Happy Halloween Everybody From the Best Team in the National Hockey League-The Bruins (9-1-2)

I don't root for people to get fired but honestly, the effort submitted by the Sharks (4-8-1) tonight at TD Garden vs. the Bruins (9-1-2) was downright disgraceful. Playing in their fifth and final game of a road trip, San Jose might as well have just skipped the game altogether as they lost 5-1 and got outshot 41-17. Picking up its fourth win in a row, Boston will obviously take it but you have to wonder if Sharks head coach Pete DeBoer will still have a job on Friday when his current club begins a six-game homestand.

To beat the B's right now you have to play your best game and if you take a bunch of lazy penalties, you are utterly doomed. It didn't even matter that San Jose came in with the top ranked penalty kill in the NHL since Boston's number two ranked power play scored twice in the first period and never looked back en route to the comprehensive beatdown that was complete with Brett Richie beating the stuffing out of poor Barclay Goodrow (which sounds like the name of a WWF jobber from the 90s).

After missing the last five games with an upper-body injury, Bruins center David Krejci returned to the second line and made an immediate impact with a power-play tally of his own and an assist. In total, five different guys scored goals for Boston which was a welcome sight for a team that's been overly reliant on its incredible first line last season and into this campaign as well. The new rule is that David Pastrnak has to score in every single game for the Black and Gold and yet again, he didn't waste any time getting his sixth first period goal already in 2019-2020. Patrice Bergeron had an excellent fake shot that forced two Sharks to dive to block it but he slid the puck over to Pasta for a one-timer that went top shelf and hit Martin Jones' (36 saves, 2-6-1) water bottle. 1-0 Bruins at 7:49 of the first period on Pastrnak's NHL-best 12th goal of the season, tying him with Charlie Simmer for the second-most October goals in team history (trailing only Phil Esposito's 14).

Krejci's power play goal was quite similar to his fellow Czech Republic native's (Pastrnak) goal. He was also set up in the left slot and in this case, Torey Krug fed him for a one-timer that he got by Jones. Brad Marchand picked up the other assist (11-game point streak and 10-game assist streak, both career-bests) at 17:51 for the 2-0 Bruins advantage. San Jose's only goal came early in the second period on the power play as well as Brent Burns cranked a shot that seemed to deflect off of somebody or something in front of Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask (16 saves, 6-0-1). Even though they got run out of the building, you have to respect Burns who remains one of the NHL's toughest matchups on either end of the ice. Erik Karlsson and Tomas Hertl assisted on his third goal of the season at 1:31 of the second period. Would you believe that he still played a game-high 26:19 (including 6:24 of shorthanded time)? The guy is Rob Gronkowski type freak of nature with the wacky personality to match.

The B's put this one in the win column with three goals in the second period to close out a really dominant frame where they outshot the Sharks 18-6. Charlie Coyle scored his second goal of the season (and 2nd in as many games) by tapping in Krejci's back-door pass at 5:21. Danton Heinen had the second assist on the goal that came seconds after Hertl exited the penalty box. Jones had been the backup for San Jose's last game and he is their (awful) No. 1 goaltender so he stayed in there despite allowing a breakaway goal to Chris Wagner (his 1st of the season) at 8:31. David Backes had the lone assist (his 1st point of the season) on Wagner's patented backhand move. That was nothing though compared to the embarrassment that Jones must have felt when Brandon Carlo's soft serve floater from the blue line somehow found its way past him and into the net. 5-1 Bruins at 16:50. Wagner and Zdeno Chara notched the assists on Carlo's second goal of the season.

It looked like we were going to get another taste of that delicious Chara-Evander Kane blood feud in the third period but the former Sabre understandably wanted no part of the scariest 42-year-old in the universe. It took until the 11th game (welcome to the new NHL) but Boston finally got its first true fight under its belt. Nobody could have predicted Ritchie (8th fighting major in the NHL) vs. Goodrow (12th fighting major in the NHL) but you knew that somebody was going to drop the gloves in garbage time after there were so many borderline hits and constant chatter after the whistles.

After their first back-to-back of the season last weekend, the Bruins have no practice tomorrow then they'll get back to work on Halloween but their next game isn't until Saturday night (7, NESN) vs. Ottawa (3-7-1)-the second worst team in the Eastern Conference. I'm thinking that Jaroslav Halak will get the start and regardless of who is in net for Boston, they will be huge favorites (not that anybody bets on regular season hockey games). The Senators have been off since beating these same disappointing Sharks 5-2 on Sunday so there will be plenty of time to have these Bruins populating their nightmares. Be afraid NHL, be very afraid.

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Heinen Scores His 1st 2 NHL Goals & Khudobin Stands On His Head as B's Beat Sharks 2-1

With one of the best teams in the NHL visiting TD Garden on Thursday, the Bruins (4-3-1) had to play well to earn any points against the Sharks (4-5-0). Naturally, the Black and Gold were led by that dynamic duo of backup goaltender/No. 1 for now Anton Khudobin (36 saves) and Danton Heinen who potted the first two goals of his NHL career as Boston held off San Jose 2-1 in a playoff-type contest. Haha can anyone say Stanley Cup Finals preview? OK that is a complete reach but coming off that terrible 6-5 overtime loss to Buffalo (3-6-2) on Saturday, it was a good sign that the B's looked like a different team. Heinen already became the fourth Bruins rookie to get his first NHL goal in 2017-18, joining Jake DeBrusk, Charlie McAvoy and Anders Bjork.

Boston can't match San Jose's overall skill but they outworked them by blocking two more shots (16-14) and recording three more takeaways (13-10). The ice was very tilted in the Sharks' favor, at least according to the referees who awarded them a whopping six power-plays (3 penalties alone on rookie Sean Kuraly) but Boston's penalty kill managed to go 5-for-6 and they erased that power play goal by potting a shorthanded goal of their own (their 2nd of the young season). Heinen gave his team a 1-0 lead at 9:41 of the first period as former Bruins great Martin Jones (31 saves) left a juicy rebound right on his doorstep for the rookie to knock in his first NHL tally. David Backes and Kevan Miller each had assists-their first points of the season-on the shorthanded goal.

The Bruins led 1-0 after the first period but the Sharks tied it at 10:40 of the second as former Boston No. 1 overall pick Joe Thornton (in 1997!) was helped by Khudobin's save which left a loose puck right in the crease. It was Jumbo Joe's second goal of the season (he has a 5-game point streak) and 1398th career NHL point, tying him with Jari Kurri for 20th all-time. Something called Tim Heed (great name) and Thornton's bearded brother Brent Burns provided the assists. Heinen quickly answered at 13:27 when a lucky bounce (a shot that went wide of the net but caromed right to him stationed on the other post) found his stick for an easy tap-in. Brandon Carlo and Tim Schaller assisted on Heinen's second goal of the night that turned out to be the game-winner.

San Jose outshot Boston 37-33 for the contest, including 15-11 in the third period thanks to two late power plays (they pulled Jones for the latter one). Tom Brady gets all the credit around here for being an unparalleled 40-year-old but Zdeno Chara (game-high 26:40 ice time, 8:21 shorthanded) is also a freak of nature and future first ballot Hall of Famer that continues to defy the laws of aging as well. Fresh off a 4-0 win at hapless Montreal (2-7-1 with a goal-differential of -20) this evening, the high-flying Kings (8-1-1) visit the Garden on Saturday night (7, NESN). It should be a fun atmosphere with another quality opponent in town plus a crowd that is sure to be celebrating Halloween a little early (glug, glug). David Krejci (back) will remain out for that tilt but Tuukka Rask (who backed up Khudobin tonight) could potentially return for his first start in nearly two weeks after being in the concussion protocol.

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