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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Bruins Just Can't Quit You Overtime, But Hey At Least Now They Are Winning In The Extra Sessions

(30 for 30 voice) What if I told you that the Bruins (31-17-8) have gone to overtime now in five of their last seven games? If that wasn't enough, Boston needed an extra frame in back-to-back days this weekend at TD Garden but odds are they won't be complaining after they walked away with another victory. Brad Marchand (and Matt Calvert's skate) was the hero as the Bruins outlasted an equally gassed Avalanche (22-22-11) 2-1 this afternoon. In the process, they put an end to some embarrassing streaks: this was their first overtime win vs. Avs/Nordiques since March 31, 1992 and their first ever OT win here vs. them. Finally, Jaroslav Halak (35 saves, 14-9-4) picked up his first win in well over a month (Jan. 3 vs. Calgary).

If you are a stats humper like me, here are some more for your personal spank bank: the Bruins improved to 7-1-2 in the second game of back-to-back sets this season, 9-1-2 in Game 2s of three games in four days and a perfect 7-0-0 in matinees. Haha why can't all their games be afternoon contests tightly packed together like this? Colorado has lost their last seven games in a row including three straight in OT (they are a ghastly 1-10 in overtime this season which seems impossible). After a nice start to the season which included a 6-3 drubbing of the Black and Gold way back on Nov. 14 in Denver, they have plummeted back to Earth although they are currently just as close to the Wild Card spots in the Western Conference as they are to the basement.

Colorado's only goal in 64:03 of action came when Nathan MacKinnon flipped in a tight angle shot top shelf on Halak for a 1-0 Avs lead at 19:27 of the first period. Gabriel Landeskog and J.T. Compher had the assists on MacKinnon's 29th goal of the season. After getting outshot 12-7 in the first, the Bruins woke up as John Moore of all people tied it with a shot from the point at 3:40 in the second period. Semyon Varlamov (33 saves, 13-13-8) must have been screened since Moore beat him from some distance for his third goal of the season, assisted by Charlie McAcoy and Marchand. If you are into weird hockey plays (and who isn't?), Moore had another puck go in the net off of his stick but it didn't count due to an obscure rule: the dump-in went off the curved glass by Boston's bench and bounced past Varlamov with 29.1 seconds left in the frame. Apparently, that is a rule and it cannot be reviewed, alrighty then.

Besides having the top two forward lines in the NHL, both of these clubs possess quality power plays (Boston is No. 2 and Colorado is No. 6) but you wouldn't know that from today's yucky performances: the Bruins were 0-for-5 on the power play while the Avalanche were 0-for-4. Are you not entertained? From that perspective, overtime was probably a foregone conclusion and the B's are now 6-6 in the extra five minutes which is way better than the 4-6 mark they sported coming into yesterday's OT victory vs. LA (23-27-5). Halak made a nice save on a backhander by Calvert and shortly after that, Marchand's shot bounced in the goal after it deflected off Calvert's skate. Marchand's 21st goal of the season also extended his franchise record to 14 career overtime goals-the second most for all active players-trailing only Alex Ovechkin (22). Patrice Bergeron and Torey Krug provide the assists with the latter running a Patriots style pick play to free up some space for Marchand to shoot from.

Chicago (23-24-9) comes here on Tuesday (7, NESN), Boston's last home game before they head out West for a five-game road trip. The Blackhawks looked like trash on New Year's Day when the Bruins beat them 4-2 at Notre Dame Stadium but surprisingly, they've been on fire lately (winners of 7 straight including Sunday's 5-2 win vs. Detroit). Every point is important at this time of the year and today's two points elevated Boston into third-place in the Atlantic Division, one point ahead of Montreal (31-18-7) and one point behind Toronto (34-17-3) who is playing at the Rangers (23-23-8) as we speak. The B's are riding a seven-game point streak (4-0-3) and another win would feel good as they head out of town for 10 days.

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The Avalanche's Utter Dominance In Boston is One of the More Mystifying Current Streaks in Sports

I am not employed or affiliated with the Bruins by any means but on their behalf, I'd sincerely like to apologize for all the poor souls who paid to watch just about the most boring NHL game that you'll ever see. On Monday afternoon, Colorado (2-1-0) blanked Boston (1-1-0) 4-0 at TD Garden. Obviously the Avs don't make the cross-country trip here every year but did you have a clue that they are now on a 12-game win streak (10-0-1-1) in Boston? Unless your name is Joe Sakic, I'm sure like me that you didn't have a clue about that obscure statistic. In fact, the last time that the B's beat the Avalanche in Boston was way back on March 30, 1998 (when I was chillin' in eighth grade!).

The Avalanche were by far the worst team in the NHL last season and while they have a decent amount of youngish talent, they aren't believed to make a notable leap from that in 2017-18. Patrice Bergeron (lower-body) is still day-to-day while David Backes (illness) and Noel Acciari (broken finger) are on IR meaning that Torey Krug and Austin Czarnik made their season debuts for the B's while Matt Grzelcyk was sent down to Providence. Colorado was also wrapping up a three-game road trip to begin the year but even though the Bruins hadn't played since Thursday, the Avs were somehow the fresher team.

Just like the Red Sox in Games 1 and 2 of the 2017 ALDS vs. Astros, the Bruins didn't give themselves much of a chance as they trailed 2-0 less than 14 minutes into the contest. First Tuukka Rask (19 saves) allowed a very weak goal as Sven Andrighetto's shot trickled off his glove hand and into the net at 4:41. Mikko Rantanen and Nikita Zadorov had the assists on Andrighetto's first goal of the season. After going 1-for-5 in the season-opening win vs. Nashville, Boston's power play was 0-for-4 this afternoon which was made worse by the fact that they allowed a 2-on-1 shorthanded goal to J.T. Compher at 13:22. Old friend Carl Soderberg had the assist on Compher's first goal of the campaign.

Boston outshot Colorado 29-23 including 11-5 in the first period and 11-8 in the second period but that hardly mattered. The B's also owned the face-off dot (37-15) but what does that matter when you have six more giveaways (13-7), seven less takeaways (15-8) and missed the net with 16 shots (!). If you skipped the second period, literally nothing happened besides David Pastrnak almost scored a goal except Semyon Varlamov (29 saves; 22nd career NHL shutout & 2nd vs. Boston) stopped the puck just enough with his left leg pad that it went along the goal line but never over.

Rask's rough day continued in the third period as he came way out to try to get to a loose puck before Nail Yakupov did but the former Oilers No. 1 overall pick 2012 is at least faster than him so he potted what'll be the easiest non-empty net goal of his career. Your guy Patrik Nemeth and Harvard's Alex Kerfoot had the helpers on Yakupov's laugher of a tally. Speaking of which, Yakupov rounded out the scoring by getting credit for an empty-netter with 43.6 seconds left as Pastrnak knocked the net off its mooring before the puck inevitably would have been swept in by Yakupov or Andrighetto.

These same clubs meet on Wednesday in Colorado (9:30, NESN), thanks NHL? I feel like that could be a good time for the Bruins to give backup goaltender Anton Khudobin his first start of the campaign, at least to shake things up a bit, but so far it hasn't been confirmed either way if it'll be him or Rask between the pipes. After that meeting (the last one of the season between these ancient rivals), Boston will be in Arizona (0-1-1) on Saturday night (9, NESN) and the three-game road trip concludes in Las Vegas (2-0-0) on Sunday night (7, NESN). They simply can't lose back-to-back games in regulation to the lowly Avalanche and hopefully they can earn at least two or three points in the latter two tilts against other presumable Western Conference bottom-feeders.

PS goodnight Red Sox, at least you weren't swept this season in the first round of the playoffs! Fire Farrell.

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The Bruins Continue to Find Ways to Lose at TD Garden This Season

I wish I had an explanation for Boston's mind-numbing woes at TD Garden this season (1-5-1) while they have looked like a really good team on the road (6-2-0). Their puzzling play continued tonight as they began a crucial five-game homestand (their longest of the 2015-16) against Colorado (6-9-1) who has been one of the worst teams in the NHL. Boston (7-7-1) jumped out to a 2-0 lead just 5:51 into the contest then proceeded to cough that up then never come back as they lost 3-2.

This was supposed to be a positive night for the B's as veteran defenseman Dennis Seidenberg made his unexpected debut and actually looked like himself (15:34, game-high 6 hits, 2 blocked shots) for the most part. Tyler Randell stood up for his new teammate after Cody McLeod took a run at Seidenberg, they fought at 7:34 of the first period. There was no excuse for Boston to lose, given the two-goal lead and the fact that the Avalanche lost arguably their best player-captain Gabriel Landeskog at 5:46 of the second period after an illegal hit to the head (of Brad Marchand) that resulted in a match penalty (it'll be reviewed by the NHL's player safety committee). For someone that had a concussion earlier this season, Marchand was lucky to have escaped seemingly alright (granted, who knows).

Zdeno Chara gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead at 1:12 as Reto Berra (25 saves) was flopping in his crease and Boston's captain was able to blast a shot from the point for his second goal of the season. It was called a goal on the ice and stood up to a review, Matt Beleskey and Brett Connolly had the assists and the former was judged not to have interfered with Berra. It looked like it'd be an easy night for the home team as Ryan Spooner scored a power-play goal at 5:51, Boston's top-ranked power-play came through for the eighth straight game (their longest streak since Dec. 2006). Patrice Bergeron assisted on Spooner's fourth goal of the season, a simple tap in with Berra down and out of position yet again.

Former Bruin Carl Soderberg cashed in this summer with a crazy deal from the Avalanche and while he predictably hasn't lived up to that so far, he cut it to 2-1 Bruins at 12:08 with one of the best shots that I can ever remember him taking. He went top shelf on Tuukka Rask (27 saves) for his second goal of the season, assisted by Blake Comeau and Jarome Iginla (another former Bruin that they miss). A lucky bounce went Colorado's way late in the first period as Francois Beauchemin's shot from the point took a huge deflection off Joonas Kemppainen that changed it from a fastball to a knuckleball. Rask couldn't glove it and Beauchemin's second goal of the season tied the game, assisted by Erik Johnson and Matt Duchene.

Boston didn't do much offensively the rest of the way to test Berra. Duchene was the subject of trade rumors on the interweb today but he didn't seem to be affected at all by them. He scored the go-ahead goal at 6:49 of the third period. His seventh tally of the season was assisted by Mikhail Grigorenko but it might as well have been credited to Kevan Miller who gave the puck away in his own end (that seems to happen to him every game in Boston). He has played in all 15 games this season so it is time for him to take a seat especially since Zach Trotman and Joe Morrow were both healthy scratches this evening.

Detroit (8-6-1) hosts San Jose (7-8-0) tomorrow night before the Red Wings travel to Boston for Saturday night's game (7, NESN), meaning they should get in late tomorrow night. The Original Six and Atlantic Division rivals are right on the same level and only two points apart so even though it is still early, that game will mean more than most in mid-November. Regardless of the opponent, the B's have to find a way to play better at the Garden more consistently or else they'll be no better than .500 this season and potentially out of the playoffs for the second year in a row.

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As Expected, Things Weren't Quite As Bad As They Seemed In Regards to the Bruins This Season

It is only one game so while I'm not quite ready to get the Duck Boats ready for the Bruins next summer, you have to admit that facing a must-win in game 4 of 2015-16, they responded just how you'd want them to: with a resounding 6-2 blowout victory tonight at Pepsi Center vs. Colorado (1-2-0). Boston (1-3-0) had six different goal-scorers (including Tyler Randell in his NHL debut) while former BC star Tommy Cross also made his first appearance in the NHL. It'll take some time to erase their pitiful start to this campaign and conveniently this started at 10 pm here so probably many fans didn't catch all that much of it. Regardless, this was a huge step in the right direction for the Black and Gold.

Speaking of the Heights, Cross' old college roommate Jimmy Hayes (1 goal, 3 assists) finally showed up in a big way with a career-high four points. Also, backup goaltender Jonas Gustavsson (20 saves) won his first start as a Bruin. The Avalanche looked like the Bruins of last week: disorganized, uninspired and full of mistakes. This was never really that competitive as Boston got out to a 2-0 lead in the first and 5-0 advantage in the second before Colorado scored the first of two shaky goals. No matter, the B's played so well for the first two frames that for a change, nobody will remember those brief lapses (aside from the coaches of course).

The Bruins jumped out to a 2-0 lead on the Lightning on Monday and we all know how that turned out. This was a change for the better since they basically put the Avs away before they could have a chance to respond. Kevan Miller made it 1-0 (his 1st goal of the season) at 5:49 of the first period with a blast from the point that went bar down on Semyon Varlamov. Brett Connolly had missed the net on a gorgeous feed from David Krejci but at least he tracked down the puck and gave it to Zdeno Chara who passed to Miller. Just 2:22 after that, Hayes was on the doorstep to put in a rebound. His first goal as a Bruin was assisted by Chara and Colin Miller.

The second period had been a major issue (like so many other aspects of their whole operation) in the first three games but Boston at least temporarily cleaned that up this evening. Randell tipped in Adam McQuaid's shot from the point at 3:46. The third line continued to gel as Chris Kelly finished a passing sequence with his linemates Ryan Spooner and Hayes after the latter had picked off the puck on a poor clearing attempt by Tyson Barrie. You know that things are going well when Kelly is scoring highlight-reel backhander goals. Spooner turned it into a laugher at 15:32 with a one-timer that beat Varlamov high and forced him to get pulled in favor of the immortal Reto Berra.

David Pastrnak got nabbed for a high-sticking double-minor and the Avalanche received another gift as Chara accidentally poked the puck in at 18:31 when he tried to take it away from Gabriel Landeskog. One of Colorado's fine young players (he's only 22), that was Landeskog's fourth goal of the season (not that he had to do much to get it). Gustavsson wasn't tested much besides an Avalanche power-play right at the beginning of the game but their second goal represented his only real mistake. He let a weak shot by John Mitchell (his 3rd goal of the season) beat him at 11:20 of the third period but no matter. Head coach Patrick Roy took Berra out with over three minutes left in regulation (as he likes to do) and Hayes assisted on Krejci's empty-netter at 18:31.

Normally I would completely dismiss the Coyotes (3-0-0), Boston's next opponent on Saturday night (10, NESN), but they have gotten off to a surprisingly great start to the season. Tonight, they blanked the Ducks (0-2-1) 4-0 thanks to rookie Anthony Duclair's 1st NHL hat trick. It's only a two-game road trip so the Bruins would like nothing more than to return home that much stronger with a pair of wins. Tuukka Rask will be back in net and hopefully his teammates can use the confidence they must have gained tonight as a springboard to put that awful start behind them as soon as possible.

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So When Is It Too Early to Start Worrying About the Bruins This Season? (I'm Asking For a Friend)

In the past two very successful seasons, the Bruins never lost three games in a row in regulation (the last time was March 10-15, 2012). Four games into the 2014-15 regular season, they've already "accomplished" that Panthers-esque feat. Gulp. David Krejci returned to action on Monday afternoon vs. the Avalanche but it didn't seem to make much of a difference as Boston (1-3-0) lost 2-1 to Colorado (1-2-0) at TD Garden. Certified Bruins killer Daniel Briere scored the game-winning goal with 0.5 seconds left in regulation in the usual Columbus Day home matinee.

You never see a buzzer-beater like that in hockey so it figures it would happen to the B's right now. Backup goaltender Niklas Svedberg (28 saves) made his season debut for the B's and it was a mostly positive performance despite the weak goal he allowed. Earlier on the same shift as Briere's goal, he had stopped reigning Rookie of the Year Nathan MacKinnon on the doorstep.

The Bruins stuck with their average of one goal per game (never more than 2) and believe it or not, that's still better than the Avalanche. Colorado hadn't scored a goal coming into today (getting outscored 8-0 in 2 ugly losses) so obviously Jamie McGinn got the honors of drawing first blood for a team that's expected to return to the playoffs and possibly win a round or two next spring. His shot snuck through Svedberg at 3:28 of the second period, assisted by Tyson Barrie and Matt Duchene. Needless to say, Tuukka Rask would have stopped it while he polished his Vezina Trophy.

Boston's lone goal was potted by Loui Eriksson, who else, on the power play no less at 7:50 of the second period. Reilly Smith threw the puck at the net and it deflected off Carl Soderberg's body in front before he passed it to Eriksson who backhanded it by Reto Berra (27 saves) for his first goal of the season. It was Boston's second power play goal of the season.

There really wasn't much else to this one other than Adam McQuaid's fight with Cody McLeod later in the second period. It has to be a good sign for McQuaid's health that he was willing to drop the gloves with a fellow heavyweight albeit a ginger.

The best news for the B's is that they won't return to the Garden for more than a week (next Tuesday vs. San Jose) so they get some good bonding time this week in Detroit (Wednesday), Montreal (Thursday) and Buffalo (Saturday). You can laugh but that probably means something with the new guys/young players on the team.

They owe the Red Wings a loss after last Thursday's no-show in the Motor City. Bruins-Canadiens games need no introduction or further hype (it's also Montreal's home opener) while Buffalo continues to be one of the worst teams in the league that the B's typically treat like the Pats against the Bills.

UPDATE 10/14: After hanging out with the club during the preseason, the Bruins signed veteran forward Simon Gagne to a one-year, one-way deal worth $600,000. Bobby Robins (subject to clear waivers) and Jordan Caron were sent down to Providence.

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Good Day for BU: Former Terriers Star Sacco Named B's Assistant Coach & Warsofsky Signs 1-Year Deal

There was a time in the not so distant past that Boston University was one of the premier men's college hockey programs in the nation. That has changed with the retirement of legendary head coach Jack Parker. Today, the Bruins kept BU alumni and fans in New England happy as they named former Terriers star (and Medford MA native) Joe Sacco assistant coach and signed defenseman David Warsofsky (another BU product, from Marshfield MA) to a one-year/two-way contract worth $600,000.

Last season, Sacco was sentenced to a year in NHL purgatory as he was an assistant for the pitiful Sabres. It was the crappy way he had to bounce back after being fired from the Avalanche where he served as head coach from 2009-2013. For Colorado, his overall record was 130-134-40 and he won the Jack Adams Award (best coach) in 2010 after leading the Avs to the postseason. He takes over for longtime assistant Geoff Ward who left the B's to take a head coaching job in Germany, um ok? In 13 seasons in the NHL and on five teams (Leafs, Ducks, Islanders, Capitals and Penguins), Sacco amassed 94 goals and 119 assists.

I mentioned Warsofsky not just because he's a local guy but since he seems to have a good opportunity to stick in Boston next season. In six games with the B's last season, he had a goal and an assist. With Providence, he put up six goals and 26 assists. He's basically Torey Krug Lite: 5-foot-8, 160 pounds, good skater and left-handed shot who excels at moving the puck particularly on the power play. At age 24 and with 190 games in the AHL under his belt, this appears to be a big chance for Warsofsky to take the next step in his career.

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For the Seventh Straight Year, the Bruins are Going to the Playoffs

The Everything is Awesome crew that works out of TD Garden took their show on the road as the Bruins won 2-0 tonight vs. Avalanche at Pepsi Center. Boston (48-17-5) has now won its last 11 games, the longest streak in the NHL this season and longest in franchise history since 1971.

Chad Johnson (31 saves) picked up the third shutout of his career and second this season. In the past six games, Boston has never trailed as Patrice Bergeron made it 1-0 5:12 into this much anticipated contest that could be a Stanley Cup Final preview (you never know). Hamilton found him with a good pass and he followed up Semyon Varlamov's (26 saves) rebound for his 21st goal of the season. Hamilton and Zdeno Chara were credited with the assists.

Gregory Campbell and Cody McLeod dropped the gloves a few moments after Bergeron's goal. The B's carried the momentum into the second period and took advantage of a rare power play to grab a commanding 2-0 lead. Carl Soderberg scored his 13th goal of the season, a laser that went top shelf over Varlomov's shoulder. Loui Eriksson and Hamilton both assisted on it.

Gabriel Landeskog hit the post earlier in the game and Johnson was called on to make some quality saves. The Bruins are back at it tomorrow night in Phoenix (9, NESN) at Jobing.Com Arena. It's hard to believe that the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference used to seem like a pipe dream since Boston currently leads Pittsburgh by five points for first place in the Eastern Conference, granted that the Penguins have one game in hand.

Boston has become the team to beat in the East and they are also tied with St. Louis for the most points in the NHL (the Blues also have a game in hand). It is their fourth time with 100+ points under head coach Claude Julien and 20th all-time in franchise history.

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Somebody Cue Up Brass Bonanza for My Man Jean-Sebastian

Stanley Cups aren't won in October but maniac head coach Patrick Roy seems to have a good young team coming together in Colorado. The Avalanche (4-0-0) continued their unbeaten start to the season with an impressive 2-0 win this evening at TD Garden vs. the Bruins (2-1-0). For a while, Boston played like a team that hadn't faced an opponent since Saturday. When they turned up the heat, Jean-Sebastian Giguere (39 saves) was there for his 37th career shutout. He's been around so long that he's the last Hartford Whaler standing the NHL. He was their first round draft pick way back in 1995.

Boston's best scoring chances came in the first period when Johnny Boychuk and Chris Kelly both hit the post. Colorado scored a backbreaking goal with 40 seconds left in the frame as Ryan O'Reilly (Terry's grandson?) tipped in Andre Benoit's shot from the point. Tuukka Rask (28 saves) couldn't stop it since O'Reilly was right in front of him.

Shawn Thornton did his best to boost some energy in his team with a second period scrap with massive Patrick Bordeleau. Milan Lucic also wanted to punch somebody but smartly enough, no one on the Avalanche wanted to be his punching bag. Lucic was tagged with a 10-minute misconduct that ultimately didn't cost the Bruins much.

Matt Duchene hit the post twice in one sequence (forehand then backhand) late in the third period when it was 1-0 so he was justly rewarded by the mighty hockey gods when he outraced Patrice Bergeron for a loose puck and scored an empty-netter with 26 seconds left in regulation. That made it 2-0 and send Bruins fans streaming for the exits. Boston had pulled Rask but they could never find the equalizer or much pressure after dominating most of the third. It was a frustrating night for the home team as Loui Eriksson was earlier hit with an embellishment penalty that was weak at best.

Getting out of town for a mini-road trip (1 game) should help the Bruins bond with their new teammates. They play the Blue Jackets (2-1) on Saturday afternoon (2, NESN). Less time off and more consistent games should help Boston find a rhythm in the early going. After two good performances last week against Tampa Bay and Detroit, perhaps this was a trap game we should have seen coming. The Avalanche were a tough matchup with their speed, the B's tried to beat them up physically but obviously that didn't work.

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Tuukka Rask Deserves Better This Season

One of the more underrated storylines from last season for the Boston Bruins was the struggles of backup goaltender Tuukka Rask. It's not like he was awful by any means but it seemed like every time he got a start, his teammates sleepwalked in front of him.

Unfortunately, Rask's (0-1-1) 2011-12 season got off to a similar note as he stopped 35 shots this afternoon and yet still lost 1-0 as the Colorado Avalanche (1-1-0) knocked off the lethargic Bruins (1-2-0) at TD Garden on Columbus Day.

Milan Hejduk scored the only goal, at 7:57 of the third period from Jan Hejda and Matt Duchene. It was a strange play as a linesman blocked B's defenseman Johnny Boychuk out of the play and then Hejduk's shot went off Zdeno Chara's leg. No doubt Rask would like that one back since he normally makes that save but still, can Boston please give him some goals?

It wasn't Patrick Roy in net for the Avs but Semyon Varlamov had 30 saves for the shutout. Colorado was 0 for 3 on the power play (including a brief 5 on 3 advantage) while Boston checked in at 0 for 2 on the power play.

You don't have to be a genius like Lightning head coach Guy Boucher to figure out why the Bruins lost two of their first three games at home; they only scored five goals and four of them were in one tilt.

Hitting the road will likely be a good thing for the B's chemistry plus they can finally put last season's Stanley Cup to bed. They have two challenging games away from home before they head back to Boston.

First up they play in Carolina on Wednesday, always a tough place to get two points before meeting the Blackhawks in Chitown on Saturday night in what should be a filthy game.

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Do the Bruins know the season has started?

For the fourth time in five games to start the '09-'10 season, the Boston Bruins did not play well. They lost 4-3 to the Colorado Avalanche yesterday in a Columbus Day matinee at the Garden.

The Avs (3-1-1) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period thanks to some juicy rebounds by Bruins goalie Tukka Rask (18 saves).

At 6:15 Milan Hejduk scored a power-play goal from Matt Duchene and Kyle Quincey. Rask blocked the initial shot but the rebound went right to Hejduk who backhanded it in the net.

37 seconds later, Colorado made it 2-0 when Scott Hannon scored from David Jones and Ryan O'Reilly.

The B's (2-3) regrouped during the first intermission and started playing up to their capabilities with two goals in the second period. Mark Recchi one-timed one home after a nice pass from behind the net by Patrice Bergeron. Chuck Kobasew also assisted on that goal.

Then Blake Wheeler tied it after a beautiful pass by Michael Ryder (and David Krejci) that Wheeler deflected out of mid-air and past Avs goalie Craig Anderson (29 saves).

Special teams killed Boston as Colorado scored another power-play goal. Marek Svatos did the honors from Wojtek Wolski and Brett Clark.

Easily the pivotal play of the game was late in the second period with the Bruins on a power-play. Some miscommunication led to three Boston players going after one Avalanche player near the benches. Somehow T.J. Galiardi came out of the scrum with the puck and sent it up ahead to Jones on a breakaway. He scored and that proved to be the game-winner.

Ryder cut it to 4-3 in the third with a backhander (from Milan Lucic and Krejci) but the B's couldn't find the tying goal.

After a few needed days of practice, the Bruins head out on their first road trip of the season: Dallas on Friday and Phoenix on Saturday. Both are very winnable games so hopefully Boston starts to find its identity before it comes back to the Garden next week.