What’s the right price to pay for Taylor Hall? Plus, Cap’n Cornelius joins the show to talk about new NHL policies and coaching changes.
Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and/or on Spotify. Support the show on Patreon.
Tag: Washington Capitals
-
B’s snap five-game losing streak with, 4-2, win in Florida
David Pastrnak had a pair of goals in the Boston Bruins’, 4-2, victory over the Florida Panthers at BB&T Center on Saturday night.
Jaroslav Halak (8-3-3 record, 2.26 goals against average, .928 save percentage in 14 games played) made 31 saves on 33 shots against (.939 SV%) in the win as the Bruins snapped a five-game losing streak.
Panthers goaltender, Sergei Bobrovsky (11-9-4, 3.14 GAA, .900 SV% in 26 games played), stopped 38 out of 41 shots faced for a .927 SV% in the loss.
Boston improved to 21-7-6 (48 points) on the season and increased their command over the rest of the Atlantic Division, while Florida fell to 15-12-5 (35 points) and dropped to 6th in the Atlantic.
The B’s also improved to 9-6-1 on the road this season.
For the 34th time this season, Kevan Miller (knee) was still out of the lineup due to lingering setbacks from his injury late last season. He has yet to make his 2019-20 season debut.
Karson Kuhlman (fractured tibia) and Zach Senyshyn (lower body) remained out of the lineup due to injuries while the Bruins took on the Panthers in Florida.
Boston head coach, Bruce Cassidy, announced a few lineup changes to reporters before the game, replacing Brett Ritchie with David Backes among his forwards.
As a result, Charlie Coyle was moved up to the second line right wing in Ritchie’s place, while Sean Kuraly filled in Coyle’s third line center spot and Chris Wagner moved from the fourth line right wing to the fourth line center.
Backes took over Wagner’s role on the right side of the fourth line.
Everything else was unchanged from Thursday night’s, 3-2, loss in Tampa.
Par Lindholm and Connor Clifton joined Ritchie as Boston’s healthy scratches against the Panthers.
Patrice Bergeron skated in his 1,053rd career NHL game on Saturday– surpassing Don Sweeney for the 3rd most in Bruins franchise history.
Early in the action, Anders Bjork caught Florida defender, Anton Stralman, with a high stick and presented the Panthers with their first power play of the game at 2:10 of the first period.
Florida’s power play couldn’t get anything going and did not convert on the skater advantage while Bjork was in the box.
Midway through the period, Mark Pysyk tripped Brad Marchand at 11:13.
Boston’s first power play opportunity of the night was not successful, but the Bruins were able to take advantage of the momentum generated in the vulnerable minute after special teams action as Jake DeBrusk (8) poked the puck through a Florida defender and earned himself his own breakaway before scoring on Bobrovsky.
Charlie McAvoy (12) and David Krejci (16) notched the assists on DeBrusk’s 100th career NHL point as the B’s took the game’s first lead, 1-0, at 14:41 of the first period.
Less than a couple of minutes later, Matt Grzelcyk interfered with former Bruin, Frank Vatrano, and was assessed a minor infraction at 16:08.
The Panthers were unsuccessful on their second power play of the game and quickly found themselves shorthanded after Grzelcyk was freed from the box.
Brett Connolly tripped John Moore at 18:39 and presented Boston with their second power play of the night.
Though the power play carried over into the second period, the Bruins were not able to take advantage of their skater advantage.
Entering the first intermission, Boston led Florida, 1-0, on the scoreboard and, 22-11, in shots on goal.
The Bruins also held the advantage in blocked shots (7-3) and hits (10-8), while the Panthers led in takeaways (3-2) and faceoff win percentage (57-44).
Both teams had four giveaways aside and were 0/2 on the power play after 20 minutes of action at BB&T Center.
Krejci (7) blasted a one-timer from the high slot that squibbed through Bobrovsky and just over the line before a Panthers defender tried to scoop it out as though it had never happened (before DeBrusk tapped it back in) and the Bruins jumped out to a two-goal lead at 3:14 of the second period.
DeBrusk (8) and Torey Krug (17) had the assists on Krejci’s goal as the B’s led, 2-0.
Moments later, Vincent Trocheck sent the puck over the glass for an automatic delay of game penalty at 6:50 of the middle frame.
While on the power play, Marchand worked a pass through the slot that was redirected by Pastrnak (27) into the twine from the edge of the crease to make it, 3-0, for Boston.
Marchand (31) and Krug (18) tallied the assists on Pastrnak’s power play goal at 7:30 of the second period and the Bruins had their first three-goal lead in a game since beating the Montreal Canadiens, 8-1, on Nov. 26th in Montreal.
Through 40 minutes of play on Saturday night, the B’s led the Panthers, 3-0, on the scoreboard and, 32-22, in shots on goal.
Florida held the advantage in shots on net in the second period alone, 11-10, as well as in takeaways (6-3), giveaways (8-7) and hits (18-11).
Boston led in blocked shots (13-10) and faceoff win% (54-46) entering the second intermission,
The Panthers were 0/2 on the skater advantage, while the Bruins were 1/3 on the power play heading into the third period.
Pysyk (2) sent a backhander over Halak from point blank on a rebound at 2:46 of the third period to put the Panthers on the board and cut Boston’s lead to two-goals.
Aaron Ekblad (13) and Keith Yandle (24) notched the assists on Pysyk’s goal as Florida came out of the gate for the final frame with a burst of energy.
Ekblad got caught up on a Pastrnak breakaway and hooked the winger while falling behind the play, yielding a penalty shot for the Bruins winger in the process.
Pastrnak took his time as he skated in on Bobrovsky for the penalty shot at 6:29 of the third and fired a shot right into the goaltender as he tried to muster something on the short side.
Though he has a knack for scoring impressive goals in regular game situations, Pastrnak is now only 1-for-3 on penalty shots in his career. Meanwhile, Bobrovsky has made seven saves on 11 penalty shot attempts in his career.
Almost midway through the third period, Yandle (4) rocketed a one-timer from the point over Halak’s glove that rang the post and deflected into the twine to make it a one-goal game.
Trocheck (11) and Ekblad (14) had the assists on Yandle’s goal at 9:13 and Florida trailed, 3-2.
Panthers head coach, Joel Quenneville, pulled his goaltender for an extra attacker with almost two minutes remaining in the game, but things did not go as planned for Florida’s comeback attempt Saturday night.
Unlike how things went when the Bruins blew a, 4-0, lead at home on Nov. 12th against the Panthers, Boston finished off Florida while on the road with an empty net goal from Pastrnak (28) as the NHL’s leading goal scorer hit the empty twine from downtown.
Marchand (32) and Bergeron (17) were credited with the assists on Pastrnak’s second goal of the night at 17:50 and the Bruins secured the, 4-2, victory as a result.
Additionally, with his second assist of the game, Marchand became the first Bruin to reach 50 points in a season in 34 or fewer games since Adam Oates reached the 50-point mark 31 games into the 1995-96 season.
Oates had 14-36–50 totals in that span, while Marchand has 18-32–50 totals so far this season.
Finally, at 18:37 of the third period, McAvoy picked up an interference minor when he knocked down Florida captain, Aleksander Barkov, near the corner boards as time winded down and the puck was a little too far out of reach for both players.
Barkov suffered what appeared to be a lower body injury as a result while McAvoy skated over to the penalty box.
At the final horn, the Bruins had won, 4-2, and finished the night leading in shots on goal (42-33), blocked shots (21-14) and faceoff win% (57-43).
Florida finished the night leading in giveaways (15-10), while both teams were even in hits (21-21).
The Panthers went 0/3 on the skater advantage, while the B’s finished Saturday night’s action 1/3 on the power play.
Saturday night marked the first win for Boston since their, 2-0, shutout over the Carolina Hurricanes on Dec. 3rd. Halak was also in net that night.
Boston wrapped up their four-game road trip (1-3-0) Saturday.
The B’s also improved to 12-3-0 when leading after one period, 11-0-2 when leading after two periods and 14-5-3 when scoring the game’s first goal this season.
The Bruins return home for a four-game homestand next Tuesday (Dec. 17th) against the Los Angeles Kings before hosting the New York Islanders (Dec. 19th), Nashville Predators (Dec. 21st) and Washington Capitals (Dec. 23rd).
-
Stamkos scores two in Bolts, 3-2, win over B’s
Steven Stamkos scored a pair of goals– including the eventual game-winner– in the Tampa Bay Lightning’s, 3-2, victory over the Boston Bruins on Thursday at Amalie Arena.
Andrei Vasilevskiy (13-8-1 record, 2.78 goals against average, .910 save percentage in 22 games played) made 27 saves on 29 shots against (.931 SV%) in the win for the Lightning.
Bruins goaltender, Tuukka Rask (13-4-3, 2.24 GAA, .926 SV% in 20 games played) stopped 28 out of 31 shots faced for a .926 SV% in the loss.
The B’s fell to 20-7-6 (46 points) on the season, but remain in command of the Atlantic Division, while the Bolts improved to 16-11-3 (35 points) and jumped to 4th place in the Atlantic .
Boston fell to 8-6-1 on the road this season and 2-2-1 in the 2nd game of back-to-backs this season.
The Bruins are now on a five-game losing streak for the first time under head coach, Bruce Cassidy. The last four games have been regulation losses, which marks the first time that Boston has lost four straight games in regulation since the 2016-17 season (when Claude Julien was fired and Cassidy was promoted/hired).
Kevan Miller (knee), Karson Kuhlman (fractured tibia) and Zach Senyshyn (lower body) were all out of the lineup due to injury against Tampa.
Kuhlman, Senyshyn and Anton Blidh (shoulder– injured in the preseason) have all resumed skating according to Cassidy.
Miller, on the other hand, has not as a result of yet another setback in his recovery.
Cassidy made no adjustments to his forwards from Wednesday night’s, 3-2, loss in Washington to Thursday night’s lineup against the Lightning, but he did replace Connor Clifton on the blue line with John Moore.
Clifton joined Par Lindholm and David Backes as Boston’s short list of healthy scratches in Tampa.
Shortly after puck drop, Bruins captain, Zdeno Chara, squared off with Lightning forward, Pat Maroon, as the two players exchanged fisticuffs 27 seconds into the first period.
Both players received five-minute majors for fighting in what was just the 7th fight this season for Boston and 2nd in as many days as Chara fought Tom Wilson in Washington on Wednesday night.
Moments later, Brad Marchand wrapped around the Tampa net and sent a quick pass to Patrice Bergeron (10) in the low slot whereby the league’s current longest tenured alternate captain slid the rubber biscuit past Vasilevskiy while the Bolts goaltender dropped his stance.
Marchand (30) and Charlie McAvoy (11) notched the assists on Bergeron’s goal at 4:26 of the first period as the Bruins took the, 1-0, lead.
Of note, Bergeron skated in his 1,052nd career NHL game– tying current Boston General Manager, Don Sweeney, for 3rd all time in franchise history.
Only Ray Bourque (1,518) and Johnny Bucyk (1,436) have played in more games in their tenure with the B’s.
Midway through the period, Moore tripped Alex Killorn at 12:44, but the Lightning weren’t able to capitalize on their first power play of the night.
Heading into the first intermission, the Bruins led, 1-0, on the scoreboard, despite being outshot, 7-4, by the Bolts.
Tampa also led in hits (17-9), but Boston led in blocked shots (3-2), takeaways (3-1), giveaways (2-0) and faceoff win percentage (64-36).
Entering the second period, the Lightning were 0/1 on the power play, while the Bruins had yet to see any time on the skater advantage.
Ryan McDonagh kicked things off in the middle frame with an interference minor at 2:12 of the second period, but Boston once again struggled all night long on the power play– failing to convert on their first skater advantage of the night.
About a couple of minutes later, Matt Grzelcyk collided with Anthony Cirelli and inadvertently tripped the Lightning forward, yielding a tripping minor.
But Grzelcyk wasn’t the only skater heading to the penalty box as Kevin Shattenkirk took exception to the trip and tried to fight the Bruins defender.
As a result, Shattenkirk received a roughing infraction and the two teams took each other on at 4-on-4 for two-minutes at 4:48 of the middle frame before resuming full strength.
Moore tripped Killorn once again midway through the second period at 12:29.
This time around, the Bolts’ power play struck fast.
Stamkos (12) wired a shot in the back of the net after Bergeron won the draw back to Chara, but Chara was stripped of the puck along the wall by Nikita Kucherov.
Kucherov (22) had the only assist on Stamkos’ first goal of the game and the Lightning tied it up, 1-1, at 12:35 with the power play goal.
Through 40 minutes of action on Thursday, Tampa and Boston were tied, 1-1, on the scoreboard, despite the Lightning leading in shots on goal, 21-16– including a, 14-12, advantage in the second period alone.
The B’s led in blocked shots (10-7), giveaways (4-0) and faceoff win% (55-46) entering the second period, while Tampa led in takeaways (8-6) and hits (23-16).
The Lightning were 1/2 on the skater advantage, while the Bruins were 0/1 on the power play heading into the final frame of regulation.
Sean Kuraly hooked Mathieu Joseph at 2:43 of the third period and presented Tampa with yet another power play opportunity.
Late on the ensuing skater advantage, Brayden Point (11) scored a one-timer goal to make it, 2-1, Bolts after Rask made the initial glove save on Kucherov before the Bruins couldn’t clear the zone and thus helped Tampa in their efforts for Point’s goal.
Kucherov (23) and Victor Hedman (21) had the assists on Point’s goal at 4:07 and the Lightning were in full command of the game.
Moments later, Stamkos went to the sin bin for hooking McAvoy at 10:28, but Boston was powerless on the power play once again– even after taking a timeout with 8:36 remaining in regulation to draw up a plan.
Late in the third, Stamkos (13) sniped a shot from almost center on in the high slot after Boston failed to clear their own zone and witnessed an unfortunate bounce land on the Lightning captain’s stick before he fired the puck over Rask’s glove to give Tampa a two-goal lead at 15:13.
Stamkos’ unassisted effort made it, 3-1, for the Bolts and held up to become the game-winning goal.
He now has six goals in his last four games.
About a minute later, Moore (1) snuck in from the point for the Bruins and received an indirect pass from Anders Bjork before beating Vasilevskiy on the short side and bringing the B’s to within one.
Bjork (5) and Chara (8) had the assists on Moore’s first goal of the season at 16:45 of the third period in his fourth game back since missing the first 28 games due to offseason shoulder surgery.
There was a span of 1:32 between Lightning and Bruins goals, but the Bolts maintained a, 3-2, advantage over Boston and that was all that they needed even after Cassidy pulled Rask for an extra attacker with 1:58 remaining in the game.
At the final horn, Tampa won, 3-2, and handed Boston their fifth loss in a row, despite outshooting the Lightning, 13-10, in the third period alone.
The Bolts finished the night leading in total shots on goal (31-29), as well as hits (32-20), while the B’s finished Thursday night leading in blocked shots (12-10), giveaways (9-4) and faceoff win% (52-48).
The Lightning finished the action 2/3 on the skater advantage, while Boston went 0/2 on the power play in Tampa.
The Bruins fell to 11-3-0 when leading after the first period and 13-5-3 when scoring the game’s first goal this season.
Boston wraps up their four-game road trip (0-3-0) Saturday in Sunrise, Florida with a matchup against the Panthers. The Bruins return home for a four-game homestand next Tuesday (Dec. 17th) against the Los Angeles Kings before hosting the New York Islanders (Dec. 19th), Nashville Predators (Dec. 21st) and Washington Capitals (Dec. 23rd).
-
Caps beat B’s, 3-2, in D.C.
John Carlson scored the game-winning goal moments after the Boston Bruins tied the game in the third period Wednesday night as the Washington Capitals defeated the B’s, 3-2, at Capital One Arena.
Braden Holtby (16-3-4 record, 2.80 goals against average, .911 save percentage in 24 games played) made 30 saves on 32 shots against for a .938 SV% in the win for the Capitals.
Bruins goaltender, Jaroslav Halak (7-3-3, 2.28 GAA, .927 SV% in 13 games played) stopped 22 out of 25 shots faced for an .880 SV% in the loss.
Boston fell to 20-6-6 (46 points) on the season, but remains in command of 1st place in the Atlantic Division.
Meanwhile, Washington improved to 23-5-5 (51 points) and remained atop the Metropolitan Division.
The Bruins fell to 8-5-1 on the road this season and are now on a four-game losing streak.
Boston was without the services of Kevan Miller (knee), Karson Kuhlman (fractured tibia) and Zach Senyshyn (lower body) against Washington on Wednesday.
Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made a few minor changes to his lineup from Monday night’s, 5-2, loss in Ottawa.
First, Cassidy swapped Brett Ritchie with Danton Heinen on the third line– reuniting Anders Bjork, Charlie Coyle and Heinen on the third line, while promoting Ritchie to the second line right wing with Jake DeBrusk at left wing and David Krejci at center.
Finally, on defense, Connor Clifton went back into the lineup on the third pairing in place of John Moore.
Moore was joined by Par Lindholm and David Backes as Boston’s healthy scratches on Wednesday.
Midway through the opening frame, David Pastrnak (26) scored the game’s first goal after not scoring in his last four games.
Charlie McAvoy (10) and Brad Marchand (29) had the assists on Pastrnak’s goal as the NHL’s leading goal scorer went off the bar and in over Holtby’s glove at 9:36 of the first period to give the Bruins the, 1-0, lead.
Less than a minute later, after Tom Wilson got a cross check up high on Zdeno Chara, the B’s captain dropped the gloves with the Caps winger and landed a few big blows before wrestling the forward to the ice.
Chara and Wilson each received five-minute majors for fighting at 10:14, while Wilson received an additional two-minute minor for cross checking that was served by Brendan Leipsic.
It was the 6th fight this season for Boston and the first since Moore fought Zack Smith against the Chicago Blackhawks on Dec. 5th.
The Bruins did not score on the ensuing power play.
Jakub Vrana tripped up Torey Krug moments later at 14:17 and the B’s went back on the skater advantage for the second time of the night.
Boston thought they scored and had made it a two-goal game when Patrice Bergeron received a quick drop pass from DeBrusk and pocketed the rubber biscuit in the twine while Holtby outstretched his paddle, but Washington’s head coach, Todd Reirden, used his coach’s challenge to determine whether or not the Bruins entered the zone offside.
After review, it was determined that DeBrusk had entered the zone with his skate in the air over the blue line– something that’s not good enough for now in the current interpretation of the rule, but perhaps going to be resolved next season– and the call on the ice was overturned. No goal. Do not pass “go”. Do not collect $200.
In the final minute of the period, Joakim Nordstrom caught Nicklas Backstrom with a high stick at 19:26.
Washington’s power play carried over into the second period as the Capitals couldn’t convert on the skater advantage with 34 seconds left before the first intermission.
After 20 minutes of action in D.C., the B’s led the Caps, 1-0, on the scoreboard.
Shots on goal were even, 8-8, but the Bruins had the slight advantage over the Capitals in all the other major statistical categories, leading in blocked shots (7-4), giveaways (3-2) and faceoff win percentage (58-42).
Washington led in takeaways (7-3) and hits (11-9) heading into the second period.
The Caps were 0/1 on the power play, while Boston was 0/2 on the skater advantage.
Early in the middle frame, Washington had too many skaters on the ice, yielding a bench minor in the process at 1:31 of the second period.
Once more, the Bruins were held powerless on the power play, however.
Seconds after their legal skater advantage ended, Chris Wagner was charged with interference at 3:48 and the Capitals went on the power play.
T.J. Oshie (12) followed a rebound and poked the puck into the net while Halak reached behind himself in desperation.
Oshie’s goal tied the game, 1-1, and was assisted by Carlson (33) at 4:35 of the second period.
Less than four minutes later, Oshie (13) again broke free of Boston’s defense by deking through Clifton and scoring a backhand goal over Halak’s blocker side to give the Capitals their first lead of the night, 2-1, at 8:05.
Evgeny Kuznetsov (19) and Vrana (13) had the assists on Oshie’s 2nd goal of the game.
Late in the period, Coyle was assessed a holding penalty at 17:28, but the Bruins managed to kill off the minor and escaped without harm while Washington was on the skater advantage.
Through two periods of play, the Capitals led the Bruins, 2-1, on the scoreboard, despite the B’s advantage in shots on goal in the second period alone, 15-6.
Boston led in total shots on net, 23-14, as well as blocked shots (12-8), giveaways (7-4) and faceoff win% (57-43).
Meanwhile, Washington led in takeaways (11-5) and hits (28-12).
The Caps were 1/3 on the power play and the Bruins were 0/3 heading into the third period.
Wilson interfered with Pastrnak 19 seconds into the third period and was penalized as such, but the Bruins didn’t score on the power play.
Less than a minute after their power play expired, the B’s found the back of the net and tied the game, 2-2, when Krug fired a shot from the point off a faceoff that Sean Kuraly (3) deflected from the faceoff dot to the right of Holtby.
Krug (16) had the only assist on Kuraly’s goal at 2:53 of the third period and surpassed Glen Wesley for 5th place in overall scoring for a Bruins defender in franchise history.
Ray Bourque leads all Boston defenders with 1,506 career points in a B’s sweater, followed by Bobby Orr (888), Chara (479), Brad Park (417) and Krug (308).
The game wasn’t tied for long before Carlson (12) blasted a one-timer while pinching in from the point to give the Capitals a, 3-2, lead at 4:42.
Backstrom (16) and Wilson (10) had the assists on Carlson’s goal and Washington never looked back for the rest of the game.
Though Carlsson was penalized for tripping Pastrnak at 6:04, Boston’s power play had nothing going for it and once again was unsuccessful.
Midway through the final frame of regulation, Ritchie got tangled up with Garnet Hathaway after a whistle and the two players received roughing minors at 10:13– resulting in two-minutes of 4-on-4 action.
With 1:43 remaining in the game, Cassidy utilized his timeout and pulled Halak for an extra attacker after a stoppage in play.
The Bruins were not successful in tying the game and forcing overtime as the final horn sounded– sealing the deal on Washington’s, 3-2, victory.
Boston finished the night with the advantage in shots on goal, 32-25, despite trailing in the third period alone, 11-9, to Washington.
The B’s finished Wednesday night leading in blocked shots (18-15), giveaways (15-9) and faceoff win% (59-41), while the Caps led in hits (40-20).
Washington went 1/3 on the skater advantage, while Boston finished the night 0/5 on the power play.
The Bruins have lost 16 out of their last 17 games against Washington, while the Capitals are 24-0-0 in games against Boston when Backstrom earns at least a point since he entered the league in the 2007-08 season.
The Bruins are now 11-2-0 when leading after the first period and 13-4-3 when scoring the game’s first goal this season. They are also 4-5-3 when trailing after two periods thus far.
Boston continues their four-game road trip (0-2-0) Thursday in Tampa with a matchup against the Lightning before wrapping up their current road trip in Sunrise, Florida on Saturday against the Panthers
-
Duclair scores twice in Sens, 5-2, victory over B’s
The Boston Bruins kicked off a four-game road trip with a, 5-2, loss to the Ottawa Senators on Monday night at Canadian Tire Centre.
Anders Nilsson (8-8-1 record, 3.03 goals against average, .913 save percentage in 17 games played) made 38 saves on 40 shots against (.950 SV%) in the win for the Senators.
Bruins goaltender, Tuukka Rask (13-3-3, 2.19 GAA, .927 SV% in 19 GP) stopped 23 out of 26 shots faced for an .885 SV% in the loss.
Boston fell to 20-5-6 (46 points) on the season, but remains atop the Atlantic Division, while Ottawa improved to 13-17-1 (27 points) and stayed in 7th place in the Atlantic.
The B’s fell to 8-4-1 on the road as a result of Monday night’s loss.
The Bruins were without the services of Kevan Miller (knee), Karson Kuhlman (fractured tibia) and Zach Senyshyn (lower body) on Monday, while Patrice Bergeron returned to the lineup since missing the last seven games with a lower body injury.
As a result of Bergeron’s return, B’s head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made a few corresponding adjustments to his lineup from Saturday night’s, 4-1, loss to the Colorado Avalanche.
Bergeron was reunited with Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak as his first line wingers, while David Krejci returned to his role as Boston’s second line center with Jake DeBrusk at left wing and Danton Heinen at right wing.
Charlie Coyle resumed his third line center duties with Anders Bjork at his left side and Brett Ritchie on his right side, while the fourth line trio of Joakim Nordstrom, Sean Kuraly and Chris Wagner went untouched.
On defense, the Bruins placed Steven Kampfer on waivers Sunday for the purpose of assignment to the Providence Bruins (AHL). The 31-year-old defender cleared waivers Monday afternoon and was assigned to Providence without issue.
With John Moore back in the lineup in his regular role as a top-six blue liner, Connor Clifton remained a healthy scratch for the B’s on Monday.
Clifton was joined by David Backes and Par Lindholm in the press box on Boston’s short list of healthy scratches against Ottawa.
Artem Anisimov (4) caught the Bruins on a bad line change and charged into the attacking zone, firing the puck past Rask at 1:35 of the first period– giving Ottawa the early, 1-0, lead.
Dylan DeMelo (5) and Thomas Chabot (16) had the assists on Anisimov’s goal.
Late in the opening frame, a wacky bounce off the glass behind the Boston net caught Moore off-guard as the puck ended up on Senators forward, Chris Tierney’s stick.
Tierney quickly flipped the puck to Anthony Duclair (14) for the goal as the Sens forward was streaking into the slot– giving Ottawa a two-goal lead, 2-0.
Duclair’s first goal of the game was assisted by Tierney (12) at 15:44.
Roughly a couple minutes later, Marchand sent Pastrnak up-ice on a rush with Bergeron as the Bruins duo broke-in on an unguarded scoring opportunity.
Pastrnak sent a pass to Bergeron (9) for the one-timer goal in his first game back from injury while Nilsson dove in desperation.
Bergeron’s goal cut the Senators lead in half, 2-1, and was assisted by Pastrnak (19) and Marchand (27) at 17:48.
Nevertheless, Ottawa entered the first intermission with the lead on the scoreboard, 2-1, and dominating in shots on goal (14-8), blocked shots (9-2), takeaways (5-2), giveaways (11-4), hits (11-8) and faceoff win percentage (53-47).
There were no penalties called in the first period.
The Senators struck once again early in the period when Rask mishandled the puck behind the net and ended up turning possession over to Vladislav Namestnikov.
Namestnikov slipped the puck over to Tierney (4) for a mostly empty net goal, giving Ottawa a, 3-1, lead at 1:21 of the second period.
Namestnikov (8) had the only assist on Tierney’s goal.
About a minute later, Coyle tripped Senators forward, Logan Brown, and was sent to the penalty box at 2:33, presenting Ottawa with the first power play of the night.
The Sens didn’t convert on their first skater advantage and took a penalty of their own in the vulnerable minute after when Namestnikov tripped Coyle at 5:21.
Ottawa then took a pair of penalties of their own at 13:08, when DeMelo caught Pastrnak with a high stick and at 17:53, when DeMelo tripped Marchand.
In both cases, the Bruins failed to convert on the power play.
Through 40 minutes of action in Ottawa, the Senators led the B’s, 3-1, on the scoreboard, despite an impressive, 16-9, shots on net in the second period alone advantage for Boston.
The Bruins led in total shots on goal, 24-23, after two periods, while the Sens led in every other statistical category, including blocked shots (16-3), takeaways (8-2), giveaways (13-7), hits (15-14) and faceoff win% (60-40).
Ottawa was 0/1 on the power play entering the third period, while Boston was 0/3 on the skater advantage.
Midway through the final frame, Boston’s Brandon Carlo tripped Tyler Ennis and was sent to the sin bin at 9:35 of the third period.
Ottawa’s ensuing power play didn’t last for long as Chabot caught Charlie McAvoy with a high stick at 9:58, resulting in a 1:37 span of 4-on-4 action for the two clubs, followed by an abbreviated skater advantage for Boston.
Moments later, Pastrnak tripped Jean-Gabriel Pageau and was charged with a minor in fraction at 14:46.
Ottawa’s power play was halfway over when Colin White tripped Carlo and presented both teams with another span of 4-on-4 for one minute at 15:46.
While on the power play with 3:13 remaining in regulation, Cassidy pulled Rask for an extra attacker.
Seconds later, Pageau (16) notched a shorthanded empty net goal to make it, 4-1, for the Senators.
Namestnikov (9) and Ron Hainsey (5) had the assists on the goal at 17:02.
Less than a minute later, DeBrusk (7) slid a loose puck into the net from point blank as both teams scrambled in front of Nilsson at 17:45.
DeBrusk’s power play goal cut Ottawa’s lead to two-goals and was assisted by Pastrnak (20) and Marchand (28).
Once more, Boston resorted to pulling their goaltender for an extra skater.
It did not go well as Duclair (15) tallied his second goal of the night– and second empty net goal for the Sens– officially at 19:59 (but actually with less than one-second left on the clock) of the third period.
DeMelo (6) and Tierney (13) had the assists as the Senators finished off the Bruins, 5-2.
Boston finished the night leading in shots on goal, 40-28, including a, 16-5, advantage in the third period alone, while Ottawa led in everything else– except for hits, which were tied, 20-20– including blocked shots (29-6), giveaways (17-9) and faceoff win% (55-45).
The Senators finished Monday night 0/3 on the skater advantage, while the Bruins went 1/5 on the power play.
As a result of the loss, Boston is now on a three-game losing streak.
Meanwhile, in the last four games, Pastrnak has three assists and no goals.
The Bruins are now 4-4-3 when trailing after two periods this season.
Boston faces the Washington Capitals and Tampa Bay Lightning on back-to-back nights in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday and in Tampa on Thursday before wrapping up their four-game road trip (0-1-0) in Sunrise, Florida on Saturday in a duel with the Florida Panthers.
-
Avalanche beat Bruins, 4-1, in Boston
The Colorado Avalanche extended their winning streak to six games with a, 4-1, win over the Boston Bruins at TD Garden on Saturday night.
Ian Cole scored the game-winning goal in the second period of his 500th career NHL game, while Philipp Grubauer (10-5-2 record, 2.76 goals against average, .914 save percentage in 18 games played) made three saves on four shots on goal (.750 SV%) before being replaced by Pavel Francouz (7-2-0, 2.25 GAA, .931 SV% in 11 GP) late in the first period due to an injury.
Francouz stopped all 16 shots that he faced en route to the win for the Avs.
B’s goaltender, Jaroslav Halak (7-2-3, 2.22 GAA, .930 SV% in 12 GP) stopped 16 out of 19 shots faced (.842 SV%) in the loss.
The Bruins fell to 20-4-6 (46 points) on the season, but remain in command of the Atlantic Division. Meanwhile, the Avalanche climbed to 19-8-2 (40 points) on the season and remained in 2nd place in the Central Division.
Boston is now 12-1-5 at home this season.
Kevan Miller (knee), Karson Kuhlman (fractured tibia), Zach Senyshyn (lower body) and Patrice Bergeron (lower body) remained out of the lineup on Saturday.
Bergeron is likely to return on the B’s road trip.
Meanwhile, Brett Ritchie returned to the lineup after missing the last seven games (and 12 out of the last 16) with an elbow infection.
As a result, Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, adjusted his lines.
For his first line, Cassidy reunited Brad Marchand with David Krejci and David Pastrnak, while moving Jake DeBrusk back to the second line with Charlie Coyle and Danton Heinen.
Ritchie was inserted on the right side of the third line with Anders Bjork at left wing and Par Lindholm at center, while the trio of Joakim Nordstrom, Sean Kuraly and Chris Wagner was reunited.
On defense, John Moore remained in the lineup on the third pairing with Matt Grzelcyk, while Connor Clifton and Steven Kampfer joined David Backes in the press box as Boston’s only healthy scratches.
Midway through the opening frame, Moore shot the puck from the point as Wagner (3) skated through the low slot and tipped in the rubber biscuit behind Grubauer to give the Boston the first goal of the game at 13:14 of the first period.
Moore (1) and Bjork (4) had the assists on Wagner’s goal and the Bruins led, 1-0.
The B’s didn’t lead for long, however, as Valeri Nichushkin (4) pulled a loose puck to his backhand and snuck it behind Halak’s extended pad– tying the game, 1-1, in the process at 17:25.
Matt Nieto (8) and Tyson Jost (5) tallied the assists on Nichushkin’s goal.
Upon tying the game, Avalanche head coach, Jared Bednar, switched out his goaltenders after Grubauer showed signs of discomfort after making a save only moments prior.
After one period in Boston, the B’s and Avs were tied, 1-1, with the Avalanche leading in shots on goal, 9-4.
Colorado led in takeaways (6-2), giveaways (4-2) and faceoff win percentage (57-43), while the Bruins led in blocked shots (5-4) and hits (18-11) entering the first intermission.
There were no penalties called in the first period as the action carried over into the middle frame.
Midway through the second period, Boston couldn’t clear their own zone.
As a result, the Avalanche went right to work on a forced turnover and zipped the puck around the horn, finally finding its way to Cole at the point whereby Cole (1) skated up to the faceoff dot and rocketed a slap shot over Halak’s glove to give Colorado their first lead of the night, 2-1.
Mark Barberio (1) and Joonas Donskoi (12) had the assists on Cole’s goal at 9:17 of the second period.
A little over nine minutes later, after Boston sustained pressure in the attacking zone for what seemed like a potentially momentum shifting couple of minutes, Colorado got a break the other direction and scored.
Andre Burakovsky (12) broke free from his own zone and sent a snap shot over Halak’s glove to make it a two-goal game at 18:21 of the second period.
Nathan MacKinnon (27) and Donskoi (13) collected the assists as the Avalanche collected a, 3-1, lead heading into the second intermission.
Through 40 minutes of play, Colorado led Boston, 3-1, on the scoreboard and, 14-8, in shots on goal– including a, 5-4, advantage in shots on net in the second period alone.
The Avs held the advantage in blocked shots (11-10), takeaways (10-7), giveaways (12-3) and faceoff win% (54-46) entering the third period, while the Bruins led in hits (27-23).
Once more, both clubs remained 0/0 on the power play as the first penalty of the night wasn’t called until the third period.
Early in the final frame of the game, Ryan Graves caught Kuraly with a high stick and was sent to the box at 5:54 of the third period.
Boston’s power play was powerless and the Avs killed off Graves’ minor infraction without any issues as Graves was hooked by Marchand seconds after emerging from the box and receiving a breakaway opportunity in the attacking zone.
Marchand cut a rut to the sin bin at 8:02, but Colorado’s skater advantage didn’t last long as Donskoi clipped Zdeno Chara with a high stick at 8:27 and presented both teams with 4-on-4 action for a span of 1:35 before an abbreviated 5-on-4 advantage would begin for the Bruins.
Neither team capitalized on the special teams play.
Late in the period, Avalanche captain, Gabriel Landeskog, caught Pastrnak in the face with a high stick and was assessed a minor penalty at 17:39.
With 2:21 remaining in the game and the start of yet another power play, Cassidy pulled Halak for an extra attacker– effectively making it a two-skater advantage with Landeskog in the box.
Upon exiting the box, Landeskog (5) pocketed an empty net goal, giving Colorado a three-goal lead to seal the deal on their win.
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (5) had the only assist on Landeskog’s empty netter that made it, 4-1, at 19:57.
Colorado finished the night with the advantage on the scoreboard, but both teams actually tied in shots on goal, 20-20, as Boston rallied to a, 12-6, advantage in the third period alone.
Meanwhile, the Avalanche finished the night leading in blocked shots (21-10), giveaways (13-7) and faceoff win% (60-41).
Boston ended the night with the lead in hits (36-34) and went 0/3 on the power play. The Avs went 0/1.
Colorado hasn’t lost a game in regulation in Boston since March 30, 1998. The Avs are now 12-0-2 in their last 14 games in Boston.
The Avalanche ended Boston’s 17-game point streak.
As a result of the loss, the B’s are now 13-3-3 when scoring the game’s first goal this season and 4-3-3 when trailing after two periods.
The Bruins are now 1-6 in their last seven games against Colorado, including Boston’s, 4-2, loss at Pepsi Center on Oct. 10th.
Boston finished their five-game homestand 3-1-1 and will begin a four-game road trip on Monday with a matchup against the Ottawa Senators.
The Bruins then face the Washington Capitals and Tampa Bay Lightning on back-to-back nights in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday and in Tampa on Thursday before wrapping up their road trip in Sunrise, Florida next Saturday in a duel with the Florida Panthers.
-
Backes’ return sparks B’s in, 3-1, win over Habs
David Backes scored the game-winning goal in his first game back from injury since Nov. 2nd as the Boston Bruins rallied in the third period to a, 3-1, comeback win over the Montreal Canadiens Sunday night at TD Garden.
Tuukka Rask (13-2-2 record, 2.04 goals against average, .933 save percentage in 17 games played) made 28 saves on 29 shots against for a .966 SV% in the win for Boston.
Montreal netminder, Carey Price (10-9-3, 3.18 GAA, .898 SV% in 22 GP) stopped 31 out of 34 shots faced for a .912 SV% in the loss.
The B’s improved to 19-3-5 (43 points) on the season and maintained their lead on the Atlantic Division, as well as the entire league– having played one fewer game than the Washington Capitals.
The Habs fell to 11-10-6 (28 points) and remained in command of 5th place in the Atlantic Division while also falling to 0-5-3 in their last eight games.
Prior to Sunday night, Montreal hadn’t lost eight-straight games since the 1939-40 season (in which the Canadiens lost nine-straight games at one point).
Meanwhile, Boston is on an 11-game point streak, including their current seven-game winning streak and improved to 11-0-4 on home ice this season.
Kevan Miller (knee), John Moore (shoulder), Karson Kuhlman (fractured tibia), Zach Senyshyn (lower body), Patrice Bergeron (lower body) and Brett Ritchie (upper body) were all out of commission for the Bruins on Sunday against Montreal.
Moore, however, was assigned to the Providence Bruins (AHL) ahead of Providence’s matinee matchup with the Charlotte Checkers at Bojangles’ Coliseum as part of a long-term injured conditioning stint (meaning he’s likely to be back up in Boston and rejoining the B’s lineup in the near future).
Jack Studnicka was also reassigned to Providence after playing in two NHL games with Boston while multiple forwards were injured.
Studnicka recorded one assist in that span.
Backes returned to full practice on Saturday and returned to the lineup Sunday night against the Canadiens after missing the last 13 games since being hurt on Nov. 2nd against the Ottawa Senators.
With Backes available, Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, switched up his lines from Friday afternoon’s, 3-2, overtime victory over the New York Rangers.
Cassidy kept his first line the same with Brad Marchand at left wing, David Krejci at center and David Pastrnak on the right wing.
On the second line, Cassidy moved Charlie Coyle back to his usual spot at center with Jake DeBrusk and Danton Heinen on his left and right sides, respectively.
Sean Kuraly centered the third line with Anders Bjork at left wing and Chris Wagner at right wing.
Finally, Par Lindholm centered Joakim Nordstrom in his usual role as the fourth line left wing and Backes on the right wing.
Connor Clifton went back in the lineup on the third defensive pairing alongside Matt Grzelcyk, while Steven Kampfer joined Brendan Gaunce in the press box as Boston’s only healthy scratches.
The Bruins wore their new alternate sweater for the second-straight game since debuting them on the ice against the Rangers in the 2019 NHL Thanksgiving Showdown.
Joel Armia (10) stole the puck right in front of the Boston goal and sent a backhand shot off the crossbar and in over Rask’s glove side on fluke soft goal to kick things off at 1:58 of the first period.
Armia’s goal was unassisted and gave Montreal a, 1-0, lead in what was just the 9th instance of the Bruins giving up the game’s first goal on home ice this season– and the 4th consecutive home game in doing so.
Late in the period, Charlie McAvoy caught Charles Hudon with a high stick and was assessed a minor infraction at 14:38.
The Canadiens did not convert on their first power play opportunity of the night.
Entering the first intermission, the Habs led the B’s, 1-0, on the scoreboard and, 11-10, in shots on goal.
Montreal also held the advantage in takeaways (11-1) and faceoff win percentage (59-41), while Boston led in blocked shots (4-1).
Both teams had three giveaways aside and 12 hits each, meanwhile the Canadiens were 0/1 on the power play heading into the second period.
The Bruins had yet to see any time on the skater advantage after the first 20 minutes of action Sunday night.
Boston turned their burners on as the second period was nearing a close, but not before the two teams got into a bit of a scrum at center ice that resulted in the first power play opportunity of the night for the Bruins.
Shea Weber was called for interference against Pastrnak at 17:13 of the second period, but was joined in the penalty box by his teammate, Brendan Gallagher, after Gallagher got into a wrestling match with DeBrusk– who also cut a rut to the sin bin, but for the B’s.
As a result, the Bruins went on a 5-on-4 skater advantage and couldn’t muster a power play goal in the vulnerable minutes before the middle frame came to a close.
The score remained unchanged after 40 minutes of action with the Canadiens leading the Bruins, 1-0, but Boston jumped ahead of Montreal in the shot department– leading, 20-19, in shots on goal after two periods thanks to their, 10-8, advantage in shots on net in the second period alone.
The B’s led in blocked shots (10-6) and hits (25-20) entering the second intermission, while the Habs led in takeaways (12-6), giveaways (4-3) and faceoff win% (52-48).
Both teams were 0/1 on the power play heading into the final frame of regulation.
Early in the final frame, Bjork worked an indirect pass up the boards to Pastrnak that led Pastrnak into the attacking zone.
The league’s leading goal scorer, Pastrnak (25), blasted a rocket from the hashmarks off the far post and in on Price’s blocker side– tying the game, 1-1, in the process at 6:16 of the third period.
Bjork (3) and Brandon Carlo (8) tallied the assists on Pastrnak’s goal as No. 88 in black-and-gold became the 11th player in league history to score 25 or more goals in a season through games played on Dec. 1st, as well as the first player to do so since Mario Lemieux scored 29 goals through Dec. 1st in the 1992-93 season with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
About a couple minutes later, Nick Cousins received a holding infraction for tying up Torey Krug in Montreal’s offensive zone.
Boston went on the power play for the second time of the night at 8:38 of the third and made sure to capitalize on the skater advantage in the dying seconds of the power play opportunity.
Grzelcyk worked the puck from the point to Krejci as the Bruins center brought the puck down low.
Krejci then sent a pass to Backes (1) in the slot where the veteran NHLer was acting as a bumper and one-timed a shot into the twine to give Boston their first lead of the night, 2-1.
The Bruins didn’t score in the first 40 minutes of the game Sunday night, but they fired off two goals in a span of 4:13 in the third period to turn the game on its head.
Krejci (15) and Grzelcyk (6) had the assists on Backes’ goal at 10:29 and the B’s had momentum on their side.
In a similar manner, but from the reverse angle, Heinen broke into the zone with possession and briefly lost the puck before DeBrusk scooped it up and gave it to Coyle.
The Weymouth, Massachusetts native brought the rubber biscuit behind the net, then tossed a pass to DeBrusk (6) that the Bruins winger one-timed over Price’s glove from point blank while being knocked to the ice– giving Boston a two-goal lead, 3-1.
Coyle (10) had the only assist on DeBrusk’s goal at 13:27 and the Bruins completed their three unanswered goal comeback over Montreal in a 7:11 span in the third period.
The goal was DeBrusk’s 6th point in his last five games.
With 2:33 remaining in regulation, Canadiens head coach, Claude Julien, pulled Price for an extra attacker.
After icing the puck and mishandling a breakout, the Habs ended up with too many skaters on the ice at 18:09 and sent Cousins to the box to serve their bench minor.
Though Boston did not score on their third power play of the game, they did walk away with the most important thing– the win– at the final horn.
The Bruins finished off the Canadiens, 3-1, and ended the night with the advantage in shots on goal (34-29), blocked shots (16-12) and hits (32-28).
Montreal, meanwhile, left TD Garden with the advantage in giveaways (7-4) and faceoff win% (59-41) on Sunday.
The Habs finished the night 0/1 on the power play, while the B’s went 1/3 on the skater advantage.
The Bruins are now 7-1-2 when allowing the game’s first goal at home this season and 4-2-2 when trailing after two periods.
Boston continues their current five-game home stand (2-0-0) on Tuesday against the Carolina Hurricanes before hosting the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday and finishing up their homestand on Saturday against the Colorado Avalanche. The B’s then begin a four-game road trip thereafter.
-
Pastrnak scores hat trick as B’s light up Habs, 8-1
Eight is great and eight is the number of goals the Boston Bruins scored en route to their, 8-1, victory over the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Tuesday night.
Oh and by the way, David Pastrnak had a hat trick.
Jaroslav Halak (5-1-3 record, 2.40 goals against average, .930 save percentage in nine games played) made 36 saves on 37 shots against for a .973 SV% in the win for the Bruins.
Canadiens starter, Carey Price (10-7-3, 3.09 GAA, .900 SV% in 20 games played) turned aside six out of ten shots faced for a .545 SV% before being replaced by Keith Kinkaid (1-1-2, 4.29 GAA, .877 SV% in five games played) in the loss.
Kinkaid made ten saves on 13 shots against (.769 SV%) for no decision.
Boston improved to 16-3-5 (37 points) and remained atop the Atlantic Division– in command of 1st place of not just the division, but 1st place in the entire league by virtue of holding a game-in-hand over the Washington Capitals.
Montreal, meanwhile, fell to 11-8-5 (27 points) on the season and stuck in 3rd in the Atlantic.
The Bruins extended their current winning streak to four games and are now 7-3-1 on the road this season.
They’re now also 10-0-2 when leading after two periods, 11-1-0 when leading after one period and 12-2-3 when scoring the game’s first goal this season.
Kevan Miller (knee), John Moore (shoulder), Karson Kuhlman (fractured tibia), David Backes (upper body) and Zach Senyshyn (lower body) remained out of the lineup for Boston with Patrice Bergeron (lower body) and Brett Ritchie (upper body) joining the long list of injured Bruins for at least the next two games (Tuesday night in Montreal, Wednesday night in Ottawa).
As a result of Bergeron and Ritchie’s injuries, Boston recalled Brendan Gaunce and Jack Studnicka from the Providence Bruins (AHL) on Monday.
Gaunce, 25, has six goals and five assists (11 points) in 14 games with Providence this season and signed with Boston on July 1, 2019 as a free agent after spending 2015-19 with the Vancouver Canucks organization.
Studnicka, 20, leads Providence in scoring with nine goals and nine assists (18 points), as well as a plus-seven rating in 21 games with the “Baby Bruins” this season. The 6’2″, 175-pound center was drafted by Boston in the second round (53rd overall) of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.
He made his NHL debut Tuesday night in Montreal, joining Cameron Hughes as the only other Bruin to make their NHL debuts this season.
Par Lindholm returned to action after missing the last game while resting up after sustaining a cut in last Thursday’s, 3-2, win over the Buffalo Sabres.
With Bergeron and Ritchie out, Bruce Cassidy made some adjustments to his lineup, starting Studnicka as the second line center with Jake DeBrusk on his left wing and Charlie Coyle on his right wing.
David Krejci, in the meantime, was promoted to the first line center role with Brad Marchand and Pastrnak in their usual roles.
Sean Kuraly centered the third line with Anders Bjork and Danton Heinen as his wingers, while Lindholm centered the fourth line with Joakim Nordstrom and Chris Wagner.
Cassidy made one change to his defense, replacing Steven Kampfer with Connor Clifton on the third defensive pairing after keeping Kampfer fresh while in his role as the seventh defender for the B’s.
Gaunce and Kampfer served as healthy scratches for the Bruins on Tuesday.
Early in the opening frame, Montreal’s Brendan Gallagher tripped up Pastrnak while trailing the Boston forward behind his own net and was sent to the penalty box at 6:10 of the first period.
Krejci sent Kuraly deep into the offensive zone on the ensuing power play, whereby Kuraly connected DeBrusk with a bump pass as DeBrusk (5) crashed the slot and sent a shot into the back of the twine to give the Bruins a, 1-0, lead on a power play goal.
Kuraly (4) and Krejci (12) had the assists on DeBrusk’s goal at 8:03.
The Canadiens responded with a goal of their own a little over a few minutes later on a three-on-two rush up the ice that left Shea Weber (8) wide open for a quick one-timer that beat Halak’s blocker side at 12:41.
Gallagher (9) and Tomas Tatar (14) had the assists on Weber’s goal, tying the game, 1-1, midway through the first period.
The score wasn’t tied for long before Nate Thompson “tripped” Clifton at 13:56 and was assessed an infraction for what appeared to be a phantom call.
Boston went on the power play for the second time of the night and quickly converted on the skater advantage with a trademark one-timer blast from Pastrnak (21) at 14:24.
Coyle (8) and Marchand (24) notched the assists on Pastrnak’s first goal of the night as the B’s regained the lead, 2-1.
Eight seconds later, Charlie McAvoy was penalized for interference against Nick Suzuki at 14:32, presenting Montreal with their first power play of the night.
The Habs did not convert on the ensuing skater advantage.
With less than a minute remaining in the first period, Marchand (17) snagged a loose puck that floated off of Coyle’s stick while the Bruins forward attempted a wraparound, then elevated a backhand shot over Price while the Canadiens goaltender dove in effort to make a save.
As a result, Coyle (9) had the only assist on Marchand’s goal at 19:23 and the Bruins led, 3-1, entering the first intermission.
The goal marked Marchand’s 600th NHL point– becoming the 11th player in Bruins franchise history to record 600 points in a B’s sweater, joining Terry O’Reilly, Krejci, Ken Hodge, Wayne Cashman, Bergeron, Bobby Orr, Rick Middleton, Phil Esposito, Johnny Bucyk and Ray Bourque (per Ty Anderson of 98.5 The Sports Hub).
Marchand’s also just the 4th Bruins player in the last 45 years to record his 40th point in 24 games or fewer, joining Adam Oates (24 games played in 1992-93), Esposito (22 GP in 1974-75) and Orr (21 GP in 1974-75).
After one period in Montreal, Boston led, 3-1, on the scoreboard, despite trailing, 13-8, in shots on net.
The B’s led in blocked shots (6-5) and giveaways (11-8), while the Habs led in hits (14-8) and faceoff win percentage (60-40).
Both teams had three takeaways aside.
The Canadiens were 0/1 on the power play and the Bruins were 2/2 entering the second period.
Pastrnak (22) entered the attacking zone off the draw, deked past a Montreal defender and sniped a shot over Price’s blocker on the short side to give Boston a three-goal lead eight seconds into the second period.
Marchand (25) and Zdeno Chara (7) had the assists on Pastrnak’s second goal of the game and the Bruins led, 4-1.
Boston added another goal to their immense lead when Bjork (4) capitalized on a breakaway, sending a shot into the twine past Price’s glove side to make it, 5-1, for Boston at 1:10 of the second period.
Kuraly (5) had the only assist on the goal.
The Bruins had a pair of goals in a span of 62 seconds to chase Price out of the crease as Canadiens head coach, Claude Julien, replaced his starter with Kinkaid after Bjork made it, 5-1.
Pastrnak (23) finalized his hat trick less than halfway through the game with a shot that beat Kinkaid at 9:06 of the second period– scoring his 2nd hat trick of the season and 6th of his career.
Brandon Carlo (6) and Krejci (13) had the assists on Pastrnak’s hat trick goal as Boston made it, 6-1, in Montreal.
The 23-year-old right winger for the Bruins, Pastrnak, leads the NHL with 23 goals in 24 team games– the most by any player within 25 team games since the 2005-06 season, when Simon Gagne had 23 goals through this point in the season with the Philadelphia Flyers.
A few minutes later, Clifton caught Tatar with a high stick and was sent to the penalty box with a minor infraction at 12:43, but the Habs didn’t score on the ensuing power play.
Through 40 minutes of play at Bell Centre, the Bruins led, 6-1, on the scoreboard, but trailed the Canadiens, 27-15, in shots on goal.
Montreal held the advantage in shots on net in the second period alone (14-7) and led in hits (23-15), while Boston had the advantage in blocked shots (12-9), giveaways (18-16) and faceoff win% (51-49).
Both teams had six takeaways aside, while the Canadiens were 0/2 on the power play and the B’s were still 2/2 on the skater advantage (only one penalty was called in the second period and it was against Boston).
Almost midway through the final frame of regulation, Kuraly worked the puck to Torey Krug as Krug broke into the zone heading for the net, before dropping a pass back to Coyle (5) for the one-timer from the slot that beat Kinkaid to make it, 7-1, for Boston.
Krug (14) and Kuraly (6) had the assists on Coyle’s goal at 8:26 of the third period.
Midway through the third, Studnicka reacted to a cross check from Max Domi and the two were sent to the box– Studnicka for rouding and Domi for cross checking at 15:38.
Just 20 seconds after both teams resumed full strength action, Studnicka sent a pass from the trapezoid to Heinen in the slot, whereby Heinen (5) one-timed a shot past Kinkaid.
Studnicka (1) collected the primary assist and his first career NHL point– in his first career game, nonetheless– and Krug (15) tallied the secondary assist on Heinen’s goal as the Bruins led, 8-1, at 17:58.
At the final horn, Boston had finished off Montreal, 8-1, in their first eight-goal game at Bell Centre since Oct. 28, 1998 (a, 9-2, win), as well as their first eight-goal game against the Habs in general since Feb. 9, 2011 (an, 8-6, win at TD Garden).
The Canadiens finished the night leading in shots on goal (37-24)– including a, 10-9, advantage in the third period alone– and in hits (34-19).
The B’s wrapped up Tuesday night leading in blocked shots (16-12) and giveaways (24-18), while both teams split faceoff win%, 50-50.
Montreal finished the night 0/2 on the skater advantage, while Boston went 2/2 on the power play.
The last time a Bruin scored a hat trick in Montreal was on Nov. 30, 1987, when Steve Kasper notched three goals in a, 6-4, loss at Montreal Forum.
Boston finishes their quick two-game road trip (1-0-0) with a Wednesday night matchup in Ottawa against the Senators after traveling by train from Montreal overnight on Tuesday.
The B’s return home after completing games in back-to-back nights with a Black Friday matinee against the New York Rangers in the NHL’s 2019 Discover Thanksgiving Showdown.
Boston will debut their new third jersey in Friday’s matchup.
-
DTFR Podcast #180- Turning Over A New Leaf
The Toronto Maple Leafs finally did the thing! Congrats to the 2019 Hockey Hall of Fame Class and taking a look at who might join them in 2020.
Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and/or on Spotify. Support the show on Patreon.
-
Rask enters “Save of the Year” contention in Boston’s, 3-2, win over Buffalo
A pair of goals from Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak’s 20th goal of the season and one game-changing save from Tuukka Rask catapulted the Boston Bruins over the Buffalo Sabres, 3-2, at TD Garden on Thursday.
Rask (10-2-2 record, 2.05 goals against average, .931 save percentage in 14 games played) made a season-high 36 saves on 38 shots faced for a .947 SV% in the win for the B’s.
Buffalo goaltender, Linus Ullmark (4-5-1, 3.01 GAA, .910 SV% in 10 games played) turned aside 24 shots on 27 shots against for an .889 SV% in the loss.
The Bruins improved to 14-3-5 (33 points) and remained in command of the Atlantic Division, while the Sabres fell to 10-9-3 (23 points) and stuck in 4th place in the Atlantic as the Toronto Maple Leafs were in action in Arizona against the Coyotes (a win in any fashion for the Leafs would drop Buffalo to 5th in the Atlantic Division standings).
Boston is 8-0-4 at home this season in 12 games, which is the longest home point streak since the 1973-74 season.
Meanwhile, Pastrnak is the fourth different player in Bruins history to reach the 20-goal mark in 22 or fewer games, becoming the fifth fastest behind Phil Esposito (20 goals in 18 games in 1973-74), Cam Neely (20 goals in 19 games in 1993-94), Herb Cain (20 goals in 20 games in 1943-44) and Esposito again (20 goals in 21 games in 1974-75).
The B’s are now on a two-game winning streak and have won three out of their last four games, while the Sabres dropped to 2-8-2 in their last 12 games.
One more, the Bruins were without the services of Kevan Miller (knee), John Moore (shoulder), Karson Kuhlman (fractured tibia), David Backes (upper body), Torey Krug (upper body) and Zach Senyshyn (lower body) on Thursday.
Re-joining the long list of injured B’s was Brett Ritchie (upper body), as announced by Boston head coach, Bruce Cassidy, earlier in the day prior to Thursday night’s matchup with the Sabres.
Ritchie’s infection was reaggravated and kept him out of his 7th game due to injury this season.
Patrice Bergeron was back in the lineup after missing the last two games with a lower body injury. He returned to his usual spot as the first line center with Marchand on his left wing and Pastrnak on his right wing.
Cassidy moved Charlie Coyle to the second line right wing with David Krejci resuming his role as the No. 2 center and Jake DeBrusk remaining on the left side.
Par Lindholm was left as the third line center with Anders Bjork on his left wing and Danton Heinen on his right wing.
Cassidy left his fourth line trio of Joakim Nordstrom, Sean Kuraly and Chris Wagner alone, as well as his defensive pairings in the same shape as they’ve been with Krug out due to injury.
Steven Kampfer remained Boston’s only healthy scratch on Thursday.
Early in the period, Lindholm went down the tunnel with an injury after it appeared he might have been cut by a skate in a collision with Rasmus Asplund. He returned to the bench by the end of the period, but only played 20 seconds in his first shift of the night.
Lindholm later returned to the ice in the second period and resumed his usual duties.
Moments later, Kuraly tripped Buffalo’s Evan Rodrigues and was sent to the penalty box at 5:05 of the first period– yielding the game’s first power play to the Sabres.
Buffalo’s power play unit worked quickly and effectively as Rasmus Ristolainen (1) pocketed a rebound into the back of the net from right in the crease after Rask made the initial save.
Jack Eichel (13) and Victor Olofsson (9) tallied the assists on Ristolainen’s power play goal that made it, 1-0, Sabres at 5:25.
It was just the 6th time in 22 games that the Bruins allowed the game’s first goal.
What was more troubling for the B’s wasn’t that they were down early, but rather that they didn’t record their first shot on net until 12:11.
About a couple minutes later, Zdeno Chara fired a shot from the point that Marchand (14) tipped in from the low slot, tying the game, 1-1, on Boston’s 2nd shot of the night at 13:52.
Chara (5) and Pastrnak (16) had the assists on Marchand’s goal.
Less than a minute later, after a scrum in front of the net followed a puck frozen by a goaltender, Wagner dropped the gloves with Curtis Lazar in what was just Boston’s 3rd fight of the season (and first since Marchand fought Filip Hronek on Nov. 8th in Detroit).
Both players also received matching roughing minors at 14:14, resulting in no skater advantages.
Entering the first intermission, the score was tied, 1-1, despite the Sabres leading in shots on goal, 17-4.
Buffalo held the lead in takeaways (6-4) and hits (8-7), while Boston led in blocked shots (5-4) after one period.
The two teams had a pair of giveaways and were 50-50 in faceoff winning percentage.
Heading into the second period, Buffalo was 1/1 on the power play, while the B’s had yet to see any time on the skater advantage.
Buffalo’s 17 shots on goal in the first period were the 2nd most shots allowed in a period by Boston this season. The most shots against in one period for the Bruins thus far is 18 on Nov. 16th on home ice against the Washington Capitals.
Early in the middle frame, Matt Grzelcyk hooked Zemgus Girgensons and was sent to the box at 4:44 of the second period.
The Sabres didn’t convert on the resulting power play.
Midway through the period, Asplund held Krejci and was assessed with a minor at 13:15– presenting Boston with their first power play opportunity of the night.
It only took the Bruins 90 seconds to capitalize on the power play as Marchand (15) caught a rebound and slid the puck under Ullmark for the power play goal at 14:45.
Grzelcyk (5) and Heinen (6) had the assists on the goal as the B’s took their first lead of the night, 2-1.
Less than a minute later, Coyle took a trip to the sin bin for hooking Eichel at 15:16. Boston killed off the ensuing shorthanded bid with ease.
In the final minute of the second period, Ullmark denied DeBrusk with a sprawling leg pad save while DeBrusk entered the attacking zone on a breakaway, before crashing into the boards and heading right down the tunnel to the dressing room for a head start on the second intermission.
He returned for the third period without any issues.
After 40 minutes of action, the Bruins led, 2-1, on the scoreboard, but trailed the Sabres, 24-18, in shots on goal, despite having a, 14-7, shots on net advantage in the second period alone.
The B’s held the lead in blocked shots (10-9), hits (14-12) and faceoff win% (51-49), however, while Buffalo led in takeaways (10-6) and giveaways (8-4).
Heading into the third period, the Sabres were 1/3 on the power play and the Bruins were 1/1.
Jake McCabe opened up the final frame of regulation with a minor penalty for holding against Heinen 32 seconds into the third period.
While on the power play, Pastrnak (20) gathered a rebound and slipped the puck underneath Ullmark’s elevated leg pad and scored his 20th goal of the season– becoming the first NHL player to reach the 20-goal plateau this season.
Pastrnak’s power play goal was assisted by Heinen (7) and Bergeron (12) at 1:56 of the third period and the Bruins led, 3-1.
Less than a couple of minutes later, Nordstrom was sent to the box for tripping Rasmus Dahlin at 3:33.
Rodrigues thought he had a surefire power play goal for the Sabres as Buffalo pressured the Bruins into near submission, but Rask made a no-stick, inside of the blocker save, while diving across the crease.
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsWe call this elite.@tuukkarask | #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/fFoR37JoBW
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) November 22, 2019Boston killed off Nordstrom’s minor as a result.
Midway through the third period, Brandon Montour (2) blasted a one-timer into the twine from the point, cutting Boston’s lead in half, 3-2, at 12:58.
Conor Sheary (3) and Dahlin (13) tallied the assists on Montour’s goal as the Sabres pressed, but couldn’t complete a third period comeback over the Bruins.
With 1:19 remaining in the game, Sabres head coach, Ralph Krueger, pulled his goaltender for an extra attacker, but couldn’t muster a 6-on-5 goal– even after using his timeout with 39.8 seconds left to drum up the perfect plan.
At the final horn, Boston sealed the deal on a, 3-2, victory over Buffalo– improving to 10-0-2 when leading after two periods in the process.
The Sabres finished the night leading in shots on goal (38-27) and giveaways (14-4), while the Bruins walked away with the advantage in blocked shots (17-11), hits (20-14) and faceoff win% (54-46).
Buffalo finished Thursday’s action 1/4 on the skater advantage as the B’s went 2/2 on the power play.
Boston finishes their two-game homestand (1-0-0) against the Minnesota Wild on Saturday.
The B’s close out November with back to back nights in Montreal (Nov. 26th) and Ottawa (Nov. 27th) before finishing the month at home against the New York Rangers in a Black Friday matinee on Nov. 29th.
Down the Frozen River 
You must be logged in to post a comment.