The Avalanche Stake Their Claim As the Best Team in the NHL (or At Least the Western Conference)

There are very few teams in the NHL these days that can outplay the Bruins (20-4-6) from start to finish and walk away with a win. The Avalanche (19-8-2) came to TD Garden tonight on a mission to prove that their 4-2 win vs. Boston way back on October 10 in Denver was anything but a fluke. Point made as the Avs played even better in this their only other regular season meeting with the B's, beating them 4-1. In case you can't do the incredibly easy math, that means that Colorado owns half of Boston's regulation losses (2 of 4) so far in 2019-20.

You can also simultaneously kiss goodbye to a pair of impressive streaks by the Black and Gold: their 13-game point streak (9-0-4) is over and their 17-game home point streak (12-0-5)-the second longest in franchise history-also came to a halt against what has to be on the shortlist of top clubs in the league. What made this road victory even more remarkable was that Colorado's starting goaltender Phillip Grubauer (3 saves, 1 goal allowed) left in the first period with an injury (groin?) but no problem as your guy Pavel Francouz (16 saves, 7-2-0) was flawless in his place. They also lost stud rookie defenseman Cale Makar (the greatest thing to come from UMass in years) to what looked like a possible concussion suffered on a hit by Brad Marchand in the third period. Bottom line, with all the injuries that they had already suffered in this campaign, they apparently don't get rattled by losing key players during games.

Boston actually scored first which is surprising when you see the final score. Chris Wagner tipped in John Moore's shot from the point for his third goal of the season at 13:14 of the first period. Anders Bjork had the second assist as Wagner scored in back-to-back contests for the fifth time in his NHL career. The Bruins' lead was rather short-lived though as Valeri Nichushkin tied it up at one following a poor clearing attempt by Boston's defensemen. He put in a backhander-that just went over the goal line-at 17:25 of the first, assisted by BU's Matt Nieto.

It was 1-1 after one frame but Colorado outshot Boston 9-4. Go figure, four more shots on goal for the B's in the second period didn't get the job done as the Avalanche stormed ahead (sorry, bad weather pun) for a 3-1 advantage. First, defenseman Ian Cole (playing in his 500th NHL game) wired a shot top-shelf over Jaroslav Halak's (16 saves, 7-2-3) glove. His first goal of the season was assisted by his defensive partner Mark Barberio and Joonas Donskoi (3 goals, 7 assists in his last 7 games). The goal that made it 3-1 late in the second period was the one that truly affected the B's since defensemen Matt Grzelcyk and Charlie McAvoy got in each other's way, leading to a breakaway for Andre Burakovsky. He put the puck by Halak for his 12th goal of the season, assisted by Nathan MacKinnon (7 goals and 12 assists in his last 10 games) and Donskoi.

Trailing 3-1 going into the third, the Bruins had their work cut out for them and despite getting two full power plays and part of another, they never found a way to beat Francouz. The four combined penalties in the third period was unexpected after there wasn't a single call in the first 45:54 of action. Boston doubled Colorado in shots on goal (12-6) in the final 20 minutes but they kept missing the net (15 times) or having their shot blocked (21 times) by Colorado skaters. B's head coach Bruce Cassidy took Halak out for an extra skater during Boston's last power play but even going 6-on-4 couldn't boost the Bruins' sputtering offense in this case. Gabriel Landeskog's empty-netter (his fifth goal of the season) with 2.2 seconds left was just window-dressing at that point, Colorado had already looked every bit the part of a true Stanley Cup contender this spring.

The Bruins won't be back on the Garden ice for awhile (Dec. 17 vs. LA to be exact) since they are leaving for a four-game road trip tomorrow, starting Monday (7:30, NESN) in Ottawa (12-17-1). The wretched Senators are a good foil for getting their groove back before things get much more real later in the week. Boston is at Washington (22-4-5)-the NHL's best team-on Wednesday (7, NBCSN) and then at Tampa Bay (14-10-3) the following evening (7, NESN). The Lightning seem to still be in a haze from their first-round exit vs. Columbus last April but you can't overlook that roster for a second because they are due to turn it around any day now. Finally, the Bruins end the trip on Saturday night (7, NESN) in Florida (14-9-5) who believe it or not are currently in second-place in the Atlantic Division. Like the B's (who won't practice tomorrow), I recommend watching Patriots-Chiefs (4:25, CBS) and chilling out on Sunday since next week is going to be a busy one as Boston looks to improve on its 8-3-1 road record.

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In a Playoff-Like Game (for early March), Capitals Outlast Bruins 2-1 in Overtime on Niskanen's Goal

If we're being positive here (and tonight I feel like going that way), the Bruins (36-23-7) went toe-to-toe with the two best teams in the NHL the last few days on their home ice and earned three out of a possible four points against Chicago and Washington. Tonight at TD Garden, Boston scored first but lost in OT 2-1 to Washington (48-13-4) who in the process picked up their 100th point of the season. Underrated defenseman Matt Niskanen (who is having a great season) scored the game-winning goal at 2:36, his fifth goal of the season from Andre Burakovsky and Marcus Johannson.

Yet again, the B's failed to reach the .500 mark at home (15-16-4) this season (something which they haven't done in 2015-16) and more worrisome, they lost defenseman Kevan Miller to what looked like a serious shoulder injury. He's had problems with his shoulders in recent years and he left early in the second period after Alex Ovechkin hit him from behind into the glass. Ovi was assessed a five-minute penalty for boarding while Brad Marchand picked up a two-minute roughing call for sticking up for his fallen teammate. It was a physical contest as Adam McQuaid and Tom Wilson (who leads the NHL in penalty minutes) fought in the first period.

Boston grabbed a 1-0 lead at 7:11 of the first as Patrice Bergeron opened the scoring for the second straight game. Miller corralled a loose puck at the blue line and kept it in Washington's defensive zone. From there, Lee Stempniak got a piece of the puck before Brad Marchand fired a sweet pass across the goal-line to Bergy for the tap-in (his 26th goal of the season).

The Capitals picked up the win primarily for two reasons: their backup goaltender Philipp Grubauer (33 saves) was fantastic and they survived a Bruins 5-on-3 for 1:50 in the second period. Washington tied it at one at 13:08: defenseman Karl Alzner re-directed in a pass from Nicklas Backstrom. Alzner's fourth goal of the season was also assisted by Ovechkin. Earlier in the frame, Bruins defenseman Torey Krug had apparently broke his 40-game (really!) goal-less streak but after a lengthy review, Capitals head coach Barry Trotz's challenge paid off: it was ruled no-goal.

Washington has now won its last six games against the Bruins including a season sweep (3-0) that also included a 4-1 win at home on November 5 and a 3-2 win here on January 5. That is something to keep in mind should they meet again in the playoffs. Tuukka Rask (28 saves) fell to 1-8-4 in his career against the Capitals while Washington didn't even have to call on the services of their star goaltender-Braden Holtby-who started last night in New York (a 3-2 Rangers win). Washington is the only NHL team to not lose consecutive games in regulation this season (12-0-1).

After a mostly successful four-game homestand (2-1-1), the B's head out for a back-to-back in the Sunshine State before they return to the Garden on Thursday to play Carolina (29-26-11). On Monday (7:30, NESN) they are at Florida (36-20-8) and on Tuesday (7:30, NESN), they are at Tampa Bay (39-22-4). Those two games could go a long way towards determining the Atlantic Division since the Lightning currently are up two points on the Panthers and three points on the Bruins (Boston has played one more game than both of them). If there is one thing to count on with the Bruins in this wacky campaign, they have been incredibly consistent on the road (21-7-3).

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In Boston, The Capitals Leave No Doubt As To Who the Best Team in the NHL is at the Moment

Unlike the pitiful effort that they displayed in Friday's disgraceful 5-1 loss to Montreal in the Winter Classic at Gillette Stadium, at least tonight at TD Garden the Bruins (20-14-4) showed some sense of pride. The problem was that they were facing the Capitals (29-7-3), who in case you have been living under a rock happen to be the top team in the league, so they came up short once again 3-2. Boston has lost five out of its last six games as they depart for a pivotal five-game road trip beginning on Friday (7, NESN) in New Jersey.

Joonas Kemppainen returned after missing 11 games with an upper-body injury but Adam McQuaid left early in the second period with what had to be a concussion after Zach Sill boarded him. There was no call on the play but McQuaid appeared to be knocked out after going face-first into the glass. That meant that the Bruins had to play with five defensemen for more than half of the contest. Don't forget that David Krejci remains out with his upper-body injury, Brad Marchand was out (2nd game of his 3-game suspension) and David Pastrnak is back from the World Juniors Championships but for now playing in Providence.

Spotting a 2-0 lead to the Capitals made things infinitely more tough for the goal-challenged Black and Gold. Andre Burakovsky one-timed a pretty cross-ice feed from Evgeny Kuznetsov at 15:01 of the first period. My man Aaron Ness had the second assist on Burakovsky's fourth goal of the season. Kuznetsov doubled Washington's lead at 12:40 of the second period with a power play strike. He walked right in and ripped a shot over Rask's shoulder. Nicklas Backstrom and Matt Niskanen assisted on Kuznetsov's 13th goal of the season.

Scoring two goals against Braden Holtby (25 saves) is a big accomplishment since he's been the best goaltender in the NHL. He is 17-0-2 in his last 19 decisions and if they had the vote right now, he would be a front-runner for the Vezina Trophy (MVP). Loui Eriksson got Boston on the board at 15:26, Brett Connolly and Patrice Bergeron assisted on his 14th goal of the season. When Marcus Johansson put in a loose puck at 10:41 of the third period for a 3-1 Washington lead, you knew that it was over. Dmitry Orlov's shot from the point hit the post and Nate Schmidt had the second assist on Johansson's 10th goal of the season. The Capitals have seven guys with 10+ goals this season, I doubt that any other club can top that.

After Washington's No. 2 power play came through, Boston's No. 1 power play made its presence felt too as Patrice Bergeron scored at 11:52 of the third to cut it to 3-2. Ryan Spooner and Torey Krug assisted on Bergeron's 15th goal of the season (tying him with Marchand for the team lead). Boston fell to 9-11-2 at home in 2015-16 while they are 11-3-2 on the road. They have to hope that bizarre road success carries over the next few weeks since after New Jersey, they'll be in Ottawa on Saturday (7, NESN) night. They are at the Rangers on Monday (7, NESN), at the Flyers on Wednesday (8, NBCSN) and wrap things up in Buffalo on Friday (7, NESN). Even in their current state of disarray, they should win at least two of those matchups. For what it's worth, if the playoffs started today Washington would face Boston. Scary stuff indeed.

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