B's Rally From Down 2-0 To Beat Another Quality Opponent (Canes) & Extend Point Streak to 17

If you haven't bought in on the Bruins (40-17-9) during this amazing run, I don't know what else that you are waiting to see from them. Not only are they beating plenty of good teams but they are doing it in many different ways, take tonight for example: a spirited 4-3 comeback win by the B's in overtime vs. the Hurricanes (36-23-7) at TD Garden thanks to David Krejci's beautiful forehand-to-backhand game-winning goal that was the end result of a great forecheck then pass from Jake DeBrusk. Boston has a 17-game point streak (13-0-4) which is tied for the third-longest in franchise history (23 in 1940-41, 18 in 1968-69 & last season plus four 17-game streaks).

Carolina came in as the other hottest team in the league: they had won five straight games and they were 8-2-0 in their last 10 games to take over third-place in the Metropolitan Division. Most impressively, the Hurricanes were 21-6-1 in their last 28 games and those 43 points in 2019 were the most in the NHL. It was a battle of backup goalies which was a bit misleading since Jaroslav Halak (34 saves, 18-9-4) extended his own point-streak to seven games (5-0-2) and Curtis McElhinney (34 saves, 17-7-2) is having the best season of his forgettable career. Boston improved to 8-6 in overtime this season while Carolina fell to 4-5 in the extra session. It also avenged the 5-3 Bruins loss in Raleigh, NC on the night before Christmas Eve. Unfortunately, this concluded the season series and probably the only way they will meet again this spring is in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Sporting those gorgeous green Whalers jerseys vs. Boston for the second time during this campaign, the Hurricanes looked every bit the role of a true contender as they scored first and later took a 2-0 lead early in the second period. That was preceded by what could be a costly injury for the Bruins: Micheal Ferland lit up Marcus Johansson with a huge hit that sent Boston's new winger to the hospital with an upper-body injury. David Backes has become Boston's defacto fighter and he dropped the gloves (for the third time in four games) vs. Ferland. Sebastian Aho is only 21-years-old but he's quickly turning into a star while also morphing into a Bruins killer. He deflected in Calvin de Haan's shot from the point at 6:30 of the first period. UNH alum Trevor van Riemsdyk (James' younger brother) had the second assist on Aho's 28th goal of the season. He made it 2-0 at 1:10 of the second when he somehow slipped loose on a breakaway and finished a filthy backhander through Halak's five-hole. Nino Niederreiter and Justin Faulk had the helpers on Aho's second goal of the night.

That seemed to finally wake up the B's and as we all predicted, Chris Wagner was the guy to turn the momentum with a goal. First he deflected Brandon Carlo's (game-high 26:19 time on ice and 9 shots on goal) shot from the point then he battled for the rebound and was able to put it in for his 10th goal of the season at 12:28 of the second period. DeBrusk can't stop scoring goals himself (8 in the last 10 games) and he tied it at two at 18:12 of the second. Krejci (4 goals, 10 assists in his last 10 games) started the play with a rush down the left wing, his shot forced a save by McElhinney and DeBrusk was able to chip the rebound top-shelf for his 22nd goal of the season.

Boston grabbed its first lead of the contest at 2:45 of the third period as Patrice Bergeron (6 goals, 10 assists in his last 14 games) blasted in a beautiful shorthanded one-timer from his BFF Brad Marchand (8 goals, 12 assists in his last 14 games) for his 23rd goal of the season. The Hurricanes didn't go away though-a sign of a good team-as they tied it at three at 12:17 on captain Justin Williams' (19th goal of the season) one-timed shot that deflected in, assisted by Jordan Martinook and Brett Pesce. Not too much happened in overtime besides the goal: Halak made a nice falling save on Justin Faulk and then DeBrusk forced a turnover by Faulk behind his own net and he was able to shake loose enough to whip a pass across the crease to Krejci who weaved around a diving McElhinney.

Every game is important down the stretch but it's a little tougher for Bruins fans to get quite as excited about their next two games: Thursday (7, NESN) vs. going nowhere Florida (28-26-12) and the homestand's conclusion on Saturday night (7, NESN) vs. hopeless Ottawa (23-38-6). The Black and Gold appear to be pretty locked in for either the No. 2 seed or No. 3 seed in the Atlantic Division with Toronto (41-21-4) only three points behind them while Montreal (36-24-7) is 10 points behind their chief rivals. As we saw last postseason vs. the Maple Leafs, home ice turned out to be the difference so Boston hopes to follow that same script should they face Toronto in a much-anticipated rematch.

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B's Lose 3-1 to Caps in Regular Season Finale, Await Either Washington or Ottawa in 1st Round

If the Capitals (55-18-8) don't finally win their first-ever Stanley Cup this summer, they might never get it done. That mildly hot take is a tad sarcastic but come on, does Washington have any real weaknesses? In a game that meant absolutely nothing to the Caps but plenty to the Bruins (44-31-7), Washington still managed to cruise to an easy as pie 3-1 win this afternoon at TD Garden. Boston dropped its last two regular season games so they lost any control over whether they'll finish in third-place in the Atlantic Division or as the second Wild Card (and a certain death penalty vs. Washington). All they can hope is that Toronto (39-26-15) earns no more than two total points in their final two games: vs. Pittsburgh (50-19-11) later tonight and then they host reeling Columbus (49-24-8) to wrap things up tomorrow night.

The B's also suffered what could be another significant injury to their defense as Brandon Carlo (upper-body injury) left in the first period and never returned after a hit by Alex Ovechkin then awkward fall to the ice. Boston has termed defenseman Torey Krug "day-to-day" after he left Thursday's shootout loss to the Senators (44-27-10) but from all accounts, that is being generous since he has a significant right knee injury. Anton Khudobin (21 saves) played for the first two periods before departing because "he didn't feel well." Haha was he hanging out with all the Red Sox that are currently knocked out by the bird flu? BU's Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson made his NHL debut today since PC's Noel Acciari is also out with an upper-body injury. JFK centered the third line for Boston but did barely anything (1 blocked shot, 1-1 on faceoffs in just 8:25 of ice time) of note.

Washington is so skilled and loaded at seemingly every position (keep in mind that defenseman John Carlson and goaltender Braden Holtby both sat out) that many of their goals resemble something you do more frequently in a video game than actually experience in real life. Marcus Johansson (24th goal of the season) scored on a basic give-and-go with Justin Williams as they split Boston's tattered defense at 15:39 for a 1-0 Caps lead. Johansson has 12 points (2 goals, 10 assists) in his last nine games.

The second period had some nastiness as Colin Miller's legs took out Tom Wilson's legs which caused Jay Beagle to take a run at Miller. It was a cheap play that could have resulted in a serious injury since Miller was in a vulnerable position (laying on the ice against the boards) and I wouldn't be shocked if Wilson has a hearing with the league about it. Speaking of which, this was Marchand's second game of his suspension so he is free to play starting in Game 1 of the playoffs next week. Washington has swept Boston the last three seasons (7-0-2) and outscored them 30-11 in the process. The only time that the B's were able to beat backup Philipp Grubauer (21 saves) is when Colin Miller put the puck in a millisecond before Drew Stafford crashed into the net (knocking it off its moorings). The goal was reviewed but stood up, Miller's sixth goal of the season assisted by Stafford.

The tie was short-lived (for 56 seconds) as former BU star Kevin Shattenkirk one-timed a pass from Niklas Backstrom (who leads the NHL in helpers) and Ovechkin at 16:09. Shattenkirk added another goal at 17:31 but it was overturned after Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy used his coach's challenge for goalie interference. It hardly mattered to the Capitals though as they made it 3-1 at 19:10 when Williams completed a pretty passing sequence around multiple helpless Bruins with Evgeny Kuznetsov and Nate Schmidt. Tuukka Rask (8 saves) started the third period and that's about all we'll ever say about that forgettable frame. Now all we can do is wait until possibly tomorrow night (the last day of the regular season) for all the scenarios to unfold. The B's have no shot if they face the Caps but a matchup with the Senators is infinitely more winnable despite the fact that Ottawa also swept Boston during this campaign.

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