Ugh, the Bruins Continue to Pathetically Fold at TD Garden Against the NHL's Worst Teams

Question: how many last-place teams can come into TD Garden in a short amount of time and all leave here with wins? Answer: three (Colorado, Toronto and Islanders). Tonight, Boston (17-14-3) spotted New York (12-14-6) a 3-0 lead in the second period before they finally decided to show a pulse in the third period. By that time it was too late as the Islanders snapped a five-game losing streak (0-4-1) to take the 4-2 decision. It was a nice homecoming for two former Bruins defensemen: Dennis Seidenberg (playing in his first game back in Boston since signing with NY in September) and Johnny Boychuk were both a game-high +2.

Tuukka Rask (16-6-3) has been stellar all season so I guess he was due for an off-night of sorts. He was victimized by two fluky goals and ended up getting pulled for the first time since April 3, 2015 (at Chicago). He finished with 10 saves and three goals allowed. Anton Khudobin made 15 saves in his appearance that began at 13:42 of the second period. He actually picked up his first career NHL point (an assist) but he allowed an Islanders power play goal in the third period that effectively closed the curtain on this one. New York goaltender Thomas Greiss (7-5-0) made a career-high 48 saves as Boston had a season-high 50 shots on goal (95 shot attempts!).

The B's hadn't played since Sunday afternoon's 1-0 win vs. LA, so they were sitting around at home since then and thus there really is no valid excuse for coming out so slow once again. Rask and Brad Marchand ran into each other behind Boston's net, allowing Anders Lee to knock in an early Christmas present at 3:05 of the first period. Lee's team-leading 11th goal of the season was unassisted. Another rare mistake happened a few moments later as Patrice Bergeron got caught up ice, leaving New York with a 3-on-1. Thomas Hickey beat Rask glove-side with a shot at 5:40 for a 2-0 lead. Josh Bailey and Lee had the assists on Hickey's tally.

Boston's offense had two near misses in the second period as Patrice Bergeron and Austin Czarnik each hit the crossbar in quick succession. New York took a commanding 3-0 lead at 6:18 on yet another bizarre strike. Boychuk dumped the puck in Boston's zone, it bounced off the end boards (and eluded Kevan Miller's stick) before Rask got handcuffed by it on the goal-line. Nikolay Kulemin was there to smack it in for his fourth goal of the season.

As we all predicted, Bruins rookie Anton Blidh sparked the comeback attempt when his centering pass intended for goal-machine Jimmy Hayes deflected by Greiss off of Islanders defenseman Nick Leddy's skate. The first goal of Blidh's NHL career was assisted by Brandon Carlo and Khudobin just 3:04 into the third. After rightfully booing the Bruins off the ice to end the second, the Garden crowd finally had something to cheer about and they really got loud for a few minutes after Dominic Moore tipped in Zdeno Chara's shot from the point at 7:12. Moore's eighth goal of the season was also assisted by Hayes (his 1st helper of the season).

New York head coach Jack Capuano (a Rhode Islander) sensed his team falling apart and smartly took his timeout to settle them down. It worked as they were able to hold off the Bruins and get the insurance goal they needed when Lee received another easy tap-in at 13:02. Khudobin lost the puck in his pads with the assists going to Bailey and Leddy. Boston ended up outshooting New York 23-9 in the third. It seemed like they had a power play (a good one though, not theirs) for almost the entire 20 minutes and they put tons of pressure on the Isles but they never completely cracked like you hoped that they would.

The good news for Boston is that they get to go on the road where they are much better (9-5-3) than at the Garden (8-9-0) so far in 2016-17. The B's are in Florida (15-13-5) on Thursday (7:30, NESN) before they wrap up things (sorry) before a brief Christmas break (Dec. 24-26) on Friday (7:30, NESN) in Carolina (13-11-7). Boston is clinging to third-place in the Atlantic Division, two points ahead of both the Lightning (16-14-3) and Panthers. Needless to say, Christmas will be much more enjoyable for the entire team if they can get three or four points on their mini-Southern road trip.

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With No Pastrnak, Bruins Blank the Kings 1-0 Thanks to Rask and Hayes (No, Really)

With David Pastrnak out at least for the next few games after an unexpected minor surgery on his elbow (bursa sac) on Friday, the Bruins' (17-13-3) anemic offense has been put to the test even further. At least this afternoon, they got it done with a result that is basically head coach Claude Julien's dream score. Boston beat Los Angeles (16-13-2) 1-0 this afternoon at TD Garden. Tuukka Rask picked up an easy shutout (his 4th of the season, tying him for most in the NHL) with 18 saves as he improved to 16-5-3 this season. Jimmy Hayes of all people scored the only goal as the Kings never really got much going on with 10 shots on goal through the first two periods.

Both power-plays went 0-for-4 and if it feels like Boston usually has had this type of low-scoring game in 2016-17, it's because they have. It was the 22nd time out of 33 games that they have scored two goals or less, they improved to 9-12-1 in those and 3-0-0 in matinees. Originally the Hayes goal, which came at 4:20 of the first period, was credited to Colin Miller but replays showed that the BC product had tipped the puck before it reached Kings goaltender Peter Budaj (29 saves). It was the second goal of the season for Hayes (and only his 2nd point), the other came back on November 27 vs. Tampa Bay. He's on a hot streak now! Colin Miller and Dominic Moore had the assists on the lone tally of the contest.

Sadly, about as rare as a goal by Hayes these days is an actual fight in the NHL but wouldn't you know the fans were treated to one of those as well. What an early Christmas gift! Kevan Miller dropped the gloves with Kyle Clifford later in the first period and those are each legitimate tough guys. Marian Gaborik (who only has 1 goal in 9 games this season) and Dustin Brown (4 goals in 30 games) were scratches for the Kings who are similarly offensively-challenged as the Bruins. UMass legend Jonathan Quick is out (groin) until at least February so it'll be tough for LA to hold onto a Wild-Card spot in the Western Conference. Granted, that's the least of Bruins' fans worries at this moment. They just want to see the Black and Gold back in the postseason for the first time in three years. It's been way too long!

Boston hosts the reeling Islanders (11-13-6) on Tuesday (7, NESN) at the Garden. Rhode Islander Jack Capuano, the head coach of the Isles, has to be on the verge of getting fired since somehow his team is currently in last-place in the Eastern Conference. It'll be a nice little reunion with former Bruins Johnny Boychuk and Dennis Seidenberg back in town and isn't that what the holidays are all about? All told, the B's have three games left before a mini-Christmas break (Dec. 24-26). They are at Florida (14-13-5) on Thursday (7:30, NESN) and at Carolina (13-11-7) on Friday (7:30, NESN). Out of a possible six points available next week, I'm thinking that they should grab at least four from that trio of winnable opponents.

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Hell Freezes Over (Again): Jimmy Hayes Scores His 1st Goal for the Bruins In 2016-17

Coming in on a three-game losing streak (outscored 9-4 in the process) and with captain Zdeno Chara gleefully cheering from the press box (more on that later), the Bruins (12-10-0) desperately needed a victory on Sunday afternoon at TD Garden vs. the Lightning (13-9-1). Surprisingly enough they got it in pretty easy fashion, 4-1, with even Jimmy Hayes finding the back of the net for the home team. Boston opened up a scoreless affair with a trio of goals in the second period and capped it off with one more in the third period before Tampa Bay avoided the shutout with a Victor Hedman goal in garbage time (that deflected in off a Bruins skate).

Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask (30 saves, 12-4-0) has been superb all season but the funny part is this marked the fourth time already that he's lost a shutout with less than five minutes left in regulation (11/1 at Florida, 11/17 at Minnesota, 11/19 vs. Winnipeg). He's been by far Boston's best player and he's reclaimed his spot as one of the top goalies in the NHL but it just goes to show you how thin the margin is for the upper echelon players like himself.

Things weren't nearly as enjoyable for Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop (26 saves, 7-8-0) who fell to 4-5-3 in his career against Boston. Dominic Moore (read my feature about him in tomorrow's edition of Metro Boston!) continued to rack up goals at a crazy pace (at least for him). Colin Miller (who made his return for the 1st time in 2 weeks) chipped a puck into Tampa Bay's zone that Moore chopped out of mid-air for his sixth goal of the season at 2:24 of the second period. Ryan Spooner also assisted on Moore's goal which tied him with Brad Marchand for second on the team in goals and matched his entire total from all of last season with the Rangers.

At weekend afternoon contests, you don't expect to see much action but this game was a pleasant surprise in that regard. These teams clearly don't like each other as you could see late in the first period when lightweights Torey Krug and Nikita Kucherov fought each other. There were also plenty of skirmishes after the whistle all game long. Additionally, the Bruins potted a few pretty goals which for them is a big accomplishment in many ways. David Backes scored on a rare double deflection from Patrice Bergeron and Torey Krug at 12:30 of the second period. It was Backes' fifth goal of the season and it gave Boston a 2-0 lead.

You know that it was the Bruins' day when Hayes scored his first goal of the season at 17:33 of the second for a 3-0 Boston advantage. Not only was it his first point of the season (in 20 games!) but dating back to last season, his first goal in 36 games. Seriously, when you are a 6-foot-5 forward in the NHL how is that remotely possible? Anywho, Chara happened to be next to me in the press box at the time (waiting to go downstairs to the locker room between periods) and like when a little kid that stinks at sports does something positive, Chara started clapping like a Little League dad or soccer mom when Jimmy got the proverbial monkey off his back (props to him for celebrating by throwing said monkey to the rafters).

Even for this limited offensive group, David Pastrnak just can't stop scoring goals. He threw the puck at the net in the third period and it deflected off a Lightning player past Bishop. Krug and Marchand assisted on Pastrnak's team-leading 13th goal of the season (2nd most in the NHL behind Sidney Crosby). Pasta has 10 points (9 goals, 1 assist) in his last 10 games. Is that good?

As weeks go in the NHL, this upcoming one doesn't look too daunting on paper for the Black and Gold: they are at the Flyers (9-10-3) on Tuesday (7:30, NESN, they host the Hurricanes (8-8-4) on Thursday (7, NESN) and go to Buffalo (7-9-5) next Saturday afternoon (1, NESN)-their second of 13 matinees this season. They have been a good road team so far this season (7-5-0) and whatever shape that they're in health-wise (John-Michael Liles left in the 1st period today with what looked like a concussion), I still expect them to beat the dregs of the Eastern Conference like those three blah opponents.

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Bruins Use Strong 3rd Period (3-0) to Demolish the Penguins 5-1 & Sweep the 3-Game Season Series

One of the major storylines for the Bruins this season has been the stunted development of second-year right wing David Pastrnak. After getting injured early in the season, going to the World Junior Championships again with Czech Republic and rehabbing in Providence, he finally seems to be settling in. Tonight, he scored two goals as Boston (33-22-6) beat Pittsburgh (30-21-8) 5-1 at TD Garden. Thanks to the win, the B's swept the season series (3-0) with the Pens and outscored them 14-3.

It was the Pasta Show early on as he was awarded a penalty shot with four minutes left in the first period and used a stop and start move to throw off Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury (24 saves). Boston led 1-0 after the first period and Landon Ferraro dropped the gloves with UMass-Lowell alum Scott Wilson 1:42 into the second period. Shortly after that, Pastrnak doubled the Bruins' advantage after Pittsburgh defenseman Olli Maata pulled a Kevan Miller and handed the puck right to him in front of the Penguins' net. Pastrnak waited until Fleury went down and put the puck around him for his eighth goal of the season at 3:12. He has four points (2 goals, 2 assists) in his last four games and it was his third career two-goal game.

Tuukka Rask (41 saves; 23-17-5) probably deserved a shutout as the only "shot" that beat him came off the skate of Penguins winger Tom Kuhnhackl. Rask kicked out a big rebound of rookie Oskar Sundqvist's shot and Kuhnhackl made a hockey stop directly into the puck at 4:07 of the second period. It was reviewed but the call stood since the referees felt like it didn't constitute a distinct kicking motion. Boston's buzzard's luck when it comes to reviews and coach's challenges this season has been unbelievably poor. Kuhnhackl's second goal of the season was also assisted by Trevor Daley.

With Boston up 2-1 after two periods, it appeared to be another white-knuckle finish at the Garden (where they improved to 13-15-3 this season) until the Bruins finished with a flourish of three goals in 4:53. Jimmy Hayes tapped-in a pretty feed from Ryan Spooner at 10:34. The former BC star's 13th goal of the season was also assisted by Adam McQuaid (game-high 4 blocked shots). For once, Boston made the other team crumble in crunch time as Ferraro scored on a breakaway at 14:26 from Dennis Seidenberg. His fourth goal of the season was his first point in 26 games (an assist vs. Pittsburgh on Dec. 18). Finally, Brad Marchand knocked in a rebound 1:01 after Ferraro's goal for his team-leading 31st goal of the season. Amazingly enough, he's tied with former Bruin Tyler Seguin for the fourth most goals in the NHL. Torey Krug and Patrice Bergeron had the last helpers.

The Bruins dads were in the locker room after the game as they will head to Carolina (28-23-10) along with their sons for Friday's contest (7, NESN). It's a cool little perk for the team during an arduous season and surely something that the fathers look forward to every year. The B's are 20-7-3 on the road but the Hurricanes have been surprisingly decent in 2015-16 so that is no gimmee although Carolina is at Toronto on Thursday so they'll be in the second leg of a back-to-back. Two more points there would be nice for the Black and Gold who return home for a rare Sunday night (6:30, NBCSN) meeting with Tampa Bay (34-22-4) who is currently tied with Boston (although they own the tiebreaker with a game in hand).

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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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After Hanging 7 Goals On Ottawa, I'd Say That Boston is Officially Ready for the Winter Classic

For a Tuesday night game in late December, you couldn't have asked for much more entertainment (that is if you support the home team) than Boston's (20-12-4) insane 7-3 victory over Ottawa (18-13-6) at TD Garden. Jimmy Hayes scored his first career NHL hat trick while Patrice Bergeron and Matt Beleskey each added two goals apiece. What's more, near the end of the contest there were five (count them five!) legitimate fights. It was a taste of Old Time Bruins Hockey as the B's can now fully turn their attention to Friday's (1, NBC) much-anticipated Winter Classic at Gillette Stadium vs. Montreal (21-15-3).

The Senators were coming off a 3-1 win against the Bruins on Sunday night in Ottawa but they looked nothing like that club as Boston scored a season-high four power play goals (their most since 4 on Oct. 3, 2009 vs. Carolina). Improbably, the B's top-ranked power play continues to chug along (they are 30 for 102 on the season = 29.4%) while their usually strong penalty kill is finally starting to catch up (4-for-4 tonight) and they began the game 13th in the league. The two points were important since it allowed Boston to go up two on Ottawa (with a game in hand). The Bruins are also one point ahead of Detroit, one behind Montreal and two behind first-place Florida. The top six teams in the Atlantic Division are only separated by six points.

It was the exact same goaltender matchup from Sunday as once again Craig Anderson (30 saves) took on Tuukka Rask (29). I guess that Ottawa really didn't want to play backup Andrew Hammond at all since Anderson was hung out to dry and kept in for the entire beating. Hayes fittingly opened the scoring at 8:01 when a good bounce allowed him to tap the puck in from close range. Kevan Miller assisted on Hayes' sixth goal of the season. One of the few things more improbable than a Hayes goal was Senators tough guy Chris Neil tying it at one but that's what he did at 12:31. Rask left him a juicy rebound and he deposited it for his second goal of the season with assists to Shane Prince (Tayshaun's little brother?) and Max McCormick. Bergeron got his first goal of the contest (and first on the power play) at 16:25 when he put in a shot from the slot. Torey Krug (back after missing one game with an undisclosed injury) and Ryan Spooner had the assists on Bergeron's 13th goal of the season.

Unlike Hayes, Beleskey created many chances earlier this season but similarly couldn't find the back of the net with much regularity. Hopefully that'll change as well as he scored a power play tally at 1:21 from Brett Connolly (1st point in 12 games!) and Brad Marchand (who could be suspended after a low bridge hit in the first period). Beleskey's sixth goal of the season was followed by Mika Zibanejad who cut it to 3-2 late in the second (17:51). Neil and Prince assisted on Zibanejad's seventh goal of the season.

Bergeron's second power play goal came at 2:38 of the third period and it gave Boston another two-goal lead (4-2). Krug picked up his second helper while Seth Griffith (called up today with David Krejci on IR) got his first point of the season. Mike Hoffman's shot went off Dennis Seidenberg's skate which confused Rask and trimmed Boston's advantage to 4-3 at 4:22. Hoffman has 18 goals (who knew?) while Eric Karlsson (32 assists) leads the NHL in assists with Marc Methot getting credit for the other apple. Hayes finished a 2-on-1 with Max Talbot at 15:49 then 51 seconds later, Beleskey smoked a one-timer from Spooner. Loui Eriksson sneakily got assists on both of those as he became the third Bruin to reach 20 assists this season (joining Krejci who has 22 and Bergeron who has 21). The hat trick came with 0.2 seconds left in regulation aka garbage time (haha also on a power play) but Hayes will certainly take it. Frank Vatrano and Dennis Seidenberg assisted on the goal that set off a steady stream of hats (ironically the team had given away winter hats today) onto the ice.

Bruins-Canadiens doesn't need an introduction and in case you need a little review on their storied history, turn on NESN, NBCSN or the NHL Network for the next few days. Friday's game is always the showcase event for the league on New Year's Day and with the College Football Playoff the night before, I predict this edition gets its best rating yet (if you're into that kind of thing, which you're probably not). A little snow would be nice but with temperatures expected to be in the low 40s, it should be a virtually perfect atmosphere for the best rivalry in the NHL and one of the greatest in professional sports.

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Bruins Blank Free-Falling Penguins 3-0, Tuukka Rask Picks Up His 4th Shutout of the Season

There were only two games in the NHL tonight so that meant much of the hockey world got to see two teams on national TV (NBCSN) that are headed in opposite directions. Boston (17-9-4) beat Pittsburgh (15-12-3) 3-0 at TD Garden behind 34 saves by goaltender Tuukka Rask for his fourth shutout of the season (tied for NHL lead) and 30th of his career. Seven different Bruins had points, led by Jimmy Hayes and Ryan Spooner who each put up a goal and an assist. These same teams will be back at it on Friday (7, NESN) at Consol Energy Center.

Boston is 6-1-3 in its last 10 games and this win vaulted them into second-place in the Atlantic Division (tied with Detroit, with 1 game in hand) and fifth-place in the Eastern Conference. Conversely, Pittsburgh is stuck in fifth-place in the Metropolitan Division and 11th-place in the East. The Penguins have suffered an epic bout of injuries, terrible luck and general poor karma that tends to permeate around bad teams. Still, with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel in the fold, it's hard to believe that the Penguins could be tied with the Maple Leafs for the third fewest goals scored (68) so far this season in the league.

Even early on, you had a feeling that it was the Bruins' night when Max Talbot of all people scored his first ever goal for Boston (in his 29th game) at 9:52 of the first period. Adam McQuaid and Hayes assisted on Talbot's goal that was a snipe (haha for him at least) over poor Jeff Zatkoff's (26 saves) glove. Boston doubled its lead at 4:00 of the second period when Spooner's pass bounced in ever so slightly off of Hayes who drove to the net just as Bruins head coach Claude Julien had told him to. New Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan (formerly of the Bruins, BU and Marshfield MA) challenged it to see if Hayes interfered with Zatkoff but he didn't so it held up. Colin Miller had the second assist on Hayes' fifth goal of the season (the former BC star had just 1 assist in his last 14 games).

Pittsburgh dominated the second period, outshooting Boston 18-4, but they had nothing to show for it. That had to be extremely frustrating for the Penguins and each club seemed to basically go through the motions in the third period. Spooner clinched it with the ultra-rare power play/empty-net combo platter goal at 17:17. Patrice Bergeron (6-game point streak) and Loui Eriksson assisted on Spooner's eighth goal of the season.

Adam McQuaid escaped serious injury in the second after he took a wayward puck to his face. He skated off quickly with his hand over his mouth and headed straight to the dressing room for some repairs. There were some chippy plays on both sides but only four penalties were called on Pittsburgh and three on Boston with no fights (maybe since Zac Rinaldo went on IR yesterday). Expect that to change on Friday, especially if Pittsburgh is losing again and in desperate need of a spark.

Rask has been on fire lately, he is 7-0-2 in his last nine games with a 1.36 goals against average, .955 save percentage and three shutouts. He's playing his best hockey of the season along with most of his teammates. It only took nearly 2.5 months but Boston is finally .500 at home (7-7-2) this season, haha progress! They remain one of the best road teams (10-2-2) in the NHL while Pittsburgh is 8-5-2 at home. It's hard to say with a straight face that any game before Christmas is a must-win in the NHL but if the Penguins have any pride, Friday is basically that.

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Bruins Notch First Home Win of the Season In Resounding Fashion, 6-0 vs. Coyotes

There are times in every professional sports regular season where one team has a distinct advantage in terms of rest and travel against their opponent. The key is to use those to your advantage and make the most out of them since everyone faces an impossible schedule at some point. Arizona (5-4-1) is an up-and-coming young team that is off to a surprisingly decent start to the 2015-16. However, they limped into TD Garden tonight at the tail-end (no pun intended) of a five-game road trip with their third game in four nights. Boston (4-3-1) had been off since Friday so you can guess the result: a 6-0 Bruins victory that was competitive for almost two periods before the Coyotes completely folded.

The win was extra meaningful for the B's for a couple notable reasons: first of all, they finally got their first win at home out of the way after starting 0-3-1 here. Additionally, Tuukka Rask (2-3-1; 24 saves) picked up his first shutout of the season and 27th of his career. David Krejci (2 goals) extended his NHL points lead and also built upon his point-streak to eight games, the most for a Bruin since 1992-93 (when Joe Juneau and Dmitri Kvartalnov went 14 games with a point to start the year).

Boston continued to get help from some unlikely sources: five different players had goals and 11 notched points. Jimmy Hayes led the way with three points (1 goal, 2 assists) while Loui Eriksson (2 assists), Matt Beleskey (2 assists) and Brad Marchand (1 goal, 1 assists) all had multiple points. Krejci started the fun with a beautiful goal at 17:22 of the first period. He skated in with Connolly on a 2-on-1 and you expected him to pass it but at the last second he instead chose to roof it over Mike Smith's (21 saves) shoulder. Eriksson and Krug assisted on his six goal of the season.

Hayes doubled Boston's lead at 6:51 of the second period when he knocked in a rebound. Beleskey and Ryan Spooner assisted on the Dorchester native's third goal of the season. You felt like the Bruins had this one in their skate bag when Joe Morrow of all people walked over the blue line and beat Smith with a beautiful shot. It was only his second career NHL goal, assisted by Beleskey at 17:29.

Connolly scored a goal for the third straight game at 10:22, a pea to the far corner on Smith's blocker side. Marchand and Bergeron assisted on his third goal of the season. Bozos John Scott (how the hell is he still in the NHL?) and Steve Downie had seen enough so they both got game-misconducts with 8:48 left in regulation. Boston's top-ranked power-play was able to cash in for its first power-play goal of the night (they were 1-for-4) as Brad Marchand put one by Smith who didn't seem to even know where it was headed. Colin Miller and Hayes assisted on Marchand's second goal of the season. Krejci fittingly put the bow on top with a garbage time tally with 38 seconds left in this laugher. Smith was still in there for some reason while Hayes and Eriksson padded their stats with another helper.

The B's get another break as they don't play again until Friday (7:30, NESN) in Florida (4-3-1). They are at Tampa Bay (5-3-2) the next night (7, NESN) on Halloween against one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference. That Florida trip used to be an automatic six points but not so much anymore since the Panthers are a legit playoff contender now too. Jaromir Jagr left Florida's game tonight with a lower-body injury so let's hope the league's oldest player is healthy enough to return by then against one of his countless former teams.

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Serious Question: Will the Bruins Win a Home Game Before Halloween?

After dropping their first three games of the season-all at TD Garden-in humiliating fashion, the Bruins found some life on the road with a pair of wins in Colorado and Arizona last week. Boston (2-3-1) returned home to face the Flyers (3-2-1) who lost 2-1 to Dallas (5-1-0) in Philadelphia last night. For whatever reason, the B's continue to struggle at the Garden as they choked away another two-goal lead (this time in the third period) and fell 5-4 in overtime on Claude Giroux's power-play strike.

Once again, Boston's defense was a mess and Tuukka Rask (32 saves) didn't exactly help matters as he gave up another soft goal. He's allowed 19 goals in his first four starts at the Garden this season. Former Flyer Zac Rinaldo is likely headed for a suspension as he predictably took a run at an old teammate-Sean Couturier-and was called for charging with a game misconduct at the end of the first period. You could argue that it was a clean hit (something that he kept repeating in the dressing room after the game like he was Marshawn Lynch) but this seems to be a case of a bad reputation catching up to a dirty player. I'll never understand why the Bruins traded a third-round pick for this clown and actually thought that he'd change (he's been suspended three times in his NHL career).

The Flyers jumped ahead 1-0 at 9:28 as Canadiens wannabe Pierre-Edouard Bellemare poked in a rebound that Rask dropped right at his skates. Michal Neuvirth returned the favor as he allowed a rebound right to Brett Connolly at 13:28 for a goal after Patrice Bergeron took the initial shot. Connolly's first goal of the season was also assisted by Brad Marchand. Sam Gagner caught Boston on a bad line change and he used Kevan Miller's screen to beat Rask at 15:04. Believe it or not, the Bruins currently have the best power play in the NHL and once again, it came through as Bergeron batted a puck out of mid-air at 17:24 on the man-advantage. Loui Eriksson and David Krejci (who leads the NHL with 11 points) had the assists on Papa Bergeron's fourth goal of the season (his wife had their first child, a boy named Zack earlier in the day).

Neuvirth must have tweaked something on Bergeron's goal because Steve Mason replaced him to start the second period. Mason initially looked like a goaltender who had started last night and expected to have tonight off. Boston killed Rinaldo's five-minute penalty and also scored another special teams goal, this time a shorthanded goal that went off Chris Kelly's skate at 4:31. His second goal of the season was assisted by Eriksson and Zdeno Chara. The Bruins doubled the lead at 8:49 as BC's Jimmy Hayes scored his first goal on his new home ice (2nd of the season). He beat Mason shortside on a shot that many good high schoolers would have stopped, Krejci had the lone assist.

Everything was lined up for Boston to pick up its first home win and ditto for Rask. Instead, they suffered another terrible meltdown. David Pastrnak appeared to make it 5-2 with a one-timer but Mason stopped him with one of the best saves that you'll see all year (his glove snagged it right before it went totally over the line, or so said the replay officials). Giroux cut it to 4-3 at 7:48 after Kevan Miller coughed the puck up behind his net and Jakub Voracek fed him in front for an easy goal. Wayne Simmonds tied it less than three minutes later with a laser over Rask's shoulder into the far corner.

Ryan Spooner was called for hooking in overtime and even before that, you had a feeling that this wouldn't end well for Boston. Sure enough, Philadelphia's stars got it done as Giroux one-timed a pass from Mark Streit (3 assists) and Voracek. A loss is a loss and Boston got the cheap point out of it but make no mistake, this was extremely bitter for the Black and Gold. There is no reason that they should have fallen apart like that to an overmatched opponent like the Flyers (given their injuries and that they had played a good team the night before).

The B's head out on the road again, three of their last four games in October are all away from the Garden which is probably a good thing. They make their first trip to see the Barclays Center on Friday (7:30, NESN) to play the Islanders (4-1-1) who look like one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference. Boston returns home to meet the Coyotes (3-2-1) on Tuesday (7, NESN) before they spend Halloween weekend in Florida: at Panthers (3-2-1) on October 30 (7:30, NESN) and at Lightning (4-2-1) on Halloween (7, NESN).

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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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Maybe There Is a Method to Don Sweeney's Madness After All

This is such a wasteland on the American sports calendar every year and it certainly doesn't help when the Red Sox are so unwatchable and irrelevant by the middle of May. I'm trying to (partially) rationalize why we tend to overreact to any significant trades involving our local teams that come at this extremely dull point of the summer. Case in point, the Bruins last week looked like a drunken mess as they traded Carl Soderberg to Colorado for a sixth-round pick, Dougie Hamilton to Calgary for three picks and Milan Lucic to Los Angeles for Martin Jones, a minor league defenseman and a pick. We wondered, "what the hell is Don Sweeney doing?" He doubled up on the crazy by rewarding mediocre defenseman Adam McQuaid with a four-year contract.

For a change from last week's constant drama and unending questions, today brought some sense of clarity for the Black and Gold. First, they signed coveted free agent left wing Matt Beleskey to a five-year deal worth $19 million. He's the exact same age-down to the day-as Lucic (27) but unlike the former Bruin, his career trajectory seems to be trending upwards. Last season, he put up a career-best 22 goals in the regular season (65 games) followed by eight goals in the postseason for Anaheim. Granted playing with Cory Perry and Ryan Getzlaf would turn almost anyone into a 20-goal scorer but Beleskey similarly should bring size (206 pounds), toughness and the left-handed shot that they were looking for. Put him with David Krejci and David Pastrnak or Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand then we might have something.

Sweeney won more support by trading away oft-criticized forward Reilly Smith and Marc Savard's $4 million cap hit to Florida for former BC star and Dorchester native Jimmy Hayes. Smith scored 20 goals two seasons ago but that went down to only 13 this past campaign. That coupled with the fact that he does literally nothing else made him easily expendable. I would normally bitch about the Bruins giving him that silly extension last year but I'm tired so oh well. Hayes' numbers were pretty similar to Smith's last season (19 goals, 16 assists) and his huge frame (6-foot-6, 221 pounds) should help the Bruins crash the net better (something that nobody consistently does for them).

Now it's time to sign some NHL-caliber top-six defensemen since at the moment, Boston has like four that they can reasonably count on: Zdeno Chara, Dennis Seidenberg, Torey Krug and McQuaid (kind of). Matt Bartkowski signed a one-year deal with Vancouver and Gregory Campbell agreed to a two-year deal with Columbus; needless to say after their rough performances last season, most Bruins fans aren't sad to see those two leave town.

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Bruins Beat Panthers 3-2 to Go Up Six Points on Florida (With 5 Games Left)

It wasn't an instant classic by any means but the Bruins still managed to get exactly what they needed on Tuesday at TD Garden: a 3-2 regulation win vs. Panthers. Boston (39-25-13) survived a poor second period, where Florida (35-27-15) outscored them 2-0, to score the last two goals of the game in the third period. Rookie David Pastrnak tied it at two with a deft tip-in and Milan Lucic was the hero, potting the game-winner with 1:09 left in regulation. The B's closed March on a modest three-game win streak and with seven points in their past four games.

Loui Eriksson gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead at 16:57 of the first period and simultaneously scored his 20th goal of the season (for the 5th time in his career and 1st as a Bruin). It was a beautiful goal as he waited for Roberto Luongo (26 saves) to go down before lifting a backhander over him from a very tough angle. Carl Soderberg had the lone assist.

I don't know what it is about the second period but it seems like Boston has always played poorly in them this season. Brandon Pirri tied it at one with a power-play snipe from the point, 55 seconds into the frame. Brian Campbell and BC's Jimmy Hayes had the assists on Pirri's 21st goal of the season which was a one-timer that went top-shelf on Tuukka Rask (22 saves).

Former Bruin Brad Boyes made it 2-1 Florida at 12:37 after a total breakdown by Boston. Matt Bartkowski had the puck hop over his stick in the Panthers' end, Boyes skated in on a partial breakaway and squeezed it under Rask's leg pads. Boyes' 13th goal of the season was unassisted and although Bartkowski deserves most of the blame, Rask should make that save in a game of this magnitude.

The Bruins were pressing for the tying goal in the third period and leave it to their 2015 Seventh Player award winner (handed out before tonight's game) to come through with the huge goal. Spooner put the puck on net and Pastrnak was close to the goal but still got a piece of it to fool Luongo just enough. His 11th goal of the season was also assisted by Lucic. The big guy scored one of the most important goals of Boston's season by causing a turnover then having the confidence (and power) to beat Luongo with a low but hard shot from inside the blue line that went split two Panthers defensemen. Milan's 18th goal of the season was assisted by Pastrnak and Spooner.

Now Boston has 91 points while Florida is stuck with 85, each team has five games left so the Panthers really are in a deep hole here. Ottawa (38-26-12) rallied for a 2-1 shootout win in Detroit (40-23-13) which means that the Bruins didn't gain any more distance between them and the Senators but they are only two points behind the Red Wings. Wouldn't you know that the B's are in Detroit on Thursday (7:30, NBCSN) for another huge contest between Atlantic Division rivals. You have to love this time of year!

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No More Having to Watch the Panthers for the Rest of the Season!

The Bruins have to be sad to bid farewell to the hapless Panthers for the rest of the season. This evening, Boston (42-17-5) beat Florida (24-33-7) 5-2 at the old BB&T Center. The B's took all five games with the Panthers in 2013-14, by a cumulative score of 22-8. Oh and the Bruins bumped up to first place in the Eastern Conference on idle Pittsburgh.

Boston was playing in a back-to-back but they still seemed like the fresher squad. BC's Jimmy Hayes was able to put a rebound past Chad Johnson (20 saves) at 7:00 of the second period for a surprising 1-0 Panthers lead. Of course, the Bruins recovered as newcomer Andrej Meszaros scored a power play goal at 9:58 on a laser from the point. His sixth goal of the season was assisted by Reilly Smith and Patrice Bergeron.

It was 1-1 heading into the third but did anyone actually think that Florida would pull it off? I don't think so. Krug scored his 13th goal of the season at 7:38 on pretty assists by Marchand and Bergeron. Boston cashed in another power play opportunity as Bergeron slammed in a low slap shot by Roberto Luongo (37 saves) at 11:21. That was Bergeron's 18th goal of the season with assists to Loui Eriksson and Carl Soderberg.

Hayes cut it to 3-2 with a garbage goal after the puck was stuck in Johnson's skates. Jarome Iginla added his 20th goal of the season on a wide open blast from the slot at 12:13. Milan Lucic and Zdeno Chara provided the helpers on career goal No. 550 for Iginla.

Chris Kelly wrapped this all up with an empty netter (his 6th goal of the season). About the only bad thing to come out of this for the B's is that Daniel Paille left after his first shift of the game in the first period. He was hit awkwardly into the boards, left and never returned. Is that Jordan Caron's music?

Boston concludes this three-game trip in Montreal (35-24-7) on Wednesday (7:30, NBCSN). The Canadiens are one of the only teams to impose their will on the B's this season, they are 2-0 and now they also have Thomas Vanek (shits pants).

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