The Red Wings are the Latest Sacrificial Lamb to Visit TD Garden This Season as the Bruins Roll 8-2

It's understandable if you are more locked in on the Red Sox and or Patriots right now but take my word for it: you are going to want to tune in to watch the Bruins (4-1-0) this season when you get a chance. You can already tell that it's going to be a fun year as their top line remains the best group of forwards in the NHL and the rest of their lineup is still filled with intriguing young players and dependable veterans. Detroit (0-3-2) came to TD Garden this afternoon searching for its first win of 2018-19 but they found nothing but a serious beating as the B's destroyed them 8-2 (and it didn't even feel that close).

David Pastrnak scored his second career hat trick (also Boston's second in three games after Patrice Bergeron had one vs. Ottawa on Monday), Bergy had three assists and Brad Marchand added two assists while Jake DeBrusk scored his first two goals of the season. Did I mention that Charlie McAvoy, Anders Bjork and Sean Kuraly also notched their first tallies of the campaign? Yeah, it was that kind of dominant performance for the home team as everything went the Black and Gold's way. They improved to an absurd 15-1-1 in their last 17 games vs. Detroit including a current 10-game point streak (9-0-1).

It was a slow burn for the poor Red Wings (remember when they used to be good?) as Boston scored once in the first period, three in the second and they closed it out with four in the third. Detroit's backup goaltender Jonathan Bernier (31 saves) had the honor of allowing all eight of those goals since they apparently didn't want to have to use starter Jimmy Howard who played in their last tilt (a 5-3 loss vs. Toronto on Thursday). Tuukka Rask (32 saves) didn't get a shutout which is about the only real minor gripe that even the biggest Bruins hater could point out. Stats are for losers but there were a few notable ones for the B's: Pastrnak scored his 100th career NHL goal and Krejci's two assists gave him 400 in his NHL career.

Pasta opened the scoring with a snipe at 19:09 of the first period. His fifth goal of the season was assisted by Brandon Carlo and Chris Wagner. McAvoy doubled Boston's lead early in the second period (4:44) as he snapped in a quick shot after Bergeron's faceoff win went right back to him. DeBrusk's first goal wasn't a beauty but they all count the same as his backhander squeezed through Bernier's leg pads after a brief breakaway. David Krejci had the lone assist at 11:27. DeBrusk was moved to the right wing on Krejci's line today as Ryan Donato slotted back into the lineup as the left wing with those guys, meaning that Danton Heinen was a healthy scratch. Pastrnak put it out of reach for the hapless Wings with a one-timer at 16:20, from Bergeron and Marchand because of course.

Detroit had a two-man advantage from late in the second period into the third and they were able to mercifully avert the shutout with a power-play goal by rookie defenseman Filip Hronek 21 seconds into the final frame. His first NHL goal was assisted by Tyler Bertuzzi and Maine alum Gustav Nyquist. Boston didn't blink as they scored less than two minutes later (2:05) and it was Pastrnak completing his very predictable (but still quite enjoyable) hat trick. Another lethal one-timer was served up by Bergeron and Marchand (all 3 of them have a 4-game point streak). Other than Toronto's Auston Matthews, who in the league is hotter than those three stars?

Extended garbage time was filled with stat-stuffing as Dylan Larkin scored a shorthanded goal (the 1st that Boston has allowed this season) at 8:23. His third goal of the season was assisted by Frans Nielsen and Nick Jensen. Sadly 5-2 was as close as the Red Wings would get though as Bjork potted an unassisted goal at 10:12, followed by a redirect from DeBrusk at 15:15 (assisted by Carlo and Krejci) and finally, Kuraly beat Bernier from an impossible angle with 1.2 seconds left in regulation. Haha how embarrassing. Kevan Miller and Bjork had the assists on Kuraly's goal that gave the Bruins a snowman (8 goals).

After cleaning up at home on nothing but cupcakes (Senators, Oilers and Red Wings), the Bruins won't be back here until Oct. 25 when they host Philadelphia. In between now and then (also the name of a solid O.A.R. album), they'll visit Canada to play some more average to below average teams as part of a four-game road trip. They are in Calgary (2-2-0) on Wednesday (9:30, NESN) followed the next night (9, NESN) by a visit to Edmonton (1-2-0). Next up, they'll be in Vancouver (2-2-0) on Saturday night (10, NESN) and then they close things out in Ottawa (2-2-1) next Tuesday (7:30, NESN). Winning or at least earning points in three out of four of those matchups should be expected. A clean sweep is within reason too since which of those clubs remotely scares you at all? None, that's what I thought.

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Nevermind Playing Hockey Games, The Worn-Out Bruins Desperately Need a Rest Like Right Now

In any professional sport, every team will face a rough stretch with tons of games (and travel) condensed into a short amount of time. That's why it is pointless fodder (although always a favorite crutch for my fellow lazy media members) to whine about such circumstances since at some point, everyone will have to deal with it. With all that said, the Bruins (16-13-3) have to be happy that they finally get two days between games for the first time in nearly a month (Nov. 20-21). After getting three out of four unlikely points with a 2-1 overtime win in Montreal (19-6-4) on Monday and a 4-3 loss to Pittsburgh (20-7-3) last night, they returned to TD Garden and lost 4-3 to the Ducks (16-10-5) this evening.

The season-long trends for the B's of losing in Game 2 of back-to-backs (1-5-0) and Game 3 of three-games-in-four-nights (3-5-0) continued along with the even more troubling poor play when anyone not named Tuukka Rask (15-5-3) occupies their net. Backup goaltender Anton Khudobin (1-5-0) clearly isn't the same guy he was in his first go-around with the Bruins back in 2013 but it doesn't help that his few starts are usually marked by team-wide shitty outings.

A new wrench was thrown into Boston's usual script for home losses as they actually jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period only to see Anaheim quickly erase that. Boston dropped to 11-2-0 this season when they lead by 2+ goals. The Ducks went up 3-2 early in the second period and the Bruins tied it up but once again, Anaheim had the last laugh. The game got off to such a crazy start that it was a shame to see it end in such an anti-climatic fashion (with 0 goals in the final 34:58). It was a battle of backup goaltenders with Khudobin (23 saves) facing your boy Jonathan Bernier (6-2-1) who finished with 31 saves.

Bruins captain Zdeno Chara blasted home a shot from the point at 12:07 of the first period. David Backes and Brad Marchand assisted on Chara's second goal of the season (his 1st goal in 22 games and 1st point in 8 games). Only 13 seconds later, Austin Czarnik doubled Boston's advantage with a one-timer from Ryan Spooner and Riley Nash. The rookie has slowly started to find his legs in the NHL with two goals and two assists in the last six games. It turned into video game hockey as Andrew Cogliano cut it to 2-1 just 24 seconds after Czarnik's strike. The three goals in 37 seconds was the most in a Bruins game since Boston and St. Louis combined for three in 34 seconds on Dec. 19, 1987. In truth, it was an own goal as Cogliano passed it to Jakob Silfverberg but the latter whiffed while David Krejci accidentally put it in his own goal. Woof.

Earlier in the frame, Khudobin had stopped a partial breakaway on Silfverberg but then Kevin Bieksa tied it up at two by jumping out of the penalty box and taking a stretch pass by Ryan Getzlaf (his 23rd assist, 2nd most in the NHL) before he beat Khudobin. Former Northeastern Husky Josh Manson went to the net and was rewarded with a juicy rebound right on his stick with Khudobin way out of position. His 1st goal of the season came 55 seconds into the second period with Silfverberg and Rickard Rakell picking up the assists. Krejci scored one for his team which was nice (his 6th of the season), depositing a power-play goal from Backes and Torey Krug at 2:06.

Rakell put in a rebound at 5:02 of the second period which turned out to be the game-winner. Sami Vatanen and Cam Fowler assisted on Rakell's 12th goal of the season (he was also named the 1st star of the game). The B's will have no practice tomorrow and then probably a light workout on Saturday before they host the Kings (15-12-2). Los Angeles is in Pittsburgh tomorrow night so unlike many of their recent contests, Boston will be waiting for someone to visit them rather than the other way around. Tonight's loss dropped them to under .500 at the Garden (7-8-0) in 2016-17. The Kings are hanging onto the second Wild Card spot in the Western Conference but without star goaltender Jonathan Quick (what up ZooMass?) out until March with a groin injury, it's doubtful that they'll be able to hang on to it. The B's will have to take advantage of playing a West Coast team on Sunday afternoon (1, NESN), granted the Kings' bodies should be used to the Eastern Time zone by then.

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B's End 2014 in Disappointing Fashion: Rallying From 2 Goals Down Then Losing in a Shootout

By virtue of their frustrating 4-3 shootout loss tonight at TD Garden vs. Toronto (21-14-3), Boston (19-15-4) made sure that December of 2014 was their first losing month (5-6-3) since February 2012 (5-7-1). There is plenty to say about this one since Boston trailed 3-1 in the second period but rallied in the same frame to tie it then dominated the third and overtime yet still fell short.

This game meant extra since a win would have tied the Bruins up with the Maple Leafs in the standings, instead Toronto is now three points ahead and comfortably in the playoff picture (6th in the Eastern Conference) while Boston sits one point behind Washington for the last spot. Yes, just over half of the regular season remains but the more that time goes by, the harder it is for the B's to make up any ground on all these other clubs in the Northeast Division let alone the East.

Getting out to better starts and having more consistency for the entire game are two general areas that are killing the Bruins. Toronto jumped ahead 1-0 at 10:22 of the first period when Leo Komarov scored on a one-timer from the slot (his 5th goal of the season), assisted by Peter Holland who was behind the net. Phil Kessel drew an ultra-rare penalty shot but Tuukka Rask (18 saves) was able to stop it late in the first period. Kessel is now 1 for 3 in his career on penalty shots while Rask has stopped 4 of 6.

If you were in line getting a beer (it is New Year's Eve after all) or at the bathroom, you probably missed two goals that occurred before the first minute had passed in the second period. Carl Soderberg deflected in Reilly Smith's shot from the point 17 seconds in (his 8th goal of the season), a power play goal that tied it at one. Former UNH star James van Riemsdyk put Toronto in front again 31 seconds later as he finished off a lethal 2-on-1 with Phil Kessel for his 17th goal of the season.

Kessel's power play goal, his team-leading 18th of the season, gave the Leafs a 3-1 lead but this being Toronto, they couldn't handle a lead in Boston (sound familiar?). Jonathan Bernier (25 saves) played the role of James Reimer for the duration of the second as he let in a bizarre pair of goals. That's right, the Bruins got not one but two breaks that led to goals (when has that ever happened this season for them?). David Krejci's shot deflected in off Cody Franson for his fifth goal of the season at 15:28 than 2:03 after that, Torey Krug's centering pass (intended for Krejci) went off Komarov's skate by Bernier for his seventh goal of the season.

Boston outshot Toronto 9-2 in the third and 4-0 in overtime but they couldn't find the game-winner. Mike Santorelli scored in the first round of the shootout, Krug answered in the second then it took Nazem Kadri's goal in the fifth round to end it and send fans on their drunken but merry way. Hey, they cut down on my drinking time!

The Bruins end this huge three-game homestand on Saturday afternoon (1, NESN) vs. the Senators (15-14-7) who are in much worse shape than them. Needless to say, Boston has to get two points from that contest, no matter how they obtain them.

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