2.5 Months Later, The Bruins Finally Beat The Devils Once Again-In A Shootout Of Course

 

It only took five tries but the Bruins (18-9-5) rallied from a pair of two-goal deficits (3-1 and 4-2) to beat the Devils (13-16-5) 5-4 in a shootout this evening at the TD Garden. After losing 1-0 to New Jersey on Sunday night at the Garden, the offenses each exploded tonight as the Devils' was clicking early and Boston's only answer to that was a pair of clutch third period goals by its BU defensemen. There were plenty of scoring chances in overtime but nobody could end it so it went to a shootout where center Charlie Coyle & right David Pastrnak both scored for the B's while goaltender Jaroslav Halak (31 saves, 8-5-3) got better as the game went along, not allowing a goal after late in the second period. Boston improved to 2-3-1 against New Jersey with two more meetings left to go in the regular season. 

    Before the game started, the Bruins got a boost as both left wing Brad Marchand (Covid-19) and defenseman Brandon Carlo (concussion) were each able to return to action after they missed some time recently. Other than the late goals though, it was a game to forget for Boston's defense which turned the puck over a couple times in its in own zone that directly resulted in goals for the Devils. That began right away as Jeremy Lauzon's bad pass went into center Patrice Bergeron's skates and led to New Jersey defenseman P.K. Subban knocking the puck to left wing Miles Wood who fired it in. It was the BC product's 11th goal of the season (he's scored 3 times against Boston in 2021) and it came at 1:28 of the first period.

    New Jersey goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood (44 saves, 9-9-2) earned a shutout on Sunday but he returned to Earth in a hurry after his recent success against the Bruins. Left wing Nick Ritchie's wrist shot through traffic beat him at 5:55 of the first period for a 1-1 tie. Ritchie's 10th goal of the season was assisted by center David Krejci and right wing Craig Smith. Illustrating how much trouble they'd had with the Devils, that was the first even strength goal of the season (16+ periods at that point) for Boston against them. The B's got caught flat-footed when center Michael McLeod blew past them for a breakaway then he tucked a backhander into the net at 9:34 of the first period. Right wing Jesper Boqvist and defenseman Ryan Murray had the assists on McLeod's fifth goal of the season. 

    The Devils started the second period on a high note as well when center Travis Zajac tipped in left wing Jesper Bratt's shot for the 200th goal of his Devils (the only team he's ever played for) career. Murray provided the secondary assist on Zajac's fifth goal of the season. Marchand tapped into some frustration by body slamming Bratt a few minutes later then cutting it to 3-2 Devils at 15:48 of the second period. He ripped a wrist shot out of Blackwood's reach for his 13th goal of the season (also his 1st in 9 games but who's counting?). Bergy and Krejci had the assists on his momentum swing of a tally or so we thought that it was at the time. Following a face-off win by Bergeron in his own defensive zone, Lauzon's pass went to New Jersey's right wing Kyle Palmieri who put in his eighth goal of the season (5th against Boston!) at 17:06 of the second period.

    The Black and Gold really couldn't afford another loss to the Devils two days later so it was reassuring to see their great young defenseman Charlie McAvoy step up to put in a juicy rebound at 10:22 of the third period that trimmed New Jersey's lead to 4-3. Smith and Marchand had the assists on McAvoy's fourth goal of the season. A few minutes later at 16:00, defenseman Matt Grzelcyk's wrist shot seemed to catch Mackenzie up high by surprise. Just like Ritchie's goal-except in reverse order-Smith and Krejci notched the helpers on the Charlestown native's third goal of the season. 

    I guess that the only way that the Bruins can beat the Devils this year is in a shootout (which is so weird!) since they are 2-0 in those but 0-3-1 in regulation and overtime combined. Halak went a perfect 2-for-2 in the shootout, stopping center Pavel Zacha and Palmieri's attempts. One of the hottest teams in the NHL-the Penguins (23-11-2)-come to the Garden on Thursday (7, NESN) and Saturday afternoon (1, NESN) for another two-game set which is all that the B's and Pens have had against each other this wacky season: one in Boston then one in Pittsburgh now another here before one last brief series in Pittsburgh at the end of April. Boston is 3-1 vs. Pittsburgh in 2021 but the Penguins have won four games in a row coming into this and they are 7-2-1 in their last 10. Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy hopes to get goaltender Tuukka Rask into the lineup later this week but we'll have to see how his creaky back is feeling.

The Bruins Waste A Great Opportunity to Get Four Easy Points As They Lose 2-1 In OT At New Jersey

 

    In a shortened season like this one that just began in the NHL, you have to clean up against the inferior opponents that you see on your schedule (like the Celtics have been doing). Unfortunately, the Bruins (1-0-1) didn't seem to get that memo yet as they fell 2-1 in overtime this afternoon against the Devils (1-0-1) at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ. It marked the first win for Lindy Ruff (who has been in the NHL for around 80 years) as New Jersey's head coach. Unlike Thursday's season-opener when Boston blew two different leads but saved themselves with a rare shootout victory, this was a game where they simply got outplayed by what is guaranteed to be a bottom-feeder in the Eastern Conference in 2021. Rookie center Yegor Sharangovich scored the game-winning goal with 1.7 seconds left in overtime, his first NHL coming as a result of a fatal defensive breakdown by the B's that this time wasn't stopped by goaltender Jaroslav Halak (29 saves).

    Without David Pastrnak, the Bruins' offense has predictably sputtered. In fact, they still haven't scored an even-strength goal so far this season since today's lone tally came via a shorthanded goal (the 18th of his brilliant career) by captain Patrice Bergeron. It didn't help when winger Ondrej Kase left in the first period with an upper-body injury (concussion?) and never returned, causing head coach Bruce Cassidy to shuffle his already struggling forward lines. Devils goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood (27 saves) is decent enough but it's not like Boston really tested him too much in either of these meetings. Don't worry, the NHL's version of Ambien (Bruins vs. Devils) will happen six more times this season! Haha if you're looking to fall asleep fast, just turn on these boring as watching paint dry games.

    New Jersey had their first lead of the season as BC's Miles Wood (who fought Kevan Miller to start the game after he ran into Tuukka Rask twice on Thursday) scored for the second straight game. He tipped in rookie defenseman Ty Smith's shot from the point with the second assist going to promising young center/child star lookalike Jack Hughes. Trailing 1-0 deep into the second period, the B's turned to a familiar duo for another memorable shorthanded goal: left wing Brad Marchand fended off Palmieri in Boston's zone then skated in with Bergy before passing it to his best friend who wasted no time letting a low and hard shot past Blackwood. You knew this one couldn't be decided in regulation once again and another shootout looked likely until Sharangovich found the puck on his stick with a step on B's defenseman Matt Grzelcyk. His snap shot went under Halak's pads and quite honestly, he didn't have much of a chance to stop it. In the third period, Halak had stopped Palmieri on a breakaway so what more do you want from him? 

    Winger Anders Bjork got his one-game audition on Boston's top line and it didn't go well, shocker. He had no shots on goal, no hits, no blocked shots and no takeaways in 10:58 of ice time. That is hard to do especially since most of that was with Bergeron and Marchand on the ice with him. I doubt that Kase will be available on Monday (5, NESN) when the Bruins travel to face the Islanders (1-1) at Nassau Coliseum with a special Martin Luther King Day start time. Rookie winger Jack Studnicka should be back in the lineup after he was a healthy scratch this afternoon following his chance on the top line on Thursday. Rask will get the start but goaltending is the least of Boston's worries at the moment. New York is a very stingy defensive team (much like them), so it'll be tough to get their offense untracked without the help of their strong special teams.

The NHL Returns As The B's Win Their Season-Opener 3-2 Vs. The Lowly Devils In A Shootout

 

    It's 2021 and the United States is still in shambles due to Covid-19 and our disgrace of a President who will mercifully be out of the White House next week. On a lighter note, at least we have some NHL hockey back in our lives as we try to get through the pandemic both healthy and sane which coupled together is a tall order. Tonight, the Bruins opened their season at the empty Prudential Center in Newark, NJ against the Devils-who are temporarily in the same division (East) as them-for this abbreviated 56-game schedule. The Bruins led 1-0 going into the third period and 2-1 later in the frame but the Devils tied it up both times forcing a dreaded shootout. In three rounds, left wing Brad Marchand (goal, assist) had the lone tally as the final shooter of the night allowing Boston to survive for a 3-2 victory. It wasn't pretty and it should have been over in regulation (since the Bruins outshot the Devils 37-22) but two points is all that you can ask for.

    There were plenty of changes for the B's since the last time that we saw them when they lost in Game 5 of the second round playoff series vs. Tampa Bay (the eventual Stanley Cup champion) in August: most notably, captain Zdeno Chara is now on the Capitals, defenseman Torey Krug is a highly paid Blue, superstar right wing David Pastrnak is out for a bit longer as he recovers from off-season hip surgery and defenseman Kevan Miller returned to action after missing two years following a pair of broken knee caps. Despite all that, Boston can still count on its core players: goaltender Tuukka Rask (seen for the 1st time since leaving the Toronto bubble early) made 20 saves including a pair of huge stops in overtime, Patrice Bergeron had an assist and he won 73% of his face-offs and David Krejci also added an assist as Boston scored both of its goals on the power play. Defenseman Matt Grzelcyk has always been viewed as Krug Lite and this evening he performed admirably in that tough role to fill. He played 24:07 (2nd most on the team) including a game-high 5:51 on the power play with a game-high six shots on goal. Who knows if he can maintain that type of workload for a full season but this was a promising beginning for him. 

    With the Bruins only playing the other seven teams (Devils, Islanders, Flyers, Caps, Sabres, Penguins and Rangers) in their new division eight times apiece in the regular season, they would be wise to beat up on the bad clubs which undoubtedly will be headlined by New Jersey who has seemingly been rebuilding for years upon years. With that said, Boston couldn't have asked for a cushier start to this campaign (other than playing at the empty TD Garden) since they also meet the Devils on Saturday afternoon (1, NESN) in Jersey for a quick rematch. Jaroslav Halak no doubt will get the start in that one which isn't much of a drop off from Rask while the Devils will probably sit goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood (35 saves) in favor of his backup Eric Comrie? 

    The Bruins took a 1-0 lead late in the first period as Marchand went to the net and re-directed a cross-ice from Krejci for the team's first goal of the season. Bergy had the second assist on the goal at 17:40. Assuming that ESPN Classic still exists, this forgettable contest won't be featured on it anytime soon as nothing really notable happened in the second period. Thankfully, things got a little more interesting in the third period as former BC star Miles Wood skated in on a breakaway (during a delayed penalty) and roofed a wrist shot past Rask. The No. 1 overall draft pick from 2019-forward Jack Hughes-had the lone assist on that tying goal at 8:51. Less than four and a half minutes later, the B's answered with what should have been the game-winning goal. It was basically a carbon copy of Marchand's goal expect rather than one of the best players in the league, it came from a complete hack-winger Nick Ritchie. Stationed at the familiar left post, that slob was at least aware enough to place his stick on the ice and put in Marchand's sweet feed to him. Grzelcyk provided the second assist on the go-ahead goal at 13:12. Sadly, it only took 34 seconds for New Jersey to tie it yet again with one of the weirdest goals that I've ever seen. Rookie defenseman Ty Smith's shot took at least three or maybe four deflections before it reached Boston's net. Defenseman Matt Tennyson and Hughes provided the helpers on a goal that Smith won't soon forget, for many reasons. 

    After getting outplayed for much of the game, the Devils finally woke up in overtime and truthfully should have won it at least twice as their best forward-Kyle Palmieri-skated most of the length of the ice on a breakaway before Rask stoned him then later Hughes was stopped in close and center Travis Zajac couldn't find the rebound that was at his feet. Rask made a few good saves in regulation but he really earned his paycheck in overtime and the shootout where he stopped the immortal trio of Nikita Gusev, Jesper Boqvist and Hughes. Shootouts have always been a frustrating weakness for the B's so after Charlie Coyle and Ondrej Kase were stopped, we were all spared from a tediously long shootout by Marchand. Bless you Brad. Nothing less than two more points on Saturday is acceptable, especially if the Bruins face a nameless backup goaltender. Devils defenseman P.K. Subban (game-high 30:18 time on ice!) deserved better in Lindy Ruff's first game behind the bench as New Jersey's head coach.

Rask (37 saves) Stands On His Head as the Bruins Extend Their Point Streak to 17 Games (13-0-4)

This point streak for the Bruins (28-10-8) which dates back to well before Christmas 2017 (a 5-3 loss to Washington on Dec. 14) is beginning to border on the absurd. It makes you wonder if they'll ever lose again in regulation. Haha clearly that's a bit of a lie but a Patriots like confidence has enveloped this club as they have cobbled together a 17-game point streak (13-0-4) thanks to their 3-2 survival type win tonight vs. New Jersey (24-15-8) at TD Garden. That is the third best mark in club history (16-0-1-0 in 1929-30, 15-0-2-0 in 1977-78 and 15-0-2-0 in 1982-83). With any type of point(s) on Thursday (7, NESN) at wretched Ottawa (15-22-9)-their last game before this weekend's All-Star break-Boston would tie its second best run (13-0-5-0 in 1968-69) ever. The gold standard is the comical 23-game streak in 1940-41 (15-0-8) which I know that I'll never forget for the rest of my life.

Through this lengthy stretch of fine play, the B's have often outworked and frankly dominated their overmatched opponents. That wasn't the case against the Devils who were blanked 4-0 at home on Monday vs. Detroit (19-20-8) but showed plenty of pride as they outshot the Bruins 39-24 overall. As you would expect with the final result, Boston's goaltender Tuukka Rask (37 saves in his 18th win of the season) was their best player as he extended his personal point streak to 17 games (15-0-2). New Jersey scored first which apparently means nothing to the Black and Gold since they have now allowed the first goal in six straight games while they became the first team in over eight years to earn at least a point in six contests in a row when they allow the first tally (Minnesota from Nov. 25-Dec. 5, 2009).

After a scoreless first period where New Jersey blitzed Boston with 11 more shots on goal (20-9), Manchester-By-The-Sea native and BC alum Miles Wood made it 1-0 Devils at 2:05 of the second with his 13th goal of the season. He tipped in a shot by rookie defenseman Will Butcher with the second assist going to No. 1 overall pick from last summer Nico Hischier. Riley Nash (7th goal of the season) tied it up less than five minutes later as only he can: his shot deflected off Devils defenseman Sami Vatanen and lost almost all its speed, allowing the puck to knuckle past Cory Schneider. The teams continued to trade goals as Damon Severson jumped up on a 3-on-2 and slammed in a sweet shot by Rask two minutes later. Marcus Johansson and Pavel Zacha assisted on Severson's seventh goal of the season. Patrice Bergeron knotted it at two with a power play goal at 12:53: his patented one-timer from the slot, his 20th goal of the season (joining linemates Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak as the Bruins became the 1st team with a trio of 20-goal scorers), from Marchand and Torey Krug. Finally, Marchand scored a filthy goal with 32.8 seconds left in the frame as he fooled Schneider on a 2-on-1 and used his backhander to shovel it in for his 21st goal of the season, assisted by Pastrnak.

Star forward Taylor Hall is out with a hand injury and New Jersey is predictably fading (2-6-2 in last 10 games) after an unexpectedly great start to this campaign. Oh and the Metropolitan Division is insanely tight with eight points currently separating seven quality clubs. It didn't help matters that Schneider (17 saves, 3 goals allowed) left after the second with a lower-body injury, perhaps caused by Marchand basically undressing him before the Garden crowd and a TV audience around the world. Down 3-2 heading into the third and playing in the second part of a back-to-back, you would have expected the Devils to continue to fall apart but instead they outshot the B's 12-4. They just couldn't solve Rask who stopped Severson on a breakaway. Marchand nearly scored on a shorthanded bid but good old Ken Appleby (making his 2nd NHL appearance) was equal to the task. Marcus Johansson left after that play as Marchand caught him with an elbow right to the face, oops!

Bergeron missed an empty-netter in the final minute (his 1st mistake in weeks) which caused an icing call on Boston but it hardly mattered. Marchand appeared to score on the vacant net in the closing seconds but the refs correctly ruled that it hadn't crossed the line before time expired. Sorry degenerate gamblers that had the Bruins winning by two goals! It's been a spectacular first half for Boston and they can put a final bow on it with a win against the hopeless Senators on Thursday in Canada's capital. After that, the team will split for a few days with Marchand going to the All-Star festivities in Tampa Bay while the rest of his teammates travel around the globe for some well-earned rest and relaxation. They return to action next week on Tuesday vs. Anaheim (22-17-9) at the Garden, the start of a tough three-game homestand as they meet the Blues (29-18-3) next Thursday (7, NESN) and Maple Leafs (26-18-5) the night (7, NESN) before the Super Bowl-next Saturday.

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