Just Another Day in Boston Sports: Betts Is Traded to the Dodgers & Bruins Blank the Canucks 4-0

When you have lived in the Boston area for so long, I have to admit that at times you forget just how much our local pro teams tend to dominate the national headlines. For example, tonight the Bruins (32-10-12)-the first-place team in the Atlantic Division-took on the Canucks (30-19-5)-the first-place club in the Pacific Division-at TD Garden. By itself, that is a big-time matchup (at least when it comes to the dog days of the NHL regular season) and more than worthy of your attention on what normally would be a quiet Tuesday night. The B's came through with an impressive 4-0 victory but all that anyone could talk about afterwards was the blockbuster Red Sox trade that went down during the Bruins game: Mookie Betts and David Price were flipped to LA for outfielder Alex Verdugo and Boston also got Twins pitching prospect Brusdar Graterol as part of the three-team deal. Wow!

Putting aside the depressing reality of a Betts-less Red Sox club that has been a sheer disaster this entire offseason (a major cheating scandal and manager Alex Cora fired topped off with trading their best player), the Black and Gold should give us plenty more smiles like the ones that they provided this evening. With the win, the B's are only one point behind Washington (36-13-5) for the most in the NHL (77). Boston has returned from its extended break with three wins in a row (at Winnipeg and at Minnesota over the weekend) which coupled with their two points against Vegas (27-21-7) two weeks ago-their last home game-means that they have put together a four-game win streak. With less than three weeks (Feb. 24) until the NHL Trade Deadline, the Bruins have the look of a Cup contender that dare I say (with some more good luck on their side) could find themselves yet again competing in May and June.

Obviously with his third shutout of the season and 48th of his NHL career, you'd assume that Boston goaltender Tuukka Rask (25 saves, 19-4-6) had a phenomenal performance but truthfully, he didn't have to do too much heavy lifting. This sounds like troll-speak but Vancouver's goaltender Jacob Markstrom (38 saves, 20-14-3) was almost more impressive in terms of the high quality stops that he made. Of course, the Bruins still found a way to beat him four times so there is that hard-to-ignore fact. From the obscure stat department: Rask extended his home point streak to 17 games (11-0-6) which tied Gilles Gilbert's club record home point streak from the start of a season (16-0-1 in 1973-74).

There were many promising signs for the B's as four different guys (Charlie Coyle, Brad Marchand, David Krejci and Karson Kuhlman) scored goals for them, only two had to play over 20 minutes (Charlie McAvoy had a team-high 20:42 time on ice and his defensive partner Zdeno Chara was close behind at 20:20) while everybody played at least 10:12 (Chris Wagner) for the home team. This was key since they headed straight from the Garden to their charter flight to Chicago as they visit the Blackhawks (25-21-7) tomorrow night (8, NBCSN) in primetime. It was also nice to see them not rely so much on their power play (1-for-6) or David Pastrnak (game-high 7 shots on goal but 0 points) which are both brilliant but shouldn't have to produce all the time to win. Boston's penalty kill was flawless (3-for-3) and they even almost scored a pair of shorthanded tallies as Wagner and Coyle were both stopped on breakaways when they had a teammate in the penalty box.

The first goal for the Bruins looked like it would surely be overturned at first glance (as Vancouver's head coach Travis Green challenged it) since Sean Kuraly appeared to be offsides when McAvoy stickhandled over the blueline. It turns out that Coyle's goal (coming on a rebound) counted since McAvoy had waited to touch the puck again before Kuraly was properly in position. It was the 10th goal of the season for Coyle, assisted by McAvoy and Anders Bjork at 14:24 of the first period for the 1-0 Bruins lead. McAvoy somehow still doesn't have a goal this season but his initial shot forced a kick save by Markstrom and Coyle was untouched in front of the net and able to make a move and decide where to shoot the puck by him.

Boston outshot Vancouver 13-6 in the first period and led 1-0 before the barrage of rubber continued on Markstrom. The B's outshot the Canucks 17-9 in the second and were able to double their lead at 15:35 thanks to Marchand, Bergeron and McAvoy. It all started with an offensive rush to the net by McAvoy, the puck was knocked away from him but Bergy was there to pass it to Marchand who buried it for his 23rd goal of the season. Markstrom continued to give his team a puncher's chance of stealing a point but it was not to be as Krejci put this one away with a 4-on-4 goal at 14:09 of the third period. His 13th goal of the season was assisted by Sean Kuraly and Brandon Carlo. Krejci found space in the slot and while he whiffed on his first shot attempt, his second was a snipe to the top corner. Kuhlman's goal (which came on the power play in garbage time) was where a fortunate bounce came into play for the B's-not that they needed it at that point-because his deflection was actually kind of terrible but it went off Vancouver's defenseman Troy Stetcher's skate and into the net. Kuhlman's first goal for the Bruins since the Stanley Cup Final in June was assisted by Coyle and Matt Grzelcyk-the BU connection.

Jaroslav Halak (13-6-6) will get the start in Chitown and thankfully, the Blackhawks played tonight as well (a 3-2 loss in OT at Minnesota) and had to travel too so there won't be any additional rest factor on Chicago's side who is four points behind the Golden Knights for the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference. Could it be another spring without playoff hockey for the Blackhawks? After that, Boston returns home to host the Coyotes (27-21-7) on Saturday afternoon (3, NESN) and then they go to Detroit (12-38-4)-the worst team in the NHL-for a Sunday matinee (12:30, NBC). It's a busy stretch for the Bruins but some very winnable contests all around them ending with a meeting with Montreal (25-23-7) next Wednesday (7:30, NBCSN) at the Garden followed by hosting the same crapbag Red Wings next Saturday (1, NESN).

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Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bruins Would Like to Cordially Welcome You to Their Gongshow

Once in a while in every season for your favorite sports team, you are treated to a certified Gongshow. That denotes the type of game where everything goes off the rails early and just continues to devolve from there. Unfortunately for the Bruins (8-5-2), they found themselves on the wrong end of such a normally comical occasion (if you're winning) as the Canucks (10-6-1) came to TD Garden tonight and hung a snowman (8 goals) on them in a humbling 8-5 defeat. It was the most goals that Vancouver had scored in nearly nine years (Nov. 14, 2009).

Where to start? Both Boston goaltenders were truly awful, Jaroslav Halak gave up five goals in his first poor performance as a Bruin before he was pulled and Tuukka Rask allowed three more (including a brutal shorthanded goal). It didn't help that their defense was pathetic too as the Canucks scored five goals on them in the second period alone. The B's can only hope that this was a one-off disaster (burn the video!) and not a harbinger of things to come with two good teams coming to town this weekend for the dreaded three games in four days: Toronto (10-5-0) on Saturday night (7, NESN) followed by Vegas (7-8-1) the following night (7, NESN). It isn't all doom and gloom for the Black and Gold though since four of their five goals came from guys not on their annoyingly perfect top line and they also scored two power play goals.

The first period was routine enough in a sense as both teams scored a lone goal. Bo Horvat (2 goals, 2 assists) got an unassisted tally (his 8th of the season) just 2:46 into the contest as a fumbled pass from Danton Heinen to David Backes resulted in a rare soft tally allowed by Halak (hey, that's Tuukka's thing!). Torey Krug Jr., I mean Matt Grzelcyk tied it with a bomb at 13:41. His first goal of the season was assisted by David Krejci (3 assists) and Jake DeBrusk (2 goals). Believe it or not, the Bruins actually led for a few minutes as Patrice Bergeron put in a rebound from a Krug shot 36 seconds into the second, his eighth goal of the season. The Canucks scored a pair of goals 1:26 apart to take a 3-2 lead. Bruins legend Loui Eriksson banged in a loose puck at 7:02, his second goal of the season was assisted by Erik Gudbranson and Markus Granlund. Maine's Ben Hutton's screened shot on the power play found its way past Halak through traffic for his fourth goal of the season, assisted by Horvat and Nikolay Goldobin.

DeBrusk tied it with a nifty tip in at 9:00, his fourth goal of the season came from Krejci and Joakim Nordstrom. It was basically a carbon copy of the same Krejci sauce connection to DeBrusk that worked on October 25 vs. Philadelphia as well. Boston's three penalties in a row in the second period didn't help matters as Vancouver once again cashed in on another power play opportunity. Hutton's shot from the point was tipped in by Eriksson at 13:23, Brendan Leipsic had the second assist on Eriksson's second goal of the night. Halak's outing was over 1:30 later as Antoine Roussel beat him with a tip-in from a bad angle, his third goal of the season was assisted by Granlund and Michael Del Zotto. DeBrusk cut it to 5-4 with his new favorite move (say it with me kids, tip-in), the power play goal was assisted by Krug and Brad Marchand at 17:18. The excitement caused by that goal which trimmed Vancouver's lead to 5-4 lasted for a little over two minutes of game action as Gudbranson beat Rask with a long-range wrist shot with 31.9 seconds left in the frame. His first goal of the season was assisted by Horvat and Eriksson Ugh, that was so deflating.

Tuukka did his best to make sure his team had no chance to rally in the third as he handed Horvat a shorthanded goal by passing the puck right to him for essentially an empty-netter at 9:40. Something called Jake Virtanen doubled up Vancouver's advantage (8-4) at 11:12, his sixth goal of the season was assisted by Goldobin and rookie phenom Elias Pettersson (who wasn't even a factor in the blowout). What's even scarier for the Bruins is that Vancouver's other stud young forward Brock Boeser (groin injury) didn't even dress, so if those two guys had been on, you'd figure they would have reached double-digits easy. Fitting for a guy that's been so invisible to begin this year, Danton Heinen finally got his first goal, a power play strike from Grzelcyk and Krejci in extended garbage time (at 13:38). All that was left was a short (no pun intended) bout between Krug and good old Darren Archibald after the Canucks' fourth liner blasted Nordstrom.

You figure that Rask was scheduled to start vs. the Maple Leafs and I suppose that Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy will stick to that plan but how do you feel confident about either him or Halak? It'll be the first meeting between Boston and Toronto since their epic seven-game playoff series last spring. Also, Saturday represents John Tavares' first game for his hometown team against their new biggest rival (sorry Montreal). Auston Matthews is out with a shoulder injury so that takes away a tiny bit of the anticipation and truth be told, like last season these clubs figure to be playing for second place behind Tampa Bay (12-3-1) in the Atlantic Division. The Golden Knights have predictably gotten off to a sketchy start after their unfathomable success in their inaugural campaign. They are at Montreal (8-5-3) on Saturday night so Sunday could be a bit of a slog for each team. It is the end of Vegas' four-game road trip that lasted over a week so I'm sure they'll be ready to get back to the sun in the desert and out of this crappy weather.

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The Bruins Continue To Be Terrible at TD Garden This Season (10-12-2) After Falling 4-2 to the Canucks

So far this season if you have gone to any Bruins home games, there is a better than 50% chance that you have left TD Garden unhappy (assuming of course that you cheer for the Black and Gold). Once again, Boston (24-17-5) had a chance to climb up to the .500 mark at home (now 10-12-2) but they couldn't do it as they lost 4-2 to Vancouver (20-17-11) at TD Garden. It was a strange night as neither team was ever called for a single penalty, the first time that happened in a Bruins game in nearly two years (March 6, 2014 vs. Washington).

Basically, the only two things to really remember were all the emotional tributes that they had for Denna Laing (the Marblehead native that played for the Boston Pride and was paralyzed at Gillette Stadium in their game on New Year's Eve) and also Canucks star (and future Hall of Famer) Daniel Sedin scored two goals to become the franchise's leading goal-scorer (348 which helped him pass Markus Naslund who had 346).

Even though they were playing in their fifth game of a six-city road trip, Vancouver never trailed as they scored first and survived two pseudo-comebacks by the B's. Sven Baertschi gave the Canucks a 1-0 lead just 3:27 into the contest as he was able to poke in a shot past Tuukka Rask (23 saves) on a breakaway. Radim Vrbata and Bo Horvat assisted on Baerstchi's ninth goal of the season (Vancouver has points in 13 of the 14 games that he's been on the scoresheet this campaign).

Boston outshot Vancouver 11-4 in the first period and yet they trailed 1-0 after 20 minutes which is never a good sign when you can't take advantage of such a territorial edge. Starter Ryan Miller had the night off so Jacob Markstrom (28 saves) was the Canucks goaltender. Jimmy Hayes beat him at 19:08 of the second period when his shot deflected off defenseman Christopher Tanev's butt and in the net. Hayes' 11th goal of the season was assisted by David Pastrnak and Ryan Spooner (who has 6 points in his last 6 games and 12 points in his last 11).

Alex Burrows has faded almost into oblivion (Vancouver's 4th line) but he was able to summon some of his former glory by putting the Canucks up 2-1 at 1:49 of the third period. His wicked turnaround shot went top-shelf on Rask. It was his seventh goal of the season (and his second game in a row with a tally after 24 straight without a goal), assisted by Linden Vey. Less than three minutes later, the Bruins' equivalent of Burrows (granted a much better player these days)-Marchand-knotted it up at two. Marchand's 18th goal of the season (tying him with Patrice Bergeron for the team lead) was assisted by Bergy at 4:15.

Twin brother Henrik is notably absent at the moment with an upper-body injury so Daniel is left to carry the Sedin last name for the next few weeks. He scored the game-winning goal at 7:03 of the third (his 78th career game-winner) by going to the net and putting in a rebound. He equaled Naslund's team-record of 20-goal seasons (10 and counting), assisted by Tanev and Jannik Hansen. Daniel clinched it with an empty-netter at 19:37, assisted by Vey and Derek Dorsett.

The Bruins host the NHL's worst team-the Blue Jackets (17-27-4) on Saturday night (7, NESN). They have to beat Columbus, who already has nothing left to play for in this miserable season and lost 4-2 in Calgary this evening. If I was coaching the B's (which thankfully for everyone, I'm not), I would start Jonas Gustavsson on Saturday just to give Rask a little break. David Krejci returned after missing 10 games with an upper-body injury of his own. He was a little rusty (-1, 7-10 on faceoffs) but Boston is always a markedly better team with him in the lineup. To make room for him, rookie Frank Vatrano (6 goals, 1 assist) was sent back to Providence.

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Remind Me Again Why The Panthers Are Still In Florida?

I really have no idea how the Panthers made the playoffs last season, they are so short on talent or anything special. This afternoon, Boston (11-2-2) rolled 4-1 over Florida (5-9-4) at the BB&T Center. The Bruins improved to 3-1 on this season-long five game road trip and this was their third win in a row. I hope the Bruins have gotten some rest since this game kicked off a truly insane stretch: 18 games (9 home, 9 away) in the next 32 days. Yikes.

As expected, the Panthers didn't put up much of a fight. The B's got up 2-0 in the first period and led 3-1 in the second period before adding an empty netter in the third for their first three-goal lead of 2013 (which is very surprising). Tuukka Rask (34 saves) improved to 9-1-2 and nine different Bruins got on the scoresheet although only Daniel Paille (1 goal, 1 assist) had more than one point.

Milan Lucic made it 1-0 at 7:57 on a wrist shot, his fourth goal of the season, via David Krejci's faceoff win. Zdeno Chara's third goal of the season will undoubtedly go down as the highlight reel goal of his year and possibly career. He spun around a defender then went to the goal before roofing a backhander past Jacob Markstrom (28 saves). Brad Marchand and Tyler Seguin had the assists at 13:52. Florida's lone flicker of life was a garbage goal by Tomas Kopecky at 15:48 of the first period after multiple misplays by Boston in their own end and a rebound.

Chris Kelly got the monkey off his back by scoring his inaugural goal of the season, at 2:30 of the second period. You had to know it wouldn't be anything special as Paille's shot was deflected right to Kelly for an easy tap in. Making it even more hilarious, it came on Boston's lone power play and Chris Bourque had the second assist.

Paille's empty netter, his third goal of the season, came at 18:23 of the third period while the B's were shorthanded. Adam McQuaid had the lone assist after Paille used his speed to gain the zone and get past all the Panthers.

Boston will try to put a bow on what thus far has been a very positive trip with a win against the Islanders on Tuesday (7:30 p.m., NESN). The Bruins beat the Islanders 4-2 on January 25. New York still doesn't have a goalie, or defense for that matter, but John Tavares and Matt Moulson can really rack up the points if you're not careful with them.

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