The Avalanche Stake Their Claim As the Best Team in the NHL (or At Least the Western Conference)

There are very few teams in the NHL these days that can outplay the Bruins (20-4-6) from start to finish and walk away with a win. The Avalanche (19-8-2) came to TD Garden tonight on a mission to prove that their 4-2 win vs. Boston way back on October 10 in Denver was anything but a fluke. Point made as the Avs played even better in this their only other regular season meeting with the B's, beating them 4-1. In case you can't do the incredibly easy math, that means that Colorado owns half of Boston's regulation losses (2 of 4) so far in 2019-20.

You can also simultaneously kiss goodbye to a pair of impressive streaks by the Black and Gold: their 13-game point streak (9-0-4) is over and their 17-game home point streak (12-0-5)-the second longest in franchise history-also came to a halt against what has to be on the shortlist of top clubs in the league. What made this road victory even more remarkable was that Colorado's starting goaltender Phillip Grubauer (3 saves, 1 goal allowed) left in the first period with an injury (groin?) but no problem as your guy Pavel Francouz (16 saves, 7-2-0) was flawless in his place. They also lost stud rookie defenseman Cale Makar (the greatest thing to come from UMass in years) to what looked like a possible concussion suffered on a hit by Brad Marchand in the third period. Bottom line, with all the injuries that they had already suffered in this campaign, they apparently don't get rattled by losing key players during games.

Boston actually scored first which is surprising when you see the final score. Chris Wagner tipped in John Moore's shot from the point for his third goal of the season at 13:14 of the first period. Anders Bjork had the second assist as Wagner scored in back-to-back contests for the fifth time in his NHL career. The Bruins' lead was rather short-lived though as Valeri Nichushkin tied it up at one following a poor clearing attempt by Boston's defensemen. He put in a backhander-that just went over the goal line-at 17:25 of the first, assisted by BU's Matt Nieto.

It was 1-1 after one frame but Colorado outshot Boston 9-4. Go figure, four more shots on goal for the B's in the second period didn't get the job done as the Avalanche stormed ahead (sorry, bad weather pun) for a 3-1 advantage. First, defenseman Ian Cole (playing in his 500th NHL game) wired a shot top-shelf over Jaroslav Halak's (16 saves, 7-2-3) glove. His first goal of the season was assisted by his defensive partner Mark Barberio and Joonas Donskoi (3 goals, 7 assists in his last 7 games). The goal that made it 3-1 late in the second period was the one that truly affected the B's since defensemen Matt Grzelcyk and Charlie McAvoy got in each other's way, leading to a breakaway for Andre Burakovsky. He put the puck by Halak for his 12th goal of the season, assisted by Nathan MacKinnon (7 goals and 12 assists in his last 10 games) and Donskoi.

Trailing 3-1 going into the third, the Bruins had their work cut out for them and despite getting two full power plays and part of another, they never found a way to beat Francouz. The four combined penalties in the third period was unexpected after there wasn't a single call in the first 45:54 of action. Boston doubled Colorado in shots on goal (12-6) in the final 20 minutes but they kept missing the net (15 times) or having their shot blocked (21 times) by Colorado skaters. B's head coach Bruce Cassidy took Halak out for an extra skater during Boston's last power play but even going 6-on-4 couldn't boost the Bruins' sputtering offense in this case. Gabriel Landeskog's empty-netter (his fifth goal of the season) with 2.2 seconds left was just window-dressing at that point, Colorado had already looked every bit the part of a true Stanley Cup contender this spring.

The Bruins won't be back on the Garden ice for awhile (Dec. 17 vs. LA to be exact) since they are leaving for a four-game road trip tomorrow, starting Monday (7:30, NESN) in Ottawa (12-17-1). The wretched Senators are a good foil for getting their groove back before things get much more real later in the week. Boston is at Washington (22-4-5)-the NHL's best team-on Wednesday (7, NBCSN) and then at Tampa Bay (14-10-3) the following evening (7, NESN). The Lightning seem to still be in a haze from their first-round exit vs. Columbus last April but you can't overlook that roster for a second because they are due to turn it around any day now. Finally, the Bruins end the trip on Saturday night (7, NESN) in Florida (14-9-5) who believe it or not are currently in second-place in the Atlantic Division. Like the B's (who won't practice tomorrow), I recommend watching Patriots-Chiefs (4:25, CBS) and chilling out on Sunday since next week is going to be a busy one as Boston looks to improve on its 8-3-1 road record.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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