Bruins Return From Christmas Break & Lay An Egg Vs. One of the Worst Teams in the NHL (Devils)

Games like tonight are part of the reason why it's so impossibly hard to bet on professional sports for a living (don't worry mom, I'm not talking about myself!). The Bruins (20-14-4) couldn't have been in a much more favorable position-on paper-as they hosted the wretched Devils (13-16-7) at TD Garden where they were 13-4-0. At 3-12-3 on the road, New Jersey was starting its third-string rookie goaltender (MacKenzie Blackwood) and their best player (Taylor Hall) was out with a lower-body injury. Naturally with all those factors seemingly piling up against them, the Devils never trailed as they rolled to a 5-2 victory, their first here since October 26, 2013.

Three of Boston's best players-Zdeno Chara, Kevan Miller and Jake DeBrusk-all returned to action after extended absences due to various injuries. That changed the lines a bit and while they were understandably a little rusty, they didn't give the team the boost of energy that you would expect. It wasn't Jaroslav Halak (28 saves, 12-6-2) best start of the season but his defense also let him down time and again either with breakdowns, turnovers and/or bad penalties. New Jersey basically was up 1-0 at the opening faceoff as defenseman Damon Severson jumped up into the rush and sniped in a goal just 25 seconds into the contest. Andy Greene and Travis Zajac assisted on his fifth goal of the season. The all-important puck luck was on New Jersey's side as well as evidenced by Kyle Palmieri's power-play goal that went off of Brandon Carlo then Halak and in for a 2-0 Devils lead at 15:25 of the first period. Will Butcher and BC's Brian Boyle provided the assists on reported trade target Palmieri's team-leading 19th goal of the season.

New Jersey outshot Boston 12-10 in the first period but the B's woke up in the second as they outshot them 19-9. Chris Wagner cut it to 2-1 as he one-timed a sweet pass from John Moore at 15:07. Danton Heinen had the secondary assist on Wagner's fourth goal of the season. The B's only trailed 2-1 after two periods and they had 1:49 left on a power play so it felt like they would tie it early in the third. Not so much as New Jersey killed off that penalty and shortly thereafter, Blake Coleman was sent in on a breakaway and beat Halak with a great move and backhander. His 10th goal of the season was unassisted and it completely took the life out of Boston's ill-fated comeback attempt (they are now 0-11-1 when trailing after 2 periods). Ryan Donato got cross-checked in the face with no call and Nico Hischier took advantage on the other end as he finished a breakaway of his own at 12:43. BC's Miles Wood and Stefan Noesen assisted on the former No. 1 pick's 10th goal of the season.

The Bruins finally got a lucky bounce to go their way but it was too late when DeBrusk's centering pass ricocheted off Patrice Bergeron's skate for his 12th goal of the season at 17:05. Coleman added the ultra-rare empty-netter/power-play strike at 19:12, assisted by Hischier and Greene. I can't remember too many Grade-A chances but it's tough to argue about his workload as Blackwood made 40 saves in his first NHL win. The result obviously meant a whole lot to the Devils who came into the evening tied with Los Angeles (14-20-3) for the fewest points in the league.

This was the last home game of 2018 for the Bruins and their final road game of the year will be on Saturday night (7, NESN) in Buffalo (21-12-5). The Sabres fell 4-1 in St. Louis (15-16-4) tonight, meaning that loss by the Black and Gold should sting a little more. If they had simply taken care of the hopeless Devils, they would only trail Buffalo by one point for third-place in the Atlantic Division. Instead, even a Bruins win on Saturday will still leave them behind the Sabres by a point. Blah, Halak had won his previous three starts before this loss and Tuukka Rask was awful in Sunday's 5-3 loss at Carolina (15-16-5) so I won't pretend to know who head coach Bruce Cassidy will pick to start that super important tilt in Buffalo. Keep in mind that Boston's next game after that isn't until Tuesday afternoon (1, NBC) but it is the Winter Classic at Notre Dame Stadium vs. Chicago (14-20-6) so that's something. The next Bruins home contest is next Thursday (7, NESN) vs. Calgary (23-12-3)-one of the NHL's biggest surprises and the leader of the Pacific Division.

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Santa Bergeron (2 goals, 2 assists) Returns Right In Time to Save Christmas For The Bruins

I'm sure that I don't say this aloud often enough but games like today remind me why it's so fun to cover the Bruins and special players like future NHL Hall of Famer Patrice Bergeron in particular. He had been out since November 16 with multiple injuries to his ribs and sternum but as usual, he delivered big-time in his return game with two goals and two assists as Boston (20-12-4) knocked off Nashville (22-13-2)-one of the NHL's true heavyweights-5-2 this afternoon at TD Garden. The B's have won three games in a row while the Preds go into Christmas break with a lump of coal in their skates after dropping their last four games.

The final score is misleading since this was a back-and-forth affair with Boston grabbing two leads then Nashville answered right back before the Bruins scored three consecutive goals to close out a dominant third period (outscoring the Predators 4-1 including an empty-netter). Jaroslav Halak (28 saves, 12-5-2) continued to play great as he's allowed a total of three goals in his last three starts combined all against playoff clubs (Montreal, Anaheim and Nashville) this past week. Boston's special teams continued to perform at a high level as well since the power play was 2-for-3 and the penalty kill was 2-for-2.

Bergy obviously opened the scoring at 15:10 of the first period when he took a pass from Charlie McAvoy, went from backhand to forehand and beat Pekka Rinne (27 saves, 14-8-1) for his 10th goal of the season. Brad Marchand had the second assist as Bergeron became the fourth Bruin this season to reach double-digit goals (David Pastrnak, Marchand and Jake DeBrusk). Boston improved to 13-4-0 at the Garden this season (2nd best home mark in the Eastern Conference behind Tampa Bay) and 13-4-0 when they score first. After McAvoy had a goal incorrectly wiped out for goalie interference on David Backes, Johansen tied it at one at 13:01 of the second period, an average shot that Halak normally stops with no issue. Craig Smith (not the fat guy that played basketball at BC) and Roman Josi had the assists on Johansen's sixth goal of the season.

After back-to-back stupid penalties by the Predators at the end of the second period (interference on Johansen and roughing on Mattias Ekholm) that nullified their own power play and gave Boston a 5-on-3 for 1:05 to start the third, the B's predictably made them pay. Nashville managed to kill the first penalty but before the second was over, Bergeron put the Black and Gold ahead 2-1 at 1:44. Danton Heinen (the new temporary right wing on the 1st line) and Pastrnak both whiffed on the puck but were still credited with assists as Bergeron was the guy to score on a similar forehand roof job like his first goal. Former Senators great Kyle Turris knotted things at two with a shot off the post and in at 9:17. His sixth goal of the season was assisted by Josi and Miikka Salomaki (most Finnish name ever?).

It was a great all-around performance by Boston's best players as Marchand's power play goal-that turned out to be the game-winner-made it 3-2 Bruins at 11:23. His 12th goal of the season was a one-timer that came from Pasta and Bergy. Marchy returned the favor to Pasta with an assist on his own one-timer via a 2-on-1 at 14:09 for a 4-2 Bruins advantage. Pastrnak's team-leading 23rd goal of the season was an interesting one since Marchand's pass was a bouncer so he barely got anything on the shot which probably helped it elude Rinne. I figured that Bergeron would get the requisite hat trick with an empty-net goal by hard-workin' Sean Kuraly instead did the honors at 18:01 for his second goal of the season, assisted by McAvoy and Halak (his 2nd of the season!).

Just one game-tomorrow at Carolina (5, NESN)-separates the B's from Christmas break (Dec. 24-26). By the time that they meet, the Hurricanes (14-14-5) could be under .500 as they host Pittsburgh (17-12-6) this evening. Four wins in a row and a .500 record on the road (currently 7-8-4) would be a pretty great way for the Bruins to get rewarded for their recent strong play. It feels like they usually win in Carolina and beat the Whalers I mean Hurricanes in general so I would expect a quality effort with Tuukka Rask (8-7-2) in between the pipes. Their next home game is on Thursday (7, NESN) vs. atrocious New Jersey (12-15-7) who for now reside in the basement of the Eastern Conference.

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B's Snap Nine-Game Losing Streak (0-8-1) & Beat the Ducks For The First Time In Over Five Years

It has to be the hideous Christmas suits, right? In one of the sneakiest droughts that I can remember, before tonight the Bruins' last win against the Ducks had come on Oct. 21, 2013 (a 3-2 shootout win at TD Garden). After nine fruitless matchups since then (0-8-1), Boston (19-12-4) finally broke that long slump with a complete all-around game in a 3-1 victory at the Garden vs. Anaheim (19-13-5). Coming off Monday's eye-opening 4-0 win at Montreal (17-13-5), the B's followed that up with another solid performance against a fellow playoff contender.

Jaroslav Halak got the start once again and nearly notched another shutout as he made 24 saves in his 11th win of the season. After a scoreless first period, the Bruins scored a pair of goals in the second period and an insurance tally in the third before the Ducks avoided the shutout with a goal in garbage time (late in the 3rd). Interestingly enough, three Bruins recorded career milestones in the win: Torey Krug's assist was the 200th of his NHL career, passing Mike O'Connell for the most by a U.S.-born Bruin; David Backes reached 300 NHL assists and David Krejci hit 600 NHL points.

Boston improved to 12-4-0 at home this season while they cooled off Anaheim (8-2-0 before tonight in their last 10 games) who ended a five-game road trip on a low note. It was all about special teams as the Bruins' power play went 2-for-4 and their penalty kill was a perfect 4-for-4. Pasta fittingly enough gave them a 1-0 lead at 8:19 of the second period with a one-timed laser from Krug and Backes. David's team-leading 22nd goal gave him twice as many goals as the next closest Bruin (Marchand with 11). The power play unit was the catalyst again as Krug one-timed in a beautiful pass by Marchand at 18:05 of the second for a 2-0 Black and Gold advantage. Pastrnak had the second assist on Krug's fourth goal of the season.

The B's are now 14-1-0 this season when they have led by 2+ goals so the Ducks might as well have gotten on the plane at that point. It was another one-timer that beat John Gibson (28 saves), this one from Krejci (has he ever had a harder shot?) at 5:21 of the third period. Pastrnak and Marchand assisted on his seventh goal of the season which also extended his point-streak to a whopping eight games (5 goals, 6 assists). Just when I tried to compute how long Halak's shutout streak had lasted in terms of game minutes, Anaheim made that a complete waste of my time. Rookie defenseman Josh Mahura's shot from the point sneaked by Halak, assisted by Carter Rowney at 15:44 which cut it to 3-1.

There are two more games left for the Bruins before they can enjoy a brief Christmas break (Dec. 24-26): they host Nashville (22-12-2) on Saturday afternoon (1, NESN) and they follow that up with a visit to Carolina (14-14-5) on Sunday night (5, NESN). It seems like it would be tough to sit down Halak at this point but regardless, you can bet that Tuukka Rask (8-7-2) will make an appearance at some point this weekend. The Predators are one of the best teams in hockey but they have been scuffling a bit lately (5-4-1 in their last 10 games) after losing 2-1 at Philadelphia (14-15-2) this evening. Any second game of a back-to-back is difficult but the B's have excelled in them this season and the Hurricanes are having another blah campaign so I expect some sort of result there for the Black and Gold as well.

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Name a Better Boston University Product In the NHL These Days Than Jack Eichel, You Can't!

Massachusetts is not California, Texas or Florida when it comes to grooming professional athletes so while we have a noted advantage when it comes to hockey players (it's cold here for roughly 8 months out of every year), it is still pretty cool to see a hometown guy doing very well at the highest level. Enter Chelmsford MA native and BU one-and-done Jack Eichel who seems to always save his best for when he plays the Bruins. Tonight he had two goals and two assists as Buffalo (20-9-5) doubled up Boston (17-12-4) 4-2 at TD Garden. It's not just the fact that he had a hand in every goal for the Sabres but Eichel did it in a manner befitting a superstar such as himself: two incredible assists, a snipe of a goal and an empty-netter to clinch it. Are you not entertained, Massholes?

After winning three games in a row, the B's had a bummer of a weekend as they lost 5-3 at Pittsburgh (15-11-6) on Friday and followed it up with another zero-point performance. Boston had 67 shot attempts (37 on goal, 14 blocked, 16 missed net) to just 40 for Buffalo (27 on goal, 8 blocked, 5 missed net) so besides Eichel, the Sabres can thank Jeff Skinner (2 goals), Sam Reinhart (2 assists) and Peanuts star Linus Ullmark (35 saves, 7th win of the season) for the victory that split the season series at one game apiece with two more meetings to come.

The Bruins never led in the entire contest but you can't say that they didn't have a good chance as Ryan Donato drew an ultra-rare penalty shot late in the first period. He was hauled down on a breakaway but he slipped taking the penalty shot and Ullmark was able to stop his shot anyway. Things picked up in the second period as Skinner scored his team-leading 23rd goal of the season at 3:18 thanks to a sweet pass from Eichel behind the net. No. 1 pick and defenseman Rasmus Dahlin (who is only 18-years-old) had the second assist. You'd be hard-pressed to find a better offseason pickup from last summer in the NHL than Jeff Skinner's trade from Carolina to Buffalo. Two minutes later, Steven Kampfer scored his first goal since his return to Black and Gold as he ripped a shot past Ullmark from Joakim Nordstrom and David Backes. Boston seemed to go up 2-1 late in the frame as Brad Marchand brushed in a loose puck but for some reason, the play was whistled dead before the puck had gone in the net. It was reviewed with the refs concluding after a lengthy delay that it was no goal since it couldn't be reviewed to begin with. Haha OK cool guys, thanks for completely wasting our time.

At the start of the third, Danton Heinen was absolutely robbed by Ullmark who did a full split to make the save. Torey Krug went to the dressing room after taking a puck to the face, something which later happened to Kampfer as well. Eichel's lucky 13th goal of the season came at 5:43, assisted by Reinhart and Dahlin. Krug answered with a goal of his own at 13:21. David Krejci (6-game point streak) did his best Eichel impression with a great feed that led to Krug's slightly mishit but still effective one-timer. His third goal of the season was also assisted by Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson (anothe much lesser known BU guy). Buffalo's go-ahead goal came via an eerily similar play by Eichel and Skinner: this time Eichel used a backhander to Skinner for a one-timer that gave him the same amount of goals that he had last season in 48 more games with the lowly Hurricanes. Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy did all that he could do-calling a timeout and pulling Rask for an extra skater-but all that happened was Eichel clinched it with an empty-netter at 19:35.

The B's have no time to feel bad for themselves as they are in Montreal (17-11-5) tomorrow night (7:30, NESN) for a huge game with the Canadiens. The winner will be the top Wild Card team in the Eastern Conference while the loser will drop (or in Boston's case remain) in second-place. Jaroslav Halak (9-5-2) figures to get the start for the Bruins who are 1-1 vs. Montreal this season. It'll be Boston's third game in four nights and second half of a back-to-back but at least then their next game isn't until Thursday (7, NESN) vs. Anaheim (18-11-5) at the Garden. The B's haven't been great on the road (6-8-4) but they had perhaps their best road win of this campaign at the Bell Centre: a 3-2 triumph on November 24 thanks to John Moore's game-winner/the only goal of his Bruins career.

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The Bruins Don't Need Patrice Bergeron As Long As They Still Have David Krejci (ducks garbage)!

There is dominating a team for a long stretch of time and then there is completely owning them like the Bruins' (17-10-4) one-sided games with the Coyotes (13-14-2) for the past eight-plus years. No matter if the B's are missing some top players, competing in their third game in four days or even spot Arizona a 2-0 lead, it all ends the same fashion: with a Boston victory. Tonight the Bruins trailed 2-0 almost midway through the second period before exploding for four goals in the span of 4:50 en route to an eventual 4-3 win at TD Garden. If you can believe it, that was the 14th straight win for the Black and Gold vs. the Desert Dogs, now the longest such streak in the NHL.

You have to think that if Arizona was ever going to break that ugly drought (their last two points vs. Boston came back on Oct. 9, 2010 in Prague!), the stars were aligned to do just that this evening. The B's have been great on home ice (11-3-0) but they got off to a slow start in this one as Nick Schmaltz made it 1-0 with a power play goal at 12:22 of the first period. The former Blackhawk's shot went off Tuukka Rask (30 saves, 8th win of the season), off a post and then in for his sixth goal of the season. Oliver Ekman-Larsson and BU's Clayton Keller provided the assists on the bizarre goal. While that tally was being announced, the Coyotes doubled their lead as Nick Cousins beat Rask to the shortside 40 seconds later. His third goal of the season was assisted by Alex Goligoski and Josh Archibald as the Garden crowd started to grow a bit restless. If things couldn't get any worse in the first period for the B's, David Backes took an Ekman-Larsson skate blade to the face which forced him to quickly exit the ice and head to the dressing room for some serious repairs.

Arizona has the top penalty-kill unit in the league which is accentuated by the fact that they've scored a whopping 11 shorthanded goals (!). To give you some context on that absurd number, the next closest team is Calgary (6) while Boston has only one this entire campaign. As such, Boston's power play (which came into the contest ranked 6th in the NHL) went 0-for-3 but that hardly mattered as they reeled off four even strength goals in the blink of an eye. Danton Heinen of all people got the comeback started for the Bruins with a nifty goal at 8:40 of the second period. Jacob Forsbacka Karlsson gave him a sweet backhand saucer pass that he settled with his skate like a soccer player then knocked the puck in past Darcy Kuemper (22 saves). The new look third line's other member Ryan Donato had the secondary assist on Heinen's fourth goal of the season. 33 seconds later on the following shift, David Pastrnak tied it with a beautiful net drive that ended with him tapping in a pass from Brad Marchand with Krejci picking up the other helper on Pastrnak's team-leading 21st goal of the season. 2:18 after that, the first line struck again as Marchand tipped in a slap pass from Pastrnak. Krejci had the second assist on Marchand's ninth goal of the season. Three goals in 2:51 was cool but one more was even better: Marchand banged in a loose puck at 13:30 (becoming the 3rd Bruin with double-digit goals) a nanosecond before getting knocked over with Krejci and Pastrnak obviously getting the assists.

Krejci was playing in his 800th NHL game while Arizona defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson reached the 700 game mark as well. Meanwhile, Coyotes left wing Michael Bunting was competing in his inaugural NHL game and he made it a particularly memorable moment with a goal that cut it to 4-3 Bruins at 15:00 of the second period. Truth be told, it was a save that Rask has to make but we'll forgive him since he came up with some bigger ones later on. That's right, there were a total of five goals in 6:20 of game time so naturally, these clubs followed it up with a scoreless third period. Arizona pressed for the tying goal in the third, outshooting Boston 9-5 in the frame but the B's held on despite a late tripping call on John Moore. McAvoy blocked a shot from his fellow Terrier Keller and Krejci hit the post with a shot that would have clinched it but he also had a key blocked shot of his own in crunch time.

With their three wins in a row, the B's earned six points in the past four days which I'd imagine is more than you or I or anyone else that we know has accomplished since Saturday. A stat that perfectly illustrates this team's collective mental toughness is that they improved to 5-1-1 in Game 3s of three games in four nights this season. They have ten more sets throughout 2018-19 so I doubt that absurd percentage will hold but still, can we just appreciate that for a second? The guys get tomorrow off which I'd say that they've earned before they are back at practice on Thursday and then they fly to Pittsburgh for Friday's (7, NESN) meeting with the Penguins (13-10-6). Boston has matched up well with Pittsburgh for years (yes during the Cup runs) and the Pens were a disaster to start this season before recently getting their shit together (6-2-2 in their last 10 games). The Bruins' next home game is on Sunday (5, NESN) vs. Buffalo (18-9-4) who is two points ahead of them in the Atlantic Division for third-place. Patriots-Steelers of course starts at 4:25 pm so make sure that your DVR and/or the last button on your remote is working properly since you'll be doing double-duty on Sunday night.

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In 2018, Bruins vs. Maple Leafs Is Becoming a Nice Little Rivalry Right Before Our Very Own Eyes

Bruins-Canadiens will always hold a special place in our hearts but over the last few seasons, you have to admit that Boston (15-10-4) against Toronto (20-9-1) has become a sexier matchup in the here and now minus the decades of bad blood and fun history since the Maple Leafs have mostly sucked forever. They already met three times in 2018-19 with the B's taking the latest chapter 6-3 this evening at TD Garden to go up 2-1 in the season series with one more in Toronto on January 12. Boston snapped a season-worst three-game losing streak with a resounding victory, perhaps their best outing of the campaign given that the Leafs scored the final two goals in extended garbage time.

This tilt had a little bit of everything: pretty goals, great saves, physical play and multiple fights. What else do you want in a regular season contest? Toronto came in with the second best record in the NHL but for the second time in a row (5-1 on Nov. 10), Boston absolutely slammed them on their home ice. The six goals scored tied for the second-most by the B's this season (Oct. 8 vs. Ottawa), topped only by their 8-2 beating of Detroit on Oct. 13. Boston took control tonight by scoring the first four goals. Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson made it 1-0 at 11:20 of the first period when he snuck a rebound by Frederik Andersen (22 saves, 6 goals allowed). David Pastrnak and Matt Grzelcyk assisted on JFK's third goal of the season.

Boston's second period had to be one of its best frames of the year: David Backes sniped a power-play goal at 8:54 (his 3rd goal of the season was assisted by Brad Marchand and Torey Krug) and Torey Krug bagged his first goal of the season with a long-range shot, assisted by Marchand and David Krejci (which moved him into 10th place on the team's all-time scoring list) at 17:45. In between that, Nazem Kadri for some reason started a fight with Brandon Carlo who dwarfs him. You knew that it was the Black and Gold's night when Danton Heinen pushed the lead to 4-0 with a beautiful goal-scorer's move at 1:47 of the third period. Ryan Donato and John Moore assisted on only his third goal of the season.

Toronto's defense is still their biggest issue which is why they play so many high-scoring affairs. They finally got on the board thanks to a goal by Travis Dermott at 4:03 of the third, Auston Matthews (5-game point-streak) and Jake Gardiner had the helpers on the pure shot that beat Jaroslav Halak (31 saves, 9th win of the season) cleanly. In old school Leafs fashion, they gave that goal right back 34 seconds later as Krejci scored on a 3-on-1 (his 4th goal of the season) with Pasta and Marchand. Things got silly as Andersen gave up a weak one to Donato shortly after that (6:13) that caused him to get pulled in favor of the immortal Garret Sparks. Donato's third goal of the seaosn was assisted by Heinen and Krug.

Matthews tapped in a goal at 9:30 (his 16th of the season, in 16 games!) that cut it to 6-2. That's when things went a little bonkers as good old Zach Hyman (that is a tough name to live with) hit McAvoy late with a cheap shot. Charlie had just returned on Thursday at Tampa Bay (23-7-1) after missing 20 games with a concussion so you can understand why Grzelcyk dropped the gloves with Hyman. McAvoy went to the Bruins' dressing room but thankfully was cleared to return by the end of the game. A few moments later, Chris Wagner (playing in his 200th NHL game) caught Morgan Rielly with a clean open ice hit (don't do that!) so he fought UMass-Lowell alum Ron Hainsey for shits and giggles. Andreas Johnsson (who earlier in the night refused to fight Sean Kuraly) rounded out the scoring with a completely meaningless power play goal at 12:22, his seventh goal of the season was assisted by Patrick Marleau and Gardiner.

The B's have little time to rest at home as they fly out to Ottawa (13-14-3) for tomorrow's meeting with the Senators (5, NESN). Tuukka Rask will get the start as the Bruins try to start a new win streak. Keep in mind, they are 4-0-1 thus far in the second game of back-to-backs and 3-1-1 in Game 3s when they play three times in four days. The Senators are in full rebuild mode and even though they placed Matt Duchene (groin) and Bobby Ryan (concussion) on injured reserve earlier today, they still managed to beat scuffling Pittsburgh (12-10-6) 2-1 in overtime. More numbers to mull over for tomorrow: Boston is 5-7-4 on the road while Ottawa is surprisingly very good at home (10-5-2). With Arizona (13-12-2) coming to the Garden on Tuesday (7, NESN) the B's have the opportunity to grab some points against non-playoff contenders over the next few days.

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Red Wings Win Their Second Game In a Row vs. Bruins, Which For Them is a Huge Accomplishment

The Bruins (14-8-4) and Red Wings (12-11-3) have been in the same division (Atlantic) now for a little while, they even met in the playoffs a few years back but who could call it anything close to a rivalry other than the fact that they both happen to be Original Six clubs? That is partly because Boston has owned that ass while Detroit's absurd postseason streak finally ended and since then, they've faded into NHL mediocrity. Tonight's 4-2 win by the Wings at TD Garden gave at least a breath of life and a sniff of hope that this unnatural pairing of Boston vs. Detroit could turn into something which is better than nothing, am I right folks?

The Wings had beaten the B's 3-2 in overtime on Thanksgiving Eve and this represented their first regulation win vs. the Black and Gold since Valentine's Day 2016 (a 6-5 win in Detroit). Boston had been 15-1-2 in its last 18 games vs. Detroit including points in 11 straight contests (9-0-2). The Bruins outshot the Red Wings 40-27 but that hardly mattered since Detroit beat them up both physically and on the scoreboard (where it really counts, tough guy). 1-0 was the only lead that Boston would have all night as the Red Wings scored twice in the second period and then closed with the final two goals in the latter half of the third period to earn the all-important two points.

Tuukka Rask (23 saves) suffered his first loss in regulation since his brief hiatus but he couldn't be faulted for two of the three goals that he allowed which came via perfect deflections out in front of him. Maine alum Jimmy Howard (38 saves) was immense, other than a bizarre backhand flip by David Backes that went off his shoulder and into the net with 3.8 seconds left in the first period. Other than empty-netters, I doubt that Backes has scored many flukier goals in his long NHL career. His second goal of the season was assisted by John Moore and rookie Colby Cave (his 1st NHL point).

Keep in mind that Detroit had a goal waved off in the second period so it could have been an even worse frame for the B's if that stood (Rask was bumped trying to get in position). Tyler Bertuzzi tied it at 5:45 when Mike Green's shot from the point took an old double deflection off Michael Rasmussen then him for his ninth goal of the season. For the second time in three days, David Krejci took a big (clean) hit at center ice. At least this time he didn't require another emergency trip to the dentist for repairs. Joakim Nordstrom is far from a fighter but he stood up for his new teammate by dropping the gloves with Red Wings defensemen Dennis Cholowski-who had destroyed Krejci. That was nearly the undercard for a massive line brawl that would have included Rask vs. Howard but the no fun refs tied them up and wouldn't let them go. I think I speak for all blood-thirsty fans when I say boooooooooo. The only above average player on the Red Wings these days-Dylan Larkin-made it 2-1 at 17:36 by putting in a rebound on the doorstep. Justin Abdelkader and Gustav Nyquist (another former Black Bear) had the assists on his 10th goal of the season.

It wasn't a banner night for Boston's #2 ranked power play in the NHL (1-for-6) but they knotted it at two thanks to rookie Ryan Donato's tally at 5:31 of the third. His shot deflected off a Red Wing stick but regardless, it was still one of his patented snipes. Donato's second goal of the season was assisted by David Pastrnak and Torey Krug (5-game assist streak). After the shootout game-winner on Thursday and that, it's tough to see him going back down to Providence anytime soon. It looked like it would be another one-goal game that might possibly require overtime but Detroit had other plans as veteran Frans Nielsen tipped in Danny DeKeyser's shot from the point at 11:53 for the go-ahead tally. Nyquist had the secondary assist on Nielsen's first goal of the season. Nyquist completed his three-point night with an empty-netter at 19:33, DeKeyser had the lone assist on his fourth goal of the season.

No practice for the B's on Sunday-the Lord's day-as they'll get back on the ice at Warrior Arena on Monday before travelling to Sunrise, FL to take on the Panthers (10-10-5) on Tuesday (7, NESN). That kicks off a very busy week as the Bruins will be in Tampa (19-7-1) on Thursday (7, NESN) before coming back here briefly to host the Leafs (19-8-0) on Saturday night (7, NESN) before going to Ottawa (12-12-3) the following early evening (5, NESN). It helps when that tough stretch is bookended by doormats like the Panthers and Senators who they should usually beat. Right now, the Lightning and Maple Leafs are the top two teams in the Eastern Conference so both of those contests should be extremely difficult. B's defenseman Brandon Carlo returned this evening after missing the past nine games with an upper-body injury so hopefully between now and game time on Tuesday, nobody on the Bruins slips on a banana peel or falls out of a bunk bed.


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