Christmas is on the Verge of Being Cancelled In A Few Days for the Bruins After Yet Another OT Loss

It is a few days before Christmas but the Bruins (21-7-8) must feel like they are living in the movie "Groundhog Day." After falling 4-3 tonight at TD Garden to the Predators (17-12-6) in overtime, they have now lost eight of their last nine games. What makes this skid even more frustrating is that so many of them have been decided by just a single goal. Boston entered the third period with a 2-1 lead but in the span of 35 seconds, goaltender Jaroslav Halak (25 saves, 8-3-4) made two fatal mistakes. The Bruins tied it with an extra skater on the ice with 1:05 left in regulation to bail him out but as usual, going into OT or a shootout didn't end well for the Black and Gold. Nashville defenseman Ryan Ellis won it with 54.2 seconds left in the extra session, which at least spared us from another shootout (where they are 0-5) loss.

I technically watched the entire scoreless first period but I have to admit that I was very distracted by the Patriots' win over the Bills that clinched their 11th consecutive AFC (L)East title. For the third game in a row (all losses), Boston scored first as Par Lindholm (who had been a healthy scratch for the past 6 games) drove to the net for a rebound and was rewarded as the puck deflected in the net off of Nashville center Kyle Turris. Lindholm's second goal of the season snapped a 15-game scoreless stretch for him with assists to Brett Ritchie (who hadn't played the last 3 games) and Sean Kuraly at 7:30. Roman Josi tied it at one at 12:14 when his screened backhander found its way by Halak. Ryan Johansen had the lone assist on Josi's 12th goal of the season. Things seemed fine for the B's though as Patrice Bergeron put in a one-timer from his famous bumper position on the power play with 47.7 seconds left in the frame. David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand got the assists on Bergeron's 12th goal of the season.

The Bruins had been 12-0-2 this season when they led after two periods while the Preds were 3-9-3 when they trailed after two. If only things were that simple, right? Halak has been really good in 2019-20 and I believe that him and Tuukka Rask form the best 1-2 goaltender combination in the NHL. With that said, everyone has a rough game from time to time and surprisingly, his night unraveled in the third. First, Nashville was about to get a power play (it was a delayed penalty) when Filip Forsberg put a no-angle shot on Halak from the side of the net that somehow snuck in. The 13th goal of the season for Forsberg (tying him with BU's Nick Bonino for the team lead) featured assists from Johansen and Mattias Ekholm. If you thought that was bad (and it was), you hadn't seen anything yet as Halak topped it with a Cardinal sin for a goalie: getting caught way too far out of his net trying to play the puck. Ironically, he beat Josi to the loose puck but wasn't able to do anything with that advantage. Instead, he meekly cleared it right to him and the Swiss defenseman fired it into the vacated net before Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy could block it with his diving body.

Bergeron's clutch tying goal was just another chapter in a career full of such moments for the future Hall-of-Famer. He tipped in David Pastrnak's shot with Brad Marchand being credited with the secondary assist. Nashville's game-winning goal in overtime had to be the result of one final bad bounce for the home team as a clearing attempt behind their own net went off a ref and stayed there allowing Johansen to feed a wide open Turris out front for the one-timer. Turris had the other assist on Ellis' sixth goal of the season and his second career OT tally. You won't find two much worse teams in the NHL when it comes to overtime since they are both 2-4 with this latest result.

Let's hope that the old reverse lock is in effect for the Bruins on Monday (7, NESN) because on paper, it doesn't look too hot with the best team in the league-the Caps (26-6-5)-coming in here for one last game before a much-needed three-day Christmas break. Oh and did I mention that Washington has won 15 out of the last 16 times that they've met Boston, including twice already this season (3-2 in a shootout here on Nov. 16 and 3-2 last Wednesday in D.C.)? The Capitals have the best record, the most points (57), the highest goal-differential (+30) and they are the top road team in the NHL (16-3-1). Haha is that all? Honestly, almost nothing with the Bruins in the past week has made any sense so I think a blowout win against the Caps is a natural conclusion to this frustrating time. It doesn't matter how they get it, the B's desperately need a win, otherwise it's going to be a miserable few days stewing at home with their families and friends.

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Santa Bergeron (2 goals, 2 assists) Returns Right In Time to Save Christmas For The Bruins

I'm sure that I don't say this aloud often enough but games like today remind me why it's so fun to cover the Bruins and special players like future NHL Hall of Famer Patrice Bergeron in particular. He had been out since November 16 with multiple injuries to his ribs and sternum but as usual, he delivered big-time in his return game with two goals and two assists as Boston (20-12-4) knocked off Nashville (22-13-2)-one of the NHL's true heavyweights-5-2 this afternoon at TD Garden. The B's have won three games in a row while the Preds go into Christmas break with a lump of coal in their skates after dropping their last four games.

The final score is misleading since this was a back-and-forth affair with Boston grabbing two leads then Nashville answered right back before the Bruins scored three consecutive goals to close out a dominant third period (outscoring the Predators 4-1 including an empty-netter). Jaroslav Halak (28 saves, 12-5-2) continued to play great as he's allowed a total of three goals in his last three starts combined all against playoff clubs (Montreal, Anaheim and Nashville) this past week. Boston's special teams continued to perform at a high level as well since the power play was 2-for-3 and the penalty kill was 2-for-2.

Bergy obviously opened the scoring at 15:10 of the first period when he took a pass from Charlie McAvoy, went from backhand to forehand and beat Pekka Rinne (27 saves, 14-8-1) for his 10th goal of the season. Brad Marchand had the second assist as Bergeron became the fourth Bruin this season to reach double-digit goals (David Pastrnak, Marchand and Jake DeBrusk). Boston improved to 13-4-0 at the Garden this season (2nd best home mark in the Eastern Conference behind Tampa Bay) and 13-4-0 when they score first. After McAvoy had a goal incorrectly wiped out for goalie interference on David Backes, Johansen tied it at one at 13:01 of the second period, an average shot that Halak normally stops with no issue. Craig Smith (not the fat guy that played basketball at BC) and Roman Josi had the assists on Johansen's sixth goal of the season.

After back-to-back stupid penalties by the Predators at the end of the second period (interference on Johansen and roughing on Mattias Ekholm) that nullified their own power play and gave Boston a 5-on-3 for 1:05 to start the third, the B's predictably made them pay. Nashville managed to kill the first penalty but before the second was over, Bergeron put the Black and Gold ahead 2-1 at 1:44. Danton Heinen (the new temporary right wing on the 1st line) and Pastrnak both whiffed on the puck but were still credited with assists as Bergeron was the guy to score on a similar forehand roof job like his first goal. Former Senators great Kyle Turris knotted things at two with a shot off the post and in at 9:17. His sixth goal of the season was assisted by Josi and Miikka Salomaki (most Finnish name ever?).

It was a great all-around performance by Boston's best players as Marchand's power play goal-that turned out to be the game-winner-made it 3-2 Bruins at 11:23. His 12th goal of the season was a one-timer that came from Pasta and Bergy. Marchy returned the favor to Pasta with an assist on his own one-timer via a 2-on-1 at 14:09 for a 4-2 Bruins advantage. Pastrnak's team-leading 23rd goal of the season was an interesting one since Marchand's pass was a bouncer so he barely got anything on the shot which probably helped it elude Rinne. I figured that Bergeron would get the requisite hat trick with an empty-net goal by hard-workin' Sean Kuraly instead did the honors at 18:01 for his second goal of the season, assisted by McAvoy and Halak (his 2nd of the season!).

Just one game-tomorrow at Carolina (5, NESN)-separates the B's from Christmas break (Dec. 24-26). By the time that they meet, the Hurricanes (14-14-5) could be under .500 as they host Pittsburgh (17-12-6) this evening. Four wins in a row and a .500 record on the road (currently 7-8-4) would be a pretty great way for the Bruins to get rewarded for their recent strong play. It feels like they usually win in Carolina and beat the Whalers I mean Hurricanes in general so I would expect a quality effort with Tuukka Rask (8-7-2) in between the pipes. Their next home game is on Thursday (7, NESN) vs. atrocious New Jersey (12-15-7) who for now reside in the basement of the Eastern Conference.

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Bruins Make Tuukka Rask The Highest Paid Goaltender In The NHL

Ever since the Bruins' 2013 season ended a few weeks ago with a loss in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final to the Chicago Blackhawks, it's been assumed that Boston would load up the brinks truck and deliver it to Tuukka Rask's door. Today, he got paid in a major way to the tune of an eight-year contract worth $56 million. That annual cap hit of $7 million ties him with Nashville's Pekka Rinne as the highest paid goaltender in the NHL.

Handing out any monster deal, especially to a goaltender, is a scary proposition but I think Rask is as close to a sure thing as you'll find at hockey's most important position. He's young (turned 26 in March) so he's just starting to enter his prime and he doesn't have many miles on his body so far in the NHL plus he's very fundamentally sound (unlike Tim Thomas) and he's skinny to begin with so I don't think you have to worry about him getting fat and out of shape. The great unknown is if getting set for life like this will make him complacent and lose some of his edge. I hope that is not the case since he has only been the starter for two seasons in the NHL and he finally got to show everyone what he was all about in 2013.

The B's smartly let last season play out to see if they should hitch their wagons to Rask or perhaps move in another direction since he became a free agent last week. I don't think you could have reasonably expected a better performance from him: 19-10-5 in the regular season with 2.00 goals against average, .929 save percentage and five shutouts. I'd argue (and most would agree) that he stepped it up even more in the postseason: 14-8, 1.88 goals against average, .940 save percentage and three shutouts. If Boston was going to upset Chicago and win the Cup, they needed him to play great and for the most part he did. Nobody expected Corey Crawford to match him but don't get that twisted, the Bruins didn't lose because Rask fell short. The Blackhawks simply were a better team from top to bottom so there's no shame in losing to a juggernaut like that.

Moving forward, the pressure from this contract is another factor on Rask that we'll have to watch out for the next few seasons. When you get paid like this, you are fair game for much more criticism by fans, media, coaches and teammates. Also, Rask will become the face of the franchise with Zdeno Chara being much older than him and not at the absolute peak of his career anymore. Scoring is so low in the NHL which in some ways means that you can stick any schmoe in there and be OK for a while (James Reimer anybody?). However, one of the reasons that Rask was rewarded like this is because he can be one of the top goaltenders (if not the best) in the league and that still counts for something. He showed the ability last season and now he'll be expected to be that guy for the duration of this contract (fair or not).

The Bruins are in great shape for the next decade, starting with the fact that they have Rask locked up for the near future. This is a great day for Rask and Bruins fans, next up will be a long-term extension for Patrice Bergeron-another huge part of the franchise. They need to decide on a suitable backup for Rask in 2013-14 as well because Anton Khudobin is now on the Hurricanes.

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No Carrie Underwood At TD Garden But The Bruins Still Provide Some Thrills

After losing its previous two games at TD Garden, the Boston Bruins were on the verge of three setbacks in a row when Nashville's Mike Fisher aka Mr. Carrie Underwood made it 3-2 with 3:32 left in regulation this afternoon.

Boston (34-17-2) stuck with it though as Milan Lucic (20th of the season) tied it with a power-play strike at 18:53 with the goalie pulled and the B's went on to win 3-2 in a shootout against the Predators (32-18-6).

Tyler Seguin and Patrice Bergeron scored the only shootout goals, meaning that it was over in the third round. I usually complain that Saturday matinees are usually terrible for the B's but not today, this was a top-notch contest.

If the Bruins had lost, they would have been the victim of bad puck luck since for the most part, they controlled play from start to finish. Nashville took advantage of a few scoring chances and they leaned heavily on one of the NHL's top goaltenders, Pekka Rinne (38 saves).

This turned out to be one of the most meaningful wins of the regular season given Boston's recent struggles. Lucic was a beast all afternoon and in the shootout, Tim Thomas (19 saves; 23-10-0) was able to forget about Facebook rants for a minute and make two saves.

Nashville is a quality team, I'll predict that they'll win a series or two this spring in the Western Conference playoffs. They're short on goal-scoring but they play to that well with a defensive-minded system.

With the Bruins shorthanded, Bergeron (16th of the season) had given Boston a 1-0 lead at 16:00 of the first period. Brad Marchand made the play happen by chipping the puck ahead then finding Bergeron for a screened one-timer.

Shea Weber (11th of the season), who has the second hardest shot in the NHL behind Zdeno Chara, showed off his cannon by tying it at 7:32 of the second with a power-play slap shot. His defensive partner Ryan Suter had the lone assist on Weber's missle from the point.

NESN didn't bring its A game since their broadcast went out at the end of the first period and for most of the second period. I was left listening to the radio broadcast on the Sports Hub like some 90-year-old and checking Twitter like a fiend (even more than usual).

The third period was wild so thankfully I was able to see it with my own eyes, rather than just hear about it. Both teams scored two goals. Daniel Paille (9th of the season) kicked it off with a diving backhander at 2:55 from Shawn Thornton and Johnny Boychuk.

Patric Hornqvist (17th of the season) tied it at 9:33 from Sergei Kostitsyn and Rinne. It was against the run of play as the puck was in Nashville's end for a while but then they broke out and multiple Bruins defenders were left in the dust.

Fisher's goal was a result of his own rebound off the backboards. Thomas should have stopped that one since the weak backhander went under his pads.

The Bruins will look to carry over this great effort on Tuesday as they host the New York Rangers. Everyone remembers that their first meeting with the Rangers was a classic, won 3-2 by New York in a shootout on Jan. 21 so I have no doubt this one should be superb too. The teams play twice more after that, both at Madison Square Garden and they have to be the odds on favorites to meet in the Eastern Conference Finals. They are clearly the top two teams in the East.

So whatever you're doing on Valentine's Day, at least make sure that you have the DVR set for what should be a beautiful hockey game between the Original 6 rivals.

UPDATE 2/12: After the game, Steven Kampfer was sent down to Providence. He's been a healthy scratch the last five games with Boston so this will give him more playing time.

UPDATE 2/13: The Bruins made the interesting choice to call up defenseman Andrew Bodnarchuk this morning and not Kampfer. With the trade deadline two weeks from today, makes you wonder if Kampfer is going be be dealt soon. Boston also called up forward Josh Hennessey from Providence.

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