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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Somebody Cue Up Brass Bonanza for My Man Jean-Sebastian

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

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

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

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

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

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It is Truly A Special Time To Be A Hartford Whalers Fan, Oh Wait........

If you're looking for the blueprint to beat the Boston Bruins in 2011-12, all you have to do is seek out the Carolina Hurricanes. For some unknown reason, the worst team in the Eastern Conference completely owns the B's.

Carolina (19-25-9) wrapped up the first season sweep (4 games!) in franchise (Hartford Whalers/'Canes) history by dispatching Boston (32-15-2) 3-0 this evening at TD Garden.

The B's submitted arguably their worst effort of the season; Tuukka Rask (28 saves; 11-6-2) actually played pretty well but he couldn't make up for the listless play in front of him. Truth be told it could have been uglier too since Carolina hit the post twice.

Cam Ward stopped an NHL-high 47 shots to earn his third shutout of the season. However, don't be fooled by the gaudy numbers. Boston looked like the team from a few years ago that would constantly settle for shots from the point. Even worse, they didn't get any traffic in front of Ward.

Boston outshot Carolina 22(tied for their most in a period this season)-8 in the first and 20-9 in the third but it was all window dressing. Ward was never really tested. If it's possible to make that many saves and get a shutout but not be too impressive, this was it.

Bruins killer Eric Staal (12th of the season) made it 1-0 at 11:51 after a nice feed from Jiri Tlusty. Johnny Boychuk got a butt end to his midsection so he went down on the play which created the easy chance for the Hurricanes.

Tuomo Ruutu (16th of the season), who could be traded soon, put in a rebound at 16:41 of the second to make it 2-0.

Any thoughts of another two-goal rally by the B's, something they did on Tuesday vs. Ottawa, were quickly erased as Brandon Sutter (12th of the season) put it out of reach at 3:13 of the third.

It's strange to say this but thank God the Bruins don't have to see the Hurricanes again this season (yes I'm assuming they won't make the playoffs). This was only the third time that Boston had been shutout in 2011-12.

This weekend is a vital one for the B's in terms of the Eastern Conference standings since they host Pittsburgh on Saturday afternoon then go back to D.C. on Sunday afternoon to face the Capitals.

The last time they played on Dec. 5, the Bruins won 3-1 in Pittsburgh. That was nearly two months ago and the Penguins have been one of the NHL's hottest teams so Boston will need to shake off this funk they've been in lately; they haven't won two in a row in three weeks and they're 4-4-1 in their last nine games.

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