Bruins Finally Solve the Maple Leafs, Thanks In No Small Part to Their Ageless Captain Zdeno Chara

Right now, there probably isn't a team in the NHL that the Bruins (31-11-8) should be fearful of. I say that with tonight's 4-1 win vs. Toronto (30-19-5) at TD Garden still within sight of their rear-view mirror. The B's had been winless in their last six games with the Leafs (0-5-1) including losses on back-to-back nights in November. That was then and this is now as the Bruins are a remarkable 16-1-4 in their previous 21 contests. What's more, Tuukka Rask (18-0-2) extended his own point streak to 20 games while he works his way up the franchise list (still the 4th best mark in team history) for goaltenders.

There was more historical context to this regular season meeting as Bruins captain Zdeno Chara played in his 1400th career NHL game. Tomorrow will most likely be all about Tom Brady (who picked up yet another NFL MVP award this evening) but the Black and Yellow 40-year-old has proven over and over that he still has plenty left in his super-sized frame. He was a game-high +2 vs. Toronto, skated a game-high 24:00, had an assist, five hits and he blocked two shots. What is the Slovakian translation for "are you not entertained?" I know that many Bruins fans (not to mention radio hosts, cough cough Felger) had begun to write him off years ago but what can you say now when he's still performing at such a high level-he should have been an All-Star last weekend in Tampa?

Boston had it's 18-game point streak (14-0-4) snapped on Tuesday in their 3-1 loss to Anaheim (25-18-10) but since then, they've immediately bounced back with a solid 3-1 victory against St. Louis (32-19-3) on Thursday followed by this strong performance versus the only club that can realistically catch them for second-place in the Atlantic Division. The two points means that they are five points ahead of Toronto with four games in hand. After allowing the first goal in eight straight games, the B's have begun to make things easier on themselves by striking first on Thursday and tonight. Patrice Bergeron hammered in a pass from Danton Heinen at 4:29 of the first period. That play started after a ferocious forecheck by the rookie led to a turnover by the Maple Leafs (they had 12 more than the Bruins in the entire tilt). Bergeron's goal was his team-leading 22nd of the season, Brad Marchand has 21 but one game remains on his suspension.

It was a great sight to see Charlie McAvoy back on the ice since he missed the last four games following a heart procedure. He was noticeably rusty as you would expect, never more so than when Mitch Marner's shot (that was going wide of the net) was deflected in by McAvoy's stick. Tuukka Rask (23 saves in his 21st win of the season) consoled him after the play and it was knotted at one after the first period. Boston used a pair of power play tallies in the second period to take control of things: David Pastrnak's shot slipped by Frederik Andersen (26 saves) at 9:22 and Torey Krug smoked a one-timer at 16:47 for the 3-1 Bruins lead. Pastrnak's goal was his 21st of the season, assisted by Krug and Heinen. Krug's eighth goal of the season featured helpers by Austin Czarnik (making his first appearance for Boston since Nov. 8) and David Krejci.

Boston outshot Toronto 30-24 and while the Leafs owned the third (10-6), the B's still potted the only goal in the final frame-an empty-netter by Tim Schaller that was assisted by Rask (!) and Chara. These are heady times for the Bruins since they have the second most points in the Eastern Conference (trailing only Tampa Bay) and fourth most in the NHL (Winnipeg and Vegas are also in front of them) which is sort of mind-blowing. Nobody wants to be the Washington Capitals-regular season heroes that turn into pumpkins every spring in the playoffs-and Boston is showing early signs of what should be a tough out in the postseason. Tonight felt like a game that you'd see in April or May, not early February and these teams will meet one more time in the regular season (Feb. 24 in Toronto) and perhaps again when it really counts. The B's have been great at the Garden (18-6-4) and also very good on the road (13-5-4) which should come in handy with a back-loaded second half schedule.

The Bruins visit two struggling teams in the East this week that currently sit outside the playoff picture: they are in Detroit (21-22-8) on Tuesday (7:30, NESN) followed by a back-to-back at the Rangers (25-21-5) the next night (8, NBC Sports). The next home game is a week from tonight (7, NESN) vs. wretched Buffalo (14-29-9). Since he's in such a groove and because the Red Wings are in the Atlantic Division, I'm betting that Rask will get the start in Motown and then Anton Khudobin appears on Broadway. As New England sports fans, we are insanely lucky these days: the Patriots could win their sixth Super Bowl tomorrow night, the Celtics are the best team in the Eastern Conference (and they seem like the only team in the East capable of pushing the Warriors in a potential NBA Finals) and the Bruins are the hottest team in the NHL. Go Pats!

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The Undermanned Bruins Find a Way to Hold Off the Golden Knights, 2-1 at TD Garden

David Backes is out for eight weeks after colon surgery and David Krejci missed his fifth straight game with a back injury so it's understandable that Boston (5-3-3) wasn't expecting a work of art as they hosted Vegas (8-4-0) tonight at TD Garden. It wasn't an instant classic unless you love boring defensive hockey but the B's will happily take the two points as they beat the Golden Knights 2-1 thanks to goals by Riley Nash and Sean Kuraly. Since Vegas had nearly blanked Boston back on Oct. 15 (3-1 at T-Mobile Arena) in their first ever meeting, the Bruins needed to do whatever it took to avoid the series sweep (which would have been Vegas' first).

The Golden Knights weren't feeling sorry for the Bruins' recent rash of injuries since they are currently starting their fourth goaltender of the young season-your boy Maxime Lagace (26 saves)-backed up by Dylan Ferguson who was just called up from juniors. Having to play four goalies in less than a month of existence is borderline insane. The B's are the same club that was nearly shut out by their former first round bust Malcolm Subban so I guess we should have expected a similar pop gun performance by their middling offense that is trying to find their way with one legitimate forward line at the moment.

After a scoreless first period, Boston got on the board first as Nash's first shot hit the post but then he stuck with it long enough to knock the loose puck in for his first goal of the season at 3:24 of the second. Austin Czarnik (recalled earlier today from Providence) notched his first assist of the season and Torey Krug had the other helper (only his 2nd of the season). The Golden Knights answered a little over six minutes later as Cody Eakin one timed a pass from Nate Schmidt for his second goal of the season. Bruins rookie Jake DeBrusk coughed up the puck in his own end, putting his teammate Tuukka Rask (28 saves) in a vulnerable position.

Boston's penalty kill went 3-for-3 this evening and Kuraly scored the game-winning goal at 9:53 of the third period after some fine work by Krug and DeBrusk. Krug had the initial shot that was blocked in front but DeBrusk fought down low to force a save by Lagace and Kuraly crashed the net (and ran into the post) leading to the memorable tally (his 1st NHL regular season goal; he had two including the 2OT GWG vs. Ottawa in Game 5 last spring).

On Saturday night (7, NESN), Boston hosts Washington (6-6-1) who is off to a puzzling start themselves to say the least. Backes had surgery today and I doubt that Krejci will be back by then so the B's will have to continue to find a way to grab points while they have this mish-mash of a lineup. The good news is that even when the Black and Gold aren't playing particularly well in 2017-18, multiple times they have still recorded points when it was less than their best effort-Monday's 4-3 shootout loss at Columbus (9-4-0) being a perfect example after they trailed 3-0 but rallied for the still disappointing point.

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If Only the Bruins Could Play The Sabres Like Once Every Week, They'd Be in Good Shape

As the Bruins (20-15-4) have proven over and over again already this season, especially when they're at TD Garden, they can't underestimate anyone after they've lost to a bunch of bottom-feeder last-place teams. For whatever reason, the Sabres (13-15-8) are just what ails them since with today's 3-1 New Year's Eve matinee victory, the Black and Gold swept the season series with Buffalo for the first time in either team's franchise history. Of course, keep in mind that when there were fewer clubs in the NHL, the Atlantic Division rivals used to meet up to eight times a season which looking back on it now is pretty funny.

This was a feel-good moment for the B's as they captured back-to-back wins for the first time in nearly a month (Dec. 1, 3, 5), Patrice Bergeron continued to heat up offensively (3 goals in 5 games) while Ryan Spooner (3 goals, 4 assists) and Torey Krug (7 assists) each extended their point streaks to five games apiece. Tuukka Rask (26 saves, 19th win of the season) continued his mastery of the Sabres as he improved to 13-5-1 in 21 career games vs. Buffalo. Boston had won 4-2 in Buffalo on Thursday but they paid a price for those particular two points as David Backes is now out indefinitely with a concussion.

One of the guys that will counted on for more production with Backes out is Frank Vatrano who has been moved up to the second line. He gave Boston a 1-0 lead just 1:28 into the contest with one of his signature quick release shots. Zdeno Chara assisted on Vatrano's second goal of the season (2 goals, 2 assists in 5 games) that fooled Sabres goaltender Robin Lehner (25 saves). Seeking some payback from Thursday when he got bloodied by William Carrier's cheap shot punches while they were tied up by the refs, Adam McQuaid drilled Johan Larsson with a clean hit (that dislocated the left wing's wrist).

Bergy doubled the Bruins' lead in the second period with a one-timer from Spooner and Brad Marchand at 7:04 on the power play. Bergeron had been a ghost in terms of goal-scoring for much of the early going so it's been nice to see him find his game lately. Lehner had started his New Year's Eve drinking early or something as Tim Schaller's harmless backhander beat him at 9:29 of the second period for a commanding 3-0 Bruins advantage. Three goals scored by Boston can feel like double that with their struggles to find the back of the net and couple that with how well Rask has played. The Bruins are now 14-2-1 when they lead by 2+ goals in 2016-17. Krug and Austin Czarnik assisted on Schaller's fifth goal of the season that had to feel a little sweeter against his former team.

As you probably noticed lately, the NHL has done everything in its power to outlaw fighting so even though Kevan Miller and Evander Kane wanted to fight each other later in the second, not to mention many other chippy moments throughout the proceedings, the linesmen and referees weren't having any of it. I understand they want to eliminate needless injuries (most notably concussions) from fights but one of the things that makes hockey so great is the ability to settle things after a cheap play.

North Chelmsford, MA native and BU one-and-done star Jack Eichel always seems to do something when he's at the Garden so he didn't disappoint his friends and family with a one-timer at 19:38 of the second that he hammered past Rask. His seventh goal of the season was assisted by Rasmus Ristolainen and Sam Reinhart. This was the first time in this campaign that Bergeron has scored in consecutive games and Boston's sputtering power play is slowly figuring things out with goals in four of their last five.

Nearly halfway through the season, Boston still finds itself in third-place in the Atlantic Division. They have 44 points like Ottawa (20-12-4) but the Senators have played three less games. Also, the Bruins are four points ahead of Tampa Bay (18-15-4) going into their meeting with Carolina this evening (Lightning will have 1 game in hand after that). Boston is back at .500 at home and five games over .500 on the road (11-6-4) so I suppose it's good news that they head out of town for five of their next six games.

This week is another one that at least on paper isn't too scary: at reeling New Jersey (14-16-7) on Monday (7, NESN), they host Edmonton (19-12-6) on Thursday (7, NESN) in Milan Lucic's latest return, at Florida (15-14-8) on Saturday (7, NESN) and at Carolina (16-12-7) on Sunday (5, NESN). The Bruins should get points in all of those road games and even though the Oilers have been unexpectedly good this season, I still don't fear them.

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Nevermind Playing Hockey Games, The Worn-Out Bruins Desperately Need a Rest Like Right Now

In any professional sport, every team will face a rough stretch with tons of games (and travel) condensed into a short amount of time. That's why it is pointless fodder (although always a favorite crutch for my fellow lazy media members) to whine about such circumstances since at some point, everyone will have to deal with it. With all that said, the Bruins (16-13-3) have to be happy that they finally get two days between games for the first time in nearly a month (Nov. 20-21). After getting three out of four unlikely points with a 2-1 overtime win in Montreal (19-6-4) on Monday and a 4-3 loss to Pittsburgh (20-7-3) last night, they returned to TD Garden and lost 4-3 to the Ducks (16-10-5) this evening.

The season-long trends for the B's of losing in Game 2 of back-to-backs (1-5-0) and Game 3 of three-games-in-four-nights (3-5-0) continued along with the even more troubling poor play when anyone not named Tuukka Rask (15-5-3) occupies their net. Backup goaltender Anton Khudobin (1-5-0) clearly isn't the same guy he was in his first go-around with the Bruins back in 2013 but it doesn't help that his few starts are usually marked by team-wide shitty outings.

A new wrench was thrown into Boston's usual script for home losses as they actually jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period only to see Anaheim quickly erase that. Boston dropped to 11-2-0 this season when they lead by 2+ goals. The Ducks went up 3-2 early in the second period and the Bruins tied it up but once again, Anaheim had the last laugh. The game got off to such a crazy start that it was a shame to see it end in such an anti-climatic fashion (with 0 goals in the final 34:58). It was a battle of backup goaltenders with Khudobin (23 saves) facing your boy Jonathan Bernier (6-2-1) who finished with 31 saves.

Bruins captain Zdeno Chara blasted home a shot from the point at 12:07 of the first period. David Backes and Brad Marchand assisted on Chara's second goal of the season (his 1st goal in 22 games and 1st point in 8 games). Only 13 seconds later, Austin Czarnik doubled Boston's advantage with a one-timer from Ryan Spooner and Riley Nash. The rookie has slowly started to find his legs in the NHL with two goals and two assists in the last six games. It turned into video game hockey as Andrew Cogliano cut it to 2-1 just 24 seconds after Czarnik's strike. The three goals in 37 seconds was the most in a Bruins game since Boston and St. Louis combined for three in 34 seconds on Dec. 19, 1987. In truth, it was an own goal as Cogliano passed it to Jakob Silfverberg but the latter whiffed while David Krejci accidentally put it in his own goal. Woof.

Earlier in the frame, Khudobin had stopped a partial breakaway on Silfverberg but then Kevin Bieksa tied it up at two by jumping out of the penalty box and taking a stretch pass by Ryan Getzlaf (his 23rd assist, 2nd most in the NHL) before he beat Khudobin. Former Northeastern Husky Josh Manson went to the net and was rewarded with a juicy rebound right on his stick with Khudobin way out of position. His 1st goal of the season came 55 seconds into the second period with Silfverberg and Rickard Rakell picking up the assists. Krejci scored one for his team which was nice (his 6th of the season), depositing a power-play goal from Backes and Torey Krug at 2:06.

Rakell put in a rebound at 5:02 of the second period which turned out to be the game-winner. Sami Vatanen and Cam Fowler assisted on Rakell's 12th goal of the season (he was also named the 1st star of the game). The B's will have no practice tomorrow and then probably a light workout on Saturday before they host the Kings (15-12-2). Los Angeles is in Pittsburgh tomorrow night so unlike many of their recent contests, Boston will be waiting for someone to visit them rather than the other way around. Tonight's loss dropped them to under .500 at the Garden (7-8-0) in 2016-17. The Kings are hanging onto the second Wild Card spot in the Western Conference but without star goaltender Jonathan Quick (what up ZooMass?) out until March with a groin injury, it's doubtful that they'll be able to hang on to it. The B's will have to take advantage of playing a West Coast team on Sunday afternoon (1, NESN), granted the Kings' bodies should be used to the Eastern Time zone by then.

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Did You Really Think That the Bruins Would Lose at TD Garden During Military Appreciation Night?

I think that we all could get used to this. For the second game in a row, Boston (8-6) notched an easy two points at home. This evening was Military Appreciation Night at TD Garden-always one of the best events of the entire season-so it was great to see the Bruins play well in front of so many deserving veterans and their wonderful families. Columbus (6-4-2) actually scored first but the B's rattled off the next five goals (including 4 in the first period in a span of 4:01) to roll to a 5-2 win.

Coming off a tough 3-2 loss at Montreal (12-1-1) on Tuesday, I'm going to pretend that nothing else notable happened that night in a certain presidential election, Tuukka Rask (15 saves, 8-1-0) was back in goal and life was good for the Black and Gold. The same couldn't be said for poor Sergei Bobrovsky (5 saves) who gave up four goals before he was pulled just 12:48 into the proceedings. The Blue Jackets surprisingly boast the top-ranked power play in the NHL and No. 2 penalty kill unit so the Bruins were happy to keep it mostly to a 5-on-5 contest with only three penalties called on the home team all game.

Alexander Wennberg stole the puck along the boards in Boston's end and fed Nick Foligno for Columbus' opening tally at 2:29. Foligno's goal was his fifth of the season and Wennberg is now the NHL leader with 13 assists (who knew?). Torey Krug finally broke his dry spell with his first goal of the season at 8:47 which tied things at one. His shot from the point deflected off Blue Jackets defenseman Ryan Murray and it was assisted by the Davids (Krejci and Backes). 1:08 after that, Matt Beleskey also got off the goal-scoring schneid as his linemate Austin Czarnik capitalized on a Columbus turnover and fed him for a slap shot that Bobrovsky could only get a piece of.

The rookie Czarnik's speed was on full display as he scored his second NHL goal at 12:24. Beleskey had chipped it in the zone to Riley Nash who hit Czarnik for a 2-on-1 one-timer that he buried. 24 seconds after that, PC's Tim Schaller roofed a sweet backhander from in close (that had to be reviewed since it hit the camera in the net and popped out) which ended Bobrovsky's night for good. Dominic Moore (who was 13-3 on faceoffs as well) assisted on Schaller's second goal as a Bruin.

Backes made it 5-1 in favor of the B's in the second period at 11:51. His one-timer (his 3rd goal of the season) was assisted by Krejci and Ryan Spooner. The last Blue Jackets goal was something straight out of the soccer world as Colin Miller managed to stickhandle the puck right past Rask and into his own net at 8:40 of the third period. Undoubtedly, Sam Gagner was credited with the easiest goal (his 4th of the season) of his life.

Stop me if you've heard this before but the Bruins are headed back out on the road, a three-game road trip to be exact. This means that 11 of their first 17 games will be away from home. The good news is that in this limited sample size so far, they still look like a decent road team (5-3-0) while their next two contests this weekend are against the worst squads in the Western Conference: Arizona and Colorado are both 5-7-0. They are at the Coyotes on Saturday night (8, NESN) and then the Avalanche on Sunday night (7, NESN) before going to Minnesota (7-4-1) next Thursday (8, NESN). Their next home game isn't until Saturday, November 19 (7, NESN) vs. Winnipeg (6-7-1).

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Between Tough Games (Rangers & Canadiens), B's Take Care of Business Against the Depleted Sabres

Coming off a dispiriting 5-2 loss to the Rangers (10-3-0) on Saturday, the Bruins (7-5-0) needed an easy win tonight and that's exactly what they got as they disposed of the shorthanded Sabres (5-5-2) 4-0 at TD Garden. With the Canadiens (10-1-1) looming tomorrow night, I'm not quite sure why he started but Tuukka Rask (7-1-0) made 32 mostly routine saves for his second shutout of the season and 32nd of his NHL career (moving him ahead of Tim Thomas for 3rd place in franchise history). Meanwhile head coach Claude Julien continued to extend his franchise record by grabbing his 400th win as Bruins head coach.

There were a couple very promising developments for the B's besides the two points: their power play which had been wretched all season (3-for-38) but this evening they went 3-for-8. Also, David Krejci and Riley Nash scored their first goals of the season, Matt Beleskey had an assist (his 1st point of the season) and a fight while David Pastrnak (1 goal, 1 assist) continued to score at an amazing clip (12 points in 10 games). Minus probably their three best players-BU's Jack Eichel, Evander Kane and Zach Bogosian-Buffalo was not nearly at full strength.

Dominic Moore somehow completely missed the net when he was wide open for a few seconds right in front of it so the game was scoreless after one period. The action thankfully picked up in the second period as the Bruins crafted possibly their best frame of this young season. They blitzed Buffalo with three goals in a less than 10-minute span. Brad Marchand's shot squeaked by Robin Lehner (38 saves) at 5:44 for his fifth goal of the season (4-game point streak), assisted by Pastrnak and Beleskey. Coming off hip surgery over the summer, Krejci has predictably started off slowly so it was nice to see him hammer in a one-timer from Torey Krug and Ryan Spooner at 10:12 for another power-play goal (Boston was 5-on-3 for 2:34). For a second it looked like Beleskey finally got a goal of his own but Nash's centering pass actually bounced in off a Sabres skate, that made it 3-0 Bruins at 14:41.

After being a healthy scratch last Thursday at Tampa Bay, Beleskey has responded with two good performances in a row capped off by his best game thus far (clearly not saying much). You can never question his toughness or desire to win as he stood up for Marchand after the latter was cross-checked into Buffalo's net. Beleskey dropped the gloves for a short scrap with some guy named Derek Grant. Less than a minute later, Pastrnak put it on ice (terrible pun totally intended) by putting in a juicy rebound on the doorstep. It was his team-leading eighth goal of the season (he's scored a goal in 4 straight games) with rookie Austin Czarnik picking up his first career NHL assist and John-Michael Liles notching his third helper of the season.

The Canadiens have been playing like the best team in the NHL, except from their bizarre 10-0 loss to Columbus (5-3-2) on Friday, and we all know how much the B's typically struggle against their most heated rival. It feels like Boston bungled things by having Rask start tonight since he's dealing with an injury (hamstring, groin?) that has already caused him to miss multiple games this campaign. Would they dare stick rookie Zane McIntyre in goal for only his second NHL start at the Bell Centre? Either way, it's probably a moot point since the Bruins seemingly never play well up there. If you need an escape from the relentless presidential election coverage tomorrow, check out B's-Habs starting at 7:30 p.m. on NESN. No matter your political beliefs, hating on the loathsome Canadiens will never go out of style.

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