It's 2021 and the United States is still in shambles due to Covid-19 and our disgrace of a President who will mercifully be out of the White House next week. On a lighter note, at least we have some NHL hockey back in our lives as we try to get through the pandemic both healthy and sane which coupled together is a tall order. Tonight, the Bruins opened their season at the empty Prudential Center in Newark, NJ against the Devils-who are temporarily in the same division (East) as them-for this abbreviated 56-game schedule. The Bruins led 1-0 going into the third period and 2-1 later in the frame but the Devils tied it up both times forcing a dreaded shootout. In three rounds, left wing Brad Marchand (goal, assist) had the lone tally as the final shooter of the night allowing Boston to survive for a 3-2 victory. It wasn't pretty and it should have been over in regulation (since the Bruins outshot the Devils 37-22) but two points is all that you can ask for.
There were plenty of changes for the B's since the last time that we saw them when they lost in Game 5 of the second round playoff series vs. Tampa Bay (the eventual Stanley Cup champion) in August: most notably, captain Zdeno Chara is now on the Capitals, defenseman Torey Krug is a highly paid Blue, superstar right wing David Pastrnak is out for a bit longer as he recovers from off-season hip surgery and defenseman Kevan Miller returned to action after missing two years following a pair of broken knee caps. Despite all that, Boston can still count on its core players: goaltender Tuukka Rask (seen for the 1st time since leaving the Toronto bubble early) made 20 saves including a pair of huge stops in overtime, Patrice Bergeron had an assist and he won 73% of his face-offs and David Krejci also added an assist as Boston scored both of its goals on the power play. Defenseman Matt Grzelcyk has always been viewed as Krug Lite and this evening he performed admirably in that tough role to fill. He played 24:07 (2nd most on the team) including a game-high 5:51 on the power play with a game-high six shots on goal. Who knows if he can maintain that type of workload for a full season but this was a promising beginning for him.
With the Bruins only playing the other seven teams (Devils, Islanders, Flyers, Caps, Sabres, Penguins and Rangers) in their new division eight times apiece in the regular season, they would be wise to beat up on the bad clubs which undoubtedly will be headlined by New Jersey who has seemingly been rebuilding for years upon years. With that said, Boston couldn't have asked for a cushier start to this campaign (other than playing at the empty TD Garden) since they also meet the Devils on Saturday afternoon (1, NESN) in Jersey for a quick rematch. Jaroslav Halak no doubt will get the start in that one which isn't much of a drop off from Rask while the Devils will probably sit goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood (35 saves) in favor of his backup Eric Comrie?
The Bruins took a 1-0 lead late in the first period as Marchand went to the net and re-directed a cross-ice from Krejci for the team's first goal of the season. Bergy had the second assist on the goal at 17:40. Assuming that ESPN Classic still exists, this forgettable contest won't be featured on it anytime soon as nothing really notable happened in the second period. Thankfully, things got a little more interesting in the third period as former BC star Miles Wood skated in on a breakaway (during a delayed penalty) and roofed a wrist shot past Rask. The No. 1 overall draft pick from 2019-forward Jack Hughes-had the lone assist on that tying goal at 8:51. Less than four and a half minutes later, the B's answered with what should have been the game-winning goal. It was basically a carbon copy of Marchand's goal expect rather than one of the best players in the league, it came from a complete hack-winger Nick Ritchie. Stationed at the familiar left post, that slob was at least aware enough to place his stick on the ice and put in Marchand's sweet feed to him. Grzelcyk provided the second assist on the go-ahead goal at 13:12. Sadly, it only took 34 seconds for New Jersey to tie it yet again with one of the weirdest goals that I've ever seen. Rookie defenseman Ty Smith's shot took at least three or maybe four deflections before it reached Boston's net. Defenseman Matt Tennyson and Hughes provided the helpers on a goal that Smith won't soon forget, for many reasons.
After getting outplayed for much of the game, the Devils finally woke up in overtime and truthfully should have won it at least twice as their best forward-Kyle Palmieri-skated most of the length of the ice on a breakaway before Rask stoned him then later Hughes was stopped in close and center Travis Zajac couldn't find the rebound that was at his feet. Rask made a few good saves in regulation but he really earned his paycheck in overtime and the shootout where he stopped the immortal trio of Nikita Gusev, Jesper Boqvist and Hughes. Shootouts have always been a frustrating weakness for the B's so after Charlie Coyle and Ondrej Kase were stopped, we were all spared from a tediously long shootout by Marchand. Bless you Brad. Nothing less than two more points on Saturday is acceptable, especially if the Bruins face a nameless backup goaltender. Devils defenseman P.K. Subban (game-high 30:18 time on ice!) deserved better in Lindy Ruff's first game behind the bench as New Jersey's head coach.
No comments:
Post a Comment