The Bruins Ended Their Five-Game & Two City Road Trip (3-2-0) With A 3-1 Victory At Pittsburgh

 

    After losing their last two games in regulation, Boston (28-14-6 overall, 14-8-3 away) looked much more like themselves in tonight's road trip finale-a solid 3-1 win at Pittsburgh's (32-15-3 overall, 20-4-2 home) PPG Paints Arena. It was nearly a shutout for goaltender Tuukka Rask (25 saves, 12-4-2) as the Bruins built up a 3-0 lead then gave up a meaningless garbage time goal to the Penguins with less than three minutes left in regulation. The game also served as a fitting last chapter for a regular season series that was won 5-3 by the B's. They now look ahead to the final eight games of the campaign with a real chance to catch the fading Islanders (29-15-5) who are only a point ahead of them for third-place in the East Division while Boston has a game in hand and one head-to-head matchup left. 

    After the Penguins won 1-0 on Sunday afternoon against the Bruins, it felt destined to be another low-scoring affair (hope you took the under!) as neither team scored in the first period and it remained scoreless late into the second period before center David Krejci potted a beautiful goal. On a play started by Rask, defenseman Charlie McAvoy hit Krejci with a breakout pass and the veteran did the rest by going forehand to backhand then beating Pens goalie Tristan Jarry (28 saves, 21-9-3) with a sizzling backhander. Krejci's seventh goal of the season gave the visitors a 1-0 lead at 18:10 and that's where it would stand with 20 minutes remaining.

    After a spirited fight between B's defenseman Jeremy Lauzon and Penguins center Teddy Blueger, Boston scored twice more to put it out of reach. Jarry was forced into an awkward save on right wing David Pastrnak's shot which allowed left wing Brad Marchand to zip to the net and put in the rebound for his team-leading 26th goal of the season. Center Curtis Lazar had the second assist at 9:11. Left wing Taylor Hall turned out the lights on the Pens with a spectacular play that reminded you why he is a former No. 1 overall pick and NHL MVP. He took a pass from Krejci, worked around none other than one of the best players in the world (Sidney Crosby)-like he wasn't even there-then snapped a sizzling shot high blocker side on Jarry. Hall's sixth goal of the season (4th as a Bruin) was also assisted by defenseman Mike Reilly and it came at 12:18.  Center Jeff Carter caught Boston's defense in a messy line change and he blasted a shot off the post and in at 17:39. His 11th goal of the season was assisted by defenseman Kris Letang and right wing Kasperi Kapanen. 

    After more than a week on the road, the black and gold finally get to return home and who else will they see next but the Sabres (13-30-7 overall, 7-14-3 away) for two more games to close out their season series. The worst team in the NHL is at the TD Garden on Thursday (7, NESN+) and Saturday afternoon (1, NESN). After losing to them 6-4 on Friday in Buffalo, you can bet that the Bruins figure to be extra motivated to bank four more points and finish 7-1 against the Sabres in 2021. They have so much left to play for unlike Buffalo so I'd be shocked to see them fall again to that clown show of a hockey club. 

Suddenly The Bruins Are Flush With Quality Goaltenders As They Beat The Capitals 4-2 In DC

 

    Based on who was in the lineup and who was not, plus the quality of the opponent and the fact that it was on the road are some of the many reasons for why I felt like tonight's 4-2 victory by the Bruins (21-10-6) at the Capital One Arena against the Capitals (25-11-4) was their best win of the season. Rookie goaltender Jeremy Swayman (2-0) made his second NHL start and it ended with another win as the University of Maine alum made 31 saves to beat one of the top teams in the league. Left wing Brad Marchand scored his 30th career shorthanded goal while rookie defenseman Jeremy Lauzon and rookie left wing Anton Blidh each picked a fine time to score their first goals of the season. 

    Defenseman Charlie McAvoy remains out with a unknown upper-body injury so UVM's Kevan Miller stepped up in a big way, playing a game-high 25:18 with five hits and five blocked shots. Boston never allowed the Caps to get comfortable as they built a 2-0 lead in the first period, made it 3-0 in the second period then held on as Washington made it tight with a pair of power play goals. Capitals rookie goaltender Ilya Samsonov (28 saves, 9-3-1) was not at his best or maybe he's simply no Jeremy Swayman. Lauzon's goal was such a fluke as his nothing shot from the point somehow snuck past the young Russian. Marchand and right wing Craig Smith had the assists on the tally that came only 33 seconds into the game. Blidh's goal was unassisted at 16:02 but the full story is that a turnover behind Washington's goal and a lucky bounce meant that the puck came right to Blidh who was by there to knock it in. 

    What those goals lacked in physical beauty, Marchand's more than made up for with a brilliant shorthanded goal. I'll give you one guess who had the lone assist on his team-leading 19th goal of the season at 4:09 of the second period. It was center Patrice Bergeron of course who registered the only helper on his BFF's insurance tally. Washington made it a one-goal game with a rapid pair of power play goals that were 19 seconds apart later in the frame. They were essentially the same goal as Caps superstar left wing Alex Ovechkin parked himself at the left face-off dot and hammered in a one-timer at 10:08. Defenseman John Carlson and right wing T.J. Oshie picked up the assists on Ovi's 20th goal of the season that also gave him the second most power play goals in NHL history. On the next shift, Oshie scored on a one-timer of his own from the same location. Carlson and center Nicklas Backstrom were credited with the assists on Oshie's 12th goal of the season. 

    Boston held on to that 3-2 lead for much of the third period before Smith thankfully gave them a little breathing room. His power play goal came at 16:55 with center Charlie Coyle and rookie defenseman Jakub Zboril assisting on his seventh goal of the season. With the win, the B's improved to 3-0-2 against the Caps in 2021. They have three more matchups left with the Capitals including on Sunday night (7, NESN) back at the TD Garden. Before that, the Black and Gold head to Philadelphia (18-15-6) for a matinee on Saturday afternoon (2, NESN). It's their last tilt with the Flyers in the regular season which is a shame since they are 6-0-1 against them-after an overtime loss and win earlier this week. As I've said lately, it really doesn't matter which Bruins goaltender starts for them especially against Philly. One more win would be a sweet way to end the extremely lopsided season series with the Flyers. Boston is six points ahead of the Flyers for fourth-place in the East Division with two games in hand. 

For The Second Time This Season, A Bruins Rookie Goalie-Jeremy Swayman-Won His NHL Debut

 

    With its top two goalies (Tuukka Rask and Jaroslav Halak) unavailable due to an injury and Covid-19 respectively, and rookie Dan Vladar (2-1-1) taking a break after Monday's 3-2 overtime loss to the Flyers (18-15-5), Boston turned to another rookie goaltender-Jeremy Swayman (40 saves)-to make his NHL debut this evening as they visited Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center. At the age of 22, Swayman-who starred at the University of Maine-proved that he belonged at this level (in his 1st year as a pro!) as he battled for the 4-2 victory. Center Patrice Bergeron bagged his sixth career hat trick and left wing Brad Marchand scored his 29th career shorthanded goal and added three assists as the B's picked up one of their most important wins of the season. 

    It's just one game so I don't want to overreact too much but Vladar's first few promising starts and now this stellar debut by Swayman prove that Halak and even Rask should be on notice that their time here could come to a close sooner than many people would think if these talented youngsters continue to develop. Boston's hold on fourth-place in the East Division was fortified as they went up five points on the Flyers. The Rangers (18-15-5) destroyed the Penguins (24-13-2) 8-4 which allowed NY to pull into a tie with Philly leaving Pittsburgh only four points ahead of Boston while the B's have three games in hand on them. 

    It's tough to undersell Swayman's performance but please remember that the best Bruins defenseman by a mile-Charlie McAvoy-was ruled out during pregame skate with an upper-body injury. The Black and Gold improved to 6-0-1 against the Flyers with one meeting left this season (on Saturday afternoon right back in Philly). Bergeron staked them to a quick 2-0 lead as he scored twice in the first period. He put in his own rebound at 7:09, right wing Craig Smith and Marchand picked up the assists on his 13th goal of the season. Philadelphia's goaltender Carter Hart (22 saves, 8-10-4) has had a nightmare of a season and it's safe to say he'd like Bergeron's second goal back. It was a power play goal that came at 17:31 from right wing David Pastrnak and Marchand. Pasta passed to Bergy in the slot and his shot beat Hart five-hole. 

    Philly woke up in a big way in the second period as they outshot Boston 25-7 and they scored twice in quick succession to tie it at two. Right wing Jakub Voracek went to the net and redirected a pass by right wing Travis Konecny at 1:33 for his sixth goal of the season. Defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere-who recently went unclaimed on waivers (because of his massive salary)-made it 2-2 at 4:03 as he roofed a shot past Swayman. Voracek and defenseman Ivan Provorov had the assists on Gostisbehere's sixth goal of the season.  

    As usual, when it comes to a key moment or play in an important game, the Bruins turned to Marchand and Bergeron and they each delivered once again. Brad's shorthanded goal at 8:21 was a beauty as he skated on a 2-on-1 with defenseman Jeremy Lauzon who patiently waited until the perfect split second to dish it to Marchand who then deked and slid the puck under Hart. It was his team-leading 18th goal of the season with defenseman Connor Clifton notching the second assist. Boston was hanging on to its 3-2 advantage late in regulation when Bergeron scored an empty-netter to put it away at 19:37. Marchand and right wing Chris Wagner provided the assists on the vital insurance tally.

    Getting three out of a possible four points to begin this gauntlet of a week (5 games in 7 days) was a good way to open things for the B's. After traveling to DC, they are off tomorrow before they play at the Capital One Arena on Thursday (7, NESN). The Caps (25-10-4) lost 1-0 to the Islanders (25-10-4) tonight which left those teams in a dead heat atop the East Division. Boston is 2-0-2 against Washington thus far in 2021 and they also host them on Sunday night (7, NESN) in this jam-packed week. I have no idea which of the four goalies that I mentioned above will start next for the B's but honestly, does it really matter? I have faith in all of them and truth be told, I kind of want to see what the younger guys can do with some consistent starts vs. knowing exactly what we're getting with Rask (when he's healthy) and Halak (when he's at his best). 

The Bruins Won Their Fifth Straight Game (All On The Road) With A 1-0 Shutout Of The Rangers

 

    It's becoming routine this season that the Bruins (10-1-2) can usually adapt to any style of game and then almost always end up on top by the end of the contest. Tonight at Madison Square Garden, they blanked the Rangers (4-6-3) 1-0 to sweep their two-game set with their new East Division rival. Boston is 9-0-1 in its last 10 games and they have won their last five games in a row (all on the road). Goaltender Jaroslav Halak (21 saves, 4-0-1) notched the first shutout of the season for the B's and the 51st of his long NHL career. Left wing Nick Ritchie scored the lone goal of the tilt and these clubs are already starting to hate each other as they had a pair of spirited fights in the second period. 

    Boston's penalty kill unit also deserves plenty of praise since they went a perfect 6-for-6. After a scoreless first period, things heated up in the second quarter with the Bruins outshooting the Rangers 18-6. Ritchie ended the deadlock with a weird goal: his initial backhander was stopped by New York's goaltender Igor Shesterkin (3-4-1, 29 saves) but somehow his forehand followup squeezed into the net at 9:27. His fifth goal of the season was assisted by center David Krejci and defenseman Jeremy Lauzon. One second after the ensuing face-off, Bruins winger Trent Frederic dropped the gloves with Rangers left wing Brendan Lemieux. A few minutes later, Lauzon took on Rangers right wing Pavel Buchnevich who is not a goon by trade. 

    New York's best player Artemi Panarin was out with an undisclosed injury so clearly his teammates missed his excellent offensive ability. It looks like it will be another forgettable season for the Rangers since they continue to be anchored near the basement of the East Division. As a team, they don't score many goals but then again, they don't allow many either. This loss dropped them to 3-4-3 in their last 10 games with a 3-4-2 record on home ice. Two nights after Tuukka Rask (6-1-1) was forced to make a bunch of quality saves, Halak was not nearly as busy plus he did not face the same type of shots from New York. 

    The B's are now 6-1-2 on the road in 2021 and they travel to Uniondale, NY tomorrow night (7, NESN) to take on the Islanders (5-4-3) in their first back-to-back outing of the season. Boston will try to avenge it's only regulation loss: a lifeless 1-0 shutout of their own to the Isles back on Martin Luther King Day at Nassau Coliseum. As per usual, the Isles struggle to score but their defense and goaltending keep them in most games. They are also very physical so thus not an ideal opponent to see in the second half of a back-to-back after a chippy affair. Rask is a lock to be in between the pipes after he got the night off. The Bruins will look to build on their lead over second-place Philadephia (8-3-2) in the division. 

B's Rallied From Another 3-0 Deficit But This Time They Handed The Caps Their 1st Regulation Loss

 

    No lead is apparently safe when you are playing the Bruins (6-1-2) this season. The Capitals (6-1-3) managed to hold off Boston 4-3 in overtime on Saturday night after blowing a 3-0 lead but they weren't so lucky in the second leg of their series at Capital One Arena this evening. Once again, Washington built a 3-0 lead in the second period and the B's came back to tie it in the third period but the plot changed dramatically as they scored twice more in regulation for a bonkers 5-3 victory. Boston's superstar right wing David Pastrnak scored his first two goals of the season, defenseman Brandon Carlo potted the first game-winning tally of his NHL career and the Bruins improved to 5-0-1 in their last six contests while taking three out of a possible four points against one of the NHL's top clubs and their new East Division rivals. 

    Things did not look so hot for the Black and Gold in the first period as the Caps had a goal wiped out for offsides but then they exploded for a pair of goals just 11 seconds apart. Former Bruins captain Zdeno Chara made it 1-0 for the home team with a blast from the point. His second goal of the season (and 8th in his career vs. Boston) was assisted by Brown's Garnet Hathaway and center Nic Dowd at 13:26. Shortly after that, something called Daniel Sprong doubled Washington's lead with his second goal of the season. Left wing Jakub Vrana and defenseman Nick Jensen both added assists on Sprong's second goal of the season. 

Boston's power play (0-for-4) could never get going in this game and when they couldn't score on a 5-on-3 for 58 seconds in the second period, you felt like that could have been a fatal mistake. Capitals defenseman John Carlson's bardown snipe turned out to be the thing that finally woke up the Bruins. His fourth goal of the season was assisted by Vrana at 8:35. In his second game of the season, Pasta showed why he tied Caps legend Alex Ovechkin for the most goals scored in the league in 2019-2020. His first goal came at 12:37 when left wing Brad Marchand found him in the slot for a one-timer that he shot by goaltender Vitek Vanecek (28 saves, 5-1-2).  B's defenseman Brandon Carlo had the second assist on the classic Pasta goal.

    Trailing 3-1 going in to the third period, Boston wasted no time making it interesting as Pastrnak cut it to a 3-2 Capitals lead at 6:08. Somehow when he came around the side of the net, he had tons of time and space so good on him for firing a low shot that Vanecek couldn't stop. Rookie defenseman Jakub Zobril and defenseman Charlie McAvoy had the assists on Pasta's second goal of the season/night. That was nothing as the Bruins scored three more unanswered goals to wrap it up. Another rookie defenseman Jeremy Lauzon showed off his (mostly unknown) offensive skills by driving to the net then throwing a backhand pass across the crease to right wing Craig Smith who blasted a one-timer in for a sweet tying goal at 13:07. Left wing Nick Ritchie had the secondary assist on Smith's third goal of the season. At that point, the B's were flying so it was no surprise when they went ahead (albeit thanks to an unlikely guy) on Carlo's roofed one-timer from center Sean Kuraly and right wing Chris Wagner at 17:23. Carlo has never been known for his offensive skills but in his fifth season in the NHL, he is growing more comfortable by the day on that end of the ice. Marchand sealed the best win of the young season for the Bruins with an empty-net goal at 18:34. Center David Krejci had the lone assist on Marchy's team-leading sixth goal of this campaign. 

    You'll notice that I didn't mention Boston's goaltender Jaroslav Halak (23 saves, 3-0-1) until now. After he was bombarded with shots in the first period (15-8), his teammates started to put the clamps down on the home team for the last two frames (outshooting the Caps 25-11). He improved to 3-0-0 in his last three starts and he has only allowed a combined five goals in that time. Rookie winger Trent Frederic made his presence felt in the third period as he fought Washington's Tom Wilson-one of the toughest guys in the league. After the game, multiple Bruins players and head coach Bruce Cassidy all mentioned that moment as being a big part of the win as it understandably fired up the club. The B's stay on the road as they traveled to Philadelphia (7-2-1) to play the Flyers-the top team in the East Division-on Wednesday (8, NBCSN) followed by another meeting on Friday (7, NESN). The Bruins just swept a two-game set vs. Philly at the Garden last weekend but the Flyers have won four games in a row since then so expect a better showing by them.

Bruins Head Into Their Extended Break (8 days!) After A Satisfying 3-2 Victory vs. Golden Knights

Thanks to the NHL's scheduling Gods, the Bruins (29-10-12) get an extra long vacation. Not only are they off for the All-Star break (the festivities and game is this weekend in St. Louis if you care) but they had the good fortune to also have their mandatory five-day rest period tacked onto the end of that. Long story short, they won't be back on the ice as a team until next Thursday for practice before traveling to Winnipeg (25-21-4) for next Friday's (8, NESN) meeting with the Jets. That looming layoff heightened the importance of their matchup with the Golden Knights (25-20-7) this evening at TD Garden. Boston's 3-2 win meant that the players and coaches could go into their time off with a clear mind since after all, they have the second most points in the league trailing only Washington (33-11-5).

It wasn't easy for the B's (who were coming off a brutal 4-3 loss in Pittsburgh on Sunday afternoon where they blew a 3-0 lead) as Vegas scored on their first shot on goal and also were up 2-1 in the second period before the Black and Gold closed with a pair of tallies in the third period. No need for overtime or a shootout since they all have planes to catch to warmer locations, well at least the guys that aren't tied down with wives and young children in school. This is only the third year of existence for the Golden Knights and so far they have had spectacular success for an expansion team but not at the expense of the Bruins. Nope, Boston improved to 5-2 all-time against them including 3-0 at the Garden while also sweeping the brief two-game season series after they won 4-3 way back on October 8 in Sin City.

Vegas is a bit of a mess at the moment since they unexpectedly fired their head coach Gerard Gallant last Wednesday and appointed former Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer (canned earlier this season by San Jose) in his place. They are clinging to the second Wild Card in the Western Conference but then again, they have just as many points (57) as the Coyotes (26-20-5) who are the top Wild Card club. Oh and in the Pacific Division, they have the same amount of points as Edmonton (26-18-5) and Calgary (26-19-5) with only one less than first-place Vancouver (27-18-4). Insanity. Stone-the former Senators star that they traded for last season-beat Jaroslav Halak (27 saves, 12-6-6) with a weak backhander that seemed to handcuff him just 1:24 into the contest. Nate Schmidt provided the lone assist on Stone's 18th goal of the season which gave him 22 points (7 goals, 15 assists) in his last 20 games.

Called up earlier in the day and appearing in only his second NHL game of the season, Jeremy Lauzon naturally scored the tying goal at 11:40 as his shot from the point found its way past Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury (34 saves, 19-12-4). Hat tip to Danton Heinen for the fine screen as well with David Krejci (back after missing 2 games with an upper-body injury) and rookie Karson Kuhlman notching the assists on Lauzon's second career goal (oddly enough the other was also against Vegas, last season). It was tied at one after one period but it felt like Boston should have been ahead because they outshot Vegas 14-8.

The Bruins' third-ranked power play in the NHL could never get going (0-for-5) in this one and the Golden Knights took advantage of one of their only two power plays in the entire game when rookie defenseman Nicolas Hague blasted in a one-timer at 10:59 of the second period. It was his first career NHL goal, assisted by Schmidt and former Panther Jonathan Marchessault. It started to feel like it wasn't meant to be for Boston since David Pastrnak missed a wide open net with a backhander earlier in the frame (something which never happens, especially this season for the NHL's top goal-scorer) and then Charlie McAvoy took a header into the boards thanks to a push from Chandler Stephenson. That was the final power play of the game for the Bruins and when they trailed 2-1 after two periods, you could feel the nerves and frustration building throughout the crowd.

Instead, the home team responded with two unanswered goals in the third period that involved both skill and determination. The tying goal was an absolute snipe by Jake DeBrusk over Fleury's glove hand at 4:26. His 15th goal of the season (4 goals, 5 assists in his last 8 games) was assisted by Charlie Coyle and Halak. It also served as some personal redemption for DeBrusk after Fleury stopped his breakaway attempt late in the first period. Bruins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk left with an arm/wrist injury after getting tangled up with Cody Eakin and he never returned to action. His status will be something to keep an eye on during the break. Krejci bagged the game-winning goal by first deflecting a shot from Brandon Carlo and then following up for the rebound while Flower was out of position. Krejci's 12th goal of the season was also assisted by Heinen. The Golden Knights called a timeout late and pulled Fleury for an extra skater but the Bruins held on for a valuable two points.

Pastrnak and head coach Bruce Cassidy-by virtue of Boston leading the Atlantic Division-will head to St. Louis while other deserving Bruins like Patrice Bergeron (lost in the fan vote) and Brad Marchand (hated by seemingly everyone around the league) more importantly get to rest up for what should be an intense last few months of the regular season. Of Boston's remaining 31 games, only 13 of them will be at the Garden as they have plenty of road trips left to go on. The pieces are still there for another run to the Stanley Cup run, I truly believe that the Capitals are the only team in the Eastern Conference that they could not beat in a series and if they should somehow find themselves back in the Final, we'll reassess the situation at that juncture. The NHL trade deadline is a little over a month away (Feb. 24) and as always, Bruins GM Don Sweeney should be a busy man working the phone lines. BC alum and Topsfield native Chris Kreider-Rangers right winger and All-Star replacement for teammate Artemi Panarin-is rumored to be on the top of Sweeney's wish list but we shall see since that price figures to be going up. Boston is at Minnesota (22-21-6) on February 1 (8, NESN) against the Wild and their next home game is exactly two weeks away on February 4 vs. Vancouver.

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Bruins Close Out a Successful Homestand (3-1-0) With Another Solid Win, 4-1 vs. Golden Knights

Naturally, after Thursday night's ugly 8-5 loss to Vancouver (10-6-2), many feared that debacle (how head coach Bruce Cassidy would later describe it) for the Bruins (10-5-2) would send the Black and Gold over a nearby cliff. Goaltender Tuukka Rask taking an unexpected leave of absence from the team on Friday sent another shockwave through the naturally Debbie Downer fanbase. Of course, there was nothing to be worried about at all as Boston rattled off an easy 5-1 win on Saturday vs. Toronto (11-6-0)-the team right ahead of them for 2nd place in the Atlantic Division-thanks to David Pastrnak's hat trick and then they showed that wasn't a fluke by capping off the weekend back-to-back with a 4-1 victory vs. Vegas (7-10-1) this evening at TD Garden.

It turns out that at least for now, all the B's need is a healthy Jaroslav Halak (6-1-2) as everyday Jaro made 37 saves vs. the Golden Knights for yet another impressive performance by the veteran netminder. Do you realize how good he has been in his first season as a Bruin? He's tied for second in the NHL in goals against average (1.77) and save percentage (.945) plus he's tied for the lead in shutouts (2). As we all know, besides Halak the other major reason that the Bruins are even over .500 is their peerless top forward line (Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and Pastrnak). Thankfully, the rest of their underachieving forwards have started to come around over the last few games.

Facing former Bruins draft pick and bust Malcolm "yes I'm P.K's much less talented brother" Subban (33 saves), the B's scored a pair of goals in the first period and another early in the second period to take a commanding 3-0 lead. They improved to a perfect 8-0-0 this season when they are up by 2+ goals. The most promising part about that burst was that two guys outside of the top line tallied the first two goals: after driving to the net, Danton Heinen tipped in a gorgeous backhand pass from Anders Bjork at 2:54 then rookie defenseman Jeremy Lauzon took advantage of a brutal misplay on the puck by Subban for his first NHL goal at 17:51. Heinen's goal was his second of the season while Sean Kuraly and John Moore (team-high 22:35 of ice time) had the assists on Lauzon's goal.

Not to be left out, Boston's top line still managed to chip in with the final two goals of the contest. Right as a power play expired, Marchand knocked in a slow-motion pass from Bergeron and Pastrnak for his sixth goal of the season 58 seconds into the second period. Cody Eakin had the lone goal for Vegas as he finished a one-timer from BC's Alex Tuch at 10:55 of the second that cut it to 3-1 Bruins. Boston's No. 3 ranked power play didn't have a banner night (1-for-7 even though they had a trio of 2-man advantages) but they made their last 5-on-3 count as Pastrnak beat Subban for his NHL-best 16th goal of the season from Torey Krug and David Krejci at 16:08 of the third period. Bergeron leads the NHL in points (9 goals, 16 assists) so I have to wonder when the last time was that the B's had the the top goal-scorer and points leader at the same time? I'm guessing that it's been a minute.

It's hard to believe but Boston won't play another game here until after Thanksgiving (they host the Penguins on Black Friday). They get another lengthy four-game road trip that will last over a week since they leave on Tuesday after practice and won't return until late the following Wednesday. The itinerary is about as random as they can get too since they start in Colorado (8-6-3) on Wednesday (10, NESN), go to Dallas (9-6-2) on Friday (8, NESN) then Arizona (8-7-1) the next night (8, NESN) and conclude with their somewhat customary Thanksgiving Eve (7:30, NESN) meeting in Detroit (7-8-2). They will have plenty of time to continue to bond on the road since after that Penguins tilt, they travel to Montreal (9-5-3) and Toronto before closing the month on November 29 (7, NESN) against Halak's most recent former employer-the Islanders (8-6-2). A great home team (7-2-0), they are squarely .500 on the road thus far (3-3-2) so that will have to pick up if they want to go anywhere.

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Home Sweet Home: B's Perfect Start at TD Garden Continues (4-0-0) with a 3-0 Shutout of Flyers

The Bruins (6-2-2) hadn't played at TD Garden in nearly two weeks and they were returning from a bumpy road trip to Western Canada (1-1-2) but you wouldn't know that by the workman-like routine beating of the Flyers (4-6-0) 3-0 this evening. With the win, Boston extended its overall point streak to eight games over Philadelphia (6-0-2) while its home point streak vs. the Flyers is even two games longer (9-0-1).

If you've been paying attention in the early going so far this season, you know that "backup" goaltender Jaroslav Halak has greatly outplayed "starter" Tuukka Rask for Boston. Halak's impressive start to his Bruins career continued as he made 26 saves in his second shutout of the season (the 44th of his NHL career). Zdeno Chara scored two goals, Jacob DeBrusk had the other tally and rookie defenseman Jeremy Lauzon made his NHL debut. All in all it was a fun night for the Black and Gold as they celebrated "Hockey Fights Cancer."

After a dull first period that featured no goals and both teams could only muster seven shots on goal apiece, the Captain got the party started as Chara's blast from the point found a hole through Flyers goaltender Brian Elliott (22 saves) at 13:00 of the second period. Danton Heinen had the lone assist on Chara's second goal of the season. Coming into the game, Boston's power-play unit was ranked sixth in the NHL while Philadelphia's penalty-kill unit was 30th (next to last) in the entire league. Predictably, those trends came to life as DeBrusk's goal at 17:28 of the second was of the power play variety. David Krejci provided a pretty saucer pass that DeBrusk was able to deflect in for his third goal of the season. Oddly enough, he doesn't have any assists yet this year and his other two goals both came in the same contest (10/13 vs. Detroit). Forced into duty with Kevan Miller and Charlie McAvoy out, Steven Kampfer had the secondary assist on DeBrusk's goal which also marked his first point as a Bruin since Jan. 24, 2012 (he's been gone for a long time).

Things got sketchy in the third as Philadelphia was called for six penalties and Boston had four. Kampfer kinda sorta fought Scott Laughton, twice in fact. The first time, Wayne Simmonds came over in the late going and punched Kampfer but somehow only got two minutes for roughing. Chara's second goal was technically on the power play but it always feels a little dirty to say that since it was also an empty-netter (with 22.9 seconds left in regulation). Halak completed his Tour De Force performance with the lone assist on Chara's end-to-end bomb (he shot the puck from his own end boards)-his first point as a Bruin.

Montreal (5-2-2) was expected to be one of the worst teams in the NHL in 2018-19 but as you can tell by their record, they're off a surprisingly solid start (despite tonight's 4-3 loss in Buffalo). With a 7 pm start on NESN this Saturday night at the Garden, the first installment of B's-Habs this season will mostly go up against Game 4 of the Red Sox-Dodgers World Series (8:09 1st pitch) which is a shame. Keep in mind (for your remote) that the hockey game will be going on while you suffer through the endless commercials on Fox during the baseball game. With Halloween right around the corner, it'll be nice to have to Coach Potato Head (aka Claude Julien) back in town. Say hi to Handsome Ralph if you see him in the streets.

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