

    The Avalanche finished the day leading in shots on goal (36-35) and giveaways (11-10), while the B’s led in blocked shots (18-12), hits (29-21) and face-off win% (53-47).

    With the win, the Bruins are now 4-0-1 in the month of February and 7-0-0 in matinee games this season.

    Boston takes on the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday at TD Garden before heading out for a western road trip, starting next Friday (Feb. 15th) in Anaheim, swinging through Los Angeles on Feb. 16th, San Jose on Feb. 18th, Vegas on Feb. 20th and finally St. Louis on Feb. 23rd.

    The Bruins improved to 11-3-4 in their last 18 games. Cassidy is now one win shy of his 100th behind the bench for Boston.

  • Halak, Bruins let another one slip away, 4-3, in shootout

    The New York Rangers took home the, 4-3, shootout victory on Wednesday night against the Boston Bruins at Madison Square Garden after allowing three unanswered goals in the second period.

    New York mounted a comeback in the third period to tie the game, 3-3, then after an entertaining, high-action, three-on-three overtime period was not enough, the Rangers put it away in seven rounds of a shootout.

    Alexandar Georgiev (7-9-0 record, 3.24 goals against average, .897 save percentage in 18 games played) made 27 saves on 30 shots faced for a .900 SV% in the shootout win as the Rangers improved to 9-1-0 in their last 10 regular season battles with Boston.

    Bruins goaltender, Jaroslav Halak (13-9-4, 2.50 GAA, .918 SV% in 28 GP) recorded 36 saves on 39 shots against for a .923 SV% in the shootout loss and fell to 18-8-1 in his career against the Rangers.

    Boston fell to 19-2-1 when leading after two periods this season and is now 2-0-1 so far in February.

    The B’s fell to 29-17-8 (66 points) on the season, but improved to 3rd place in the Atlantic Division standings, while the Rangers improved to 23-22-8 (54 points), but remain in 7th place in the Metropolitan Division.

    Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, juggled his lines– reinserting Danton Heinen on the fourth line in place of David Backes, but later jumbling every forward line except for the Sean Kuraly–Noel Acciari–Chris Wagner trio.

    By the end of the night, Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and Heinen made up the first line with Peter Cehlarik, David Krejci and David Pastrnak filling out the top-six forwards.

    Joakim Nordstrom, Trent Frederic and Jake DeBrusk were relegated to fourth line duties with Nordstrom coming up strong in breaking up some crucial plays in overtime.

    Cassidy kept his same defensive pairings from Tuesday, with John Moore, Backes and Steven Kampfer serving as the B’s healthy scratches on Wednesday.

    Given it was the second night of back-to-back games, Halak got the start in goal over Tuukka Rask, who picked up the, 3-1, win against the New York Islanders on Tuesday.

    Bergeron tripped up Rangers forward, Mika Zibanejad at 1:11 of the first period and handed New York their first power play opportunity of the night early in the action.

    The Rangers did not convert on the ensuing skater advantage and followed up with a penalty of their own– Marc Staal for cross-checking Kuraly– at 13:39.

    Boston did not succeed in their first skater advantage opportunity of the night.

    Moments later, Zibanejad (22) let go of a snipe-shot from the point that had eyes and beat Halak to give New York the lead, 1-0.

    Mats Zuccarello (21) recorded the only assist on Zibanejad’s goal at 17:45.

    Will less than a minute remaining in the opening frame, Kuraly bumped into Boo Nieves while both players weren’t looking at each other and drew the ire of Jimmy Vesey at 19:08.

    Vesey was dealt a cross-checking minor against Wagner, while Kuraly received a roughing minor against Nieves. Both penalties were handed out with 51 seconds remaining until the first intermission and would yield 4-on-4 action into the second period.

    After one period of play, the Rangers led, 1-0, on the scoreboard and in shots on goal, 12-9.

    Boston maintained the advantage in blocked shots (5-4) and takeaways (6-3), while New York led in giveaways (5-4), hits (15-10) and face-off win percentage (55-46).

    Both clubs were 0/1 on the power play entering the 2nd period.

    Kevan Miller cross-checked Vladislav Namestnikov at 2:16 of the second period, but the Rangers didn’t convert on the ensuing skater advantage.

    Cassidy restructured his lines almost midway through the middle frame and it provided instant results.

    On a face-off in the offensive zone, Marchand worked the puck back to Matt Grzelcyk for the shot towards the goal that was tipped by Heinen (7) for his first goal in his first game back since being a healthy scratch for the last few games.

    Grzelcyk (13) and Marchand (41) tallied the assists on Heinen’s goal at 10:37 of the second period and the game was tied, 1-1.

    Just 72 seconds later, Pastrnak (31) redirected a pass from Krejci behind Georgiev to give the Bruins their first lead of the night, 2-1, at 11:49 of the middle frame.

    Krejci (31) and Miller (5) were tabbed with the primary and secondary assists, respectively.

    Less than 30 seconds later, Bergeron took his second trip to the penalty box– this time for slashing Zuccarello– at 12:12.

    Shortly after New York’s power play expired, Tony DeAngelo was guilty of tripping Bergeron at 14:22, resulting in a power play for Boston.

    Less than a minute into the skater advantage, Bergeron (19) tipped a shot from Torey Krug past the right leg of the Rangers goaltender as Georgiev attempted to make a butterfly save.

    Krug (31) and Marchand (42) had the assists on Bergeron’s power play goal at 15:11 of the second period and the B’s led, 3-1.

    Late in the period, Brandon Carlo and Zuccarello got tangled up with each other and received matching roughing minors at 16:34.

    Entering the dressing room after 40 minutes of action, Boston led, 3-1, on the scoreboard, but trailed New York, 22-20, in shots on goal. The Bruins did, however, lead in second period shots on goal alone– with a slight advantage– 11-10.

    The Bruins led in blocked shots (7-6), while the Rangers led in just about everything else, including takeaways (10-9), giveaways (12-6) and hits (30-16) entering the final frame of regulation.

    Both teams went 50-50 in face-off win% after two periods and the Rangers were 0/3 on the power play entering the third period. Boston was 1/2 on the skater advantage.

    Kevin Hayes (12) made it a one-goal game at 9:24 of the third period.

    Pavel Buchnevich received a pass up the middle and threw a shot on goal that Vesey chased down the rebound for in order to send the puck to Hayes for the goal.

    Vesey (14) and Buchnevich (8) had the assists and the Rangers trailed, 3-2.

    Charlie McAvoy took a horrendous boarding penalty at 12:05 of the third period. It was horrendous, because it ultimately proved costly.

    Filip Chytil (10) pocketed a rebound that Halak failed to control after Buchnevich fired the initial shot.

    Buchnevich (9) and DeAngelo (10) had the assists on Chytil’s power play goal for New York at 12:42 and the Rangers tied the game, 3-3.

    Through 60 minutes of regulation, both teams were still tied, 3-3, on the scoreboard, despite the Rangers leading in shots on goal (33-29), blocked shots (10-9), giveaways (20-11) and hits (41-25).

    Boston, in the meantime, escaped regulation with the lead in takeaways (13-11) and face-off win% (53-47).

    The Rangers finished the night 1/4 on the power play, while the Bruins went 1/2 as no penalties were called in the five-minute, three-on-three overtime period.

    Cassidy started Pastrnak, Krejci and Krug in overtime for the Bruins as both teams got off to a frantic pace, leading to chance after chance and save after save.

    Eventually, both teams attempted their fair share of trick shots and odd banks off of pads, sticks and whatever they could find to try to will the puck into the twine.

    But, Georgiev and Halak stood tall, leading to a shootout after five minutes of overtime was not enough.

    As an aside, the Rangers had six shots on goal in overtime, compared to Boston’s one shot on net (officially).

    New York finished the night leading in shots on goal (39-30), blocked shots (12-10), giveaways (21-11) and hits (42-26), while the Bruins led in face-off win% (55-45).

    In the shootout, David Quinn elected to have his home team Rangers shoot first on Halak, but Zuccarello was denied by the outer post.

    Cassidy sent out Cehlarik as his first shooter, but Georgiev made the save.

    Kevin Shattenkirk was denied by Halak, as Pastrnak failed to muster a shot off his stick in the second round of the shootout.

    Zibanejad deked and roofed the puck to give New York the, 1-0, advantage in the third round of the shootout, but was matched by Marchand’s nifty dangle-turned-five hole squib-shot to even it, 1-1, after three rounds.

    Hayes was turned aside by Halak and McAvoy had the puck poke checked away by the Rangers netminder in the fourth round.

    Chytil rang the post and DeBrusk’s shot was saved by Georgiev in the fifth round.

    Vesey nailed the crossbar and Heinen was stopped in the sixth round.

    Finally, DeAngelo mustered enough stick work on the puck to get Halak to commit to a sprawling position, as DeAngelo then elevated the puck for what became the game-winning shootout goal in the seventh round after Krejci fired his shot wide.

    New York improved to 6-2 in shootouts on the season, while Boston fell to 1-2 past overtime this season.

    The Rangers had won, 4-3, officially on the scoreboard after the shootout and stole the extra point past regulation.

    Call it Adam McQuaid‘s revenge or whatever, but Wednesday night’s game was the 54th game of the regular season for Boston.

    The Bruins venture back home for a three-game homestand at TD Garden starting Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. ET with a matchup against the Los Angeles Kings.

    Boston will honor Bergeron prior to puck drop for participating in his 1,000th career regular season NHL game on Tuesday.

    Sunday afternoon, the B’s take on the Colorado Avalanche, then wrap things up at home with a tilt against the Chicago Blackhawks next Tuesday.

    Cassidy’s crew swings through the three teams in California, the Vegas Golden Knights and St. Louis Blues on a roadtrip from Feb. 15th through the 23rd.

  • Bergeron nets two in his 1,000th game, B’s win, 3-1

    Patrice Bergeron opened the game’s scoring while crashing the net on a rebound and closed the game’s scoring with an empty net goal, while Peter Cehlarik took home the game-winning goal in the Boston Bruins’, 3-1, victory over the New York Islanders on Tuesday night at TD Garden.

    It was the 53rd game of the 2018-19 regular season for the Bruins and the 1,000th regular season game in Bergeron’s career.

    An alternate captain for the Bruins playing in his 15th NHL season, Bergeron became the 53rd player in NHL history to score a goal in his 1,000th game and the 3rd to do so in a Boston uniform (joining Johnny Bucyk on Dec. 10, 1970 and Jean Ratelle on March 23, 1977).

    The 33-year-old two-way center joined Brent Burns, Jason Pominville, Tomas Plekanec and Thomas Vanek as the only players to score in their 1,000th career regular season game so far this season.

    Bergeron also became the 6th player in league history to score multiple goals in his 1,000th game.

    Tuukka Rask (16-8-4 record, 2.30 goals against average, .924 save percentage in 29 games played) made 28 saves on 29 shots against for the .966 SV% in the win for Boston– his 254th of his career.

    In his last 11 starts, Rask is now 8-1-2 with a 1.42 GAA and .945 SV%. Boston is 9-3-3 in their last 15 games as a result.

    Robin Lehner (16-8-4, 2.02 GAA, .932 SV% in 29 GP) turned aside 24 out of 26 shots faced for a .923 SV% in the loss for New York.

    The Islanders’ eight-game point streak came to an end as a result of the loss in regulation to Boston on Tuesday.

    The Bruins improved to 29-17-7 (65 points) on the season and remained in 4th place in the Atlantic Division, while the Islanders fell to 30-16-6 (66 points), but stayed in command of the Metropolitan Division.

    Boston also improved to 19-4-5 when scoring first this season and 2-0-0 in the month of February.

    Bergeron and Rask were each honored with their own standing ovations during stoppages in the first period for reaching their own milestones (Bergeron, 1,000 games and Rask, 253 wins as a Bruins goaltender– a new franchise record, set on Sunday in Washington in a, 1-0, shutout against the Capitals).

    Bruce Cassidy made no changes to the B’s lineup among his forwards, but switched up his defensive pairings– placing Zdeno Chara with Brandon Carlo, Torey Krug with Kevan Miller and Matt Grzelcyk alongside Charlie McAvoy.

    For the second straight game, John Moore, Danton Heinen and Steven Kampfer were all healthy scratches for Boston.

    Just 18 seconds into the action on Tuesday, David Backes sent the puck over the glass and out of the rink for an automatic delay of game penalty.

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

    Almost midway through the first period, Brock Nelson hooked Carlo and the Bruins went on the power play for their first time in the game at 9:43.

    Boston did not capitalize on their first skater advantage of the night, nor did they find a way to crack the code all night on the power play, as the B’s went 0/3 on the night after Ryan Pulock‘s slashing minor at 11:51 and Scott Mayfield‘s cross-checking infraction at 15:04.

    Entering the first intermission, the game was still tied, 0-0, while the Bruins led in shots on goal, 10-7, and in face-off win percentage (67-33). New York led in blocked shots (7-3) and takeaways (4-3) after 20 minutes of play.

    Both teams had four giveaways each and nine hits aside, while the Islanders went 0/1 on the power play and the Bruins were 0/3.

    Early in the 2nd period, Brad Marchand entered the attacking zone on a two-on-one with David Pastrnak heading to the net.

    Marchand flipped a pass over to the 22-year-old Boston winger for the one-timer, but Lehner made the initial save. He also gave up a rebound.

    While crashing the net, Bergeron (17) found the loose puck and buried it in the twine to give the B’s the lead, 1-0, at 2:32 of the second period.

    Pastrnak (33) and Marchand (39) notched the assists as Marchand quickly skated after the puck and collected it for Bergeron’s mantle at home, having scored in his 1,000th game.

    As a result of the goal, Pastrnak had been involved either directly by scoring or indirectly by assisting on eight straight goals for the Bruins, but fell shy of the team record of nine straight goals later in the game.

    Anders Lee drew a string of a couple of penalties against Boston, first when Carlo tripped up Lee at 10:08, then again when Chris Wagner slashed the Islanders forward at 15:45 of the second period.

    Almost a minute into the power play while Wagner was in the box, Jordan Eberle (12) squeaked a shot past Rask on the short side from about the goal line at 16:40 to tie the game, 1-1.

    Mathew Barzal (32) and Nelson (16) had the assists on Eberle’s power play goal.

    Both teams entered the dressing room for the 2nd intermission tied, 1-1, on the scoreboard, but Boston led in shots on goal, 19-18, despite being outshot by New York, 11-9, in the middle frame alone.

    The Isles led in takeaways (8-5), as well as giveaways (8-5), through two periods, while the B’s led in face-off win% (54-46). Both teams had 12 blocked shots and 17 hits each through 40 minutes of action.

    Entering the third period, New York was 1/3 on the power play, while Boston remained 0/3.

    Cal Clutterbuck thought he gave the Islanders their first lead of the night at 4:52 of the third period with snipe past Rask, however, Cassidy used his coach’s challenge wisely and sent the play to review.

    After review, it was determined the Devon Toews and Clutterbuck connected on the play while offside, meaning the call on the ice was overturned and the Islanders hadn’t actually scored. No goal.

    A couple minutes later, Cehlarik (3) followed up on a rebound and banked the puck off Lehner and in the net as the New York goaltender dove across the crease in desperation after turning aside the initial shot.

    Miller (4) had the only assist on Cehlarik’s goal at 6:34 of the third period and the Bruins led, 2-1.

    Past the midpoint of the final frame of regulation, Grzelcyk was charged with two minor penalties against Eberle– one for slashing and another for tripping– resulting in a rare four-minute power play for the Isles.

    Rask and his penalty killers stood tall, limiting New York to just three shots on goal through the first half of the extended power play opportunity and successfully killing off Grzelcyk’s minors.

    Islanders head coach, Barry Trotz, pulled his goaltender with about 1:15 left in regulation for an extra attacker to try to tie the game, 2-2, but it just wasn’t written in the cards on an otherwise beautifully scripted night for Boston sports fans (the six-time Super Bowl champion New England Patriots were honored for their, 13-3, win in Sunday’s Super Bowl LIII against the Los Angeles Rams and participated in a ceremonial puck drop prior to Tuesday night’s action).

    Marchand sent a pass to Pastrnak as No. 88 broke free of the New York defenders and entered the attacking zone with an empty 4-by-6 frame in front of him and the chance to put the game away.

    Instead, Pastrnak unselfishly looked behind himself and dropped the puck back to an approaching Bergeron (18) for his second goal of the game and the empty net goal that secured the, 3-1, victory for Boston at 19:05 of the third period.

    Pastrnak (34) and Marchand (40) were tabbed with the assists on the goal.

    With his second assist of the night, Marchand reached the 40-assist plateau for the third consecutive season as the usual scoring suspect for Boston has reshaped his game into scoring goals and being a playmaker.

    At the final horn, the Bruins won, 3-1, and led in blocked shots (17-15) and hits (25-23) after 60 minutes of action. The Islanders led in shots on goal (29-27) and giveaways (15-9), while both teams were 50-50 in face-off win%.

    New York finished the night 1/5 on the power play, while the B’s went 0/3.

    In his last six games, Bergeron has 4-3–7 totals with 21 shots on goal and a plus-two rating. He ranks 5th in games played in franchise history behind Ray Bourque (1,518 games played in a Bruins sweater), Bucyk (1,436), current General Manager Don Sweeney (1,052) and Wayne Cashman (1,027).

    Current teammate and captain, Chara is 6th in franchise history with 927 games played on the Boston blue line.

    Bergeron is just the 5th player to reach 1,000 games played with the franchise and 12th player this season to reach the milestone. He has 307 goals and 473 assists (780 points) in that span.

    Among the four major North American men’s professional leagues, only Tom Brady of the Patriots has played in more seasons in New England than Bergeron.

    Brady’s 19 seasons tops the list among all four organizations with Bergeron (15) 2nd, Boston Red Sox player Dustin Pedroia 3rd (13) and Boston Celtics star Marcus Smart (5) rounding out the list.

    Boston travels to Madison Square Garden for an 8 p.m. ET puck drop against the New York Rangers on Wednesday night before returning home for a 1:00 p.m. ET matinee matchup with the Los Angeles Kings and another afternoon battle with the Colorado Avalanche (3 p.m. ET) on Sunday in back-to-back games on back-to-back days.

    The Bruins wrap up their short three-game homestand against the Chicago Blackhawks next Tuesday night at TD Garden.

    Bergeron will be honored with a pregame ceremony prior to the game on Saturday against Los Angeles.

  • Rask breaks “Tiny” record in 1-0 shutout versus Caps

    Tuukka Rask is now the winningest goaltender in Boston Bruins franchise history as a result of Boston’s 1-0 victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday afternoon in Washington, D.C.

    Rask eclipses Tiny Thompson‘s previous record of 252 career wins in a Bruins sweater with his 253rd victory as a Boston netminder with the shutout and improved to 2-11-5 in his career against the Capitals.

    David Krejci had the game’s only goal in the second period to help launch the B’s out of their 0-11-3 record in their last 14 games against the Caps entering Sunday, snapping one of the longest losing streaks to a team in the regular season (tied with Boston’s 14 consecutive wins against the Arizona Coyotes).

    The Bruins last beat the Capitals in the regular season on March 29, 2014 with a 4-2 victory and goals from Jarome Iginla (x2), Carl Soderberg and Patrice Bergeron.

    Arizona (then known as the Phoenix Coyotes) last beat Boston on October 9, 2010 in a 5-2 win in a game that was played in Prague, Czech Republic.

    Rask (15-8-4 record, 2.35 goals against average, .922 save percentage in 28 games played) turned aside all 24 shots he faced for his 43rd career shutout in the win.

    Capitals goaltender, Braden Holtby (18-13-3, 3.04 GAA, .907 SV% in 37 GP) made 38 saves on 39 shots against for a .974 SV% in the loss and fell to 16-3-0 in his career against the Bruins.

    Boston improved to 28-17-7 (63 points) on the season and moved up to 3rd place in the Atlantic Division standings, while Washington fell to 28-18-6 (62 points) and dropped to 3rd in the Metropolitan Division– tied in points for 2nd with the Pittsburgh Penguins, but trailing in the regulation-plus-overtime wins tiebreaker (PIT, 27, WSH, 25).

    The Caps defeated the Bruins in their season series, 2-1-0, as both teams played their final regular season matchup on Sunday. The B’s are 1-0-0 to begin February after finishing 6-3-3 in the month of January.

    Bruce Cassidy made some adjustments to his lineup stemming from Thursday night’s overtime loss to the Philadelphia Flyers, replacing Danton Heinen with Joakim Nordstrom to the left side of Trent Frederic and David Backes, while re-inserting Noel Acciari back into the lineup with Sean Kuraly and Chris Wagner.

    As a result, Heinen joined Steven Kampfer and John Moore (replaced by Matt Grzelcyk in Sunday afternoon’s lineup) as the B’s healthy scratches.

    Cassidy also juggled his defensive pairings to keep Zdeno Chara with Charlie McAvoy, but place Torey Krug alongside Brandon Carlo with Grzelcyk rounding out the third pairing with Kevan Miller.

    Washington’s Dmitrij Jaskin kicked things off on the scoresheet with the game’s first minor penalty– an infraction for hooking Krejci– at 5:30 of the first period.

    Boston failed to record a shot on goal on their first power play opportunity of the afternoon, but the Capitals followed up killing off Jaskin’s minor with another infraction just seven seconds later as Evgeny Kuznetsov was penalized for slashing McAvoy at 7:37.

    The Bruins got some shots on goal on the power play, but did not score.

    Shortly after time expired on Boston’s second power play of the afternoon, Bergeron– taking part in his 999th career regular season game on Sunday– was penalized for holding Kuznetsov at 9:52 and the Capitals went on the skater advantage for the first time in the game.

    The Caps did not convert on their special teams play.

    Both teams entered the dressing room for the first intermission tied, 0-0, on the scoreboard and in blocked shots (3-3), as well as hits (8-8).

    Meanwhile, Boston held the advantage in shots on goal (15-6) and face-off win percentage (65-35) after one period, while Washington led in takeaways (6-3) and giveaways (7-1).

    The Capitals were 0/1 and the Bruins were 0/2 on the power play prior to the start of the 2nd period.

    Almost midway through the second frame, Miller cross-checked Andre Burakovsky and cut a rut to the penalty box for the ensuing Washington power play, but the Caps didn’t convert on Miller’s minor at 8:24 of the second period.

    Almost 20 seconds after killing off the penalty, the Bruins capitalized on the vulnerable minute after special teams play with some spectacular puck movement from David Pastrnak to Krug, then over to Krejci (11) for the one-timer goal as Holtby was forced to play catch up in the crease.

    Krejci’s goal was assisted by Krug (30) and Pastrnak (32) at 10:43 of the second period and gave the Bruins the lead, 1-0, on the game’s only goal.

    The goal came while Cassidy was switching up his line combinations mid-game with Pastrnak taking a few shifts on the ice alongside Krejci and DeBrusk before returning to the right side of Brad Marchand and Bergeron.

    Heading into the second intermission, the Bruins were 17-4-5 when scoring first this season– including a 1-2-3 span in the last six consecutive games in which they’ve scored the game’s first goal– and 18-2-0 when leading after 40 minutes of play.

    One more strong indication of Boston’s play on Sunday afternoon prior to the third period?

    The B’s led in shots on goal (30-13) after two periods (including 15-7 in the second period alone), as well as blocked shots (8-7), takeaways (9-8) and face-off win% (55-45).

    Washington led in giveaways (11-6) and hits (28-17) heading into the third period, while both teams went 0/2 on the skater advantage heading into the final frame of regulation.

    McAvoy hooked T.J. Oshie at 12:30 of the third period, but the ensuing power play for Washington was short-lived.

    Oshie hooked Chara at 13:06, forcing 4-on-4 action for over a minute before the Bruins would have an abbreviated power play chance.

    Despite an onslaught of shots on goal, Rask stood tall facing immense pressure from a Capitals team that is star-studded with offensive depth in its lineup.

    With 1:27 remaining in regulation, Todd Reirden pulled his goaltender for an extra attacker, but Washington couldn’t pull off a comeback as the Boston defense tightened its game.

    To everyone’s surprise, neither Reirden nor Cassidy used their timeout after the Bruins iced the puck with 14.1 seconds remaining in the game.

    At the final horn, the B’s had defeated the Caps, 1-0, and snapped their 14-game losing streak against Washington in their last 14 regular season meetings.

    Boston finished the day leading in shots on goal (39-24), blocked shots (15-9) and face-off win% (64-37), despite Washington dominating shots on goal in the third period alone (11-9).

    The Capitals finished the afternoon leading in giveaways (15-14) and hits (41-27), while both teams went 0/3 on the power play on Sunday.

    Rask secured his place in Bruins franchise history as the winningest goaltender in a Boston sweater with his 253rd career win, surpassing Cecil “Tiny” Thompson’s 252 wins with the B’s that he set 80 years ago as Boston improved to 19-2-0 this season when leading after two periods.

    The Bruins are also 18-4-5 when scoring first in a game this season, improving to 2-2-3 in doing so in their last seven games.

    Pending a lineup change, Bergeron is set to take part in his 1,000th career regular season game as Boston heads home to take on the New York Islanders on Tuesday at TD Garden, prior to traveling to Madison Square Garden to face the New York Rangers on Wednesday.

    The B’s return home after Wednesday night’s nationally televised game for a three-game homestand starting next Saturday (Feb. 9th) against the Los Angeles Kings, facing the Colorado Avalanche next Sunday (Feb. 10th) and concluding against the Chicago Blackhawks for a 2019 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic rematch on Feb. 12th.