Back From Their Mini-Break, The Bruins Just Keep Rolling Along With A 3-2 OT Win Vs. The Rangers

 

    After having two games against Buffalo (4-4-2) postponed over the weekend due to a Covid-19 outbreak within the Sabres organization, the Bruins (9-1-2) were understandably a little rusty as they returned to action tonight at Madison Square Garden against the Rangers (4-5-3). They allowed the game's first goal and gave up a slim third period lead but they still managed to come away with a 3-2 overtime victory thanks to left wing Brad Marchand's sweet move on a breakaway. Boston kept pace atop the East Division as they improved to 8-0-1 in their last nine games and won the first meeting with New York this season. 

    Rangers rookie right wing Julien Gauthier staked his club to a 1-0 lead at 13:50 of the first period as he roofed a one-timer that was in close to the net from left wing Brendan Lemieux. Boston trailed 1-0 after the first but they tied it at one in the second period as Walpole's Chris Wagner used his speed to get in on a breakaway of his own and finish a forehand shot around Rangers goaltender Alexander Georgiev (29 saves, 1-2-2). Wagner's second goal of the season was unassisted and it came at 9:41. It was a sweet play for a guy that was unofficially benched in Boston's last game for taking a couple of penalties vs. Philadelphia (8-3-2). He also fought Northeastern's Anthony Bitetto in the third period after New York's defenseman for some reason took exception to a hard but clean hit. 

    Even though he gave up a pair of goals, Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask (33 saves, 6-1-1) had one of his better performances of the season. Earlier in the second period with the home team on the power play, Rask made an incredible diving glove save on center Mika Zibanejad's re-direct from left wing Chris Kreider that normally is an automatic goal for a guy of that skill level. Boston went up 2-1 at 9:00 of the third period as left wing Anders Bjork beat Georgiev five-hole after a pretty feed from behind the night by the returning Jake DeBrusk (out since January 26 with a lower-body injury). Defenseman Kevan Miller added the second assist on Bjork's first goal of the season. 

    New York tied it at two on a strange play: defenseman Ryan Lindgren's fluttering shot was deflected by Lemieux then it hit Rask and fell on the goal-line where PC's Kevin Rooney was able to tap it in at 11:22. Rask immediately went to the refs complaining that Lemieux used a high stick but after a review, it stood up as Rooney's third goal of the season. It didn't take too long in overtime for the Bruins to grab their fourth straight win. Defenseman Charlie McAvoy broke up a 2-on-1 for New York and chipped the puck ahead to Marchand who made no mistake by flipping in a backhander for his team-leading eighth goal of the season. Center Patrice Bergeron notched the secondary assist on the goal which came only 36 seconds into the extra session. 

    These same clubs will meet again on Friday (7, NESN) at MSG. Backup goaltender Jaroslav Halak (3-0-1) hasn't played since February 1 against Washington (6-3-3) so I would expect him to get the call in this rematch against the Rangers. New York goaltender Igor Shesterkin (3-3-1) has appeared a little more often than Georgiev this season and he's been noticeably better leading me to believe that ex-BU head coach Dave Quinn will go to him for the second meeting with Boston. The Rangers are only a point ahead of the Devils (4-3-2) and Sabres who have both been paused for awhile now so they need to get some more points to create separation before New Jersey and Buffalo are back with a bunch of games in hand.

B's Finish Off Perfect Homestand (4-0) Vs. Teams From PA With 4-1 Lockdown Of The Penguins

 

    With a condensed training camp and no preseason games this year, perhaps we can consider Boston's (5-1-1) first three clunky games-where they went 1-1-1-a warmup to the real action that would soon follow. Let the record show that right after that bumpy opening road trip, the Bruins' first four home games were all wins. After sweeping two games against the Flyers (5-2-1) last week at TD Garden, they followed that up with another sweep-this time vs. the Penguins (4-3-1) which concluded this evening with a 4-1 victory. It was a strange visit to Boston for Pittsburgh who came here on a four-game win-streak, then they lost 3-2 in OT on Tuesday, their long-time GM Jim Rutherford abruptly resigned yesterday (citing the always vague personal reasons) and then tonight they left with the Bruins owning a four-game win-streak of their own. Life comes at you fast as the kids say, haha they still say that right?

    Boston has allowed four goals in its last three games including just three in the Pittsburgh mini-series. They have yet to earn a shutout but except for last Thursday's 5-4 shootout win vs. Philly, the Bruins have allowed two goals or less in every other contest so far in this campaign. Captain Patrice Bergeron led them with a pair of goals while Boston's fourth line came up big with goals by right wing Chris Wagner and center Sean Kuraly. B's goaltender Jaroslav Halak (16 saves, 2-0-1) was barely tested which was nice considering that Dan Vladar was his backup for the night with Tuukka Rask resting whatever injury he picked up in Tuesday's win. Speaking of nagging injuries, Bruins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk (assist, plus-3 in 12:31) suffered another lower-body injury that forced him to leave early and never return. When considering all the ways that he'd struggle to replace Torey Krug, it looks like Krug's remarkable durability for a guy his size is another thing that Grzelcyk sadly lacks. 

    It didn't take too long for Wagner to get the Bruins on the board as he was quick to a loose puck in front of Pittsburgh's goaltender Tristan Jarry (16 saves, 2-3-1) and he fired it in for his first goal of the season (unassisted) at 6:10 of the first period. The only highlight of the entire proceedings for the Penguins came at 15:03 as defenseman Cody Ceci made a nice move to pull the puck off the wall and into the slot where he beat Halak with a snap shot. His first goal of the season was assisted by right wing Bryan Rust and center Teddy Blueger. You felt like it was going to be a good result for the Black and Gold when they got a completely fluky bounce for the go-ahead goal. Left wing Anders Bjork weaved around a few Penguins and tried to throw a saucer pass to Wagner driving to the net but the puck deflected off a Pittsburgh defenseman then off Kuraly's leg and into the net. His first goal of the season came at 18:53 of the first period to give Boston a 2-1 lead. 

    Bergy did what any good leader does: he made sure to put the opposition away without hesitation. He followed up his own shot and put in a backhander at 8:13 of the second period. His team-leading fourth goal of the season was assisted by BU alums Grzelcyk and Charlie Coyle. He capped off the very solid performance for the home team with a power play tally from his famous bumper position. Left wing Brad Marchand fed him for the one-timer while defenseman Charlie McAvoy added the secondary helper. It'll be a much-anticipated two-game set this weekend in DC for the Bruins as they get their first look at their former captain Zdeno Chara (who scored his first goal as a Capital in tonight's 6-3 win vs. Islanders). Washington (5-0-3) hosts Boston on Saturday night (7, NESN) and Monday (7, NESN). The Caps have owned the Bruins more than any other club in recent history. The good news for Boston is that former Washington goaltender Braden Holtby is now in Vancouver which means that they wouldn't see him this season until the Stanley Cup Final. You know it'll be so weird to watch Big Z in another uniform, playing against so many of his former teammates and coaches. 

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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Home From a Productive Trip (3-1-0), the B's Sleepwalk Through a 5-2 Defeat vs. Calgary

When you have the best record in the NHL (39-13-12) and the most points (90) like the Bruins currently do, it is tough to complain about all that much in this unexpectedly smooth campaign. Still, they ended what had been a great road trip with a bizarre beatdown in Vancouver on Saturday (9-3 blowout) night then they came back to TD Garden this evening and never really put up much of a fight as they lost 5-2 to the Flames (the first-place Wild Card team in the West) who they had beaten 4-3 last Friday in Calgary. It was a wasted opportunity for the B's as well since the Lightning (40-18-5) lost (for the 3rd game in a row) 4-3 in regulation to the Maple Leafs (33-23-8). Boston remains five points ahead of Tampa Bay and 16 points in front of Toronto so it's already down to a two team race for the Atlantic Division crown in 2019-20.

Bruins GM Don Sweeney had a pretty quiet trade deadline yesterday as he flipped winger Danton Heinen to Anaheim for former first-round pick and winger Nick Ritchie (Brett's younger brother). This came on the heels of another deal with the Ducks on Friday: washed up right wing David Backes, a prospect (defenseman Axel Andersson) and a first-round pick this summer for right wing Ondrej Kase (who was a scratch tonight as he recovers from an injury). Other Bruins trade targets who didn't ultimately materialize: former BC star Chris Kreider re-signed with the Rangers, Tyler Toffoli was traded last week to the Canucks and poor Kyle Palmieri has to continue to rot away in New Jersey. Coming into tonight, Ritchie had eight goals and 11 assists in 41 games for a terrible Anaheim club while Kase put up seven goals and 16 assists in 49 games. I don't expect either guy to light the world on fire but considering that Heinen is just a guy and Backes has literally nothing left, they have to be at least a slight upgrade for the Bruins heading into the playoffs.

You always hear about how that first game back after a long road trip (in the NHL or NBA) is always a tough one to find your legs in. That seemed to be the case for the Black and Gold who never led and only managed to tie it up once on First Responder's Night (one of the team's best annual events) at the Garden. Jaroslav Halak was honored in a pregame ceremony for appearing in his 500th NHL game earlier this season. Starting goaltender Tuukka Rask (23-7-6) had his season-long 20-game point-streak on home ice snapped as he allowed four goals on 30 shots. The Flames were buzzing early as T.J. Brodie's shot hit the post and then settled between Rask's legs for a face-off. Boston wasn't so lucky on the next bounce as Mikael Backlund's shot went off the end boards but went right to Matthew Tkachuk (Keith's older son) who finished a backhander top-shelf past a sprawling Rask. BC's Noah Hanifin had the secondary assist on Tkachuk's 21st goal of the season at 11:35 of the first period.

Boston tied it with a shorthanded goal by Brad Marchand-his franchise-best 27th of his career-at 10:08 of the second period. Charlie McAvoy had the lone assist as Marchand used his speed and elusiveness to do most of the hard work for his 25th goal of the season. A pair of goals by Sean Monahan only 1:12 apart later in that frame put Calgary in complete control with a 3-1 advantage. He one-timed a pass from former BC star and Hobey Baker winner Johnny Gaudreau at 13:25. His 20th goal of the season was also assisted by Michael Stone. Before the Bruins knew what hit them, Monahan scored a power play goal at 14:37 by perfectly re-directing a pass by Tkachuk with Erik Gustafsson getting the other helper in his Calgary debut.

The Bruins came in with an NHL-best 21-2-9 record at home so you figured that no matter how sloppy or lethargic they were, they would probably push back a bit at some point. Indeed, they cut it to 3-2 at 13:09 of the third period as Chris Wagner scored an extra greasy goal (his specialty). Sean Kuraly and Par Lindholm notched the assists on Wagner's sixth goal of the season. He's scored goals in back-to-back contests for the second time this season (Dec. 5 & Dec. 7) which means something when you are on the fourth line which by the way was Boston's best forward group in this tilt. For a time it seemed like the Flames would at least blow it in regulation and have to go to overtime but then Backlund said no way with the dagger insurance goal at 18:30 (his 13th of the season was unassisted) before adding an empty-netter shortly after that.

This was the start of a very difficult week for the Bruins as they host Tyler Seguin and the Stars (37-20-6)-good enough for second-place in the Central Division-on Thursday (7:30, NBCSN) then they go to Long Island for a Saturday matinee (1, NESN) with the Islanders (35-20-7)-the top Wild Card in the East. No practice tomorrow should help Boston get some rest and refocus as they only have 18 games remaining in the regular season. With any luck, Kase is healthy enough to play against Dallas and he can give them some kind of spark. The Stars won 4-1 at Carolina (35-23-4) tonight and at 7-2-1 in their last 10 games, they are clearly clicking at the moment. Thursday should be an entertaining tilt on national TV with the slightly later start time (ie. more time for pregame suds for Bruins fans in the nearby bars).

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B's Use Up All Their Luck Rallying From Down 3-0 in 3rd, Losing 4-3 On Controversial Toews OT Goal

You can only tempt fate so much in sports and in life and lately, the Bruins (20-3-6) had been living on the edge (at least your lame uncle got that very dated Aerosmith reference). Time after time, they pulled points and more than a few wins out of thin air during the eight-game win streak. That came to an end though on Thursday at TD Garden as they fell 4-3 to lowly Chicago (11-12-5) in overtime as Jonathan Toews took down David Pastrnak (legally, I guess) then broke in a breakaway that ended with him sliding the puck under Tuukka Rask (27 saves, 13-2-3) with a backhand shot 54 seconds into the extra frame-the only shot on goal for either team. Connor Murphy had the lone assist on Chicago's captain's fifth goal of the season.

The game could be broken down into three chewable segments: 1) where Chicago jumped out to a 3-0 lead early in the third period; 2) Boston rallied for an epic comeback with three goals in the third; 3) the no-call and wet fart of a way to end what turned out to be a pretty entertaining contest between two teams going in completely different directions. Fear not, for even though the Bruins' win streak is over, they still managed to breath more life into their overall point streak (9-0-4) and they remain unbeaten at home in regulation this season (12-0-5)-only four games back from their best home start ever (19-0-2 in 1973).

Looking back, this probably served as a classic trap game for the Black and Gold both because of the weak opponent on the schedule this evening and the true Stanley Cup contender coming to visit on Saturday night (7, NESN)-Colorado (18-8-2) to close out their season-high five game homestand. Regardless of the excuse that you choose, they should have been better against the ghost of those great Blackhawks teams from earlier this decade with only Patrick Kane, Toews, Duncan Keith (out with a groin injury), Brent Seabrook, Brandon Saad and Corey Crawford (backup goalie tonight) left over from those powerhouse clubs that won Cups in 2010, 2013 (no Bruins fan sadly will ever forget that one) and 2015.

Rask was also outplayed by Robin Lehner (37 saves, 6-5-3) which should never happen in 2019 or really any year for that matter. Chicago struggles to put the puck in the net (among many other issues) but they somehow scored twice 37 seconds apart late in the first period thanks to their special teams units. Ryan Carpenter put in a rebound at 18:14 off of a save by Rask on Murphy's initial shot. Carpenter's first goal of the season was the third career shorthanded goal of his NHL career and first shorthanded goal allowed by the Bruins this season. After missing the last four games with an injury, the Blackhawks' promising young center Dylan Strome doubled their lead by tipping in a shot by Erik Gustafsson on the power play. Strome's sixth goal of the season was also assisted by Kane who has 11 goals and 14 assists in his last 17 games which is all the more impressive considering the nobodies that dot Chicago's current roster.

Boston's number two ranked power play in the NHL had plenty of chances but they ultimately finished 0 for 4 which is never going to get it done, particularly when you allow a power play tally to the 27th ranked man advantage in the league. Ugh. When Alex DeBrincat (6th goal of the season from Strome and Calvin de Haan) sniped a shot past Rask 17 seconds into the third period for a 3-0 Blackhawks lead, I wouldn't blame you if you decided to change the channel or turned your TV off altogether (who cares about Bears-Cowboys anyway?). It just didn't feel like the Bruins' night, that is until Joakim Nordstrom of all people gave everybody at the Garden something to cheer about with a goal at 1:49 of the third period. Nordstrom's third goal of the season was his first since Nov. 12 vs. Florida but who's counting? David Backes had the primary assist after Lehner stopped his shot but kicked the rebound right to Nordy to put in with Charlie McAvoy getting the other helper.

At that point, it only looked like the Bruins would avoid the embarrassment of a shutout. Pasta got drilled by a possibly suspendable hit from Zack Smith that led to John Moore (making his 2019-20 Bruins debut after off-season shoulder surgery) dropping the gloves in his defense and getting knocked down in the first round. He went right to Boston's dressing room but thankfully returned shortly after that. It would have been pretty depressing if he got a fresh injury that soon, after all he was just doing the right thing by standing up for his star teammate.

Chicago finally looked like one of the worst teams in the NHL when the Bruins applied a little game pressure to them. The Blackhawks were on the power play after a roughing penalty on Charlie Coyle but Chris Wagner broke out for a shorthanded chance that turned into a breakaway when Gustafsson comically blew a tire (lost his footing And-1 mixtape style). Wagner skipped his usual backhand move for a strong forehand into the top corner, his second goal of the season (1st since Oct. 29 vs. San Jose) was assisted by Sean Kuraly and Matt Grzelcyk at 15:01. It almost feels routine but at that point, you pretty much knew that Boston would at the very least tie it up. Lo and behold, Torey Krug did the honors as he smashed in a one-timer into the corner of the net after a sweet behind the net feed by Jake DeBrusk. Krug's fourth goal of the season came at 17:27 and it ended up giving Boston that precious point.

It was inevitable that Boston would lose again sometime soon and truth be told, they would always prefer to have that happen against a Western Conference team rather than an Atlantic Division or even Eastern Conference foe. The Bruins currently have the fewest losses in regulation this season and you have to go back nearly two months (Oct. 10 in Denver) for when the Avalanche tagged them with one of those rare defeats (4-2). Colorado has battled through a ton of injuries to some of their better players (Mikko Rantanen, Gabriel Landeskog and Andre Burakovsky to name a few) but they should have close to a full lineup for Saturday's showdown with the Bruins. It is the end of a three-game road trip for the Avs but they should have plenty of juice since they have won five straight games (3-2 tonight in Montreal) and they are 7-3-0 in their last 10 games with a 10-5-1 record on the road. Center Nathan MacKinnon (18 goals, 26 assists) is one of the best players in the NHL pushing for a Hart Trophy (regular season MVP) while UMass Amherst product defenseman Cale Makar (8 goals, 20 assists) has to be a front-runner for the Calder Trophy (rookie of the year). In other words, you don't want to miss this game even if you have to DVR it cause you have other plans on a Saturday night-what a concept!

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Happy Halloween Everybody From the Best Team in the National Hockey League-The Bruins (9-1-2)

I don't root for people to get fired but honestly, the effort submitted by the Sharks (4-8-1) tonight at TD Garden vs. the Bruins (9-1-2) was downright disgraceful. Playing in their fifth and final game of a road trip, San Jose might as well have just skipped the game altogether as they lost 5-1 and got outshot 41-17. Picking up its fourth win in a row, Boston will obviously take it but you have to wonder if Sharks head coach Pete DeBoer will still have a job on Friday when his current club begins a six-game homestand.

To beat the B's right now you have to play your best game and if you take a bunch of lazy penalties, you are utterly doomed. It didn't even matter that San Jose came in with the top ranked penalty kill in the NHL since Boston's number two ranked power play scored twice in the first period and never looked back en route to the comprehensive beatdown that was complete with Brett Richie beating the stuffing out of poor Barclay Goodrow (which sounds like the name of a WWF jobber from the 90s).

After missing the last five games with an upper-body injury, Bruins center David Krejci returned to the second line and made an immediate impact with a power-play tally of his own and an assist. In total, five different guys scored goals for Boston which was a welcome sight for a team that's been overly reliant on its incredible first line last season and into this campaign as well. The new rule is that David Pastrnak has to score in every single game for the Black and Gold and yet again, he didn't waste any time getting his sixth first period goal already in 2019-2020. Patrice Bergeron had an excellent fake shot that forced two Sharks to dive to block it but he slid the puck over to Pasta for a one-timer that went top shelf and hit Martin Jones' (36 saves, 2-6-1) water bottle. 1-0 Bruins at 7:49 of the first period on Pastrnak's NHL-best 12th goal of the season, tying him with Charlie Simmer for the second-most October goals in team history (trailing only Phil Esposito's 14).

Krejci's power play goal was quite similar to his fellow Czech Republic native's (Pastrnak) goal. He was also set up in the left slot and in this case, Torey Krug fed him for a one-timer that he got by Jones. Brad Marchand picked up the other assist (11-game point streak and 10-game assist streak, both career-bests) at 17:51 for the 2-0 Bruins advantage. San Jose's only goal came early in the second period on the power play as well as Brent Burns cranked a shot that seemed to deflect off of somebody or something in front of Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask (16 saves, 6-0-1). Even though they got run out of the building, you have to respect Burns who remains one of the NHL's toughest matchups on either end of the ice. Erik Karlsson and Tomas Hertl assisted on his third goal of the season at 1:31 of the second period. Would you believe that he still played a game-high 26:19 (including 6:24 of shorthanded time)? The guy is Rob Gronkowski type freak of nature with the wacky personality to match.

The B's put this one in the win column with three goals in the second period to close out a really dominant frame where they outshot the Sharks 18-6. Charlie Coyle scored his second goal of the season (and 2nd in as many games) by tapping in Krejci's back-door pass at 5:21. Danton Heinen had the second assist on the goal that came seconds after Hertl exited the penalty box. Jones had been the backup for San Jose's last game and he is their (awful) No. 1 goaltender so he stayed in there despite allowing a breakaway goal to Chris Wagner (his 1st of the season) at 8:31. David Backes had the lone assist (his 1st point of the season) on Wagner's patented backhand move. That was nothing though compared to the embarrassment that Jones must have felt when Brandon Carlo's soft serve floater from the blue line somehow found its way past him and into the net. 5-1 Bruins at 16:50. Wagner and Zdeno Chara notched the assists on Carlo's second goal of the season.

It looked like we were going to get another taste of that delicious Chara-Evander Kane blood feud in the third period but the former Sabre understandably wanted no part of the scariest 42-year-old in the universe. It took until the 11th game (welcome to the new NHL) but Boston finally got its first true fight under its belt. Nobody could have predicted Ritchie (8th fighting major in the NHL) vs. Goodrow (12th fighting major in the NHL) but you knew that somebody was going to drop the gloves in garbage time after there were so many borderline hits and constant chatter after the whistles.

After their first back-to-back of the season last weekend, the Bruins have no practice tomorrow then they'll get back to work on Halloween but their next game isn't until Saturday night (7, NESN) vs. Ottawa (3-7-1)-the second worst team in the Eastern Conference. I'm thinking that Jaroslav Halak will get the start and regardless of who is in net for Boston, they will be huge favorites (not that anybody bets on regular season hockey games). The Senators have been off since beating these same disappointing Sharks 5-2 on Sunday so there will be plenty of time to have these Bruins populating their nightmares. Be afraid NHL, be very afraid.

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Bruins Return Home to Blank the Devils 3-0 In Their 2019-20 Regular Season Home Opener

There is no such thing as a homecoming game in the NHL, that's more of a high school or college football term (where the home team presumably takes on a cupcake opponent that they can blow out in front of their adoring alums) but if such a thing existed in hockey, the Devils (0-3-2) would be one of the most fitting choices these days. Boston (4-1-0) went 3-1-0 to start this campaign on a very difficult West Coast road trip to Dallas, Arizona, Las Vegas and Colorado before coming back to the newly redesigned TD Garden. Things couldn't have gone much better for the home team on the ice for the first real contest since Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final vs. St. Louis in June. How did that one end again? I forget.

The Bruins scored twice in the first period and added a power play goal in the second which is about what you would expect against New Jersey-who is still one of the true bottomfeeders not just in the East but in the entire league. B's goaltender Tuukka Rask (3-0) made 31 saves for his first shutout of the season and the 46th of his NHL career. He made his presence felt the most in the second period when the Devils actually controlled play and outshot the Bruins 15-9. Coming off of their first loss of the season (4-2 against the Avs on Thursday), the Black and Gold predictably got back on track in front of their extra lubed up Saturday night crowd.

It only took Boston 3:33 to take a lead that turned out to be too much for Dirty Jersey to overcome. Brad Marchand wheeled around with the puck near the blue line and fired a shot on net that actually deflected in off a Devils defenseman before Patrice Bergeron could tip it. Marchand's team-leading fourth goal of the season (4-game point-streak with 4 goals & 3 assists) was assisted by David Pastrnak who has a team-high four helpers. Marblehead native and BC alum Cory Schneider (0-2-0; 29 saves) was basically on his own as the Bruins' reunited fourth line had another strong performance. Playing in his second game of the season, Joakim Nordstrom was able to put in a loose puck in front at 11:22. His first goal of the year was assisted by his linemates Chris Wagner (aka the Mayor of Walpole) and Sean Kuraly.

Marchand nearly made it 3-0 later in the first with what would have been a highlight reel tally for the ages. With his team shorthanded, he blocked a shot in his own zone then skated in on a breakaway but his shot was stopped by Schneider. For the contest, New Jersey's pathetic power play was 0-for-4 which is bad but nothing compared to their neutered season output (0-for-15, yuck!). I get that they have a bunch of scrubs around them but how has that happened to a team with offensive talents like Taylor Hall (former MVP), rookie Jack Hughes (June's No. 1 overall draft pick) and P.K. Subban? It's mystifying but then again, who really notices in North Jersey besides director Kevin Smith and maybe Bruce Springsteen?

The best chance for the Devils to score came early in the second period as Boston defenseman Brandon Carlo coughed up the puck right in front of his own net and Hughes was able to pounce on it but his shot hit the post. Too bad, it would have been neat to see his first NHL point/goal of what should be a long and fruitful career (he's only 18 years old!) for one of the most exciting American prospects in decades. The Bruins penalty kill got better as the game went along and of course-as any hockey coach will tell you-the goaltender can be the best penalty killer when he is locked in like Rask already is this fall (he's only allowed 4 goals in his 1st 3 starts).

Boston's power play is working out the kinks but after going 0-for-2 on their first two chances tonight, they cashed in on the third thanks to Patrice Bergeron. It was a similar tally to Nordstrom's as he battled in traffic in front of New Jersey's net and was rewarded when the puck popped out to him on his backhand. Jake DeBrusk and Marchand had the assists on Bergy's first goal of the season. Other than Canton's own Kevin Rooney (a proud NCAA champion at PC) missing a check on DeBrusk along Boston's bench then suffering the indignity of Jake pushing his skates over the side as well, that's about the only other notable thing to transpire for the rest of the rather routine defeat.

There are two games left on this homestand for the B's: their usual Columbus Day matinee (1, NESN) has them facing the Ducks (4-1-0) before the Lightning (2-2-1) come here on Thursday (7, NESN) for what should be a great early season showdown between's last season's top two teams in the Eastern Conference (haha in the regular season before Tampa had an epic choke job in Round 1 vs. Columbus). Any thoughts of a Stanley Cup hangover for the Bruins has already been put to bed and also importantly, they are racking up the points which is a good thing when you look at how hard the rest of October looks like for them: home and home with Toronto, St. Louis and San Jose are all looming ahead.

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Boston Scores Four Unanswered Goals In The Third To Take Game 1 of ECF, 5-2 vs. Carolina

There are only four teams left in the NHL playoffs and like it or not, your Bruins are unquestionably the team to beat (sorry Sharks) for the Stanley Cup. Boston began the Eastern Conference Final tonight at TD Garden with a spirited 5-2 victory against the upstart Hurricanes who truth be told nobody thought would be here entering the postseason. It wasn't nearly as easy for the B's as the final score would indicate, they actually trailed 2-1 entering the third period which made them reverse their 0-3 record when trailing heading into the third in the playoffs while the Canes were 3-0 when leading after two.

Emerging star defenseman Charlie McAvoy was suspended for Game 1 due to his hit on Columbus' Josh Anderson in Game 6 of that series so Steven Kampfer came into the lineup after only playing one game this entire postseason (Game 3 vs. Toronto). That also meant that rookie Connor Clifton slid up to the top defensive pairing with Zdeno Chara. Hockey has a funny way of finding unlikely heroes and wouldn't you know that Kampfer potted the first goal of the contest at 2:55 of the first period. Marcus Johansson started the play by taking the puck from Justin Faulk in Boston's defensive zone then holding onto it for a second in Carolina's defensive zone before he slid a backhand pass to Kampfer. The journeyman defenseman beat Petr Mrazek (23 saves) with a low and hard shot for his second career playoff goal.

Carolina had swept the Islanders in the second round so they had a few extra days off but that didn't appear to make them rusty. Sebastian Aho tied it just 47 seconds later after he tipped in a pass from rookie Andrei Svechnikov (aka the poor guy that Ovi knocked out in the 1st round) for his fifth goal of the playoffs. Jordan Staal had the second assist on Aho's ninth career goal in 10 games against the Bruins. The Hurricanes outshot the Bruins 10-8 in the first but the underdogs from the Dirty South began to dominate in the second. Their lone lead of Game 1 came on a tight call: fourth line center Greg McKegg (haha great name, he must love the suds) drove the net like you read about and ran into Tuukka Rask (29 saves) which caused the net to come off its moorings. The good news for Carolina and its five fans that were at the Garden, the puck actually crossed the goal line before McKegg made contact with Rask. McKegg's second goal of the playoffs was assisted by Jordan Martinook and Michael Ferland, his fellow fourth-liners.

Dressing room speeches between periods are overrated but whatever was said by Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy and his players before the third period couldn't have been more effective. Boston's top-ranked power play flexed its muscles with a pair of goals 28 seconds apart early in the frame: Marcus Johansson cleaned up a loose puck at 2:26 then Patrice Bergeron finished a pretty passing sequence from Brad Marchand and Jake DeBrusk. Johansson's third goal of the postseason was assisted by Marchand and David Krejci while Bergeron's goal was his sixth (tying David Pastrnak and Charlie Coyle for the team lead). Goals in spurts was a theme all night as Boston shut the door on Carolina with an empty-netter then breakaway 11 seconds after that. Coyle was credited with the empty-netter at 17:47 after Brandon Carlo's clearing attempt deflected in off his body then Chris Wagner picked up his first playoff goal and point as a Bruin with a sweet move on Mrazek.

Boston improved to 53-49 all-time in Game 1s of best-of-seven series while Carolina dropped to 10-13 all-time in Game 1s. The Bruins' win streak was extended to four games while they simultaneously ended the Hurricanes' win streak at six games. Here's a crazy stat: the Canes allowed as many goals tonight as they gave up in all four games combined vs. the Islanders. Looking forward to Game 2 on Sunday afternoon (3, NBC), the Bruins are 32-19 in Game 2s when they lead a series 1-0 while the Hurricanes are 5-6 in Game 2s when trailing a series 0-1. Finally, Boston is 36-16 all-time in best-of-seven series when they lead a series 1-0 and Carolina is 5-6 all-time in best-of-seven series when they trail 0-1. It's all about momentum in the playoffs and the B's split the first two home games vs. Toronto and then Columbus so going up 2-0 on Carolina would be a dream that would put a smile on your mom's face (don't forget that Sunday is Mother's Day you dopes!).

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The B's Are On The 2nd-Longest Point Streak In Team History (15-0-4) After A 3-2 Win vs. Ottawa

This isn't a complaint but simply a statement of fact: the Bruins (42-17-9) haven't lost a game in regulation for so long (Jan. 19 vs. Rangers) that their streaks and numbers are starting to pile up enough to give you a bit of an ice cream headache even while it remains winter outside in chilly New England. Boston closed out a spotless six-game homestand (6-0-0) for only the second time in franchise history (they also did that last season) with another last-minute victory, this time it was 3-2 vs. Ottawa (23-40-6) at TD Garden. David Krejci-who is having the definition of a career revival type of campaign-was the latest hero for the B's as he tipped in Danton Heinen's shot/pass with 44.7 seconds left in regulation.

Boston's aforementioned 19-game point streak is the second-longest in team history, now trailing only the 1940-41 team's ridiculous 23-game stretch (15-0-8-0). Furthermore, their 10-game home win streak is their longest since a 14-gamer from Oct. 25, 2008-Jan. 1, 2009 and their home point streak is up to 12 games (10-0-2) now which is their best since a 15-game span (13-0-2) from Oct. 31-Dec. 27, 2014. Do you need to lay down for a little while?

It's hard to have an instant classic game against the worst team in the NHL so the Bruins predictably slogged through the mud to get these two precious points against the hopeless Senators. Remember when Ottawa nearly made the Stanley Cup Final two years ago? Haha talk about falling off of a cliff since then. When you see the tilted shot attempts totals (63-35 in favor of the B's) you understand that they probably should have beat those bums by at least a couple goals but if you watched the Saturday night tilt, you could at least explain some of that away since the Bruins hit not one, not two but three posts/crossbars in the second period alone.

Speaking of the second, that's when notable things started to happen after the first period had nothing but four penalties in it. Brad Marchand gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead at 10:11 with a power play goal. He roofed a shot by Craig Anderson (28 saves) into the top of the far corner of the net for his 28th goal of the season, assisted by Torey Krug and Patrice Bergeron. They are great wherever they play but Marchand and Bergeron are both riding six-game point streaks overall and 15-game point streaks at home. It took the pathetic Senators less than a minutes to tie it at one though as Jean-Gabriel Pageau (could you imagine a guy with a name like that playing on a non-Canadian club?) whipped a shot off the post and by Tuukka Rask (17 saves, 24-8-5). Brady Tkachuk-who went to BU for one season and is better known as Keith's son and Matthew's younger brother-had the lone assist on Pageau's third goal of the season.

To increase the dramatic effect of another comeback by the home team, Boston even let Ottawa lead for a few minutes in the third period. Wasn't that sweet of them? Tkachuk was able to pounce on a loose puck near the crease and put in a backhander (assisted by Chris Tierney) for his 16th goal of the season at 2:46. Tkachuk is basically an honorary Masshole (he grew up in Arizona but his dad is from Medford and also starred at BU before a great NHL career) but the Bruins got a tying goal from a true Masshole: Walpole's favorite son Chris Wagner. He redirected a shot by Krug (who tied Craig Janney for the most points-283-by a U.S.-born player in Bruins history) that almost stopped it was going so slowly but Anderson somehow couldn't react in time to make the save. Charlie McAvoy had the second assist on Wagner's 11th goal of the season; what a gem of a free agent that he's been, bravo B's GM Don Sweeney.

Just like Florida on Thursday, you knew that one way or another Boston wasn't losing this game once it was deadlocked late in the third. They waited until the last minute again but that only serves to make it sweeter (or more intoxicating on a Saturday night). It's tough to tell what Heinen's intention was on the play but truth be told, if Krejci had not have touched the puck, I believe that it still would have gone in anyway so what's the difference? Matt Grzelcyk had the second assist on Krejci's (6 goals, 10 assists in his last 12 games) 18th goal of the season. Rask has his own 19-game point streak (16-0-3) alive and well complete with a goals against average of 1.94 and a save percentage of .929 during this insane run (his last regulation loss was Dec. 23 at Carolina, he hasn't fully lost in 2019!).

As you would expect following such a long homestand, the B's will not see their own beds very often in the next few weeks. In fact, of their 14 remaining games in the regular season, only four of them will be on Causeway Street. Seven of the next eight games are on the road starting with an intriguing matchup in Pittsburgh (36-23-9) tomorrow night (7:30, NBC Sports). That's followed by a trip to Columbus (38-27-3) on Tuesday (7, NESN) and a flight to Winnipeg (40-23-4) for Thursday's showdown (8, NESN). Boston's next home game is a week from tonight (7, NESN), St. Patrick's Day eve, vs. the Blue Jackets. After that, Boston departs for another road trip (4 games). At this moment, we won't worry about that since these next four games over the next week are all against teams currently in playoff position.

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B's Rally From Down 2-0 To Beat Another Quality Opponent (Canes) & Extend Point Streak to 17

If you haven't bought in on the Bruins (40-17-9) during this amazing run, I don't know what else that you are waiting to see from them. Not only are they beating plenty of good teams but they are doing it in many different ways, take tonight for example: a spirited 4-3 comeback win by the B's in overtime vs. the Hurricanes (36-23-7) at TD Garden thanks to David Krejci's beautiful forehand-to-backhand game-winning goal that was the end result of a great forecheck then pass from Jake DeBrusk. Boston has a 17-game point streak (13-0-4) which is tied for the third-longest in franchise history (23 in 1940-41, 18 in 1968-69 & last season plus four 17-game streaks).

Carolina came in as the other hottest team in the league: they had won five straight games and they were 8-2-0 in their last 10 games to take over third-place in the Metropolitan Division. Most impressively, the Hurricanes were 21-6-1 in their last 28 games and those 43 points in 2019 were the most in the NHL. It was a battle of backup goalies which was a bit misleading since Jaroslav Halak (34 saves, 18-9-4) extended his own point-streak to seven games (5-0-2) and Curtis McElhinney (34 saves, 17-7-2) is having the best season of his forgettable career. Boston improved to 8-6 in overtime this season while Carolina fell to 4-5 in the extra session. It also avenged the 5-3 Bruins loss in Raleigh, NC on the night before Christmas Eve. Unfortunately, this concluded the season series and probably the only way they will meet again this spring is in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Sporting those gorgeous green Whalers jerseys vs. Boston for the second time during this campaign, the Hurricanes looked every bit the role of a true contender as they scored first and later took a 2-0 lead early in the second period. That was preceded by what could be a costly injury for the Bruins: Micheal Ferland lit up Marcus Johansson with a huge hit that sent Boston's new winger to the hospital with an upper-body injury. David Backes has become Boston's defacto fighter and he dropped the gloves (for the third time in four games) vs. Ferland. Sebastian Aho is only 21-years-old but he's quickly turning into a star while also morphing into a Bruins killer. He deflected in Calvin de Haan's shot from the point at 6:30 of the first period. UNH alum Trevor van Riemsdyk (James' younger brother) had the second assist on Aho's 28th goal of the season. He made it 2-0 at 1:10 of the second when he somehow slipped loose on a breakaway and finished a filthy backhander through Halak's five-hole. Nino Niederreiter and Justin Faulk had the helpers on Aho's second goal of the night.

That seemed to finally wake up the B's and as we all predicted, Chris Wagner was the guy to turn the momentum with a goal. First he deflected Brandon Carlo's (game-high 26:19 time on ice and 9 shots on goal) shot from the point then he battled for the rebound and was able to put it in for his 10th goal of the season at 12:28 of the second period. DeBrusk can't stop scoring goals himself (8 in the last 10 games) and he tied it at two at 18:12 of the second. Krejci (4 goals, 10 assists in his last 10 games) started the play with a rush down the left wing, his shot forced a save by McElhinney and DeBrusk was able to chip the rebound top-shelf for his 22nd goal of the season.

Boston grabbed its first lead of the contest at 2:45 of the third period as Patrice Bergeron (6 goals, 10 assists in his last 14 games) blasted in a beautiful shorthanded one-timer from his BFF Brad Marchand (8 goals, 12 assists in his last 14 games) for his 23rd goal of the season. The Hurricanes didn't go away though-a sign of a good team-as they tied it at three at 12:17 on captain Justin Williams' (19th goal of the season) one-timed shot that deflected in, assisted by Jordan Martinook and Brett Pesce. Not too much happened in overtime besides the goal: Halak made a nice falling save on Justin Faulk and then DeBrusk forced a turnover by Faulk behind his own net and he was able to shake loose enough to whip a pass across the crease to Krejci who weaved around a diving McElhinney.

Every game is important down the stretch but it's a little tougher for Bruins fans to get quite as excited about their next two games: Thursday (7, NESN) vs. going nowhere Florida (28-26-12) and the homestand's conclusion on Saturday night (7, NESN) vs. hopeless Ottawa (23-38-6). The Black and Gold appear to be pretty locked in for either the No. 2 seed or No. 3 seed in the Atlantic Division with Toronto (41-21-4) only three points behind them while Montreal (36-24-7) is 10 points behind their chief rivals. As we saw last postseason vs. the Maple Leafs, home ice turned out to be the difference so Boston hopes to follow that same script should they face Toronto in a much-anticipated rematch.

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The B's At Least Temporarily Get Rid of Their Blues (Sorry, Had to Do It), Dispatching St. Louis 5-2

There wasn't a cause for major concern but the Bruins (27-16-5) were having a frustrating week that began with Monday's 3-2 overtime loss to Montreal (26-17-5) followed by last night's terrible 4-3 loss in Philadelphia to the tanking Flyers (18-23-6). Going back to last week's latest setback to Washington, the B's were getting tons of shots on goal and scoring chances but not converting those into enough goals to win. Enter the hapless Blues (20-21-5) who are going nowhere and figure to soon be selling off players like you read about. It was far from perfect but the final result was all that matters as the black and gold picked up a closer than it looks 5-2 victory against St. Louis tonight at TD Garden.

Former Blues captain David Backes was a healthy scratch on Wednesday and he took that demotion about as well as anyone with his NHL resume possibly could. That's what made it a truly special moment when the pro's pro scored the tying goal (2-2) in the second period on the power play that ultimately helped the Bruins end the contest with four straight tallies. B's goaltender Tuukka Rask (28 saves, 14-8-3) continued to play his best hockey of the season as he's gone 6-0-1 in his last seven starts. He also tied the franchise record for wins (252) with my man Tiny Thompson.

It was a balanced attack for the B's since five different guys each had a goal and 11 in total registered a point. Boston improved to 17-6-1 at TD Garden this season and 17-4-3 when they score first. Those statistical trends are great but what is most impressive to me is their mastery of the second legs of back-to-back sets (now 7-1-1) and Game 2s of three games in four days (now 7-1-2). Those are all marks of a mature team that doesn't let tough losses get to them or linger into long losing streaks.

After a scoreless first period that was only notable for the rare Zdeno Chara fight (he briefly took on Patrick Maroon), things picked up in the second period as both team scored a pair of goals. David Krejci (5-game point streak) was handing out apples aka assists all game long, beginning with a pretty feed to Torey Krug who was left wide open in the slot for an easy goal at 3:31. Rookie Peter Cehlarik (who had a pair of goals in his season debut vs. Philly) had the second assist on Krug's fifth goal of the season.

Boston is picking up a bad habit of allowing goals shortly after they score and that continued as former Sabre Ryan O'Reilly tied it 52 seconds later. There was a big pileup by Rask in Boston's crease which allowed O'Reilly to flip the puck into the net. His 17th goal of the season was assisted by Jordan Kyrou and David Perron (13-game point streak, currently the longest in the league). St. Louis used seven defensemen and 11 forwards for this tilt, something you rarely see in the NHL. It paid off as the extra defenseman-Carl Gunnarsson-made his presence felt with his first goal of the season. Jaden Schwartz hit the former Leaf for a one-timer that he hammered at 13:36, also assisted by supposed Bruins trade target Brayden Schenn. 2-1 was the only lead the Blues could muster though as Backes tipped Chara's missile from the point at 16:00. Krejci had the other helper on Backes' fifth goal of the season.

Every point is precious with the Bruins, Maple Leafs (29-15-2), Canadiens and Sabres (24-17-6) so tightly bunched in the Atlantic Division so it was nice to see the B's put away the sad-sack Blues (haha what a fitting team name for those bums). Walpole, MA native Chris Wagner scored the game-winning goal with what I'm confident was the prettiest goal of his life. BU's Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson chipped the puck ahead to Wagner who skated in on a breakaway and beat Jake Allen (22 saves, 15-15-4) with a forehand shot-his sixth goal of the season (7 is his career-high, from last season with Anaheim). Charlie McAvoy (game-high +3) wheeled around the St. Louis net and found Brad Marchand for a roof job at 13:12, the insurance tally that sealed the eventual two points. Patrice Bergeron had the second assist on Marchand's 18th goal of the season. Wagner almost bagged a second goal on an empty-netter but his shot hit the post and then he couldn't jam it in. Ah the life of a fourth liner. His buddy Sean Kuraly was able to put it in at 19:08 which made it 5-2 Bruins. Krejci and Wagner had the assists on Kuraly's sixth goal of the season.

The rebuilding Rangers (20-20-7) are here on Saturday night (7, NESN) before the snow is going to bury us all alive on Sunday. It's also Boston's final game before their bye week which is followed by the All-Star break (so far only David Pastrnak is slated to travel to San Jose for the festivities). Former BU head coach David Quinn is in his rookie season behind the bench in the NHL and predictably there have been some growing pains with such an incomplete roster. Before the players get out of town to some warm location, another win would serve them well and get their minds right before the last 33 games of the regular season which are sure to fly by.

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B's Hold Off Sabres 2-1, Earning Their 4th Straight Win While Finishing 3-1 vs. Buffalo This Season

It wasn't exactly the most exciting game of the season but you can't argue that the Bruins (24-14-4) continue to get results. Tonight, they outlasted the Sabres (22-14-6) 2-1 at TD Garden in a contest that carried plenty of weight for both sides. With the two points, Boston is now two points ahead of both the Islanders (23-13-4) and Buffalo who dropped down to the second Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference while the B's got a little tighter grip on third-place in the Atlantic Division.

Former BU star Jack Eichel has missed the past two games with a dreaded upper-body injury but I'm not going to use that as an excuse since the Bruins have faced an absurd amount of injuries to key players throughout the first half of the season. Boston outshot Buffalo 41-32 and it was a relatively easy outing for Tuukka Rask (31 saves, 11-8-2) who won his third start in a row. Boston also improved to 15-5-0 at the Garden this season while Buffalo dropped back to .500 on the road (9-8-3). This closed the book on the season series with the Bruins winners of three games to just one for the much-improved Sabres. Keep that in mind if they should meet this spring because the Bruins no doubt will feel confident in that scenario.

Secondary scoring has been an issue for the B's most of this season but not this evening as both goals came from lines other than their flawless top trio of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak. Nope, just two good-old fashioned even strength goals by a fourth liner (Chris Wagner) and a new second liner (David Backes) who returned from his three-game suspension. Ironically enough, Wagner actually appeared to score a goal 20 seconds into the tilt but it was called no goal due to his linemate Sean Kuraly bumping into Linus Ullmark (39 saves, 9-2-3). Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy challenged it for kicks but of course it was confirmed: no goal.

No worries, Wagner scored at 10:10 of the first period after a turnover by Buffalo in its own defensive zone. Wagner's other linemate Noel Acciari bumped the puck ahead to him and he beat Ullmark for his fifth goal of the season. Boston led 1-0 after the first period and 2-0 two minutes into the second period as Backes sniped a shot by Ullmark as he had no choice but to do that as the Sabres gave him a wide open lane to shoot. Backes' fourth goal of the season was assisted by Rask (his 1st of the season), meaning that Boston's goalies have now combined for four assists this season (Jaroslav Halak has 3, 1 shy of the franchise record for goaltenders).

There were only three penalties in the entire game-Buffalo's PP was 0-for-2 and Boston's was 0-for-1-but there would be no shutout for Rask (he hasn't had one yet this season). One of Buffalo's young standout defensemen Rasmus Ristolainen ensured that his team wouldn't get blanked though as he put a beautiful shot top shelf over Rask's glove at 17:22 of the third period. His fifth goal of the season was unassisted. Marchand and Pastrnak had a couple 2-on-1s that surprisingly didn't result in goals but it hardly mattered. Buffalo used its timeout with 1:17 and pulled Ullmark for an extra skater but they weren't going to tie it up anyway. Rask's best save came against Jeff Skinner flying down the wing.

This win-streak should continue at least for a few more days as Boston is off tomorrow before practicing on Monday and facing the Wild (20-17-3) on Tuesday (7, NESN). Minnesota is in Montreal (22-15-5) on Monday so the B's figure to see a tired opponent while they are well rested. Things should be much harder on Thursday (7, NESN) when they play the Capitals (24-12-4)-a team that currently owns them like no other in the NHL-but we'll worry about that starting on late Tuesday night. Until then, be happy that this club continues to make strides and earn points.

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Bruins Return From Christmas Break & Lay An Egg Vs. One of the Worst Teams in the NHL (Devils)

Games like tonight are part of the reason why it's so impossibly hard to bet on professional sports for a living (don't worry mom, I'm not talking about myself!). The Bruins (20-14-4) couldn't have been in a much more favorable position-on paper-as they hosted the wretched Devils (13-16-7) at TD Garden where they were 13-4-0. At 3-12-3 on the road, New Jersey was starting its third-string rookie goaltender (MacKenzie Blackwood) and their best player (Taylor Hall) was out with a lower-body injury. Naturally with all those factors seemingly piling up against them, the Devils never trailed as they rolled to a 5-2 victory, their first here since October 26, 2013.

Three of Boston's best players-Zdeno Chara, Kevan Miller and Jake DeBrusk-all returned to action after extended absences due to various injuries. That changed the lines a bit and while they were understandably a little rusty, they didn't give the team the boost of energy that you would expect. It wasn't Jaroslav Halak (28 saves, 12-6-2) best start of the season but his defense also let him down time and again either with breakdowns, turnovers and/or bad penalties. New Jersey basically was up 1-0 at the opening faceoff as defenseman Damon Severson jumped up into the rush and sniped in a goal just 25 seconds into the contest. Andy Greene and Travis Zajac assisted on his fifth goal of the season. The all-important puck luck was on New Jersey's side as well as evidenced by Kyle Palmieri's power-play goal that went off of Brandon Carlo then Halak and in for a 2-0 Devils lead at 15:25 of the first period. Will Butcher and BC's Brian Boyle provided the assists on reported trade target Palmieri's team-leading 19th goal of the season.

New Jersey outshot Boston 12-10 in the first period but the B's woke up in the second as they outshot them 19-9. Chris Wagner cut it to 2-1 as he one-timed a sweet pass from John Moore at 15:07. Danton Heinen had the secondary assist on Wagner's fourth goal of the season. The B's only trailed 2-1 after two periods and they had 1:49 left on a power play so it felt like they would tie it early in the third. Not so much as New Jersey killed off that penalty and shortly thereafter, Blake Coleman was sent in on a breakaway and beat Halak with a great move and backhander. His 10th goal of the season was unassisted and it completely took the life out of Boston's ill-fated comeback attempt (they are now 0-11-1 when trailing after 2 periods). Ryan Donato got cross-checked in the face with no call and Nico Hischier took advantage on the other end as he finished a breakaway of his own at 12:43. BC's Miles Wood and Stefan Noesen assisted on the former No. 1 pick's 10th goal of the season.

The Bruins finally got a lucky bounce to go their way but it was too late when DeBrusk's centering pass ricocheted off Patrice Bergeron's skate for his 12th goal of the season at 17:05. Coleman added the ultra-rare empty-netter/power-play strike at 19:12, assisted by Hischier and Greene. I can't remember too many Grade-A chances but it's tough to argue about his workload as Blackwood made 40 saves in his first NHL win. The result obviously meant a whole lot to the Devils who came into the evening tied with Los Angeles (14-20-3) for the fewest points in the league.

This was the last home game of 2018 for the Bruins and their final road game of the year will be on Saturday night (7, NESN) in Buffalo (21-12-5). The Sabres fell 4-1 in St. Louis (15-16-4) tonight, meaning that loss by the Black and Gold should sting a little more. If they had simply taken care of the hopeless Devils, they would only trail Buffalo by one point for third-place in the Atlantic Division. Instead, even a Bruins win on Saturday will still leave them behind the Sabres by a point. Blah, Halak had won his previous three starts before this loss and Tuukka Rask was awful in Sunday's 5-3 loss at Carolina (15-16-5) so I won't pretend to know who head coach Bruce Cassidy will pick to start that super important tilt in Buffalo. Keep in mind that Boston's next game after that isn't until Tuesday afternoon (1, NBC) but it is the Winter Classic at Notre Dame Stadium vs. Chicago (14-20-6) so that's something. The next Bruins home contest is next Thursday (7, NESN) vs. Calgary (23-12-3)-one of the NHL's biggest surprises and the leader of the Pacific Division.

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Behind Bergeron's Hat Trick, Bruins Double Up Senators 6-3 In Their 2018-19 Home Opener

It's not up for discussion: October is unquestionably the best time of the year when it comes to pro sports in America. In Boston, we're lucky enough that all four of our clubs (Red Sox, Patriots, Bruins and Celtics) are all playoff teams these days at the very least and hopefully legitimate title contenders when it gets right down to it. With a weird Columbus Day afternoon start time, the B's (2-1-0) opened their home slate with an entertaining 6-3 victory over the rebuilding Senators (1-1-1) at TD Garden. Patrice Bergeron had a rough off-season complete with a lovely groin surgery which prohibited him from playing in any preseason games but that all seemed to matter little as he bagged his fourth career hat trick and also added an assist.

Boston's top forward line-the best in the NHL last season-is still together and that should continue to send fear throughout the league. David Pastrnak tied his career-high with four points (2 goals, 2 assists) while Brad Marchand followed up his four assist game in Buffalo on Thursday (a 4-0 Bruins win) with three assists. Combined, those three guys were +10 with five goals and six assists. Haha is that good? One of the main issues though for the Black and Gold in the playoffs last spring vs. Tampa Bay is that they became too reliant on that one line. For that reason, there was murmurs that perhaps head coach Bruce Cassidy would break up the band to start this campaign but for now, they aren't going anywhere else.

After last Wednesday's disastrous season-opener in Washington (a 7-0 beating), the B's righted the ship with a solid 60-minute effort against the supposedly up and coming Sabres and this was another step forward in the right direction. Other than the goofy preseason trip to China, Boston shouldn't have any complaints with its early season schedule as 10 of their 12 games in October are against non-playoff teams from last season. In other words, just clean up on the dregs of the NHL and they should be in a very good position to start the winter.

In terms of start to a home opener, the fans couldn't have asked for much more as Bergeron scored 30 seconds into regulation and then followed that up with a power-play goal at 17:12 of the first period for a quick 2-0 lead. Goal #1 was the result of a rare net drive by Pastrnak that allowed Bergy to follow up for an easy rebound, his second goal of the season was also assisted by McAvoy (who tied his career-high for assists and points (3)). The second goal was more suited for a highlight reel as Marchand flipped a nifty backhand pass to Bergeron for a one-timer into the corner of Ottawa's goal past Belmont Hill alum Mike Condon (24 saves). Pasta had the second assist on Boston's second power play goal of the young season.

After such a great first frame, the Senators predictably responded with a much better effort in the second. Ryan Dzingel potted a rebound of his own at 2:21 to cut it to 2-1 B's. His first goal of the season was assisted by Mark Stone and Zack Smith. Condon had a rough homecoming as he allowed a really weak goal to fellow Masshole Chris Wagner (a Walpole, MA native) that made it 3-1 Bruins at 7:08. McAvoy's shot from the point was meekly tipped by Wagner and somehow Condon's glove completely whiffed on the slow-motion shot. Sean Kuraly had the second assist on Wagner's first goal and first point as a Bruin. Tuukka Rask (28 saves) got pulled against the Capitals and Jaroslav Halak earned the shutout in Buffalo, so this was his first game action in five days. Ottawa's second goal was regrettable for the home team as Zdeno Chara served as a screen on Rask, leaving him with no chance to see Dzingel's shot at 12:13 that trimmed Boston's lead to 3-2 (assisted by Dylan DeMelo and Thomas Chabot).

The Bruins might have had a little trouble putting the pesky Senators away but at least they never let them tie it, let alone take a lead at any juncture. Bergeron completed his hat trick at 4:38 of the third period with a bit of luck fit for a king like him. His intended pass went off an Ottawa defenseman's skate and by Condon who was naturally going the other way. Marchand and McAvoy assisted on the goal which came with the requisite hat tossing from the appreciative crowd filled with plenty kids since it wasn't a school day. The last few minutes of regulation were a bit of a gong show as Pastrnak got on the board with a re-direct of Bergeron's backhand sauce at 16:31. Chara had the second assist on Pastrnak's second goal of the season. The ghost of Bobby Ryan stopped by for a goal at 17:03, his first of the season was assisted by DeMelo and Chris Tierney. Finally, Pasta put an exclamation point on a fun day with an empty-netter at 18:22. Marchand provided the lone assist on Pastrnak's fourth point of the game.

It should continue to be an enjoyable week for the Bruins as they get to spend plenty of time at home with their family and friends before they host Edmonton (0-1-0) on Thursday (7, NESN) and then Detroit (0-1-1) on Saturday night (7, NESN). Keep in mind that the Oilers will be traveling back from Sweden, for some reason they played one game over the weekend there (a 5-2 loss to New Jersey) and the Red Wings will be returning from a West Coast trip to California. No matter if it's Rask or Halak between the pipes, these are all teams that the Bruins should beat, especially when they are at the Garden.

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