B's Double Down On Their Bad Loss To Avs With an Equally Horrifying Loss to Wretched Leafs

Every game in the marathon known as the 82-game regular season of the NHL is for all intents and purposes worth the same: two points. However, that doesn't mean that they always feel like they have the same exact worth. If you beat a quality team or even get a point against them (think that 4-3 overtime loss to Washington on Wednesday), that is seen as a good thing. Conversely, when you lose to the dregs of the league, there is no putting lipstick on that pig. Boston (15-12-2) lost 4-2 to lowly Colorado (10-15-1) on Thursday which was depressing enough and they followed that up with another poopfest, a 4-1 setback to Toronto (11-10-5) tonight at TD Garden.

Along with their alarming lack of goal-scoring (outside of one David Pastrnak), Boston's latest issue has been allowing the first goal. They have done that in the last three games and in fact, they have been down 2-0 to the Capitals, Avalanche and Maple Leafs so it's no wonder that they only got one point out of a possible six points in that stretch. Boston outshot Toronto 11-2 in the first period (tied for the fewest shots they've allowed in a frame this season) but weren't able to find the back of the net. The Maple Leafs took a 1-0 lead 1:44 into the second period as American hero Auston Matthews (the No. 1 pick this past summer) beat Tuukka Rask (16 saves) top shelf. William Nylander had the assist on Matthews' 12th goal of the season (tied for the team-lead) after Pastrnak had turned over the puck in his own end.

Zach Hyman tipped in a floater from the point by Jake Gardiner, giving Toronto a 2-0 advantage at 15:14 of the second period. Former Bruins great Matt Hunwick had the second assist on Hyman's (tough name) fourth goal of the season. Unbeknownst to everyone in the world except his family and agent, Maple Leafs goaltender Frederik Andersen (32 saves) is now 6-0-0 in six career games against the B's. The good news for the Bruins is that if they get to the playoffs this spring, at least he won't be there. Brad Marchand cut it to 2-1 at 18:39 as he poked in a backhander after a scramble in front of Andersen. David Backes assisted on Marchand's eighth goal of the season. As Marchy noted after the game, they need to get more dirty goals like that to snap this team-wide scoring drought.

Former UNH star James van Riemsdyk put this one away with an acrobatic tip-in of his own at 9:52 of the third period to make it 3-1 in favor of the Leafs. Tyler Bozak made the play happen with a great backhand pass and JVR was out front to get just enough of it to sneak it by Rask. Hunwick picked up his second assist of the game (he had 4 in 17 games coming in) on van Riemsdyk's 12th goal of the season. Connor Brown's empty-netter at 18:27 gave us that gross final score.

On paper (and probably in real life as well), things don't figure to ease up for Boston this week as they go to Montreal (19-6-3) on Monday (7:30, NESN) and then Pittsburgh (18-7-3) on Wednesday (7:30, NBC Sports)-the two best teams in the Eastern Conference. They return to the Garden on Thursday (7, NESN) vs. Anaheim (14-9-5) and they host Los Angeles (14-11-2) on Sunday afternoon (1, NESN). Rask is due to win at the Bell Centre sometime soon, right? Maybe it'll be the old reverse lock against the Canadiens. The Bruins can't let this slide go on for very long or else they'll drop out of a playoff spot; it sounds silly but even this early in the season, it's hard to make up much ground when so many teams are in front of you.

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Bruins Put Together One of Their Better Wins of the Season: 4-2 Over Rangers

With only eight games left in the regular season, so much can change in a very short span of time. Boston (37-25-13) cruised to a 4-2 victory vs. Rangers (47-20-7) this afternoon at TD Garden thanks to two goals by Milan Lucic. New York came in as the top team in the entire league while Boston had lost six games in a row. Naturally, the B's scored three goals in the first period (for only the 2nd time this season) and led 3-0 after 1 (the 1st time that they've done that in 2014-15).

So while the final result was a foregone conclusion for at least half of the contest, the Bruins had a real scare 10 seconds into the second period as Tuukka Rask (14 saves) quickly left the ice. He went to the dressing room then never returned. Niklas Svedberg (16 saves) came in and late in the third period, Boston's goaltender coach and former NHL veteran Bob Essensa was suited up on the bench as the Bruins' backup.

To our relief, Bruins head coach Claude Julien after the game termed Rask's absence a "dehydration issue." Somewhere David Ortiz shakes his head, knowing the same helpless feeling. Furthermore, Rask was going to travel with the team to Carolina and he could play tomorrow vs. the Hurricanes (5, NESN).

Fortune was on Boston's side from the start (something I've rarely said this up and down season) as Lucic appeared to kick the puck in at 1:41. It was reviewed and surprisingly stood up as a goal, poor Henrik Lundqvist (26 saves)-who was playing in his first game since February 2. Patrice Bergeron (5-game point streak) and David Pastrnak assisted on Lucic's 16th goal of the season.

Lucic scored a more traditional (and legal) goal at 9:26, assisted by Torey Krug and Ryan Spooner. You knew that it was Boston's day when snakebitten Carl Soderberg finished a breakaway with a pretty backhander at 14:27. It was his 12th goal of the season, unassisted after former Bruin Matt Hunwick coughed it up along his own blueline.

Another sign that the Bruins would not lose occurred when Reilly Smith popped in a rebound at 5:53 of the second period for a 4-0 lead. His 13th goal of the season was also his first tally in over a month (Feb. 22 at Chicago) or since he signed that needless two-year extension (thanks Chiarelli). Loui Eriksson and Soderberg assisted on it.

New York avoided the shutout with a notable goal: Rick Nash tapped in a beautiful feed from BC's Chris Kreider. That was Nash's 40th goal of the season, the 2nd most in the NHL and the 3rd time he's done that in his career (1st since 2008-09 with Columbus). Derek Stepan started the play at center ice and was credited with the second assist. Hunwick added a garbage time goal(his 2nd of the season) with a shot from the point when there was just 23 seconds left in regulation.

It is a longshot but Boston has to hope for a Toronto (27-42-6) win tonight vs. Ottawa (37-25-11). As it stands at this moment, the Bruins are two points ahead of the Senators for eighth-place in the Eastern Conference but Ottawa has two games in hand. Andrew Hammond is out with an injury so Craig Andersson gets a rare start, hopefully he is rusty. If Boston finds themselves in the playoffs, they have to hope to draw the Rangers in the first round since today's win improved their record to 7-1-2 in the last 10 games between the Original Six rivals.

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Lucic impresses with the Gordie Howe hat trick

When do the Stanley Cup finals tickets go on sale? And when is the rolling rally with the Duck boats for the Bruins?

Haha, just kidding. I realize that we're not even a few weeks into the 2010-2011 NHL season but you have to admit that your Boston Bruins are off to a great start.

In their last game of a four-game road trip that has spanned the globe, the B's (3-1-0) went to DC and snapped the Capitals (4-2-0) four-game win streak with a 3-1 victory last night at the Verizon Center.

Tim Thomas got his third straight start between the pipes for Boston and once again, he didn't disappoint. He made 35 saves to improve to 3-0-0 on the young season.

Milan Lucic scored a goal, had an assist and got into a heavyweight fight, adding up to the Gordie Howe hat trick. David Krejci had a goal and an assist, Matt Hunwick coughed up the puck which led to Washington's only goal but he made up for it with his first goal of the season. Finally, Greg Campbell got into his second fight of the season.

What's not to like about this team? Especially since they have the dominant first line (Lucic, Krejci and Nathan Horton) that they lacked all last season. That trio has the right combination of brawn, skill and scoring ability to ensure it should be around for a while.

Boston jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period as Krejci scored at 9:12 off a beautiful centering pass from Horton. Lucic started the sequence with a key chip into the Caps' zone.

In less than three minutes, Lucic was on the board with a rebound goal after some hard work in front of the net (ie. taking a beating but standing up to it). Johnny Boychuk's shot deflected in front and Looch was able to work for and tap it in. Krejci originally found Boychuk with a cross ice pass so he also had an assist.

At that point Capitals goaltender Michael Neuvirth (5 saves) skated to the dressing room done for the night with a nasty bout of the flu. He was replaced by Simeon Varlamov (13 saves).

Marcus Johansson got Washington back to 2-1 with a lucky bounce at 7:42 in the second period. Jason Chimera and Matt Hendricks assisted.

At 2:08 as I said, Hunwick scored on a long screened shot from Dennis Seidenberg and Blake Wheeler.

Thomas stood up to 18 Washington shots in the third period and the B's held Alexander Ovechkin scoreless for the first time this season (not an easy task by any means).

The two teams meet again tomorrow night at the TD Garden for the Bruins' home opener. I expect to see Tuukka Rask in net since he hasn't started in over a week now and they don't want to let him get too rusty.

Is Goldberg (the goalie) still alive?

As the Bruins embarked on a three-game West Coast road trip, I wondered why am I even going to watch these miserable games since I know the outcome (no wins)?

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results so I guess I'm insane for the Black and Gold.

Boston (22-16-7) actually played a very entertaining game (with two great fights) and showed a lot of heart-which is all you can ask for right now-but still lost 4-3 to the Ducks (21-19-7) last night at the Honda Center.

It was Anaheim's fifth win in a row as they rallied from a 3-2 deficit entering the third period.

Dan Sexton scored a power-play goal with 46 seconds left in the first period to give the Ducks the 1-0 lead at the first intermission.

In one of its most inspired periods of the season, the Bruins pumped in three second period goals, giving them a precarious 3-2 lead heading into the third.

Zdeno Chara started it off with a blast from the point, his fourth goal of the season, from David Krejci and Michael Ryder. Believe it or not, Big Z actually leads the Bruins in points despite the fact that he's having a pretty ho hum offensive season thus far.

A little over three minutes later, the B's grabbed the 2-1 lead as Matt Hunwick scored his sixth of the season from Mark Recchi and Marco Sturm.

Somebody named Matt Beleskey tied it up for Anaheim after B's goalie Tukkaa Rask (28 saves) fumbled with the puck behind the net. Puck-handling is most certainly not the talented Fin's strong suit.

Next, Sturm tipped home a wrist shot by Recchi. Miroslav Satan also assisted. Since the Bruins have absolutely no goal-scoring prowess (have I mentioned that before?) a vast majority of their goals come from tip-ins (hello Recchi) and rebounds around the net. As my friend likes to say, "it's all about mucking and grinding!" Just thought you'd like to know that.

Rask's crazy Tim Thomas-style deflected save fell basically on the goal line and Ryan Getzlaf pounced on it early in the third for the Ducks. Then Steve Eminger's first NHL goal turned out to be the game-winner as Boston could not get one more by Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller (27 saves).

Boston travels to San Jose tonight to take on former star Joe Thornton and his all-star team of studs. It could get ugly which is precisely why I'll watch.

Rick Tocchet probably lost a lot of money on this game

It only took 17 games but the Boston Bruins finally won back-to-back games in the 2009-2010 season. The B's (8-7-2) knocked off the road weary and banged up Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins (12-6-0), 3-0 last night at the TD Garden.

Tim Thomas stopped 27 saves for his second shutout of the season and three different Bruins scored goals.

With 1:36 gone by in the second period, Bruins forward/defenseman Matt Hunwick scored his fourth of the year off assists from Dennis Wideman and Steve Begin. The goal was reviewed since the puck quickly bounced out of the net but it stood.

Daniel Paille scored his first goal for Boston in the third period after he was sent in alone on Penguins goalie Marc Andre-Fleury (26 saves). Patrice Bergeron and Mark Recchi assisted with Recchi providing the pass that sprung Paille who had just hopped over the boards for a line change.

Bergeron wrapped up the scoring with an empty-net, short-handed goal with four seconds left in the game. Begin and Wideman assisted on the Bruins' first short-handed tally of the season.

Even given all the Penguins' injuries, this was a great win since they're tied for the Capitals for most points in the Eastern Conference.

The Florida Panthers come to the Garden tomorrow night as the Bruins look to make it three in a row.

a statement win in October

After pointing out in my last Bruins post how irrelevant the NHL is right now, I am going to do a 180 and tell you what a big win it was last night over the Islanders.

Boston (2-2-0) was completely lifeless at the Garden and faced a 3-0 deficit in the third period before they tied it up with three goals in a little over five minutes. The B's kept the good vibes going as they outscored the Islanders (0-0-3) 2-1 in the shootout.

Looking for a spark, Bruins head coach Claude Julien started talented backup goalie Tukka Rask. It wasn't really his fault as New York scored three goals in the second period.

Jon Sim scored on a power-play goal, Radek Martinek tallied a goal and No. 1 draft pick John Tavares rounded out the scoring for what is expected to be one of the NHL's worst teams.

At 11:59 in the third period, Marc Savard finally got the B's on the board with a goal from Zdeno Chara and Milan Lucic. Byron Bitz cut it to 3-2 with a pretty spin and shot that deflected off an Islanders defenseman's skate, past goalie Dwayne Roloson. Steve Begin and Matt Hunwick assisted on the goal.

Through four games, Boston's best line by far has been the fourth which consistently brings energy and pressure.

Less than two minutes later Hunwick tied it with his wrist shot that went top shelf through a ton of traffic in front of Roloson (27 saves). The Garden crowd went nuts as the Bruins had improbably come back from a seemingly insurmountable hole.

Blake Wheeler scored first in the shootout and Rob Schremp answered for New York. Savard was the last shooter to score as the Islanders last two shooters missed the net.

Rask finished with 35 saves in his first win of the '09-'10 season. It should be the first of many this season as along with Tim Thomas, the Bruins possess one of the best goalie tandems in the league.

Boston hosts Colorado tomorrow afternoon in a Columbus Day matinee at the Garden.

Bruins back to drinking beer and kicking ass

The Boston Bruins' season hit a major roadblock in the last few weeks as they slogged through their most uninspired performances of the season.

In the last two games, however, the Bruins have returned to form and then some as they've thrown two major beatings at teams that are currently battling for playoff spots in their respective conferences.

Last night at the Garden, the B's (42-12-8) shutout the Anaheim Ducks (30-28-5), 6-0.

Between last night and Tuesday night's 6-1 dominance over the Panthers, Boston fans have been able to calm down with the trading deadline (next week) and playoffs looming on the horizon.

Was the absence of Michael Ryder during that tough stretch, the reason Boston struggled so bad? That sounds pretty far-fetched but it's hard to argue with his results: a goal and assist vs. Florida and two goals and a helper against the Ducks.

Anaheim tried to push Boston around, especially as the result of the contest seemed inevitable. A great sign for the B's is that they fought back. There were two fights (Shawn Thornton vs. George Parros and Milan Lucic pummelling Mike Brown) and a small skirmish with mild-mannered Marc Savard and Scott Niedermayer all in the second period.

Defenseman Matt Hunwick gave Boston a 1-0 lead in the first period, scoring his fourth of the season from Blake Wheeler and Ryder.

The Bruins erupted for four goals in the second period. Ryder (21st; David Krejci, Wheeler), Chuck Kobasew (13th; Zdeno Chara), Ryder (22nd on a power play, from Tim Thomas) and Kobasew (14th on a power play, from Dennis Wideman and Andrew Ference) had the tallies.

Ducks goalie Jean Sebastien-Giguere was yanked after allowing Kobasew's first goal. Backup goaltender Jonas Hiller wasn't much better as he also allowed three goals.

Rookie Byron Bitz rounded out the scoring with his fourth of the season from Ference and Hunwick in the third period.

Bruins goalie Tim Thomas made 35 saves while he recorded the shutout.

It's perfect that the B's have built a little momentum back up as Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Captials come to the Garden tomorrow afternoon. The top two teams in the Eastern Conference have already had some memorable games this season and it seems predestined that they'll meet deep in the playoffs this spring.