Down the Frozen River

Tag: Vancouver Canucks

  • Game of the week: November 12-18

    It’s once again time for the DtFR Game of the Week. Let’s take a look at our options for these seven days:

    NHL SCHEDULE: November 12-18
    TIME (ALL TIMES EASTERN) VISITOR HOST NATIONAL BROADCAST(S)/
    Result
    Monday, November 12
    7 p.m. Vancouver Canucks New York Rangers 1-2
    7 p.m. Chicago Carolina 2-3 (OT)
    8:30 p.m. Columbus Dallas 2-1
    10 p.m. Nashville Anaheim 1-2 (SO)
    Tuesday, November 13
    7 p.m. Pittsburgh New Jersey 2-4
    7 p.m. Vancouver Canucks New York Islanders 2-5
    7 p.m. Florida Philadelphia 2-1
    7:30 p.m. Tampa Bay Buffalo 1-2
    7:30 p.m. Arizona Detroit 1-6
    8 p.m. Washington Minnesota 5-2
    9 p.m. Montréal Edmonton 2-6
    10:30 p.m. Toronto Los Angeles 5-1
    10:30 p.m. Nashville San Jose 4-5
    Wednesday, November 14
    8 p.m. St. Louis Chicago 0-1
    8 p.m. Washington Winnipeg 1-3
    10 p.m. Boston Colorado 3-6
    10:30 p.m. Anaheim Vegas 0-5
    Thursday, November 15
    7 p.m. New York Rangers New York Islanders
    7 p.m. New Jersey Philadelphia
    7 p.m. Tampa Bay Pittsburgh TVAS
    7 p.m. Florida Columbus
    7:30 p.m. Detroit Ottawa RDS2
    8 p.m. Vancouver Minnesota
    9 p.m. Montréal Calgary RDS, TSN2
    9 p.m. Nashville Arizona
    10:30 p.m. Toronto San Jose
    Friday, November 16
    8 p.m. Boston Dallas TVAS
    8 p.m. Buffalo Winnipeg
    8:30 p.m. Los Angeles Chicago NHLN
    9 p.m. Washington Colorado
    10 p.m. St. Louis Vegas
    10 p.m. Toronto Anaheim SN
    saturday, November 17
    1 p.m. Detroit New Jersey
    1 p.m. Tampa Bay Philadelphia NHLN, SN
    6 p.m. Buffalo Minnesota
    7 p.m. Montréal Vancouver CBC, SN1, TVAS
    7 p.m. Pittsburgh Ottawa CITY, SN
    7 p.m. Florida Panthers New York Rangers NHLN
    7 p.m. Columbus Carolina
    8 p.m. Boston Arizona
    8 p.m. Los Angeles Nashville
    10 p.m. Edmonton Calgary CBC, SN, SN1
    10:30 p.m. St. Louis San Jose
    Sunday, November 18
    1 p.m. Dallas Stars New York Islanders SN
    5 p.m. New Jersey Carolina
    6 p.m. Minnesota Chicago NHLN
    8 p.m. Colorado Anaheim
    8 p.m. Vegas Edmonton SN, TVAS

    As I point out every in every column, there were more than a few superb offerings in this week’s NHL schedule. There were a solid half-dozen rivalries (St. Louis at Chicago, New York at New York, New Jersey at Philadelphia, Los Angeles at Chicago, Edmonton at Calgary and Minnesota at Chicago) to choose from, not to mention a long list of players returning to their former stomping grounds (G Cam Ward heading back to Raleigh – his former team of 13 seasons – headlined that list, though the “homecoming” of D Brooks Orpik to Denver will surely generate at least a few conversations).

    However, this week’s selection has nothing to do with any sort of rivalry or player return. Instead, this week’s brightest matchup features two teams having unexpected success to start the season squaring off in what could end up being an important tie-breaking game should they be competing for wild card spots this spring.

     

    We first turn our attention to tonight’s visitors, the 10-8-2 Vancouver Canucks. To the surprise of many, British Columbia’s beloved hockey side finds itself in second place in the Pacific Division, a far cry from last year’s position in the table (second to last in the Western Conference).

    In particular, the biggest story coming out of the Canucks so far this season has been the exciting play of their forward corps, specifically that of youngster F Elias Pettersson. In only 14 games played, he’s already hung up 10-7-17 totals to lead all rookies in goals and points (he’s tied with Chicago’s F Dominik Kahun for second in assists behind leader D Henri Jokiharju – also of Chicago).

    Led by Pettersson (not to mention C Bo Horvat, who has a matching 17 points to his credit), the Canucks’ offense currently ranks 13th-worst in the NHL, averaging 3.1 goals per game.

    13th-worst and 3.1 goals per game may not sound like much, but the smart Canucks fans are excited by the growth they’ve seen from this year’s edition of the team It should be remembered, of course, that last year’s roster only scored 218 goals, or 2.66 goals per game (the Canucks are currently on pace for 254 this season).

    Unfortunately for Vancouver, its hot start looks like it could be coming to an end as a result of the disastrous six-game eastern road trip (I suppose all road trips for the Canucks are eastern, aren’t they…) it’s finishing tonight. In their last five games, the Canucks have posted only a 1-2-2 record – posting both regulation losses in their last two outings – and have ceded control of the division to San Jose. That being said, Vancouver could jump back into first place in the Pacific with a win tonight and a regulation loss by the Sharks to Toronto.

    While the Canucks might be cooling down, nothing has been able to stop the 11-5-2 Minnesota Wild just yet this season, as they’ve soared all the way into second place in the Central Division after many pegged them to miss the playoffs this season altogether.

    Offense is the name of the game for the team in white, but Minnesota has found much of its success in its own zone.

    While the defense does deserve some credit (the Wild have allowed 31.6 shots against per game this season, the 14th-highest average in the league), it’s specifically been the play of 8-4-2 G Devan Dubnyk that has made them so dominant. Dubnyk has posted a .927 save percentage and 2.34 GAA in 14 starts this season, both of which are top-six in the NHL among the 25 goalies with at least 10 starts.

    The Wild just finished up an extended West Coast road trip of their own, going 5-2-0 (including a 5-2 loss at Vancouver on October 29) before returning home and losing to the Capitals on Tuesday, snapping a three-game win streak.

    If tonight’s game becomes a battle of special teams, look for the Wild to take control easily. While both teams have comparable power plays (both convert under 19 percent of their extra-man opportunities), Minnesota boasts a penalty kill far superior to that of Vancouver. The Wild’s penalty kill escapes unscathed a division-leading 85.7 percent of the time, while Vancouver can only make that claim after 80.3 percent of its penalties (14th-worst in the NHL).

    Even if this game doesn’t boil down to special team situations, I’m still leaning towards the Wild claiming two points tonight. The Canucks are tired from their long road trip, not to mention the fact that G Richard Bachman making his season debut this evening. Look for the Wild’s offense (led by F Mikael Granlund‘s 10-8-18 totals) to pounce early and put the pressure on Vancouver’s young, tired offense.

  • DTFR Podcast #132- Hall of Guardians and Turtlenecks

    DTFR Podcast #132- Hall of Guardians and Turtlenecks

    The 2018 Hockey Hall of Fame Class was inducted on Monday, plus we remember the NHL Guardians and celebrate Joe Thornton’s milestones. Tomas Plekanec retired– leaving us a turtleneck to pass on ceremoniously– and Milan Lucic was fined $10,000.

    The Pittsburgh Penguins’ plight comes with an extension for General Manager Jim Rutherford, while the Los Angeles Kings battle the injury bug in net (we finished recording before Wednesday’s trade between the two clubs).

    Meanwhile, Tom Wilson is back, a concussion lawsuit was settled, the 2019 NWHL All-Star Game was announced, Jakob Chychrun got a six-year extension and Nick and Connor discuss when they’ll eventually let their kids (if they ever have any) play contact sports.

    Support the show on Patreon.

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

  • Canucks rout Bruins, 8-5

    One more goal and the Vancouver Canucks dressing room could’ve been singing Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5” after Thursday night’s win on the road.

    Jaroslav Halak (4-1-2, .936 save percentage, 1.96 goals against average in 9 games played) got the start in goal for the Boston Bruins, but was pulled after allowing five goals in favor of Tuukka Rask (4-4-0, .901 SV% and 3.05 GAA in 8 GP).

    Halak stopped 14 shots out of 19 shots faced (.737 SV%) in 34:53 time on ice in the loss, while Rask made 11 saves on 14 shots against (.786 SV%) in 25:07 TOI.

    Jacob Markstrom (7-3-1, .921 SV%, 3.28 GAA in 11 GP) made 23 saves on 28 shots faced for an .821 SV% in 60-minutes played en route to the, 8-5, win for the Canucks.

    11 players recorded at least a point for Vancouver in the victory, while eight players recorded points for the Bruins. David Krejci had a team-high three assists and Jake DeBrusk also had three points (2-1–3 totals) for Boston.

    As a result of the loss, Boston fell to 4th in the Atlantic Division with an 8-5-2 record (18 points) on the season. The Canucks maintained possession of 1st place in the Pacific Division, improving to 10-6-1 (21 points) so far.

    Vancouver waltzed to sweep the season series against Boston, 2-0-0, with a 2-1 win on home ice at Rogers Arena in overtime on Oct. 20th in addition to Thursday’s 8-5 win at TD Garden.

    Thursday night also marked the first time Vancouver scored eight goals in a game since doing so on Nov. 14, 2009 at Colorado.

    Bruce Cassidy kept his lines the same from Monday’s matchup (and 2-1 win in overtime) against the Dallas Stars, while only three Bruins remained out of the lineup due to injury (Charlie McAvoy, upper body, Kevan Miller, hand and Urho Vaakanainen, concussion).

    Miller and Vaakanainen have been skating on their own at practice, while McAvoy’s status remains shrouded in mystery (other than being on the injured reserve).

    With Alex Edler out of the lineup for the Canucks Thursday night, only five players from the 2011 Stanley Cup Final were in action for both teams– incidentally, all of them still on the Bruins (Patrice Bergeron, Zdeno Chara, Krejci, Brad Marchand and Rask).

    imgres-2

    Early in the action, Bo Horvat (6) broke the 0-0 tie, capitalizing on a bad bounce and firing the puck past Halak’s glove side while his own defender, John Moore, provided a partial screen in front.

    Horvat’s goal was unassisted and gave Vancouver a 1-0 lead at 2:46 of the first period.

    The Canucks entered Thursday night 4-0-1 when scoring first this season and they would improve to 5-0-1 by the final horn. Meanwhile, the B’s were 3-4-1 when allowing the first goal against so far this season and are now 3-5-1 when doing so.

    But for all the blunders that built up to giving up the game’s first goal, the Bruins regathered themselves and fought back in a strenuous first period.

    Matt Grzelcyk (1) slapped one past Markstrom for his first goal of the season from the point at 13:41 and tied the game, 1-1.

    Krejci (9) and DeBrusk (2) picked up the assist’s on the goal and the score remained tied, 1-1, heading into the first intermission.

    After 20 minutes of play, the game was tied, 1-1, and Vancouver was leading in shots on goal (8-5), as well as face-off win percentage (57-44). Boston had the advantage in blocked shots (5-4), takeaways (5-2), giveaways (7-2) and hits (12-8). Neither team had yet to see any action on the skater advantage.

    Just 36 seconds into the second period, Bergeron (8) gathered a rebound and pocketed it behind Markstrom to give the Bruins their first lead of the night, 2-1.

    Torey Krug (3) had the only assist on the goal as a result of purposefully shooting the puck to generate a rebound with Bergeron standing right in front of the goal ready to collect the garbage.

    Bruins defender, Steven Kampfer, checked Vancouver forward, Antoine Roussel without the puck and received a minor penalty for interference at 3:58 of the second period, sending the Canucks on their first power play of the night.

    Vancouver was not able to convert on their first power play opportunity, but set the tone for the remainder of their skater advantages for the rest of the game with some quality chances.

    Former Bruin, Loui Eriksson (2) struck go[aled] adding a tally at 7:02 of the second period, tying the game, 2-2, when Boston failed to clear the puck out of their own zone and couldn’t even come up with possession as Brandon Carlo was without a stick.

    The Canucks smashed a shot wide off the end boards and capitalized on the carom with Halak out of position, thereby letting Eriksson tie the game.

    Erik Gudbranson (5) and Markus Granlund (4) had the assists on Eriksson’s first of the night.

    Nine seconds later, Grzelcyk cut a rut to the sin bin for high-sticking Vancouver’s Brendan Leipsic at 7:11.

    While on the penalty kill, Bergeron and Marchand almost perfected a break-in with a one-timer opportunity from Bergeron to Marchand, but the puck went wide of the goal and the Canucks pounced back the other way.

    Ben Hutton (4) sent a wrist shot past Halak from the blue line after the Canucks moved the puck quickly in the attacking zone while on the power play. Hutton’s power play goal gave Vancouver two unanswered goals in 1:26 and the lead, 3-2, at 8:28 of the second period.

    Horvat (5) and Nikolay Goldobin (7) had the assists on the goal.

    Vancouver’s lead wasn’t for long as the Bruins struck back 32 seconds later, with DeBrusk (4) tipping the puck past Markstrom to tie the game, 3-3, at 9:00.

    Krejci (10) and Joakim Nordstrom (1) recorded the primary and secondary assist’s, respectively, on DeBrusk’s first goal of the night.

    Kampfer couldn’t get enough of Roussel after his first penalty moments earlier, so he reached out and got just enough of a hold on him to be assessed a minor infraction for holding at 11:30, sending the Canucks back on the power play at 11:30 of the second period.

    Eriksson (3) continued to get revenge on his former team by adding his second goal of the night– this time on the power play– with a tip-in goal at 13:23. Hutton (2) and Leipsic (2) had the assists on the goal that put Vancouver ahead, 4-3.

    90 seconds later, Roussel (3) added a goal to make it a two-goal lead for the Canucks at 14:53 of the second period. Granlund (5) and Michael Del Zotto (2) had the assist’s on Roussel’s wacky redirection past Halak to make it, 5-3, Vancouver.

    Having surrendered five goals against, Cassidy replaced Halak with Rask after Roussel’s tally.

    Late in the second period, Horvat was sent to the penalty box with a two-minute minor penalty for slashing Bruins defenseman, Torey Krug, at 16:13.

    Unknown-7

    Boston converted on the ensuing power play by working the puck to the dashers and sending a saucer pass to DeBrusk (5) for the redirection past Markstrom from right in front of the net.

    DeBrusk had his second goal of the night– his first on the power play– and entered his name in the hat trick watch competition with his opponent, Eriksson, though neither player would complete the rarity of a three-goal game Thursday night.

    Krug (4) and Marchand (12) had the assist’s on DeBrusk’s goal at 17:18 of the second period and the Bruins pulled to within one, 5-4.

    There was little cause for celebration as Gudbranson (1) notched his first goal of the season for Vancouver moments later on yet another embarrassing effort by the Bruins brass on defense and in goal.

    Horvat (6) and Eriksson (6) collected the assist’s on Gudbranson’s goal at 19:28 and the Canucks led, 6-4.

    Through 40 minutes of play, Vancouver led, 6-4, on the scoreboard and, 22-16, in shots on goal. The Canucks outshot the Bruins, 14-11, in the second period alone, while the B’s held onto an advantage in blocked shots (9-6), takeaways (8-7), giveaways (10-3) and hits (22-9). Vancouver maintained an advantage in face-off win% (53-47).

    The Canucks were 2/3 on the power play heading into the second intermission, while Boston went into the dressing room 1/1 on the skater advantage.

    Horvat tripped up David Pastrnak 38 seconds into the third period, putting Boston on the power play, but it would be a short-lived extra skater advantage as Marchand retaliated with a slash on Hutton at 1:32 of the third.

    Both teams would play 4-on-4 for 1:06, then have an abbreviated 5-on-4 power play for Vancouver.

    Horvat went back to the penalty box for the third time of the night when he caught Krug with a high-stick at 7:27 of the third period.

    The B’s ended up with a 5-on-3 advantage about a minute later after Hutton slashed Pastrnak at 8:52, but Boston’s power play was powerless on the 35-second two-skater advantage and in the vulnerable minute after when Horvat lucked out with a shorthanded goal of his own individual effort at 9:40.

    Rask tried to clear the puck, but sent it awry off of Horvat’s stick as the Canucks forward was pressuring the Bruins netminder. While Rask scrambled to make a last ditch effort play, Horvat buried the puck in the empty twine to make it, 7-4, Vancouver.

    Through 10 road games this season, Horvat now has eight goals.

    After a stoppage in play at 9:49 of the third period, Troy Stecher and DeBrusk exchanged some words and DeBrusk wound up with the take-down. Both players were assessed roughing minors and went to the penalty box to serve their infractions.

    Jake Virtanen (6) added the final goal of the night for the Canucks on a crazy changeup shot that deflected off of Bergeron’s stick and past his own goaltender at 11:12 of the third.

    Goldobin (8) and Elias Pettersson (7) had the assists on the goal that made it, 8-4, for the Canucks.

    Hutton went back to the penalty box at 11:50 for slashing Bruins veteran, David Backes, and Boston responded on the ensuing power play with Danton Heinen (1) redirecting a slap pass from Grzelcyk past Markstrom at 13:38.

    The Bruins once again trailed by three-goals, 8-5, and Grzelcyk (6) and Krejci (11) recorded the assists on Heinen’s first goal of the season– ending his goal-scoring drought at 13 games.

    Darren Archibald and Krug mixed things up with an unequal (in size) fight at 17:48 of the third period, as Krug expressed his frustration with a disappointing effort.

    No. 47 in black-and-gold picked up an extra two-minutes for instigating and as a result was charged with an automatic ten-minute misconduct.

    Anders Bjork served Krug’s minor infraction for instigating, while Krug was sent to the dressing room early. Archibald, meanwhile, was charged with five minutes for fighting.

    At the final horn, the Canucks had beaten the Bruins, 8-5, in a high-scoring, wildly all-over-the-place effort form both teams– with only slightly more sparks of brilliance from the team from Vancouver than unfortunate, unlucky, odd bounces and misplays for the team from Boston.

    Vancouver finished the 60-minute effort ahead of the Bruins in shots on goal (33-28), despite being outshot in the third period, 12-11. Boston held onto an advantage in blocked shots (12-9), giveaways (14-6) and hits (23-15), while the Canucks led in face-off win% (52-48).

    Both teams finished Thursday night 2/5 on the power play.

    As a result of the loss, the Bruins faltered to 1-1-0 on their current four-game homestand with the Toronto Maple Leafs in town Saturday night and the Vegas Golden Knights paying a visit on Sunday.

    Toronto is 6-0-0 on the road this season, while the Golden Knights are 3-6-0 away from T-Mobile Arena so far this season.

    Boston wraps up their homestand against Vegas on Sunday before heading off to begin a four-game road trip with a matchup on the road against the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday, Nov. 14th.

  • DTFR Podcast #131- Hockey Plague

    DTFR Podcast #131- Hockey Plague

    Pekka Rinne signed a two-year extension, John Stevens and Joel Quenneville were fired, Willie Desjardin’s back and there’s a new guy in Chicago (Jeremy Colliton), Philadelphia Flyers goaltending is in the news again, people in Ottawa are fired up about Uber, Lou Lamoriello reached 2,400 games as a GM as the New York Islanders lead the Metropolitan Division and is Halloween the new Thanksgiving? Nick and Connor discuss.

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

  • Marchand wins it in OT, 2-1, Rask, Khudobin battle in net

    For the first time since 1967, the Boston Bruins have an overtime win against the Dallas Stars/Minnesota North Stars franchise in the regular season. As a result of Brad Marchand‘s game-winning goal on the 5-on-3 power play in overtime, the Bruins are now 1-3-8 overall against the Stars when the game goes past 60-minutes in the regular season.

    Former teammates and (still) good friends, Tuukka Rask and Anton Khudobin were in goal for their respective teams as Rask minded the net for Boston and Khudobin took to the crease for Dallas.

    Rask (4-3-0, 2.78 goals against average, .909 save percentage in 7 games played this season) made 24 saves on 25 shots against for a .960 SV% in 64:29 time on ice in the win for Boston, while Khudobin made (2-1-1, 2.21 GAA, .929 SV% in 4 GP) 33 saves on 35 shots faced for a .943 SV% in the loss.

    The Bruins improved to 8-4-2 (18 points) on the season and remained in 3rd place in the Atlantic Division, while the Stars fell to 8-5-1 (17 points) and moved into 3rd place in the Central Division.

    Unknown-7

    Bruce Cassidy made a few minor adjustments to his lineup Monday night, sliding Danton Heinen down to the third line with David Backes and Anders Bjork to start the night, while Joakim Nordstrom kicked things off with David Krejci and Jake DeBrusk on the second line.

    On defense, Zdeno Chara remained paired with Brandon Carlo and Torey Krug remained partners with John Moore, while Matt Grzelcyk returned to the lineup from a lower body injury.

    Grzelcyk took his usual spot on the third defensive pair to the left of Steven Kampfer while Jeremy Lauzon was left as the odd man out as a healthy scratch.

    Anton Blidh was recalled from the Providence Bruins (AHL) on emergency basis in case Chris Wagner wouldn’t be good enough to go as a game-time decision, but was not needed in Monday night’s matchup.

    Charlie McAvoy (upper body), Urho Vaakanainen (concussion) and Kevan Miller (hand) remain out of Boston’s lineup due to injury.

    Early in the first period Roman Polak interfered with Bruins forward, Brad Marchand, and was sent to the box with a minor penalty at 3:25.

    Less than 30 seconds later, Boston’s power play unit was more than power less as Radek Faksa (3) entered the zone without any deterrent for an unassisted short handed goal, firing a shot past Rask and giving Dallas the 1-0 lead at 3:51 of the first period.

    Though they could’ve gotten behind the eight-ball, the Bruins trudged on and capitalized on the same special teams advantage moments later.

    Patrice Bergeron found David Pastrnak (12) in the open to the left of Khudobin acting as the bumper on the power play and sent a crisp pass for the one-timer power play goal at 5:11, tying the game, 1-1.

    Bergeron (13) and DeBrusk (1) were tabbed with the assists on Pastrnak’s goal and the Bruins not only leveled the scoreboard, 1-1, but the momentum swing game too. Boston had scored 1:20 after Dallas opened the game’s scoring.

    After their power play goal, Boston didn’t let up on the gas pedal, pressuring the Stars in every inch of the ice and supplying Khudobin with a tremendous workload.

    Through one period of play the game was tied, 1-1, on the scoreboard while the B’s led in shots on goal, 13-4. Dallas held onto the advantage in blocked shots (3-0), takeaways (5-4), giveaways (2-0) and face-off win percentage (53-47) after 20 minutes of play, while both teams notched nine hits aside.

    The Stars had yet to see any time on the power play, while the Bruins were 1/1 on the skater advantage.

    Despite allowing more shots on goal than putting pucks on net in the second period, Boston maintained a, 21-13, advantage in shots on goal entering the second period as the game remained tied, 1-1, through two periods.

    Unknown-2

    Dallas continued to lead in blocked shots (9-0), giveaways (7-6) and hits (24-19) heading into the dressing room for the second intermission, while the Bruins led in face-off win% (53-47). Both teams recorded nine takeaways through 40 minutes of play.

    Neither club added any penalty minutes to the scoresheet heading into the third period.

    Krug took the only penalty for Boston in the game past the midpoint of the third period as he collided with Gemel Smith and received a boarding minor at 11:15.

    The Stars failed to convert on their only power play opportunity of the game, while the Bruins successfully killed off Krug’s infraction.

    After 60 minutes, the game was still tied, 1-1, and the Bruins were outshooting Dallas, 32-23 (11-10 in the third period). The Stars maintained a stronghold in blocked shots (13-3) and led in hits (30-26) after regulation, while Boston led takeaways (14-12) and face-off win% (52-48).

    Both teams had nine giveaways aside heading into overtime, while Dallas was 0/1 on the power play and the B’s were 1/1.

    Entering overtime, Boston had yet to win past 60 minutes this season, dropping a game in Edmonton, 3-2, and a game in Vancouver, 2-1, last month– both in overtime, while the Stars were 1-0 in overtime this season.

    After a bungled line change resulted in a too many men bench minor for Dallas, Mattias Janmark was sent to the both to serve the infraction and Stars head coach, Jim Montgomery rallied his remaining skaters on the ice, despite facing an uphill 4-on-3 penalty kill to climb with 1:44 remaining in overtime.

    That’s right, regardless of the outcome, Boston would have a power play until the end of the game– win or lose.

    Things got worse for Dallas when Esa Lindell cross-checked Marchand 11 seconds later along the boards and the Stars went from being down one skater to facing a two-skater disadvantage to finish the night.

    While on the 5-on-3 power play, Boston worked the puck around the goal firing a quality shot on Khudobin that the Stars netminder denied before finally cracking the code.

    After working the puck around the zone, Krejci found Marchand working the low slot– point blank– on the left side of the Dallas goaltender. Marchand (5) promptly elevated a snap shot past Khudobin’s blocker and into the goal for the game-winning overtime power play goal at 4:29 of the overtime period.

    Krejci (8) and Krug (2) picked up the primary and secondary assists on the Bruins franchise leading overtime game-winning goal scorer’s goal and Boston secured the 2-1 victory Monday night at home.

    Boston finished the night leading in shots on goal (35-25) and face-off win% (55-45), while Dallas led in blocked shots (13-4), giveaways (10-9) and hits (32-26). The Stars were 0/1 on the power play, while the Bruins went 2/3 on the skater advantage.

    With Monday night’s win, the Bruins look to build the momentum against the Vancouver Canucks this Thursday at TD Garden as Boston continues their four-game home stand.

    The Toronto Maple Leafs are in town Saturday and the Vegas Golden Knights swing through on Sunday before Boston hits the road for a four-game road trip starting in Colorado.

  • Rinne and the Preds shutout Bruins, 1-0

    Pekka Rinne celebrated his 36th birthday with a 1-0 shutout Saturday night against the Boston Bruins as the B’s were paying their annual visit to Bridgestone Arena. Roman Josi had the game’s only goal for the Nashville Predators and the Bruins wrapped up their quick two-game road trip, 1-1-0.

    Unknown

    Rinne (5-1-0 in 7 games played with a 1.63 goals against average and a .948 save percentage) stopped all 26 shots he faced for the win– his 2nd shutout of the season– and became the first goaltender in National Hockey League history to record multiple regular-season shutouts on his birthday (he previously shutout the Phoenix Coyotes on November 3, 2011).

    The Preds netminder also signed a two-year extension with Nashville earlier in the day on Saturday, keeping him in Smashville through the 2020-21 season.

    Bruins goaltender, Jaroslav Halak (4-1-2, 1.45 GAA, .952 SV% in 8 GP), made 39 saves on 40 shots against for a .975 save percentage in the loss.

    Boston defender Torey Krug celebrated 400 career NHL games played with a minus-one rating, two hits and two blocked shots in 23:03 time on ice.

    As a result of the loss, Boston fell to 7-4-2 (16 points) on the season, which was good enough to remain 3rd in the Atlantic– but tied in points with the Montreal Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres. Nashville improved to 11-3-2 (22 points) so far this season– maintaining their 1st overall standing in the Central Division, as well as the Western Conference and entire league.

    Bruce Cassidy made one change in the lineup after Ryan Donato was assigned to the  Providence Bruins (AHL) on Thursday, re-inserting David Backes on the third line as No. 42 in black-and-gold returned to action for the first time since sustaining a concussion in Edmonton last month.

    Matt Grzelcyk (lower body), Urho Vaakanainen (concussion), Charlie McAvoy (upper body) and Kevan Miller (hand) remained out of the lineup Saturday as McAvoy was retroactively placed on the injured reserve earlier in the week.

    Unknown-7

    The game began with some quick end-to-end action that slowly became heavily dominated by the Predators with quality chances and zone entries.

    Brandon Carlo took the game’s first penalty– a minor infraction for hooking– at 12:02 of the first period after getting his stick tangled up with Nashville forward, Ryan Johansen.

    The Preds did not convert on the ensuing power play, but maintained just momentum in the vulnerable minute after the skater advantage expired for Josi (4) to waltz around Bruins forward, Danton Heinen, cut to the goal and fire a shot past Halak from point blank.

    Ryan Ellis (8) and Nick Bonino (3) had the assist’s on Josi’s goal at 14:49 of the first period and Nashville led, 1-0. The goal was Josi’s 300th career NHL point.

    Yannick Weber was guilty of hooking Joakim Nordstrom less than ten seconds later, but the Bruins didn’t convert on the ensuing power play.

    Noel Acciari hooked Mattias Ekholm at 17:10 and Nashville didn’t score on that power play either, because– you guess it– there were no more goals scored in the Predators, 1-0, win.

    Brad Marchand stirred the pot with a phantom high-sticking minor infraction at 19:58 of the first period.

    It’s one thing if there’s a blown call. It’s another thing for a player to continue arguing and receive an extra unsportsmanlike conduct minor penalty– resulting in a 4:00 power play that could’ve drastically changed the game for Nashville– and a ten-minute misconduct without any conceivable warning.

    Not to put too much thought into it, but just to sidestep onto a soapbox (since nothing else really happened other than a great goaltender battle all night long) regardless of making a call, professional sports usually work on a one-warning system.

    It was not made clear by the broadcast whether or not Marchand faced a warning from the referee or whether that was implied by the penalties handed out, however NHL refs are noted for expressing verbal warnings to players early in a game before handing out unsportsmanlike minors or misconducts after repeated bad behavior (verbally or physically) later in the action.

    Like how an umpire in baseball delivers a warning to both dugouts sometimes after a pitcher hits a batter. Whether the next hit batter is intentional or not, the umpire has already made it clear that discipline will be handed out and the subsequent pitcher beaning a batter is ejected from the game.

    Anyway, that’ll probably save a few minutes on next week’s podcast.

    There’s nothing wrong with the penalties handed out after the blown call, but rather the formality in which they occurred, without a given warning that would otherwise deem them flat-out the right call.

    Then again, other league’s issue formal apologies after the game, in which nothing can be changed because it’s after the game and, well, the fact of the matter is– refs are human.

    This is sports. Mistakes are made. Play better. Rise above. Insert whatever you want here.

    Anyway, Marchand’s 14 minutes in penalties came with two seconds remaining in the first period, so Nashville’s power play would extend into the middle frame.

    After one period, the Predators led, 1-0, on the scoreboard and in shots on goal, 15-10. Nashville also had an advantage in takeaways (3-1), giveaways (5-2) and face-off win percentage (55-46). The Bruins had an advantage in blocked shots (7-2) through 20 minutes.

    The Preds entered the first intermission 0/3 on the power play, while Boston was 0/1 heading into the dressing room.

    Ryan Hartman hooked Heinen early in the second period and gave the B’s a power play at 4:18. Boston didn’t convert on the skater advantage and had one more chance on the power play at 8:51 of the second period after Kevin Fiala got a stick hooked on David Pastrnak.

    The Bruins power play was unsuccessful on that chance too.

    Despite controlling the flow of the game more in the second period, the Bruins lacked quality in both shots and zone entries. Everything was moving too quick– too many passes, too much setup– and too many saves piling up in Rinne’s save percentage for the night.

    Miikka Salomaki interfered with Acciari at 17:47, giving the Bruins one last chance on the power play, but it was unsuccessful.

    Shortly thereafter, Steven Kampfer tripped up Johansen on a scoring opportunity after Johansen appeared to not actually get tripped up at all upon replay. Something about not anticipating the play, thereby calling misled reaction penalties and instead enforcing the rules…

    Anyway, Nashville didn’t score on their final power play of the game at 19:56 of the second period. Again, the Bruins would start the subsequent period shorthanded, however, if you reread the previous sentence… they made out just fine.

    After 40 minutes Nashville was still leading in shots on goal (23-20), despite being outshot by Boston (10-8) in the 2nd period. The Bruins led in blocked shots (10-9), hits (8-6) and face-off win% (54-46) through two periods, while the Predators held an advantage in takeaways (7-3) and giveaways (8-4).

    Both teams failed to convert on the power play, as Nashville finished the night 0/5 on the skater advantage and the B’s went 0/4.

    Though some things may have been mismanaged in the first 40 minutes, the on-ice officials put away their whistles in the final 20 minutes, yielding no stoppages for major or minor infractions.

    Cassidy pulled his netminder with 2:02 remaining in the third period and called a timeout after a stoppage in the action with 12.0 seconds remaining in the game. Neither strategy worked as time ran out on the Bruins’s hopes for scoring a game-tying goal and the Predators walked away with the 1-0 victory.

    Nashville finished the night with a 40-26 advantage in shots on goal (17-6 in the third period), as well as an advantage in giveaways (12-10) and face-off win% (53-47). Boston finished the 60-minute effort leading in hits (17-8) and both teams recorded 14 blocked shots.

    Boston travels back home to begin a four-game home-stand with a matchup against former Bruin, Tyler Seguin, and the Dallas Stars Monday at TD Garden. The B’s will face the Stars (Nov. 5th), Vancouver Canucks (Nov. 8th), Toronto Maple Leafs (Nov. 10th) and Vegas Golden Knights (Nov. 11th) over the next four-games.

  • Numbers Game 2018-19: One Month Down

    Folks, it’s no longer October.

    You can once again begin asking the question “is it October yet?” without facing any legal ramifications, despite the fact that the 2018-19 regular season is very much alive and in effect.

    Canadian Thanksgiving has come and gone, but for all of you urban legend believers in postseason fate, American Thanksgiving has yet to pass– meaning every team’s playoff hopes is still technically alive. The majority of teams in playoff position by American Thanksgiving– in this case, Nov. 22nd– make the playoffs.

    If you’re new to hockey, this is a thing, but it’s not set in stone. There’s always that one or two teams that sneak their way in from outside the picture frame. Likewise, there’s always that team that blows it down the stretch.

    The Tampa Bay Lightning are off to a hot start, working their way to 1st place in the Atlantic Division by the end of October, with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins hot on their tail just as we all expected.

    Though the Maple Leafs have a fiery offense and solid goaltending, defense has been the most apparent area for improvement. In Boston, depth scoring, injuries and a slow start in net for Tuukka Rask have held the Bruins back from realizing their full potential, but the depth of their defenders and backup netminder Jaroslav Halak have kept them in good-standing.

    In the surprise of the month for the Atlantic Division, the Montreal Canadiens sit 4th and the Buffalo Sabres sit 5th– both with 14 points on the season so far. Meanwhile, to no surprise the Ottawa Senators are 6th, the Detroit Red Wings are in a rebuild and the Florida Panthers simply haven’t played as many games as their opponents.

    Taking a look at the Metropolitan Division and you won’t be surprised to see the Pittsburgh Penguins back in control with Sidney Crosby at the steering wheel, but you might be surprised by the other current divisional playoff spot holders.

    The New York Islanders are 2nd and the Carolina Hurricanes are 3rd after the Hurricanes led the division for most of the month, only to begin a recent skid.

    Just on the outskirts of a wild card spot are the Washington Capitals, Columbus Blue Jackets and New Jersey Devils.

    Washington’s off to a slower start than expected, but overall not feeling as bad as a Stanley Cup hangover as it could’ve been– given how many fountains around D.C. they dove in and the number of beers consumed.

    Columbus is just over .500 and the Devils have also played fewer games than anyone in their division, much like the Panthers.

    The Philadelphia Flyers sit 7th in the Metropolitan Division in a tight race, but have shown weaknesses on the blue line and in the blue paint (goaltending, again) and the New York Rangers are in a full-scale rebuild to start things off this season.

    In the Western Conference, the Nashville Predators are staking a case for defending their President’s Trophy season last year currently sitting atop the Central Division, as well as the league.

    Filling out the remaining Central Divisions spots, last season’s biggest improvers, the Colorado Avalanche sit 2nd with the Minnesota Wild in 3rd. There’s two wild card berth in the Central Division, currently held by the Winnipeg Jets and Chicago Blackhawks(!?!)– that’s right, last season’s division bottom feeders are able to keep their heads barely above the surface with Corey Crawford back in the net.

    The Dallas Stars sit 6th and the St. Louis Blues have had the wheels fall off in just a month’s time.

    In the Pacific Division, the Vancouver Canucks lead the San Jose Sharks, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, Arizona Coyotes, Anaheim Ducks, Vegas Golden Knights and the 31st place team in the league– the Los Angeles Kings.

    Yes, the Pacific Division is that wide-open so far with legitimate playoff contenders from last season (San Jose, Anaheim, Vegas and Los Angeles) all over the place. The Sharks haven’t hit their stride, the Ducks are suffering from injuries and defensive breakdowns, while the Golden Knights are looking for last season’s inaugural season magic.

    Oh and the Kings? Yeah, everything’s pretty bad right now and Jonathan Quick‘s out indefinitely.

    Meanwhile, pleasant surprises in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Arizona are being led by… youth?

    Nothing makes sense anymore.

    Luckily, that’s just a quick recap of the first month in about as bland an outlook as you can get when the meat of this post is really about what’s to come. That’s right, everything above? Forget most of it. Let’s use a little foresight and figure out how November through April should go.

    2018-19 Projected Standings after One Month

    Eastern Conference

    Atlantic Division

    1. y-Boston Bruins, 104 points (12 GP so far)
    2. x-Tampa Bay Lightning, 103 points (11 GP so far)
    3. x-Toronto Maple Leafs, 94 points (12 GP so far)
    4. wc1-Montreal Canadiens, 93 points (11 GP so far)
    5. Florida Panthers, 84 points (9 GP so far)
    6. Ottawa Senators, 84 points (11 GP so far)
    7. Detroit Red Wings, 81 points (12 GP so far)
    8. Buffalo Sabres, 76 points (12 GP so far)

    What’s bound to happen in the Atlantic?

    The forecast is so close between the top-three teams in the division that none of their positions in the standings are truly set in stone, unlike how the Red Wings will undoubtedly land somewhere in the bottom-three spots in the Atlantic.

    There’s a chance the Panthers never get off the ground and there’s a chance the Sabres are able to continue turning heads around the league by not currently being in the basement of the division. However, since this forecast takes into consideration recent seasons in addition to current gameplay…

    Check back in another month.

    (Is it too early to do one of these? Yeah, probably.)

    Metropolitan Division

    1. p-Washington Capitals, 107 points (10 GP so far)
    2. x-Pittsburgh Penguins, 106 points (10 GP so far)
    3. x-Columbus Blue Jackets, 93 points (11 GP so far)
    4. wc2- New York Islanders, 89 points (11 GP so far)
    5. Philadelphia Flyers, 89 points (12 GP so far)
    6. New York Rangers, 89 points (12 GP so far)
    7. New Jersey Devils, 87 points (9 GP so far)
    8. Carolina Hurricanes, 85 points (12 GP so far)

    The biggest takeaway from the Metropolitan forecast is after the top-two teams, anything goes.

    Washington will be able to right the ship and land in a divisional spot– whether that’s top-dog or behind the Penguins remains to be seen. Columbus should even out as they’ve been doing as of late and settle in for another First Round exit (probably).

    But between the Islanders, Flyers, Rangers, Devils and Hurricanes? Yeah, anything goes.

    The Islanders are better than the Rangers, but the Rangers might somehow be better than the Flyers. Meanwhile, if New Jersey can get things going like they did last season, they’ve got a chance to box out the competition. Plus, Carolina remains unpredictable and foreseeably within striking range of a wild card spot in the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

    Again, it’s only been one month. There’s still a little more than five months left in the regular season.

    Western Conference

    Central Division

    1. z-Nashville Predators, 105 points (12 GP so far)
    2. x-Minnesota Wild, 100 points (12 GP so far)
    3. x-Chicago Blackhawks, 98 points (13 GP so far)
    4. wc1-St. Louis Blues, 96 points (10 GP so far)
    5. wc2-Winnipeg Jets, 94 points (12 GP so far)
    6. Dallas Stars, 90 points (11 GP so far)
    7. Colorado Avalanche, 85 points (12 GP so far)

    In the Central Division, the Nashville Predators continue to reign supreme. Cool.

    Minnesota, Chicago and St. Louis are all somehow destined for the postseason. This, after the Wild make it every year, Crawford’s return lifts the Blackhawks over the competition and supposedly the Blues will figure things out.

    Wait, the Avalanche can’t be that bad.

    Once again, it’s an extremely early forecast that takes into account recency bias from the last few seasons. Colorado won’t be last. Winnipeg shouldn’t be a wild card team.

    But Dallas? Yeah, they’re definitely not making the playoffs if they keep playing like they have been.

    Pacific Division

    1. y-San Jose Sharks, 101 points (12 GP so far)
    2. x-Anaheim Ducks, 98 points (13 GP so far)
    3. x-Calgary Flames, 89 points (13 GP so far)
    4. Los Angeles Kings, 87 points (11 GP so far)
    5. Vancouver Canucks, 84 points (14 GP so far)
    6. Edmonton Oilers, 83 points (11 GP so far)
    7. Arizona Coyotes, 77 points (11 GP so far)
    8. Vegas Golden Knights, 75 points (12 GP so far)

    By now everything you’ve read should indicate what’s going to be written below.

    San Jose? Good team. No surprise, given Erik Karlsson, Brent Burns and Marc-Edouard Vlasic are on the blue line with Joe Pavelski, Logan Couture, Tomas Hertl, Timo Meier and Evander Kane at forward. Oh and Martin Jones in net.

    Anaheim? If they can whether the storm, they can make it in one of the most unpredictable divisions based on how bad the other teams are or should be.

    Calgary? Bill Peters finally coaches a team to a playoff berth? Yeah. That should happen.

    The Kings can recover from this slow start– if they don’t mess things up in November.

    As for the Canucks, Oilers, Coyotes and Golden Knights, well, Vancouver might make some noise. Edmonton could be a pretender as long as Connor McDavid is a contender. Arizona remains to be seen and the situation looks like it’s only going to get worse for Vegas before anything gets better– if it even does.

  • DTFR Podcast #130- Boo: A Very Merry Boone Jenner Halloween (Part II: Pierre-Luc DuBOOis)

    DTFR Podcast #130- Boo: A Very Merry Boone Jenner Halloween (Part II: Pierre-Luc DuBOOis)

    Injuries are scaring the masses across the league, while old ghosts haunt Colorado (then lose), the Los Angeles Kings’ reign of terror is spooked, Mark Borowiecki is back again, Nick and Connor do their best to talk about the Columbus Blue Jackets and the thing that goes bump in the night? That’s the Tampa Bay Lightning thundering their way to the top. We also reviewed Bohemian Rhapsody before it comes out.

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

  • Pastrnak’s 4th career 4-point night lifts B’s, 4-1, over Sens

    For the fourth time in his young career, David Pastrnak (2-2–4 totals) had a four-point night to snap a three-game losing streak and help the Boston Bruins beat the Ottawa Senators, 4-1, at Canadian Tire Centre Tuesday night.

    David Krejci (1-1–2) and Patrice Bergeron (1-2–3) each had a goal in the Bruins victory, while Tuukka Rask (3-2-0, 3.38 goals against average, .901 save percentage) made 38 saves on 39 shots against for a .974 SV% en route to picking up his third win of the season.

    Unknown-7

    Rask bounced back with an impressive showing since his last game (Oct. 17th’s 5-2 loss, 24 saves, in Calgary against the Flames) as Boston’s first line of Bergeron, Brad Marchand and Pastrnak combined for eight points in Tuesday’s win.

    Ottawa netminder, Craig Anderson (4-2-1, 3.14 GAA, .915 SV%), stopped 28 out of 32 shots faced for an .875 SV% in the loss.

    The Senators are now 0-2-0 against their division rival– the Bruins– this season after Tuesday’s loss and Oct. 8th’s 6-3 loss at TD Garden. Boston swept Ottawa last season in the season series, while the Sens swept the B’s in 2016-17.

    Coincidentally, Rask was 3-0-0 with a 1.00 GAA against Ottawa last season.

    Boston was 18-8-2 against Atlantic Division teams last season. They are 4-0-0 against division opponents thus far in 2018-19 (4-0 at Buffalo on Oct. 4th, 6-3 vs. Ottawa on Oct. 8th, 8-2 vs. Detroit on Oct. 13th and Tuesday’s 4-1 win in Ottawa).

    Bruce Cassidy adjusted his lines without David Backes in the lineup for the second straight game, leaving what worked against the Vancouver Canucks on Oct. 20th together on the third line with Anders Bjork sliding in on the left side of Joakim Nordstrom and Chris Wagner playing right wing.

    Ryan Donato, Sean Kuraly and Noel Acciari were again the left wing-center-right wing combo for the fourth line.

    Zdeno Chara was paired with Brandon Carlo, while Matt Grzelcyk played with John Moore and Urho Vaakanainen started the game alongside Steven Kampfer.

    In the opening minutes of the first period, Senators defender, Mark Borowiecki looked over his shoulder at an approaching Vaakanainen and promptly delivered an elbow to the 19-year-old blue liner’s face after a whistle.

    No penalty was called on the play and Vaakanainen would not return for the second period. In fact, the rookie defender in just his 2nd career National Hockey League game was diagnosed with a concussion by the Bruins medical staff and shutdown for the rest of the night.

    Cassidy juggled his remaining defenders for the rest of the night, with Carlo seeing some impressive play in his own end, including blocking shots and bailing out his team from errant pucks in the crease approaching the goal line.

    Of note, injured defender Torey Krug started skating the other day and may return to the lineup next week. Kevan Miller and Charlie McAvoy remain out, however, in addition to the now uncertain timetable for Vaakanainen.

    Chara was penalized for hooking Ottawa’s Matt Duchene at 3:59 of the first period, but Ottawa wasn’t able to convert on the ensuing power play. This, despite Bobby Ryan firing a shot through Rask that nearly crossed the goal line before Carlo squibbed it free from the blue paint.

    Fresh off the bench in the midst of a line change, Danton Heinen sent the puck up to Pastrnak (9) who managed to break into the attacking zone and snipe a shot past Anderson to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead at 11:17 of the first period.

    Heinen (2) and Krejci (6) were tabbed with the assists on Pastrnak’s goal.

    After one period, Boston held onto a 1-0 lead on the scoreboard and a 15-10 advantage in shots on goal. The B’s also led in takeaways (2-0), hits (10-7) and face-off win percentage (57-43), while Ottawa had an advantage in blocked shots (7-6) and giveaways (5-1). The Sens were 0/1 on the power play entering the first intermission, while the Bruins had yet to see time on the skater advantage.

    Noel Acciari was guilty of tripping Senators defender, Thomas Chabot, at 5:30 of the second period, but Ottawa wasn’t able to convert on their second skater advantage of the night.

    Late in the period Brad Marchand and Zack Smith exchanged fisticuffs after Smith hit Grzelcyk hard in the corner. The hit was clean, but given the heightened tempers, Marchand wasn’t taking any chances with seeing another defender, let alone teammate, get roughed up without some kind of response (right or wrong).

    A minute later on yet another questionable call by the refs, Chara was handed a cross checking minor for Mark Stone having grabbed Chara’s stick at 16:19.

    Unknown-6

    In a test of Boston’s will to bounce back from murky calls, the Senators struck on the power play on a one-timer from the point thanks to Chabot (3) firing a shot past the screened Bruins netminder on the blocker side.

    Ryan (4) and Stone (3) had the assists on Chabot’s power play goal at 17:51.

    Nevertheless, Ottawa’s first minor penalty of the night came less than a moment later when Alex Formenton was guilty of a two-minute violation for holding the stick as Carlo drew a power play for the Bruins.

    Almost 30 seconds later, the Senators bench bungled a line change and was guilty of too many men on the ice at 19:05, yielding a 5-on-3 power play opportunity for Boston for just over 80 seconds of a two-skater advantage.

    That 5-on-3 power play would’ve carried into the third period, if it weren’t for Krejci (2) pocketing a one-timer from Pastrnak past Anderson while the Senators goalie dove in desperation across the crease four seconds into the two-skater advantage.

    Krejci’s goal at 19:09 of the second period gave Boston the lead, 2-1, and was assisted by Pastrnak (4) and Bergeron (8) after Anderson bought Pastrnak’s head fake and left a gapping hole in the net for No. 46 in black-and-gold to complete the one-timer.

    Through 40 minutes of play, the Bruins held onto a 2-1 lead, but were being outshot, 24-22. Ottawa managed to outshoot Boston, 2:1, in the second period with a 14-7 advantage in the middle frame alone.

    Boston led in blocked shots (15-11), takeaways (3-1), hits (20-12) and face-off win% (57-43) entering the second intermission. Ottawa had an advantage in giveaways (7-1) and was 1/3 on the power play while the B’s were 1/2 after two.

    Just 21 seconds into the third period, while still on the 5-on-4 advantage, Bergeron (7) buried a redirection past Anderson on a purposeful shot from Pastrnak to give the Bruins a 3-1 lead in the third period.

    Pastrnak (5) and Grzelcyk (5) notched the assists on Bergeron’s insurance goal.

    Moments later, Pastrnak received a transition pass and sent the puck further along to Marchand for a 2-on-1 opportunity. Marchand dangled, snuck the puck through his own legs and completely undressed Ottawa’s defense before sending a pass back to Pastrnak (10) for an elevated one-timer shot through the roof of the twine behind Anderson.

    His second goal of the night, Pastrnak, gave Boston a 4-1 lead, while Marchand (11) and Bergeron (9) picked up their first and second assists, respectively in the game at 5:31.

    Seconds later, Chara was called for tripping Ryan at 5:47 and the Bruins were forced to kill off another penalty. They did so successfully, until Marchand was guilty of slashing Duchene one second after Chara was freed from the box– then they had yet another minor infraction to kill off (they did).

    At the final horn, the Bruins had won 4-1, despite trailing in shots on goal, 39-32 (and 15-10 in the third period) to Ottawa. Boston finished Tuesday with an advantage in blocked shots (22-15), hits (24-21) and face-off win% (55-45), while the Senators held onto an advantage in giveaways (10-3).

    The B’s went 2/2 on the skater advantage, while the Sens finished 1/5 on the power play.

    Pastrnak carried the weight of the first line’s eight-point production with four points (two goals, two assists) of his own, while Bergeron (one goal, two assists) and Marchand (one assist) completed the effort.

    The Bruins finished their four-game road trip with a 1-1-2 record earning four out of a possible eight points, while improving their overall record to 5-2-2 (12 points) on the season. Boston is currently tied with the Toronto Maple Leafs in points for 2nd place in the Atlantic Division, however the Maple Leafs hold the tiebreaker by virtue of having one more regulation-plus-overtime win (Toronto has six, Boston has five, so far).

    Ottawa fell to 4-3-1 (9 points) as a result of Tuesday’s loss, good enough for 6th in the division.

    Boston heads home for a Thursday night matchup with the Philadelphia Flyers at TD Garden before hosting the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday.

    Next Tuesday (Oct. 30th), the B’s begin a quick, two-game, road trip at PNC Arena against the Carolina Hurricanes, before swinging through Bridgestone Arena on Nov. 3rd for a visit against the Nashville Predators.

    Among other stats from Tuesday night’s win in Ottawa…

    David Pastrnak and Zdeno Chara led Boston in plus/minus as each were a plus-two, while Pastrnak and Jake DeBrusk led their team in shots on goal with five apiece.

    Brandon Carlo led the Bruins in the hits department with four, while Chris Wagner, Noel Acciari and Chara each recorded three.

    In addition to his plus/minus and hitting efforts, Chara led Boston in blocked shots with five. The next closest among his teammates was three (Joakim Nordstrom, John Moore and Matt Grzelcyk).

    Matt Duchene and Dylan DeMelo were each a minus-two for the Senators in the loss, while Mark Stone led Ottawa in shots on goal with six. Mark Borowiecki and Ryan Dzingel each recorded four hits for Ottawa, while Christian Jaros and Chris Wideman each had four blocked shots.

    Oh, and one more thing… David Pastrnak is the sixth different player in Bruins franchise history to record at least 10 goals in the team’s first nine (or fewer) games of a season.

    The most goals in the month of October by any Boston player?

    14 — Phil Esposito (1973-74)

    12 — Charlie Simmer (1985-86)

    10 — David Pastrnak (2018-19)

    10 — Dimitri Kvartalnov (1992-93)

    10 — Phil Esposito (1974-75)

  • Canucks slip past Bruins, 2-1, in OT

    Saturday night at Rogers Arena, the Vancouver Canucks defeated the Boston Bruins, 2-1, in overtime thanks to a little puck luck all night.

    Brandon Sutter snuck the puck past Jaroslav Halak early in the first period to give Vancouver a 1-0 lead. Joakim Nordstrom tied the game in the third period and Bo Horvat worked a little magic to ding the post and trickle the biscuit past Halak in overtime for the game-winning goal.

    Halak (2-0-2, 1.74 goals against average, .933 save percentage) stopped 20 out 22 shots faced for a .909 SV% Saturday night in the loss, while Jacob Markstrom (2-2-0, 3.22 GAA, .903 SV%) made 30 saves on 31 shots against for a .968 SV% in the win.

    The Bruins (4-2-2, 10 points) were looking to end a two-game losing streak and instead came out of Vancouver with a three-game skid. They are now 0-1-2 on their current four-game road trip which ends Tuesday night in Kanata, Ontario against the Ottawa Senators (4-2-1, 9 points).

    imgres-2

    Vancouver improved to 5-3-0 (10 points) on the season, good enough for 2nd place in the Pacific Division behind the Anaheim Ducks by one point in the division standings.

    Urho Vaakanainen made his National Hockey League debut for Boston after being recalled on emergency basis when the Bruins announced that they had sent defenders Kevan Miller and Charlie McAvoy back to Boston for further evaluation pertaining to Miller’s hand injury sustained while blocking a shot against the Oilers on Thursday and McAvoy (undisclosed, though likely upper body).

    The 19-year-old, Vaakanainen was drafted by the Bruins in the 1st round of the 2017 NHL Draft (18th overall) and played for the Providence Bruins (AHL) on Friday before hopping on a flight to Vancouver prior to Saturday’s action. He wore No. 58 for the black-and-gold and played 12:26 time on ice, recording one shot on goal while being paired with Steven Kampfer and Matt Grzelcyk at times.

    Kampfer returned to the Bruins lineup for the first time since being re-acquired in the Adam McQuaid preseason trade with the New York Rangers. Kampfer last played for Boston in 2012 and had three hits in Saturday’s action.

    David Backes wasn’t feeling well and became a late scratch, having not participated in warmups, so Bruce Cassidy planned on having Nordstrom center the third line with Ryan Donato to his left side and Anders Bjork at right wing.

    Danton Heinen remained on the left side of David Krejci and Jake DeBrusk, while Chris Wagner was moved to the fourth line with Sean Kuraly and Noel Acciari to begin the action.

    Wagner, Nordstrom and Bjork would later become an effective matchup of their own in the game– leading to Nordstrom’s game-tying goal in the third period– while Cassidy juggled the lines.

    With Miller and McAvoy out on the blue line, Zdeno Chara laced up alongside Brandon Carlo, with John Moore starting the game with Kampfer on the second defensive pair. Vaakanainen and Grzelcyk filled out the remainder of the top-six.

    Of note, only Patrice Bergeron, Chara, Krejci, Brad Marchand and Tuukka Rask remain on the Bruins roster from the 2011 Stanley Cup Final against the Canucks. Alex Edler is the only connection to that series against Boston for Vancouver.

    Brandon Sutter (3) kicked off scoring early in the first period when he snuck the puck underneath Halak for a soft opening goal to give the Canucks a 1-0 lead. Jake Virtanen (2) and Troy Stecher (2) had the assists at 3:40.

    Erik Gudbranson was penalized for tripping Kuraly at 11:13 of the first period, but the Bruins brass was unable to convert on the ensuing power play.

    Chara went to the box to serve a tripping minor of his own for pulling down Brock Boeser at 13:37 and the Canucks failed to convert on their only power play of the night.

    After one period, Vancouver held on to a 1-0 lead, while also leading in shots on goal, 8-5. The Canucks also led in giveaways (3-2) and hits (9-4), while the B’s led in face-off win percentage (54-46). Blocked shots were even (3-3), as well as takeaways (2-2) after 20 minutes of play and both teams were 0/1 on the skater advantage.

    Noel Acciari took exception to a clean hit by Bo Horvat delivered on Joakim Nordstrom as Nordstrom was attempting to play the puck out of mid-air and the two exchanged fisticuffs at 2:14 of the second period.

    Acciari and Horvat were handed fighting majors, while Acciari received some slight medical attention for a cut on the left side of his face.

    It was the second career fight for Horvat and fourth fight of the season for the Bruins.

    Markstrom made a spectacular save without his stick moments later, while sprawling in the crease to recover the puck from going past the goal line, then rolling away on his back to keep it out.

    Despite Canucks head coach, Travis Green‘s best intentions, Vancouver was called for too many men on the ice at 5:19 of the second period and Virtanen served the bench minor while the Bruins went on the power play.

    Boston did not convert on the advantage.

    Markus Granlund committed the final penalty of the game by slashing Bruins forward, Jake DeBrusk at 16:07. Once again, Boston’s power play was power-less.

    Through 40 minutes of game action, the Canucks held onto a 1-0 lead, while Boston was outshooting Vancouver, 20-13 (and 15-5 in the second period alone). The Canucks had an advantage in blocked shots (9-6), takeaways (8-2), giveaways (7-2) and hits (18-7), while the Bruins maintained dominance on the face-off dot, winning 54% of the face-offs entering the second intermission.

    Vancouver was 0/1 on the power play and Boston was 0/3 entering the third period.

    Unknown-7

    The quest for the Canucks first regular season home shutout against the Bruins in franchise history continues as Joakim Nordstrom (2) sniped a snap shot past Markstrom at 7:45 of the third period to tie the game, 1-1.

    John Moore (1) collected the primary assist– and his 100th career NHL point– on the goal, while Matt Grzelcyk (4) notched the secondary helper.

    Nordstrom’s goal was high-glove side off of a solid breakout through the neutral zone and matched his total goal-scoring output from last season (two goals in 75 games for the Carolina Hurricanes) in just his seventh game this season.

    With the score tied, 1-1, at the end of regulation, 3-on-3 overtime was to commence at Rogers Arena late Saturday night.

    The Bruins were outshooting Vancouver, 30-19, after 60 minutes of play– including a 10-6 shots on goal advantage in the third period alone.

    But the Canucks got the last laugh as Boston was unable to generate any sustainable pressure in the offensive zone in overtime, especially after Brandon Carlo bungled a play to stay onside and lost the puck to Brock Boeser in the neutral zone.

    Boeser moved in with Horvat on a two-on-one with Carlo in desperation to get back, while Patrice Bergeron attempted to make a last-ditch effort.

    The Vancouver forwards toyed with the puck long enough for Carlo to stumble to the ice in front of his own net and let Horvat (5) deke and send one off the iron and bouncing past Halak for the game-winning goal in overtime.

    Boeser (3) had the only assist on the goal at 3:12.

    The Bruins finished the night leading in shots on goal, 31-22, though the Canucks led in shots, 3-1, in overtime. Vancouver also ended the night leading in blocked shots (14-9), giveaways (8-4) and hits (26-11), while Boston led in face-off win% (56-44).

    Among other stats…

    Krejci, Acciari, Marchand, Carlo and Vaakanainen were all minus-one for Boston in the loss, while Bjork (plus-one) and Moore (plus-one) were the only positive plus/minus skaters for the Bruins.

    Kampfer led the B’s in the physicality department without Backes, McAvoy and Miller in the lineup, with three hits on the night, while Nordstrom and Kuraly were the next closest (each with two).

    Wagner and David Pastrnak led Boston in shots on goal with five each.

    Chara and Nordstrom each had two blocked shots as Nordstrom was the most complete all-around skater for Boston Saturday night.

    Boeser, Horvat, Virtanen and Chris Tanev were all plus-one for the Canucks. Edler and Gudbranson recorded a team-high four hits apiece for Vancouver in the victory, while Edler also led in blocked shots with three.

    Sven Baertschi led the Canucks in shots on goal with three on Saturday.

    The Bruins fell to 0-1-2 on their current four-game road trip, swinging through Ottawa on Oct. 23rd before returning to TD Garden in Boston for a matchup against the Philadelphia Flyers on Oct. 25th.