The Bruins Cooled Off The Stars-One of the Hottest Teams In the NHL-With a 4-3 Win at the Garden

After not looking anything like the best team in the NHL in their past two outings (blowout 9-3 loss at Vancouver then a 5-2 defeat vs. Calgary), the Bruins (40-13-12) put on a very entertaining performance for their home crowd at TD Garden and came away with a 4-3 victory against the Stars (37-21-6) in the process. Dallas entered the contest in second-place in the Central Division with an eight-game road point-streak to boot (6-0-2). They were also 10-2-2 in their past 14 road games so this was a quality two points for the B's who vaulted seven points ahead of Tampa Bay (40-19-5)-who lost their fourth game in a row, falling 5-2 to Chicago (28-28-8)-for first-place in the Atlantic Division.

Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak each put up two points (goal and assist) but the real talking points for the Bruins since they were much more unexpected had to be David Krejci's first fight since the 2010-11 season (the Cup year, that long ago) and Nick Ritchie had two points (goal and assist) himself in his second game as a Bruin. Ondrej Kase's debut for Boston wasn't too notable (minus-1 in 15:16) as he started out on the second line with Krejci and Ritchie before shifting around. Jaroslav Halak (17-6-6) improved to 6-0 in his past six starts with 31 saves. This could have been a less nervy finish as the Black and Gold had to sweat out the final few moments as they couldn't cash in a bunch of empty-net opportunities and the Stars got a weird bounce off Zdeno Chara's skate which cut it to 4-3 Bruins with 2:24 left in regulation. The B's held on though and put to bed any thoughts of an extended losing streak at least for the time being.

The first period was devoid of much action until near the end of the frame as both clubs converted on power play chances. Dallas defenseman John Klingberg's shot deflected off Chara's stick at 17:38 for a 1-0 Dallas lead. Joe Pavelski had the lone assist on Klingberg's fifth goal of the season (that was changed to what would have been Jamie Benn's 300th career goal, only to revert back to Klingberg). Charlie Coyle tied it with a play that would make any professional baseball player proud: Stars goaltender Ben Bishop (24 saves, 21-14-4) made a save on Torey Krug but Coyle hit the puck out of mid-air with his stick once then a second time for the tying tally. Coyle's 16th goal of the season was also assisted by Marchand.

Knotted at one apiece after the first period, Boston took control with a pair of goals 1:17 apart late in the second period. Stars defenseman Andrej Sekera and B's winger Chris Wagner both hit the post earlier in the second. Krejci (18 penalty minutes on the season entering tonight) threw down with another normally mild-mannered guy-Joe Pavelski (24 penalty minutes before this) and for two guys that never drop the gloves, it was an excellent bout. Krejci got the best of Pavelski as evidenced by his bloody knuckles that had to be repaired in the Bruins dressing room. That obviously fired his teammates up as they scored 2:20 after it. Marchand potted his 26th goal of the season at 14:44 on a sweet feed from Charlie McAvoy. Pasta had the other assist as Bishop was left down and out with no chance to stop Brad's top-shelf bullet. Ritchie's shot from distance might have been tipped by someone or something but ultimately it went down as an unassisted goal for him (his 9th of the season and 1st as a Bruin) at 16:01.

Dallas cut it to 3-2 early in the final period as Denis Gurianov tipped in Esa Lindell's shot at 1:18. Jason Dickinson notched the other helper on Gurianov's 19th goal of the season. Boston answered right back as Pastrnak's finished an on-the-tape pass by Ritchie at 3:53 for his NHL-best 46th (!!!) goal of the season. Jeremy Lauzon picked up his first assist of the season as well on what turned out to be Pasta's game-winning goal. Marchand tried to score an empty-netter but it was blocked and other Bruins skated in mud as they tried to end the game. The Stars were undeterred as Miro Heiskanen forced a save by Halak, only to see the puck find a way to get past Halak. Heiskanen's eighth goal of the season was assisted by Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin (remember him, ladies of the greater Boston area?). The Bruins swept the two-game season series vs. the Stars after beating them 2-1 in the season opener on Oct. 3. To give you a clue how long ago that was, Boston's two goal-scorers that night are no longer on the team as Brett Ritchie is in Providence and Danton Heinen was traded to Anaheim. The Bruins are 7-0-2 in their last nine games vs. the Stars, something to keep in mind when they meet this June in the Stanley Cup Final.

After practice tomorrow at Warrior Ice Arena, the Bruins will hit the road for three games in Long Island and Florida. Wagner left tonight's game with an upper-body injury so the team will know more about his status for the road trip after he shows up tomorrow in Brighton. They are at the Islanders (35-20-8) on Saturday afternoon (1, NESN) followed by the Lightning on Tuesday (7:30, NBCSN) and Panthers (33-25-6) on Thursday (7, NESN)-which is always a majority Bruins crowd. New York is the top Wild Card in the Eastern Conference but they have lost their last two games in overtime. The Lightning are playing some of their worst hockey of the season and captain Steven Stamkos is out with an injury while the Panthers are four points behind the Blue Jackets (31-20-14) for the second Wild Card. With all that said, those are three tough opponents and at least two of them will probably make the playoffs this spring so get used to seeing them some more.

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Hell Freezes Over (Again): Jimmy Hayes Scores His 1st Goal for the Bruins In 2016-17

Coming in on a three-game losing streak (outscored 9-4 in the process) and with captain Zdeno Chara gleefully cheering from the press box (more on that later), the Bruins (12-10-0) desperately needed a victory on Sunday afternoon at TD Garden vs. the Lightning (13-9-1). Surprisingly enough they got it in pretty easy fashion, 4-1, with even Jimmy Hayes finding the back of the net for the home team. Boston opened up a scoreless affair with a trio of goals in the second period and capped it off with one more in the third period before Tampa Bay avoided the shutout with a Victor Hedman goal in garbage time (that deflected in off a Bruins skate).

Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask (30 saves, 12-4-0) has been superb all season but the funny part is this marked the fourth time already that he's lost a shutout with less than five minutes left in regulation (11/1 at Florida, 11/17 at Minnesota, 11/19 vs. Winnipeg). He's been by far Boston's best player and he's reclaimed his spot as one of the top goalies in the NHL but it just goes to show you how thin the margin is for the upper echelon players like himself.

Things weren't nearly as enjoyable for Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop (26 saves, 7-8-0) who fell to 4-5-3 in his career against Boston. Dominic Moore (read my feature about him in tomorrow's edition of Metro Boston!) continued to rack up goals at a crazy pace (at least for him). Colin Miller (who made his return for the 1st time in 2 weeks) chipped a puck into Tampa Bay's zone that Moore chopped out of mid-air for his sixth goal of the season at 2:24 of the second period. Ryan Spooner also assisted on Moore's goal which tied him with Brad Marchand for second on the team in goals and matched his entire total from all of last season with the Rangers.

At weekend afternoon contests, you don't expect to see much action but this game was a pleasant surprise in that regard. These teams clearly don't like each other as you could see late in the first period when lightweights Torey Krug and Nikita Kucherov fought each other. There were also plenty of skirmishes after the whistle all game long. Additionally, the Bruins potted a few pretty goals which for them is a big accomplishment in many ways. David Backes scored on a rare double deflection from Patrice Bergeron and Torey Krug at 12:30 of the second period. It was Backes' fifth goal of the season and it gave Boston a 2-0 lead.

You know that it was the Bruins' day when Hayes scored his first goal of the season at 17:33 of the second for a 3-0 Boston advantage. Not only was it his first point of the season (in 20 games!) but dating back to last season, his first goal in 36 games. Seriously, when you are a 6-foot-5 forward in the NHL how is that remotely possible? Anywho, Chara happened to be next to me in the press box at the time (waiting to go downstairs to the locker room between periods) and like when a little kid that stinks at sports does something positive, Chara started clapping like a Little League dad or soccer mom when Jimmy got the proverbial monkey off his back (props to him for celebrating by throwing said monkey to the rafters).

Even for this limited offensive group, David Pastrnak just can't stop scoring goals. He threw the puck at the net in the third period and it deflected off a Lightning player past Bishop. Krug and Marchand assisted on Pastrnak's team-leading 13th goal of the season (2nd most in the NHL behind Sidney Crosby). Pasta has 10 points (9 goals, 1 assist) in his last 10 games. Is that good?

As weeks go in the NHL, this upcoming one doesn't look too daunting on paper for the Black and Gold: they are at the Flyers (9-10-3) on Tuesday (7:30, NESN, they host the Hurricanes (8-8-4) on Thursday (7, NESN) and go to Buffalo (7-9-5) next Saturday afternoon (1, NESN)-their second of 13 matinees this season. They have been a good road team so far this season (7-5-0) and whatever shape that they're in health-wise (John-Michael Liles left in the 1st period today with what looked like a concussion), I still expect them to beat the dregs of the Eastern Conference like those three blah opponents.

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Who Needs The Oscars If You Can See the B's No-Show at Home for the 100th Time This Season?

This is my fourth season covering the Bruins but I can sense that 2015-16 has been special in a certain way since I feel like I am living in the movie "Groundhog's Day." Every time that I come to TD Garden, I dream that this is the occasion when Boston (34-23-6) will actually put together a win-streak at home but then I usually go home disappointed after another horrid showing by the Black and Gold. Tonight, the Lightning (36-22-4) entered with the exact same amount of points (74) as the B's (with a game in hand) but they left little doubt as to who was the better team as they skated away with an easy 4-1 victory.

As usual, it was a strange contest here as Boston actually scored first but proceeded to allow four straight goals (including 2 on the power play and a penalty shot) to put it out of reach just halfway through regulation. Kevan Miller scored at 6:01 into the first period when his screened shot from the point went in past Tampa Bay's excellent goaltender (and former Maine Black Bear) Ben Bishop (32 saves). Jonas Kempainen won the faceoff and had the primary assist while Landon Ferraro picked up the second helper on Miller's fifth goal of the season.

Zac Rinaldo was placed on waivers today by the Bruins but somehow he could also play (explain that to me, better yet don't) in this tilt. He was called for an illegal check to the head of Lightning forward Cedric Paquette (who briefly went to the dressing room afterwards). Harvard hockey alum Alex Killorn tied it at 11:19 with a power play tally that such was a snipe that Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask (26 saves) had little chance to stop it. Anton Stralman and Ryan Callahan assisted on Killorn's 12th goal of the season. Before you could say Crimson, Tampa Bay struck again as Boston defenseman Adam McQuaid hilariously fell down at the opposing blue line which allowed the Lightning to have an ultra-rare 2-on-0. Killorn fed Callahan for his ninth goal of the season at 14:39, they don't come much easier than that.

Tampa Bay was up 2-1 after the first period and Patrice Bergeron was nabbed for goaltender interference after bumping Bishop midway through the second. Seven seconds into their second power play, the Lightning once again only needed one shot (kid!) to make the Bruins pay. Callahan tipped in Stamkos' rocket from the point with Stralman picking up the second assist. Boston had no answer as Stamkos earned a penalty shot less than two minutes later when he was hooked down by Brad Marchand. It was the third penalty shot taken by Stamkos this season but he improved to 2 for 6 in his career on them. Rask had faced one another penalty shot this campaign (Feb. 16 vs. Columbus' Alexander Wennberg) and he is 4 for 8 in terms of stopping them. Stamkos' 28th goal of the season came at 10:04 and it extended his goal-streak to six games (7 goals, 2 assists).

We are mere hours away (3 pm on Monday) from the NHL Trade Deadline mercifully being over. Boston had done a pretty good job of not being distracted by it, that is until this evening when they flat-lined. More importantly, the Bruins' power play was 0 for 6 and if they make the postseason this spring, their special teams can't have outings like that or it promises to be a very short stay.

Loui Eriksson and many of the other B's will surely be anxious until that time passes. It's hard to predict what Boston's front office will do since this is GM Don Sweeney's first go-round so we don't have a track record to look back at in regards to his moves (or lack of deals) at the deadline. As the Bruins have been all season-long, they are an extremely flawed team that never makes any sense from game-to-game. Their latest blowout loss to a fellow Eastern Conference "contender" had to leave a bitter taste in everyone's mouth associated with the club.

Besides the deadline, it's another busy week on Causeway Street as Boston hosts Calgary (26-31-4) on Tuesday (7, NESN), the defending Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks (39-20-5) on Thursday and then the best team in the Eastern Conference-the Capitals (45-12-4) on Saturday (7, NESN). The Bruins have to beat the Flames because any point earned against the two top teams in the league should be incredibly hard to come by.

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Bruins Snap Their 7-game Losing Streak in the Shootout With 3-2 Victory Vs. Lightning

I don't gamble often but I am still fascinated by odds and betting trends revolving around sports. Using nothing more than good old common sense, you had to know that the Bruins (35-22-10) would eventually win another game in a shootout this season. Tonight was that special occasion as Boston snapped its seven-game losing streak in shootouts with a 3-2 win over Tampa Bay (42-20-7) at TD Garden. Boston pulled within two points of Washington (with a game in hand) for the seventh-seed in the Eastern Conference.

The last time that the B's won a shootout was before Thanksgiving (Nov. 21 at Columbus). Meanwhile, a very sneaky stat is Boston's 10-game unbeaten streak vs. Lightning (dating back to March 13, 2012) which makes a potential playoff series against them very appealing as opposed to Montreal who should be avoided at all costs. The Bruins blew two different leads but they managed to kill a power-play in overtime for the Lightning then Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand scored in the shootout while Tuukka Rask (35 saves) stopped both Nikita Kucherov and Jonathan Drouin.

The Bruins scored the first goal for the 10th game in a row, their longest such streak since February 3-26, 1990. Tonight's was pretty questionable (not that I'm complaining) as David Pastrnak hit Ryan Spooner's centering pass into the net off of his skate and past Ben Bishop (28 saves) at 7:57 of the first period. It seemed like an obvious goal that would be overturned but somehow it wasn't. Pastrnak's ninth goal of the season was also assisted by Milan Lucic.

A bad turnover by Zdeno Chara in his own end went to the wrong guy-Steven Stamkos. Tampa Bay's young star made a simple move then whipped in his 37th goal of the season (3rd most in the NHL) at 15:29 of the first period. Bishop basically returned that goodwill gesture by allowing Bergeron's harmless shot from the point to go in at 2:20 of the third period. Dennis Seidenberg had the assist on Bergeron's 19th goal of the season which was neither screened nor deflected by a teammate or a Lightning player.

Something called Vladislav Namestnkov tied it at 8:04, trying saying that 10 times fast. He deposited a rebound for his fifth goal of the season, assisted by equally anonymous Mark Barberio and Andrej Sustr. Matching penalties on Kelly (holding) and Tampa Bay's Alex Killorn (embellishment on the Harvard man) made it 3-on-3 for 1:20 in overtime before Matt Bartkowski was called for holding as well. The 3-on-3 was a taste of what the AHL does normally in overtime and what could eventually come to the NHL in the near future.

This was a huge two points for the B's since they have a very difficult back-to-back on the road this weekend: at Pittsburgh (39-18-10) on Saturday (1, NESN) followed by a primetime game at Washington (36-22-10) on Sunday night (7:30, NBCSN). If the Capitals lose in regulation to the Stars tomorrow night, then Boston could tie Washington with a win there. I'm not trying to get too ahead of ourselves but this is a major development after the Bruins looked to be locked into either the eighth-seed or missing the playoffs entirely. Now, they are playing their best hockey of the season and the Capitals and Red Wings (5 points ahead) are each within striking distance.

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It's David Pastrnak's World, We're Just All Living In It

All season, the Bruins have been looking for someone to score goals and provide a spark and it looks like they found it with the youngest player in the league: 18-year-old right wing David Pastrnak, their first-round pick from last summer. In his eighth career NHL game, the rookie scored two goals for the second game in a row as Boston knocked off the top team in the Eastern Conference-Tampa Bay-4-3 at TD Garden.

Boston's (23-15-6) fourth straight win was impressive since they rallied from two different deficits, granted Tampa Bay (27-14-4) was playing the second night of a back-to-back but that's the NHL. Milan Lucic (1 goal, 1 assist), David Krejci (2 assists) and Torey Krug (2 assists) all had two points and Tuukka Rask only had to make 16 saves for the win.

Ever heard of Steven Stamkos? Haha yeah the Lightning superstar is still one of the NHL's top players. He scored the first two goals for Tampa Bay which made it 1-0 in the first period then 2-1 in the second. His first was a re-direct at 9:23 when the Bruins' defense was caught napping and he was free in front of the net for his 24th goal of the season. Brad Marchand tied it at 16:42 on a one-timer thanks to a sublime cross-ice feed from Carl Soderberg. Krug had the second assist on Marchand's team-leading 12th goal of the season (don't laugh!). A loose puck found Stamkos in the slot at 10:55 in the second period and you know the rest.

Pastrnak tied it at 15:24 with a brilliant one-on-one move (have I said that at any point this season regarding a Bruin?). Maine alum Ben Bishop (30 saves) had no chance to stop it after his defense got burned. Lucic and Kevan Miller assisted on Pastrnak's third goal of the season/his career. Lucic provided the backbreaker at 19:06 as his shot deflected in off Anton Stralman's skate. Finally, the Bruins seem to be getting more breaks than they give up. Krejci and Dennis Seidenberg assisted on Lucic's ninth goal of the season.

The Garden exploded some more as Pastrnak scored his second at 1:30 of the third period. He wheeled by Tampa Bay's cage for a beautiful wraparound goal. Krug and Krejci assisted on that work of art that took supreme confidence on top of the eye-popping skill. All that was left was to see if either Stamkos or Pastrnak would bag a hat trick.

The Lightning are the best club in the East (well they were before the Islanders blanked the Rangers tonight) for a reason: they didn't roll over as Ryan Callahan cut it to 4-3 Boston at 14:18 on that dreaded double deflection. Mark Barberio's shot was tipped by Harvard's Alex Killorn to the former Rangers star. Tampa Bay waited a little too long to pull Bishop as the Bruins were able to survive a bunch of penalties in the third period for the impressive two points.

Boston has two more games at the Garden then two on the road before the All-Star break. Thursday (7, NESN) should be another great test as the Rangers (24-12-4) come to town for their first of three meetings this season. Those are usually low-scoring but very entertaining affairs between the Original Six rivals.

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For Whatever Reason, The Bruins Owned the Lightning This Season

The Lightning are a good team or so I've been told: they are 10 games over .500 and Ben Bishop is one of the best goaltenders in the NHL. With that said, Tampa Bay (34-24-6) couldn't figure out a way to beat Boston (41-17-5) in the 2013-14 regular season. The B's rallied from a 2-0 deficit to take a 4-3 shootout victory tonight at Tampa Bay Times Forum. Reilly Smith won it in the seventh round with the only goal of the entire shootout.

We'll give pity points to Tampa Bay for at least putting up a fight this time, the other games were 3-1, 5-0 and 3-0 so this was something to be more proud of. Still, what is the deal? This was the perfect time to get two points against the B's. The Lightning opened up a 2-0 lead in the second period thanks to goals by Ondrej Palat and Mark Barberio (something that doesn't happen every day) but then they proceeded to immediately cough it up.

Daniel Paille cut it to 2-1 at 6:58 on his ninth goal of the season. Gregory Campbell and Johnny Boychuk assisted on Paille's no-look backhander that squirted through Bishop's five-hole (29 saves). Chris Kelly sprung Carl Soderberg on a breakaway and the Swede calmly put a backhander of his own between Bishop's legs at 8:29 for his 11th goal of the season.

Tampa Bay seemed to bounce back as Valtteri Filppula was wide open in front of Tuukka Rask (17 saves) and was able to put it top shelf at 9:31. Both teams settled down from the frenetic pace but the Bruins were able to tie it at 8:11 of the third period on Johnny Boychuk's blast from the point. Soderberg and Loui Eriksson assisted on his third goal of the season.

Boston started off poorly but later in the contest they hit the post on three separate occasions and also had a goal wrongfully disallowed so them pulling it out felt like cosmic justice of some sort or another.

The Bruins have a back-to-back as they travel to face the Panthers (24-32-7) tomorrow (5, NESN) at the BB&T Center. Expect Chad Johnson to get another start vs. Florida as Boston tries to sweep them as well (5-0).

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