There Is No Other Way to Put It: Your Boston Bruins Are Mired in a Bit of a Funk Right Now

No matter how good your team is in the NHL, at some point in the slog of an 82-game regular season, you are going to run into some speed bumps along the way. The Bruins (24-8-11) are clearly not themselves at the moment as they dropped a rather lifeless 4-1 decision to the Oilers (22-17-5) this afternoon at TD Garden that didn't even feel that close. Make no mistake, Boston had 36 shots on goal not to mention 63 shot attempts overall and yet they could only beat journeyman goaltender Mike Smith (35 saves, 8-9-2 this season and he improved to 5-13 all-time vs. the Bruins in his forgettable career) just one single time. Somehow, it was only their second loss in regulation at home this season and you have to say that it had to be one of their sloppiest efforts-namely countless missed passes and shots right at Smith-of 2019-20.

With a 1 p.m. EST start time, you figured that would have to favor the Bruins who accordingly struck first at 3:10 of the first period. David Pastrnak's shot was perfectly redirected by Edmonton defenseman Kris Russell for Pasta's NHL-leading 31st goal of the season. Torey Krug (1 goal, 7 assists in his last 7 games) and Brad Marchand (2 goals, 7 assists in his last 6 games) had the helpers as David extended his point streak to 10 games (5 goals, 10 assists). He is the only player in the league so far in this campaign to have multiple double-digit point streaks. It was also the 10th straight game with a power play goal for Boston (12 for 39 in that span), their longest stretch since March 7-27, 1996.

Jaroslav Halak (22 saves, 9-4-5) got the start for the Bruins and at least initially he seemed sharp as he made a diving save on a one-timer from Oilers superstar Connor McDavid (fed by his fellow stud Leon Draisaitl) late in the first period. Boston was up 1-0 after the first but they trailed 2-1 after the second as they gave up a pair of absolutely atrocious goals. First, Jake DeBrusk completely whiffed on a clearing pass deep in his own end leading to a breakaway and goal by something called Gaetan Haas (his 4th of the season) at 7:41. If that wasn't gross enough, Halak topped it by allowing a nothing shot on goal by Darnell Nurse squeeze past him (hugging the post, quite ineffectively as it turned out) with only 6.3 seconds left in the frame.

This was a strength on strength battle in terms of special teams as Boston came in with the No. 3 ranked power play and No. 2 penalty kill in the league while Edmonton's power play is the best and their penalty kill is No. 4. That's part of what made this such a bitter loss since Boston's penalty kill unit extended their successful streak to 23 for 23 dating back eight games (Dec. 17 vs. LA). Smith continued to make big saves and McDavid put it away for all intents and purposes early in the third. Goon Zack Kassian-who gets the honor of being on McDavid's line-spun around and hit him wide open from the slot where the best player in the world rarely fails to convert. McDavid's 23rd goal of the season came at 1:48 and it was also assisted by Ethan Bear.

The Bruins dominated in the third, outshooting the Oilers 21-7 but as Claude Julien's underachieving teams always taught us: shots on goal can be a very misleading statistic. Par Lindholm was wide open in the slot but he failed to shoot the puck past Smith, mostly because he stinks (witness his 0-for-6 goose egg on face-offs). Edmonton missed an early empty-netter but Draisaitl put a bow on it with an empty-net goal with nine seconds left in regulation. Every garbage time point means something when you're in the heart of a scoring race. His 24th goal of the season was unassisted and it was soon followed by rare (but totally deserved) boos by the Garden faithful that stuck around to the end. If there hadn't been so many kids here it probably would have been even louder in terms of the booing but I'm sure that the B's got the message.

Matt Grzelcyk was a late scratch for the Bruins with an illness but other than that, it was basically a full lineup (Connor Clifton remains out with an injury) for the home team. Since New Year's Eve, they are 0-1-2 against three blah teams (Devils, Blue Jackets and Oilers) and they have scored four total goals in that time frame. Boston won't practice tomorrow so they'll be back at Warrior Ice Arena on Monday morning before traveling to Nashville that day. They play the Predators (18-15-6) on Tuesday (8, NESN) with a chance to avenge Nashville's 4-3 overtime win here on Dec. 21.

The Predators are a bit of a mess themselves (4-5-1 in their last 10 games) after blowing a 2-0 lead vs. Dallas (24-14-4) in the Winter Classic and their outstanding defenseman Ryan Ellis is on IR with a concussion suffered on a dirty hit by Corey Perry (suspended 5 games for it) in that loss. Regardless, Bridgestone Arena is a tough place to play (Preds are 10-7-4 there this season) and Nashville is desperate for a spark to turn things around before they slip too far down in the Western Conference standings. Boston returns home on Thursday (7, NESN) to face old friend Blake Wheeler, UMass-Lowell's Connor Hellebuyck-one of the top goalies in the NHL-and Winnipeg (22-16-4)-another fringe playoff team on the outside looking in at this very second after losing 3-2 in overtime this afternoon in Minnesota (20-17-5).

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Connor McDavid is Incredible but the Oilers Still Stink as Evidenced in a 4-1 Bruins Victory

Two of the underrated trademarks of the Bruce Cassidy era (already in its third fun-filled season!) with the Bruins (3-1-0) is that they almost always beat the teams that are below them and they usually play well at TD Garden. Those are two positive changes from the end of Claude Julien's tenure here as his team routinely dropped points to garbage teams and likewise, they gave away way too many points on home ice-why they missed the playoffs his last two years. In a weird scheduling quirk, the Oilers (0-2-0) had only played a single game-in Sweden last Saturday-before coming to Boston this evening. You would think that they would be fired up after a crappy opener (5-2 loss to the Devils) but nope, they mostly rolled over in an easy 4-1 win for the B's.

Connor McDavid is undoubtedly the best player in the NHL these days but as last season showed, even he needs some help from his much less talented teammates. Poor goaltending and a crappy defense were Edmonton's biggest issues in 2017-18 and I don't know how much old friend and GM Peter Chiarelli addressed that since it's basically the same flawed group that's returned. It didn't take long for McDavid's singular brilliance to shine through as he scored his first goal of the season on a breakaway at 3:43. Ty Rattie and Darnell Nurse were credited with assists on the play but honestly it was all McDavid since he came from one end of the ice to the other before beating Jaroslav Halak (2-0-0; 25 saves).

That was the only highlight of the entire night for the Oilers though as Boston scored three straight goals in the first period as they cruised to another two points in their third straight win in regulation. Halak has only allowed one goal in his combined two starts so you couldn't ask for much more from the backup goaltender. The Bruins power play had a nice performance as well with a pair of goals on four opportunities. The top line continued to carry the B's which figures to be a bigger issue when they ramp up the competition. If you didn't get enough Bruins-Oilers tonight, the NHL will serve up another helping of it a week from now which is actually Edmonton's home opener as well. Neat.

David Pastrnak has become one of the top young players in the league and best goal-scorers so it was perhaps poetic that he was the one to answer McDavid's goal with an insane goal of his own. He dangled around Northeastern alum Matt Benning and backhanded the puck past Oilers goaltender Cam Talbot (28 saves) at 9:20 of the first period. Matt Grzelcyk had the lone assist on Pasta's fourth goal of the season, their first power play strike. Edmonton made the mistake of putting Boston right back on the power play and the Black and Gold made them pay for it. Brad Marchand's intended pass ended up being kicked in by Drake Caggiula at 14:37. Marchand's first goal of the season was assisted by Grzelcyk and Patrice Bergeron. Cassidy had an Alex Cora moment of good luck as Joakim Nordstrom (in the lineup in place of a healthy Ryan Donato) made his coach's move look smart when he redirected a pass from David Krejci just 36 seconds later for his first goal and point as a Bruin.

Other than a couple scraps, that was about all that happened in this tilt. Kevan Miller fought Jujhar Khaira early in the second period followed by David Backes slashing Caggiula to try and get him to drop the gloves. Benning's rough night continued as Sean Kuraly of all people managed to put him through a pane of glass behind Edmonton's goal (luckily it didn't shatter onto the crowd) with a big hit. Bergeron clinched it with a late empty-netter, his team-leading fifth goal of the season. The top line all has points in the past three games and that figures to continue to Saturday afternoon (3, NESN) as another doormat comes to the Garden: Detroit (0-2-2) is still looking for their first win of this campaign and they'll face Tuukka Rask (1-1-0) before we all rush home to watch Game 1 of the ALCS between the Red Sox and Astros (the NHL was smart enough to change the start time after it was originally 7 pm). Expect many similar results to this throughout October as Boston only plays two playoff teams from last year in their 1st 12 games.

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I Never Thought I'd Say This But Khudobin Gives the B's a Much Better Chance to Win Than Rask

Tuukka Rask (3-8-2) made his first start in 11 days (November 15 at Anaheim was his last outing) but despite 32 mostly run-of-the-mill saves, he couldn't add to his meager win total as Edmonton (9-13-2) wrapped up a bumpy five-game road trip with a 4-2 victory tonight at TD Garden. Boston (10-8-4) saw its modest four-game winning streak come to an end as Rask has yet to record a win since November 6 at Minnesota (5-3). The Celtics (18-3) are the best team in the Eastern Conference and the Patriots (9-2) might be the top team in the NFL, so the Bruins' cloudy goaltending situation won't nearly get the attention as those more worthy clubs but I have to admit that it is getting pretty damn interesting.

Anton Khudobin (7-0-2) has won his last four straight starts and he hasn't lost in regulation this entire season (7-0-2). Still, Rask is the undisputed No. 1 (at least for the time being) so he had to get back in there at some point and the Oilers seemed like a good spot for him since they had dropped four out of their last five contests. Boston got off to a good start as David Pastrnak scored a power play goal at 14:03 of the first period for a 1-0 lead. Torey Krug and Rask had the assists on Pasta's team-leading 12th goal of the season. He finished the shot right in the nick of time before he got flattened by a pair of Edmonton players and Cam Talbot (23 saves)-who's had a miserable campaign himself-couldn't react to it in time.

Patrick Maroon apparently lives to play in Boston as he followed up his hat trick here last year with another goal, this one tying things up at 9:50 of the second period. Zach Kassian found him with a cross-ice pass and he was able to beat Rask up high to the top shelf for his seventh goal of the season. Edmonton took a 2-1 lead less than five minutes later at 14:20 as Adam Larsson (how's that Taylor Hall trade looking this season? Haha woof!) had a shot from the point deflect in off Charlie McAvoy's skate. Larsson's third goal of the season was assisted by the newly-acquired Mike Cammalleri and some nobody named Connor McDavid. The B's continued to get outshot at an alarming rate (17-5 in the 2nd!) but somehow it was knotted at two after two frames as David Krejci roofed one by Talbot at 15:31. Riley Nash, his temporary linemate, and Krug provided the assists on Krejci's third goal of the season.

With everything to play for in the third, Boston finally stepped on the gas-outshooting Edmonton 14-9-but it didn't really matter as a defensive breakdown allowed Ryan Strome to be wide open in the slot for an easy goal at 2:07 that Rask couldn't be expected to save in most instances. Leon Draisaitl had the lone helper on Strome's fourth goal of the season. Talbot came in with a horrid 3.13 goals against average so he tried his best to give away the lead but the Bruins couldn't take advantage of a shaky goaltender on the other end. Draisaitl ended it with an empty-net goal at 19:09: his first attempt was blocked but he stuck with it for his seventh goal of the season, assist by McDavid and old friend Milan Lucic (who earlier was mistakenly credited with Larsson's goal).

So where do the Black and Gold go from here? Well they are off tomorrow and then get back to practice on Tuesday before Tampa Bay (16-5-2)-the top team in the Eastern Conference and one point behind St. Louis (17-6-1) who has played one more game-is here for rivalry night on Wednesday (7:30, NBC Sports Network). Boston head coach Bruce Cassidy has been around for too long to be baited into committing too early to his starting goaltender for that tilt but I honestly would be surprised if he goes back to Rask in that one. I still have a hard time explaining the reason behind it (maybe just that some things in life are unexplainable, son) but the fact remains that the Bruins are a unquestionably better team when Khudobin is in the net and not Rask. Tuukka wasn't bad today but a shutout or perhaps stealing a win for the B's-which is basically what he had to do-would have gone a long way at least in the near future for the struggling Finn.

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The Bruins Need To Drastically Shake Things Up and They Should Have Done It Already

It's been a long time since I was applying to colleges but from what I remember, they don't let dumb people into Harvard. My point being that Bruins GM Don Sweeney is a smart man so there is no conceivable way that he can sit by idly and watch Boston (20-17-4) piss away another entire season, right? How many times do fans have to see the same mistakes: slow starts, no offensive firepower, a stubborn head coach set in his (usually winning) ways, an awful power play and a team that you can never count on to perform at a high level at key moments? After sitting through another lackluster performance tonight at the Garden where the Oilers (20-13-7) beat the Bruins 4-3, all I can reasonably conclude is that something has to happen very soon before the Black and Gold repeat the same exact crappy script from the last two years (going to the last weekend of the regular season needing points to make the playoffs then not getting them).

Let's not waste any time, Claude Julien is a wonderful coach, in fact he's still one of the best in the NHL. However, as the longest-tenured guy behind the bench (almost 10 years), don't you have to wonder if many of his players have started to tune him out a bit? If you're not named Bill Belichick and winning at an insane clip year after year, eventually every coach reaches an expiration date. I'm not going to say that Julien deserves to get fired since I don't think you can expect much better results than he's getting with this flawed roster but perhaps it's simply time for a new voice. Changing coaches is always the easiest way to shuffle the deck for a team that's going nowhere fast but nearly all of the current roster needs to be under the microscope as well.

Sorry Danny Ainge, you can't rip off rival GMs on every trade so maybe the Bruins have to trade some of their supposed best players (David Krejci, Zdeno Chara, etc.) to prove that what's happening now and over the last few years isn't acceptable for a club that was one of the league's biggest powers just a few short years ago. How can a team be so good on the road (11-7-4) yet so mind-numbingly poor at home (9-10-0), again? If you've been paying attention, tonight's loss to Edmonton had so many of the usual elements of the Bruins' recent failures: a nobody (Patrick Maroon) had a career-night (his 1st career hat trick), they had a whopping 75 shot attempts (36 on goal, 19 blocked, 20 missed the net!) and the opposing goaltender-in this crease Cam Talbot (33 saves) did enough to gain the two points as the Oilers were up two goals in the third period and held on.

Connor McDavid's first career game in Boston was a memorable one as he had a pair of assists in helping the Oilers get their first regulation win over Boston since Oct. 17, 2000 and first regulation win here since Nov. 7, 1996. In fact, the Bruins had a 16-game point-streak (13-0-3) snapped by Milan Lucic's new team. No word on if Looch actually played in the game because I never saw him out there. McDavid threaded a perfect pass to Maroon for a one-timer only 1:08 into the contest. Leon Draisaitl had the other helper on Maroon's 12th goal of the season. Chara didn't like what he was seeing so he did what any good leader would do: he dropped the gloves with Maroon shortly after that initial tally. Is that still allowed in the NHL? Answer: barely.

Boston put together a short-lived lead as Colin Miller tied it at 7:16 of the first period when his shot bounced in the net off of former Northeastern defenseman Matt Benning. Austin Czarnik and Torey Krug assisted on Miller's third goal of the season. Patrice Bergeron continued to slowly percolate as he finished a pass from David Pastrnak for a 2-1 B's lead at 10:43 of the second period. Kevan Miller (his 1st point of the season) had the other assist on Bergeron's eighth goal of the season. Of course, the Bruins aren't allowed to taste success for very long these days at the Garden so Maroon tied it at two at 13:09. Maroon overpowered Adam McQuaid for a loose puck by Tuukka Rask (21 saves) and spun around to get the shot off. BU's Eric Gryba and McDavid had the assists.

Edmonton is having an unexpectedly good season thus far and they were helped out by a fortunate bounce of their own as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had a puck ricochet off his body into Boston's net just 14 seconds into the final frame. After allowing such an early goal in the first period, how could the Bruins double down and give up a way faster one? My head hurts. Maroon completed his hat trick at 9:02 (his career-best 14th goal of the season) after fittingly forcing an ugly turnover by the B's in their own end. He wrapped around Rask and waited for a long time before sliding the puck in. Beautiful goal.

The Bruins had a 5-on-3 power play for 59 seconds and even they couldn't screw that up. With Gryba literally a second from jumping back on the ice from the penalty box, Krejci sent in a shot from the side of the net after Talbot had stuffed Bergeron at a better angle. Brad Marchand notched the other assist on Krejci's ninth goal of the season at 17:04. Boston pushed for a tying goal but as usual, it wasn't meant to be. How many times have we said, "why don't they play like that (as they do when they are coming back) more often?" Therein lies the main issue: who do you blame more for yet another up-and-down season? Make no mistake, the Jacobs' might not hold anyone accountable but someone has to notice that this group is fatally flawed.

Boston has practice tomorrow morning before flying out to Florida as the Bruins visit the Panthers (16-15-8) on Saturday night (7, NESN). They are in Carolina (17-14-7) for a bizarre 5 pm start time (on NESN) on Sunday. I wouldn't recommend viewing either game even though the B's will probably do well in them. Nope, Wild Card Weekend starts on Saturday afternoon and even though the Pats are off for a week, the NFL playoffs are much more interesting than this mess of a team. Look for center David Backes (who is recovering from a concussion) to return this weekend after he practiced yesterday but wasn't cleared to play for tonight.

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Bruins Rally From 2-0 Deficit But Eventually Fall 3-2 in Overtime to Red-Hot Oilers

Most people outside of Edmonton probably aren't aware of this but believe it or not, the Oilers (14-15-2) are the hottest team in the NHL. They picked up their sixth straight win tonight, a 3-2 overtime victory at TD Garden against the Bruins (16-9-4). Edmonton jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period then Boston eventually tied it with a goal in the second and a goal in the third before defenseman Andrej Sekera won it 41 seconds into overtime. This was a bitter loss for the Bruins since they fired a season-high 49 shots on Cam Talbot (47 saves).

This was the third straight time that Boston and Edmonton have gone to overtime and the Oilers improved to 2-0 against the Bruins this season after winning in a shootout at home a few weeks back. The B's fell to 1-3 in overtime this season and 1-1 in shootouts. Jordan Eberle (1 goal, 2 assists) and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (1 goal, 1 assist) showed off some of their immense talents in the win. Eberle scored at 8:29 of the first period after the puck bounced off the back boards to him and he was able to beat Jonas Gustavsson (21 saves) from a tight angle. Eberle's seventh goal of the season was assisted by BU's Eric Gryba and Brandon Davidson.

After Zdeno Chara fell, Eberle fed Nugent-Hopkins for an easy goal at 13:58 of the first. Nikita Nikitin had the other assist on Nugent-Hopkins' eighth goal of the season. Some puck luck finally went Boston's way at 13:29 of the second period as Matt Beleskey's stuff shot went in off Talbot after the goaltender kicked it back with his leg pad. Beleskey has been snake-bitten most of the way in his first season with the Black and Gold so he probably deserved this after playing well for weeks. David Krejci and Chara assisted on Beleskey's fourth goal of the season.

Brad Marchand is starting to put together an All-Star type resume in 2015-16 so predictably he was the Bruin that tied it up with 4:38 left in regulation. The play actually looked offside and was reviewed but stood up for his team-leading 15th goal of the season. Landon Ferraro and Patrice Bergeron assisted on Marchand's shot that went up under the bar over Talbot's blocker (with a defenseman possibly screening him as well).

As noted in the records, overtime still doesn't seem to agree with Boston. In fact, after losing the opening faceoff in the extra session, the Oilers had the puck in the Bruins' end the entire time. Sekera's initial shot went off of Torey Krug (who was tied up in front) then with all the extra space he was able to collect the rebound and put it in for his third goal of the season. Eberle and Nugent-Hopkins assisted on the overtime game-winner that had to make former Bruins GM/current Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli smile.

Up next, the Bruins have a home-and-home with the Penguins (15-11-3) who lost head coach Mike Sullivan's debut 4-1 tonight against Washington. Pittsburgh is in ninth place in the Eastern Conference and 3-4-3 in their last 10 games. Wednesday (8, NBCSN) at the Garden will be the first matchup of the season.

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The March of the Tomato Cans Continues for the Grateful Bruins

Soon enough the schedule will get more difficult for the Bruins so for the moment, all they can do is pile up the points against the dregs of the NHL. Boston (9-6) beat lowly Edmonton (4-8-1) 5-2 tonight at TD Garden. The B's actually trailed 2-1 early in the third period before exploding for three goals (two on the power play) in 2:34 for their fourth straight win while the Oilers dropped their fourth game in a row. Boston has won 13 straight games against Edmonton and they have an 11-game point streak (9-0-1-0) at home vs. Oilers.

David Krejci returned after missing the past two games and while he was a little rusty, his presence brought more balance to the lineup and also put Chris Kelly back on the third line where he belongs. Most of the Bruins' contests this season are rather dull, a product of so many injuries and AHL call ups, but at least this one perked up in the third period.

It was the third time in the last four games that Boston has allowed the first goal but it hasn't mattered one bit since they've rallied to win each time. Boyd Gordon scored a weird power play goal at 14:49 of the first period to put Edmonton up 1-0. His weak shot barely went over the line before it was swept out but it was reviewed and remained as a goal.

Reilly Smith tied it less than four minutes later with a wrist shot under the crossbar. It was his third goal of the season (1st in 10 games), assisted by Brad Marchand (4-game point streak) and David Warsofsky (1st point of the season). Tuukka Rask (24 saves) was at fault for Edmonton's second goal which for a little while, looked like it might be the game-winner. He kicked a rebound right to former Yale star Marc Arcobello at 1:44 who beat Rask like he was a Harvard goaltender.

A few minutes earlier, Loui Eriksson couldn't bury an easy stuff-in at the side of the net so it felt like some sort of cosmic justice when he tied it at 11:04. A shot by Dougie Hamilton deflected right to Eriksson who deposited it past Ben Scrivens (27 saves) for his third goal of the season. Fellow Swede Carl Soderberg had the second assist on one of Eriksson's most memorable goals as a Bruin (not saying much there).

This version of the standard Oilers' meltdown was a product of multiple penalties in crunch time, always a surefire way to lose on the road (they are 0-4-1 on the road this season). Soderberg hammered in a one-timer (his 4th goal of the season) from Patrice Bergeron at 12:29 with Hamilton picking up the other helper. What made that especially sweet was that Bergeron was being hauled down while he passed it-which resulted in another power play. Hamilton added the insurance goal on that man advantage, originally it was credited to Soderberg but he only screened Scrivens, he didn't tip it in. Eriksson and Smith assisted on Hamilton's third goal of the season.

Dallas Eakins called a timeout and Scrivens was pulled but it was far too late at that point. Milan Lucic added an empty-netter with 7.5 seconds left, making the final score completely misleading if you watched the entire game. Boston improved to 5-1 since captain Zdeno Chara went down with his knee injury, go figure; after a couple more days off, they wrap up this cushy homestand and portion of their schedule on Monday vs. New Jersey (6-5-2). Haha think they'll make combine a tribute video for former Bruins greats Michael Ryder and Jaromir Jagr?

UPDATE 11/7: Bruins head coach Claude Julien casually mentioned at practice this afternoon that Warsofsky is out for "a while." WTF!

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Oilers Remind Us to Enjoy the Bruins' Success While They are Near the Top

Neither Wayne Gretzky nor his skanky daughter Paulina is not walking through that door. I know I thought the same thing when the Bruins faced the Islanders last week but the Oilers reiterated this cold hard fact to me: dynasties or great teams in the NHL (or any sport) don't last forever. I use the Islanders and Oilers as an example since no team was more dominant than them in the 80s and early 90s but what have they done since then? Today, Edmonton (18-33-6) came to TD Garden and left with a 4-0 defeat at the hands of the Bruins (35-16-3) in their back pocket.

Boston swept the two-game season series with Edmonton, outscoring them 8-2. Besides Andrew Ference's return to the Garden and the ultra rare Chad Johnson (22 saves) shutout-the second of his NHL career-there really wasn't much to this one. Frankly the Oilers are a disgrace and I don't know how any of their fans have stuck with them the last decade as they've continually bungled top draft picks or simply not developed them properly. But hey, I hear the weather is great in Edmonton this time of year.

They served as the perfect cupcake for the B's who were licking their wounds a bit after Thursday's lifeless 4-1 loss to the Canadiens. Boston outshot Edmonton 9-2 in the first period but couldn't beat Ben Scrivens (37 saves). That changed in the second period as David Krejci fired a power play shot from the point that deflected off an Oiler and in the net at 2:06. Jarome Iginla and Milan Lucic assisted on Krejci's 12th goal of the season.

Edmonton had to be thrilled to only trail 1-0 heading into the third period but that didn't last for long as Dougie Hamilton made it 2-0 at 6:43. He followed his own rebound and wrapped around the goal-somewhere Johnson flinched-and shot it by Scrivens from a tough angle. It was his sixth goal of the season (2nd in as many games), assisted by Zdeno Chara and Carl Soderberg.

Speaking of the one-eyed Swede, he has really become a solid player for the Bruins. He's played some center the last two games with Chris Kelly returning to the lineup and getting his feet under him. Soderberg put this out of reach at 13:05 when he roofed a snipe of a shot for his eighth goal of the season, 3-0 Boston. Kelly and Matt Bartkowski had the assists.

The Bruins added one more power play goal, their prettiest score of the afternoon, when Torey Krug (12th goal of the season) finished tic-tac-toe passing from Chara and Iginla at 15:42.

Boston wraps up this four-game homestand on Tuesday (7, NESN) vs. Vancouver (27-20-9, 4th in Pacific Division). There are plenty of subplots in that game already: 1) John Tortorella returns from his suspension. 2) It is Chara's last game before he leaves for Sochi (he's the flag-bearer for Slovakia at the Opening Ceremonies). 3) The Canucks smoked the B's 6-2 on Dec. 14 in Vancouver, something which Boston's coaches will be sure to remind the players a few times between now and Tuesday night.

UPDATE 2/3: The Bruins recalled defenseman David Warsofsky from Providence.

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Is There a Bruins Fan Out There That Hasn't Fallen In Love with this Team Yet?

Granted they aren't exactly playing the iron of the much deeper Western Conference but the Bruins are finding ways to win when common sense tells you they shouldn't. Boston held off Edmonton 4-3 tonight at Rexall Place for their fourth straight victory. Backup goaltender Chad Johnson made a career-high 39 saves, Jarome Iginla scored two goals and the B's (22-8-2) built an early 3-0 lead that was too much to overcome for the awful Oilers (11-19-3).

This being Edmonton, home of the worst goaltenders in the NHL, Dennis Seidenberg scored a very weak goal (not that he'll complain) at 10:35 in the first period. His first of the season was a knucklepuck that the immortal Devan Dubnyk had no chance to stop. Iginla doubled the lead at 16:11 when his blast from near the boards (and blue line) went past Dubnyk. His seventh goal of the season was assisted by Seidenberg and David Krejci plus Milan Lucic screened Dubnyk.

The Oilers had given up the most short-handed goals in the NHL so naturally they had to let the Bruins nab one. Brad Marchand one-timed a pass from Patrice Bergeron at at 18:17. It was Marchand's fifth goal of the season.

David Perron might be one of the only guys on the Oilers with any type of fight or character. He battled back with a pair of goals to cut it to 3-2. His wrist shot went top shelf on Johnson at 3:25 then the Bruins' goaltender got caught too far out of the net so Perron wrapped around it and poked in a loose puck for an ugly goal (if you root for Boston) at 17:27.

Maybe the highlight of the whole contest (assuming you don't mind fighting) was Lucic brawling with Luke Gazdic (great name). Iginla couldn't get the empty-netter on Tuesday in Calgary when the whole crowd wanted it but he delivered tonight at 19:16 from Krejci and Kevan Miller (1st NHL assist).

I didn't really notice him much but I guess former Bruin Andrew Ference (now Edmonton's captain) had a good game: +1, one shot on goal, three blocked shots and two hits. I wish him nothing but the best, he was one of my favorite Bruins from the last few seasons.

Boston wraps up this four-game road trip on Saturday (10, NESN) at Vancouver (18-10-5, 4th in Pacific Division). The Canucks have won their last five games heading into tomorrow night vs. the Oilers.

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Hey Jarome Iginla, No Hard Feelings Right Buddy?

I am sure that you've already heard the news since it happened on Friday but I thought I'd wrap up the Bruins' moves from this weekend since many of us (myself included) were in a Fourth of July/long holiday weekend haze. The Bruins and right wing Jarome Iginla agreed to a one-year deal worth $6 million while Nathan Horton signed a seven-year deal in Columbus, Andrew Ference is off to Edmonton for four seasons, backup goaltender Anton Khudobin is now a Carolina Hurricane for at least the next season and Aaron Johnson signed a one-year, two-way deal with the Rangers.

We don't have to rehash all the drama with Iginla a few months ago but you have to admit that it is pretty funny that he ended up in Boston after getting swept by the Bruins in the Eastern Conference Finals in June. It's all about timing and despite the fact that he's slowing down (he turned 36 last week), he has a good chance to end up on Boston's top line with Milan Lucic and David Krejci now that Horton is officially gone.

Iginla's resume speaks for itself, there is a reason that he'll be in the Hockey Hall of Fame after he retires: he has the third most goals of active players (530) with 576 assists and he's +48 for his career which is great when you consider all the poor teams he played on in Calgary. He has 165 power play goals and 206 power play assists with 13 shorthanded goals and nine shorthanded assists.

The former Flames captain put up seven 30-goal seasons, two 40-goal seasons and two 50-goal seasons with a career-high 52 in 2001-02. Showing how well rounded he is, Iginla has six 30-assist seasons, two 40-assists seasons and two 50-assist seasons with a career-high 55 in 2006-07. He's never had 100 points in a season (who does anymore in the NHL?) but he's come close with 94, 96 and 98 in 2007-08.

You can't expect Iginla to still be the player he was in his prime since he showed signs of age between Calgary (9 goals, 13 assists in 31 games) and Pittsburgh (5 goals, 6 assists in 13 games) last season. Still, he missed four games in the regular season but he played in all 82 for five seasons in a row (2007-08 to 2011-12). It's also easy to forget since he had a goose egg (0 goals, 0 assists) in the Bruins' sweep of the Penguins but before that, he notched four goals and eight assists in 11 games. In 69 career NHL playoff games, he has posted 32 goals and 29 assists.

My guess is that with a full training camp, no worries around the trade deadline over if he'll get dealt and a regular season with the B's, he should be a nice fit at a very reasonable price and the fans will totally forget about all the old drama provided that he plays well. It'll be strange to see Horton and Ference in other jerseys next season. I'm happy that they both got long-term deals since they are good guys that gave everything they had to the Black and Gold. Losing Khudobin was a little surprising but I'm confident the Bruins can find a comparable backup for Tuukka Rask in 2013-14.

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Bruins Are Finding Their Groove, Second Straight Win For Tuukka Rask

Only time will tell if the Edmonton Oilers are going to be a good team this season or if they simply got off to a nice start.

Regardless, the Oilers (9-4-2) came into the TD Garden tonight having won seven of their last eight games. They had the third most points in the NHL but that didn't seem to matter as the Bruins (7-7-0) climbed to .500 for the first time in 2011-12 with a 6-3 victory.

Boston has now beaten Edmonton ten times in a row, dating back to October 2000. It is ironic that the Bruins struggled so much to score to begin the season because they have potted 24 goals (6 per game) in their last four contests.

The B's are riding a four-game win streak and even more promising, they've won Tuukka Rask's (27 saves) last two starts. Even the power-play is starting to come around with two more goals this evening.

Brad Marchand (2 goals) shook off a 10-game goalless stretch, Joe Corvo added three assists, Tyler Seguin (1 goal, 1 assist) continue to put the puck in the net while Nathan Horton had two assists.

Rich Peverley sat out another game with his undisclosed injury and Daniel Paille missed the contest following the surgery for his broken nose. Providence Bruins standout Zach Hamill made the most of his first appearance (this season) with the big club, picking up his third NHL assist. Unfortunately, Andrew Ference left in the second period with an injury and he never returned. If he can't go on Saturday, expect Steven Kampfer to return to the lineup.

With games in Detroit and Chicago this weekend, the Oilers sat their starting goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin. It was an all backup occasion with Devan Dubnyk (22 saves) taking on Rask.

Boston took an early 2-0 lead in the first period as Johnny Boychuk (2nd of the season) scored at 7:11 from David Krejci and Horton then Jordan Caron (1st of the season) doubled it with an assist from Hamill. Boychuk's shot was a blast from the point, his specialty; Caron mishit his shot but the pass was so good that a simple redirect got the job done.

Edmonton tied it up with a pair of goals in 29 seconds (12:02 and 12:31). Mark Recchi lite aka Ryan Smith (8th of the season) tipped a shot from the point by Theo Peckham. 2011 No. 1 pick Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (7th of the season) finished a feed from 2011 No. 1 pick Taylor Hall.

Boston took control with two unanswered tallies in the second. Marchand (3rd of the season) deflected Corvo's shot from the point on the power-play (Seguin assisted too). Seguin showed he's not afraid to go to the net and he was rewarded with his ninth goal of the season, from Corvo.

Smyth's tap in at 15:18 of the third period brought the Oilers within a goal but no worries, the Bruins had this one in the skate bag. Milan Lucic (8th of the season) got an easy power-play goal thanks to Corvo's gorgeous feed. Horton assisted on Lucic's goal and Marchmont ended it with an unassisted snipe at 17:57 that looked like something he did in the playoffs last spring.

The Buffalo Sabres make their first pilgrimage to Boston on Saturday night. Their Northeast Division rivals still have All-World goaltender Ryan Miller, who's off to a slow start by his impossibly high standards. For whatever reason, the Sabres usually give the Bruins trouble and the games are almost always very competitive.

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Look out Canada: Bruins continue their rampage up North

Granted the teams they've played on this six-game road trip haven't all been Stanley Cup contenders (sorry Senators, Islanders and Oilers) but can you remember a more successful trip in the last few years than this current one for the Bruins?

I certainly can't as the Bs (36-19-7) won their season-high fifth straight in Canada, 3-2 last night over host Edmonton (20-35-8) at the Rexall Place.

There has been a new star each night and against the Oilers-the NHL's worst team-it was Michael Ryder (1 goal, 1 assist) and Nathan Horton (1 goal, 1 fight).

It's been very under the radar since he's so inconsistent by nature but Ryder has had a pretty decent season. The good news is that with Boston scoring so many goals this season, they don't have to count on his mercurial talents to show up in the biggest games (the playoffs). It's a bonus now when he does something.

Horton has also been on fire lately. Using his big body to stick his nose in front of the net while also playing more physical. He's been rewarded with a ton of points lately.

Tuukka Rask (15 saves; 8-11-1) got the start and gave up a goal to Ales Hemsky (from Jim Vandermeer and Dustin Penner) 1:05 into the game but he settled down from there and basically sat back and watched his teammates pepper Oilers goaltender Devan Dubynk (37 saves) with 40 shots.

Horton jumped Edmonton's Theo Peckham at 8:27 of the first period after Peckham had hit David Krejci hard. They got into a short-lived fight but Horton pummelled him and Peckham didn't return in the game.

Ryder tied it up at 15:30 of the first period with a sweet goal from Milan Lucic and Adam McQuaid. It was Ryder's 17th of the season and he waited for Dubnyk to make a move before he roofed it over him.

Horton made it 2-1 at 18:39 of the first period from Krejci and Dennis Seidenberg. Krejci found him with a sweet pass and Horton crushed the one-timer past Dubnyk for his 17th of the season.

Rich Peverley scored his first as a Bruin late in the second period (at 19:08) from Ryder and Chris Kelly. It was Peverley's 15th of the season and it was all him after he made a nice backhand fake on Dubnyk. Somehow the two newest Bruins forwards (Peverley and Kelly) have squeezed some life out of Ryder. Something fellow bum Blake Wheeler (now on the Atlanta Thrashers) could never do.

Gilbert Brule of the Oilers cut it to 3-2 at 3:14 with a tough-angle slap shot from Jordan Eberle and Jason Strudwick.

The battle of the NHL's top picks in 2010 never really materialized. Edmonton's Taylor Hall was held in check and as usual, Tyler Seguin's minutes were limited along with his impact.

Things got more chippy in the third period as Brad Marchand fought Andrew Cogliano and Lucic scrapped with Vandermeer in one of the better fights of the season.

The Bruins have the rare opportunity to cash in a perfect road trip if they can just get a win in Ottawa tomorrow night (where they played a week and a half ago in Tomas Kaberle's first game with Boston). Ottawa is still the worst team in the Eastern Conference and they've had a fire sale, getting rid of almost all their assets ahead of today's trade deadline.