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.

Tweet

Is This The Start of the Inevitable Collapse for the B's While They Are Missing So Many Good Players?

Every team in professional sports has injuries so using those as an excuse too often falls on deaf ears. However, right now the fact remains for the Bruins (6-6-4) that when they are missing David Krejci, David Backes, Adam McQuaid and Ryan Spooner, they are forced to rely way too much on guys that should be getting seasoning in Providence rather than facing the daily rigors of the NHL. Boston began the week with a misleading 5-3 win vs. Minnesota on Monday but since then they've dropped three in a row. Tonight at TD Garden, they fell 4-1 to the Maple Leafs (12-7-0) after Toronto stunned them with a 2-1 overtime win last night at Air Canada Centre.

With budding superstar (and American hero) Auston Matthews out for both meetings with an injury and facing the immortal Curtis McElhinney (38 saves) in net this evening for the Leafs, this was a game that the Bruins had to have and despite outshooting Toronto 39-25, they lacked any sort of finishing ability. Tuukka Rask (21 saves) fell to 3-6-2 as yet again he was not able to play like a true No. 1 goaltender that can carry his team or teammates when they are down. I still think that Rask can be a very good goalie but it doesn't help when Brandon Carlo turns the puck over right to Mitch Marner at 8:52 for an easy goal, his 2nd of the season.

James van Riemsdyk enjoyed his time against the B's since he had a pair of goals on Friday and he made it 2-0 tonight with a power-play goal at 14:16 of the first period. He tipped in Nazem Kadri's shot for his ninth goal of the season with Morgan Rielly picking up the second assist. The Black and Gold world might be collapsing (sorry for the stupid hyperbole) around them but at least Frank Vatrano has somewhat remembered how to do his one skill that got him here: score goals. He tipped in a shot from Torey Krug (7-game point streak) and Kevan Miller at 15:18 of the first for his second goal of the campaign.

Toronto led 2-1 after the first and Matt Martin laid a massive hit on rookie Anders Bjork early in the second frame at center ice. Both guys were shaken up but they each remained in the game, because hockey. Matt Beleskey might be nothing more than a fourth line plug these days but at least he stands up for his teammates: he fought Martin a few minutes later since who else would in this Swiss cheese lineup? With the Leafs up 2-1 after 40 minutes, Boston needed to conjure up something notable to avoid grabbing only one point out of a possible four this weekend against their Atlantic Division foe. Instead, their power play was blanked on four occasions overall and the Leafs put it out of reach with Rielly's goal at 6:52 that of course deflected off Carlo's stick. JVR and Marner picked up their second points on Rielly's third goal of the season.

To say that goal was deflating would be an understatement since right before it, Boston had a two-man advantage for 1:07 that they shamelessly flushed down the toilet. Head coach Bruce Cassidy used his timeout right after the second penalty was whistled but there would be no proper response by his club. Grandpa Marleau broke Boston's hearts with the overtime tally and he put this slopfest to bed with an empty-net goal with 1:47 left in regulation. His eighth goal of the season was assisted by Zach Hyman (fun name!) and Leo Komarov.

Dating back to last season, Toronto improved to 6-0 vs. Boston meaning that the B's have two more chances left to avoid another ugly fate: a season sweep at the hands of one of their sneaky biggest rivals these days. Hey no worries though, the Bruins won't return to the Garden until Black Friday (1, NESN) when they host the Penguins (9-7-2) in their annual day after Thanksgiving matinee. Between Now and Then (cheesy 90s movie reference, just call me Bill Simmons) they leave on the dreaded California trip and then they go to New Jersey (10-4-2)-the Eastern Conference's biggest surprise-the night before Thanksgiving (7, NESN).

Did I mention that the B's are 1-3-2 on the road thus far? Anaheim (7-6-3) on Wednesday is probably their best chance at a win on the road trip since the Ducks are super banged up just like them. At LA (11-3-2) the next night (10:30, NESN) is no picnic since the Kings are one of the NHL's best at the moment (who could forget their last second 2-1 overtime win here back on Oct. 28?) and finally, the Sharks (8-6-0) on Saturday night (10:30, NESN) will be looking for revenge after they lost here 2-1 on October 26.

Tweet

This Season Nobody Struggles Against the Blue Jackets Like the Bruins Do

Hey guys, I've got great news: the Bruins don't have to play the Blue Jackets anymore this season (assuming they don't meet in the playoffs)! This sounds like a joke and in a way it is but Columbus (19-21-3) went 2-0-1 against Boston (24-16-6) in 2014-15, capped off by tonight's 3-1 win at TD Garden that ended the Bruins' season-best five-game win streak.

The Blue Jackets play hard and they are somewhat speedy but they are so depleted by injuries that it's hard to explain how they previously beat Boston 6-2 and the Bruins' only win was a 4-3 shootout victory in Columbus. I don't get it, haha that's my scorching hot take. The B's had been playing really well lately so they were probably due for a stinker. This was eerily similar to earlier losses this campaign where their offense disappeared and they just didn't seem that into it.

Columbus has the No. 2 power play in the league, by far their biggest strength, so it stands to reason that you should do anything to keep them away from the man-advantage. All-Star Ryan Johansen scored his team-leading 17th goal at 7:57 of the first period when he roofed the puck over Tuukka Rask's (28 saves) glove. Jack Johnson and Scott Hartnell had the assists. That extended Johansen's NHL-best point streak to an absurd 13 games (8 goals, 7 assists). He is one of three Blue Jackets (Sergei Bobrovsky and Nick Foligno) that will represent the home team at next weekend's All-Star Game in Columbus.

Boston's lone highlight of this forgettable game was Carl Soderberg's tying goal at 11:34. He one-timed a pass from Chris Kelly that was tipped over by Loui Eriksson for his 10th goal of the season. That gives Boston four guys with double-digit goal totals (Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, Eriksson). Speaking of Marchand, this was the first of the two games that he'll miss for slew-footing Rangers forward Derick Brassard. The B's didn't lose because of his absence but clearly putting Daniel Paille in his spot is never a positive thing for them.

I thought we were going to be treated to a dull overtime but Matt Calvert scored the game-winning goal at 16:57 of the third period. BC's Cam Atkinson took a shot that Rask couldn't corral and Calvert was on the doorstep to shovel it in. Brandon Dubinsky assisted on his fifth goal of the season. Calvert also added the empty-netter at 19:22 that put this two points away.

I hadn't even mentioned until now that Columbus had played at home last night and lost 2-1 to the Rangers. Oh and Boston was treated to backup goaltender Curtis McElhinney (34 saves) but they somehow could not make the most of those favorable factors. The Bruins hit the road for a back-to-back on Tuesday and Wednesday: at Dallas (8:30, NESN) then at Colorado (10:30, NESN). Neither team is currently in the playoff picture in the West and both feature former Bruins that they miss dearly: Tyler Seguin and Jarome Iginla respectively. Boston needs at least two out of those four possible points to feel OK heading into the break. Their next home game isn't for two weeks: January 31 vs. Los Angeles.

Tweet