B's Return Home With Their Moms & Beat the Jets 5-4 Thanks to Pasta's 3rd Hat Trick of the Season

NHL teams figured out years ago that one of the keys to break up the grind of the regular season was to plan fun things like a moms trip and a dads trip at different times in the calendar. It's a simple but also brilliant concept for the players to bond with their family members who they probably don't get to see that much anymore yet all had a key role in them becoming professional athletes. Boston (26-8-11) had their mothers (and Charlie Coyle's sister) with them in Nashville (20-16-7) for Tuesday's rousing 6-2 victory and they were back with their boys at TD Garden tonight for a thrilling 5-4 win vs. Winnipeg (24-17-4). David Pastrnak notched his seventh career hat trick and third in 45 games this season, boosting his NHL-leading goal total to 35 which is insane.

In many ways, this was a schedule loss for the Jets since they had beaten the Maple Leafs (24-15-6) 4-3 in a shootout last night in Toronto then dragged their weary bones here for their third game in four nights. They also were starting backup goaltender Laurent Brossoit (4-5-0, 31 saves) who is a borderline NHLer at best. They don't have a ton of depth-hence why they are clinging to the top Wild Card spot in the Western Conference with Calgary (23-17-5) and Vancouver (23-17-4) breathing down their necks-but Winnipeg does possess some high-end talent. Their top forward line of Kyle Connor (goal, assist), Mark Scheifele (goal, assist) and Patrik Laine (assist) is one of the best in the league.

Zdeno Chara was a last minute scratch from the lineup as he nurses an infection with his surgically-repaired robojaw. Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy noted that the captain is in serious pain (but still had to be talked into sitting out by Cassidy & GM Don Sweeney) and he has a follow-up appointment with a doctor tomorrow but they hope to have him on the upcoming road trip. The Jets scored first as Connor roofed a backhander past Jaroslav Halak (17 saves, 10-4-5) at 7:35 of the first period. Nikolaj Ehlers and Scheifele had the assists on Connor's team-leading 22nd goal of the season. Chris Wagner (game-high 7 shots on goal) had a breakaway but he was stopped by Brossoit before crashing painfully into the post. He was pulled by the concussion spotter but returned to Boston's bench to start the second period. Pastrnak tied it at 17:14 with a one-timer from Joakim Nordstrom. Sean Kuraly had the other assist as Pasta got some minutes with the fourth liners when Wagner was out. David has a 12-game point streak (9 goals, 10 assists) with 29 points (15 goals, 14 assists) in his last 22 games.

Tied at one going into the second period, things really opened up with both clubs scoring a pair of goals. Andrew Copp tipped in a shot by Josh Morrissey for his 7th goal of the season (100th NHL point) at 6:00. Ehlers had the secondary assist, giving him eight points (3 goals, 5 assists) in his last six games. You run out of ways to describe all the absurd goals scored by Pastrnak and his second one was a doozy as he destroyed a one-timer from Torey Krug and Brad Marchand for a power-play goal to tie it at two at 9:41. Jake DeBrusk got a step on everyone and delivered by picking the top corner with a forehand shot on a breakaway for his 12th goal of the season and a 3-2 Bruins advantage at 18:49. Boston's first lead was short-lived though as good old Neal Pionk (who?) scored a power play goal of his own at 19:52. His fourth goal of the season was assisted by ex-Bruin Blake Wheeler (17 points in 21 career games vs. Boston) and Laine (100th career NHL assist). It was 3-3 after two periods but it felt like Boston should be ahead since they had outshot the Jets 24-14.

You would expect tired legs to finally catch up with Winnipeg in the third period but at least initially, they did not as Scheifele banked a shot from behind the goal-line off Halak and in at 7:50 for a 4-3 lead. Scheifele's 22nd goal of the season was assisted by Connor and Dmitry Kulikov. Pasta tied it (because of course he did) after a nifty backhand feed from David Krejci. DeBrusk had the second helper on the memorable goal at 11:13 that sent all the Bruins hats raining down on the Garden ice. After the extended break to clear the hats, the fans didn't have to sit down for long as DeBrusk re-directed a shot by Charlie McAvoy 33 seconds later. Matt Grzelcyk had the other assist on the game-winning tally that gave DeBrusk nine points (6 goals, 3 assists) in his last 10 games.

It sounds silly with a seven-point lead over Tampa Bay (26-13-4) in the Atlantic Division but this was a very important two points for the B's since the Lightning blanked the Coyotes (25-17-4) 4-0 this evening and they are the hottest team in the NHL with nine straight wins (and 2 games in hand). Toronto (24-15-6) is also playing great since they fired head coach Mike Babcock: they are 7-1-2 in their last 10 games and nine points behind Boston. With the regular season more than halfway through, the Black and Gold should get used to life on the road as they only have 15 contests left at the Garden.

They head out tomorrow for a three-game trip against Metropolitan Division opponents starting with a visit to the Barclays Center on Saturday night (7, NESN) to face the Islanders (27-12-3). They are off on Sunday (when they should have been watching the Pats visit the Chiefs, sigh) but get a tricky back-to-back on Monday (7, NESN) at Philadelphia (23-15-6) followed by Columbus (21-15-8) the next night (7, NESN) to wrap things up. Boston's next home game is a week from tonight (7, NESN) against Pittsburgh (26-12-5) who has played well lately (7-2-1 in their last 10 games) even with superstar Sidney Crosby out for an extended period of time with a core muscle injury.

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Safe to Say That Wasn't Quite the Start That the Bruins Wanted to 2015-16

With their top two defensemen (Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg) sidelined for the start of the season, the Bruins' most glaring weakness became even more bleak. Their 6-2 loss to Winnipeg tonight at TD Garden will only increase the panic for Boston fans with high-octane Montreal (on Saturday night) and Tampa Bay (on Monday afternoon) coming to town this Columbus Day long weekend. Would you believe that the B's actually led 1-0 after a pretty decent first period?

Yeah, it was all downhill from there as the Jets outscored them 3-0 and scored three more in the third after Boston briefly cut it to 3-2. Tuukka Rask (26 saves) wasn't at fault so much as his awful defense which time and again let him down. Conversely, Boston generated plenty of scoring chances but couldn't finish (a huge problem last season) and therefore made Ondrej Pavelec (29 saves) look like a quality NHL goaltender which is not the easiest thing in the world to do.

Things began on a good note for the home team as David Krejci scored just 5:36 into the first. David Pastrnak stole the puck behind Winnipeg's net then passed to Krejci (with the help of a Jets' skate) and he calmly finished on his backhand. The goal was determined to be unassisted but I thought Pastrnak should have gotten credit for his hard work, oh well. The Jets tied it at 5:26 of the second period on a one-timer by Mark Scheifele from Dustin Byfuglien. Matt Irwin did not have a good debut for the Bruins as he was stripped of the puck leading directly to Winnipeg's second goal by Blake Wheeler (his one-timer was assisted by Andrew Ladd) at 9:17. The Jets punctuated a strong frame with tic-tac-toe passing that ended with a goal by former Sabre Drew Stafford, assisted by Adam Lowry and Ben Chiarot at 17:39.

To Boston's credit they came out with some energy to start the third and were quickly rewarded as David Pastrnak scored on a sweet wrist shot that beat Pavelec up high from a tight angle. Matt Beleskey (his 1st point as a Bruin) and Kevan Miller had the helpers on what was the first of hopefully many goals by the young Czech winger. As fast as you could say we miss Johnny Boychuk, the Jets put it away with a pair of goals. Irwin got caught up ice leading to a 2-on-1 break for Winnipeg and Chris Thorburn's shot went in Boston's net off of Krejci's stick (similar to an own goal in soccer) at 5:17. If that wasn't ugly enough, rookie Nicolas Petan scored in his first career game when fellow rookie Andrew Copp's pass bounced in off the heel of his skate at 9:51. Burmistrov's empty-netter with 3:38 left in regulation sent the disappointed Bruins fans streaming for the exits.

Montreal kicked off its campaign with a 3-1 win at Toronto last night. They will be well rested and ready to go on Saturday against their bitter rivals that they have owned for the last couple years. If we're being positive, things can't get much worse for the Bruins than they were this evening. Then again, the Canadiens are expected to be one of if not the top team in the Eastern Conference yet again so it could very well be another blowout on Causeway Street on Saturday (7, NESN). Just in case, you better start drinking early this weekend to ease the possible pain.

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Bruins Close Out November With 2-1 Overtime Win Against the Jets

With all their injuries and poor individual performances, it is remarkable that Boston still managed to go 8-3-1 in November. The Bruins (14-9-1) wrapped up the month with a sometimes thrilling but mostly dull 2-1 overtime triumph vs. the Jets (12-9-4) at TD Garden. Dougie Hamilton's first career overtime goal was the difference as Boston left for a critical four-game West Coast trip on a high note.

None of that would have been possible if the B's penalty kill hadn't been successful at the end of regulation (and 30 seconds into OT) after Brad Marchand took a high sticking double minor. Tuukka Rask (35 saves) also was a hair better than former Providence Bruin Michael Hutchinson (36 saves) who has emerged as Winnipeg's No. 1 goaltender this season.

The Jets took a 1-0 lead at 16:24 of the first period on monster Dustin Byfuglien's power play goal. His shot from the point got by Rask after it deflected off Matt Bartkowski's knee pad. It was Byfuglien's fourth goal of the season, assisted by Evander Kane and Mark Scheifele.

There was some question as to if Boston would ever answer this evening but Milan Lucic tied it 3:05 into the final frame. For the second straight game, he scored a goal as he gets used to life on a line with Carl Soderberg and Loui Eriksson. Soderberg threw it in front and Lucic drove the net so he was able to redirect it past Hutchinson for a pretty tally, his fifth of the season. Hamilton had the second assist on that goal.

Hamilton's goal was also a good one as Soderberg worked it back to him and his shot fluttered past Hutchinson up high. It was his fifth goal of the season and Eriksson had the other assist on it.

Boston is off until Monday but that comes with a major caveat since their game in Anaheim (10, NESN) kicks off a three-games in four-nights stretch and four-games in six-days. It is a brutal trip against the Ducks (14-5-5), Kings (12-6-5), Sharks (10-10-4) and Coyotes (9-11-3). San Jose and Arizona are both pretty mediocre but unfortunately those come at the back end of their week in California and Arizona. Maybe they can shack up with the Patriots who will be hanging out there before their meeting with the Chargers?

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