Behind Craig Smith's Hat Trick, Boston Beats Buffalo 6-2 To Finish 7-1 Vs. The Sabres In 2021

 

    After playing Buffalo (13-32-7 overall, 7-16-3 away) approximately 25 times in the past few weeks, selfishly I am happy to report that I don't have to say anything else about the worst team in the NHL for a long time after Boston (30-14-6 overall, 16-6-3 home) easily dispatched them 6-2 this afternoon at the TD Garden. Right wing Craig Smith recorded his second career hat trick, center David Krejci added three assists and the B's closed out the season series (7-1 Boston) in dominant fashion. The Bruins inched closer to clinching a playoff spot plus they are only one point behind the Islanders (31-15-5) and three points in back of the Capitals (32-14-5) for third-place and second-place respectively in the East Division. 

    The black and gold never really gave the Sabres much hope all game as they outshot them 43-19, led 2-1 after the first period and 3-1 heading into the third period to cruise to the valuable two points. Rookie goaltender Jeremy Swayman (17 saves, 6-2-0) could have taken a nap in the crease for most of the contest and it wouldn't have changed the final outcome. With the recent addition of left wing Taylor Hall, Boston's second forward line has really taken off. Playing with Hall and Smith, Krejci's career has been revitalized. That trio combined for a pretty goal at 1:21 of the first period as Smith re-directed in a pass from Krejci with the secondary assist going to Hall. Sabres center Riley Sheahan responded with a shorthanded goal at 12:35 as he found himself on a breakaway and beat Swayman for his fourth goal of the season, assisted by PC's Jacob Bryson and center Casey Mittelstadt. B's center Sean Kuraly helped put his team ahead again when he knocked in a rebound at 16:38. Left wing Nick Ritchie had the lone assist on Kuraly's third goal of the season. 

    Captain Patrice Bergeron had the lone tally of the second period and it was a similar one to Kuraly's: he followed up a rebound and used a backhander (unlike Sean) to hit the puck over the goal line. Defenseman Jeremy Lauzon and left wing Brad Marchand provided the assists on Bergeron's 19th goal of the season that turned out to be the game-winner. Not surprisingly, the wheels came off for Buffalo in the third period. Ritchie tipped in a shot from defenseman Matt Grzelcyk for a 3-1 Bruins lead at 3:18. Fellow defenseman Kevan Miller added the other assist on Ritchie's 12th goal of the season. Smith's second goal was another pretty one when defenseman Mike Reilly (what a pickup he's been as well!) fed him in front for the simple tap in. Krejci had the other assist on Smith's second goal of the game that helped Boston's lead balloon to 5-1. 

    Sabres right wing Arttu Ruotsalainen scored the other useless goal for Buffalo that cut it to 5-2 at 7:02. He was on the doorstep and therefore in good position to sneak a rebound through Swayman's five-hole. Left wing Rasmus Asplund and Mittelstadt were credited with the helpers on the young Finn's fifth goal of the season. All that there was left to do was get Smith his hat trick and he did just that thanks to one last assist from Krejci. Smith basically put his stick on the ice and Krejci was able to fire the puck right on the money so Craig could redirect it in at 14:05. BU's Charlie Coyle notched the second assist on the memorable power play goal that resulted in Smith's first ever hat trick as a Bruin. 

    We are only a few weeks away from the start of the playoffs. In fact, the B's remaining schedule is down to six games as they head to New Jersey (17-27-7 overall, 6-17-3 home) to play the Devils on Monday (7, NESN Plus) and Tuesday (7, NESN Plus). For some bizarre reason, the Bruins have struggled against New Jersey all season (2-3-1) who are the second worst team in the East Division and one of the worst in the entire league. By now, New Jersey must want to get this miserable campaign over with ASAP so hopefully the B's can take advantage of their collective disinterest and win this back-to-back to collect four more points.

Trying to Clinch Home Ice vs. Leafs, B's Give Away a Game Against the Going Nowhere Panthers

How did the Bruins (47-22-9) game against the Panthers (35-32-12) at TD Garden go this afternoon you ask? Well to illustrate how poorly things went for the home team, good old Roberto Luongo (30 saves, 17-16-4) was named the No. 1 star. In other words, I feel bad for anyone that paid to get into this dog's breakfast of a performance by the B's. Hell I go for free (humblebrag) and I still wanted a refund for being subjected to that gross 4-1 win by Florida.

Boston could never really make it interesting as they trailed 2-0 in the first period, got their only goal midway through the second then Tuukka Rask (19 saves, 26-12-5) gave up a soft shorthanded goal that he has to stop when it matters (say in the playoffs in a few weeks). It's tough to get to down though on a team that is tied with Calgary (48-23-7) for the second most points in the NHL. Furthermore, before this no-show, they had won 12 straight games at the Garden and earned points in 14 in a row (12-0-2) here. Likewise, Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand saw their 17-game home point streaks end in front of mostly children and their families on a sunny Saturday in late March.

Florida has been an underachieving team for years; at least if you look at their collection of talented young forwards and defensemen, you wonder why they haven't been more of a factor in the Eastern Conference. Truth be told, Luongo and/or their lack of other quality goaltending options have been their biggest issue for why they'll miss the playoffs once again in 2018-19. They have the No. 2 power play in the NHL which isn't the be-all end-all but a top line of Jonathan Huberdeau (2 assists), Aleksander Barkov (assist) and Evgeni Dadonov (2 goals) is pretty nice. Of course, it doesn't help matters that they play in the toughest division in hockey with Tampa Bay (59-14-4), Boston and Toronto (45-25-7) all looking down on them. Carey Price is the only reason they aren't better than the Canadiens (41-29-8) in my humble opinion, how else can you explain why Montreal is a playoff contender and they aren't?

The puck luck was on the Panthers' side all afternoon (side note Boston had been 7-0-1 in matinees this season before this) from start to finish. A loose puck bounced in off of Riley Sheahan at 13:37 of the first period for a 1-0 Florida lead. Dryden Hunt (that can't be a real name) and Milton MA's own Keith Yandle had the assists on Sheahan's ninth goal of the season. A juicy rebound kicked out by Rask led to another goal for the Panthers a little over two minutes later: Dadonov potted the goal (his 27th of the season), from Aaron Ekblad (game-high 25:20 of ice time) and Huberdeau at 15:44.

Fittingly for such a crap performance, Boston's fourth line was the only one cited positively in head coach Bruce Cassidy's post-game remarks. Noel Acciari cut it to 2-1 at 13:12 of the second period after an awesome shift by Torey Krug (tying his career-high from last season with 45 assists) who threw the puck across the ice and the former PC standout put in a working man's backhander. His sixth goal of the season was also assisted by Joakim Nordstrom. B's fans finally had something legitimate to cheer about but Rask managed to end that quickly by allowing Troy Brouwer to beat him blocker side for a backbreaking shorthanded goal at 14:19. BC's Mike Matheson had the second assist on Brouwer's 11th goal of the season.

The Bruins outshot the Panthers 31-23 and had 61 shot attempts (20 blocked, 10 missed net) to their 35 (8 blocked, 4 missed net) but in the end (Lincoln Park voice, sorry that's very dated and quite lame) it didn't matter one bit. Dadonov scored an empty-net goal at 17:41 of the third period and everyone went home slightly upset. Granted it's tough to be that angry on a Saturday unless you are truly a psycho. Even if Toronto (45-25-7) wins as expected tonight at tanking Ottawa (27-44-6), the Leafs would still trail Boston by four points while both have four games remaining in the regular season. That is not an insurmountable lead for the B's but they appear unlikely to blow that while Toronto is all over the place.

Enough of these worthless matchups against clubs that will be sitting on a tropical beach and drinking their faces off by next Sunday. Speaking of which, Boston is at Detroit (30-38-10) tomorrow night (7:30, NBC Sports) to start their final (Midwest) road trip that also includes stops in Columbus (43-30-4) on Tuesday (7, NESN) and Minnesota (36-33-9) on Thursday (8, NESN) before returning for their home/regular season finale vs. the Lightning next Saturday afternoon (1, NESN). The Red Wings have won four games in a row which I suppose is swell but that franchise is still a hot pile of garbage. Jaroslav Halak (21-10-4) will be in net as the Bruins try to improve on their stellar records this season in Game 2s of back-to-backs (9-2-2) and Game 2s of three games in four days (11-3-2).

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Winter Returns: The Bruins Hung a Snowman (8 Goals) On the Penguins In an Unexpected Blowout

You could watch every Bruins (39-15-8) game in 2017-18, hell probably in the entire NHL and I'm pretty sure that you wouldn't find a more exciting tilt than the one witnessed by all the lucky fans at TD Garden this evening. Pittsburgh's (36-25-4) Olli Maatta scored just 35 seconds into the contest but Boston scored five goals of their own in the first period which tied a season-high (1st period on Jan. 6 vs. Carolina) as they jumped out to a 5-3 lead after one. The B's cruised to an 8-4 win that featured a hat trick by David Krejci (the 4th of his NHL career), a fight of true giants (Zdeno Chara vs. 6-foot-7 Northeastern alum Jamie Oleksiak), three points for David Pastrnak (2 goals, assist), a pair of assists for Brian Gionta and a helper for Nick Holden in their Bruins debuts and another goal by Rick Nash.

Boston's power play was mired in an 0-for-18 slump (they hadn't scored in the past 6 games) and Pittsburgh entered with the top unit so naturally the Bruins potted a trio of tallies on the man-advantage while they held the Penguins' lethal power play silent (0-for-3). Pittsburgh's No. 1 goaltender Matt Murray (concussion) got hurt in practice the other day so right now, they have to rely on the less than imposing duo of UNH alum Casey DeSmith and Tristan Jarry. DeSmith allowed three goals on five shots in 5:27 so he understandably was pulled right away like he bombed a stand-up comedy routine at the Apollo. Jarry (28 saves, 5 goals allowed) didn't fare much better although truthfully, both guys in net at the same time likely wouldn't have made that much of a difference with the way that the Bruins were putting pressure on the visitors. Boston also improved to 7-0-1 in their last eight home games vs. Pittsburgh.

In three games together, Krejci and Rick Nash have already started to build some nice chemistry. Krejci got his memorable performance started by going to the net and tipping a pinpoint pass from Nash in at 1:45. Chara had the second assist on Krejci's 12th goal of the season. A New Hampshire native, DeSmith showed some nerves when Pastrnak's less than stellar shot fluttered past him and literally spun over the goal-line in slow motion at 2:53 for a 2-1 Bruins lead that they would never relinquish. Brad Marchand and Riley Nash had the assists on Pastrnak's 23rd goal of the season. Rick Nash got the power play party started with an easy tap-in from Torey Krug and Marchand at 5:27 for his 20th goal of the season.

Former Bruins great Phil Kessel scored a fluky goal from no-angle at 9:27 to get the Penguins back within a goal at 3-2 Bruins. Kessel's 27th goal of the season was assisted by Patric Hornqvist and Evgeni Malkin. Things continued at a haywire pace as David Backes sniped a shot top shelf at 12:49, his 11th goal of the season which was assisted by Gionta-BC's all-time leading scorer and the former Canadiens captain. Krug extended Boston's lead to 5-2 with a blast from distance at 16:07. Jarry must have been screened on Krug's 11th goal of the campaign, assisted by Pastrnak and Rick Nash. Earlier in the frame, Penguins center Riley Sheahan had scored a goal but it was called back when he obviously kicked it in. He exacted some revenge with 2.2 seconds left by blasting a shot past Tuukka Rask (22 saves; 26-11-4) for his ninth goal of the season, unassisted.

What normally could be a back-breaking goal to allow seemingly had no effect on the B's as Krejci registered a power-play goal of his own at 2:16 of the second period from Holden and Jake DeBrusk. It would be a beautiful thing if these teams met in the playoffs, we got a little taste of that this evening since they clearly still don't like each other. Charlie McAvoy took a hard hit from Hornqvist that left his nose and lip a bloody mess so later, Chara squared off with Oleksiak in what has to be one of the biggest fights (in terms of size of the combatants) in NHL history. Krejci bagged his hat trick by pouncing on a loose puck for another power-play strike at 14:33. Gionta and McAvoy had the assists as the ice was littered with a ton of Bruins hats. Pittsburgh's defense was non-existent as Pastrnak went to the net and scored Boston's final goal at 17:42 for a dream 8-3 lead. Chara and McAvoy had the assists on Pasta's second goal of the game. The third period was basically an open skate, with the only goal coming via a double deflection off two Bruins that started with Maata's harmless shot from the point.

Boston has enjoyed the first two games-both wins-of its six-game homestand and the good times should only continue on Saturday (5, NESN) as they host the long dead Canadiens (24-29-10). This Penguins massacre will be impossible to live up to but throwing a serious beating on Montreal never goes out of style, no matter the time or season. Tonight's win put the Bruins back in second-place in the Atlantic Division, ahead of idle Toronto (39-20-7) who has still played four more games than them. No doubt Rask will want to play better which shouldn't be too difficult of a task to complete since the Habs have scored the third fewest goals in the league (160). Bruins-Canadiens matchups are always fun, but especially on Saturday nights (forget the bizarre early start time) where people have all day to get ready (glug, glug).

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Bruins Steal Two Points in Detroit With 3-2 Comeback Victory vs. Red Wings

The roller coaster that is the 2014-15 Boston Bruins' season took another enjoyable turn tonight as they rallied for an improbable 3-2 win at Joe Louis Arena vs. Red Wings. Boston (40-25-13) trailed Detroit (40-24-13) 2-0 early in the third period but tied it on goals by Carl Soderberg and Loui Eriksson before Zach Trotman netted the game-winner (also his first career NHL goal). It was Boston's fourth straight win and it tied them with Detroit for third-place in the Atlantic Division although the Red Wings have one game in hand.

It was a pretty lifeless first period save for two penalties on Zdeno Chara for tripping and interference. The Red Wings scored first in the second period on a bizarre play. Danny DeKeyser's shot hit the end boards then popped back in front where Luke Glendening was there to flip it by Tuukka Rask (35 saves). His 12th goal of the season was also assisted by Stephen Weiss.

There was some anxious moments for Bruins fans since Patrice Bergeron left in the second period with a mysterious injury and never returned in that frame. It happened during a faceoff when his body got twisted around so who could tell? Thankfully, he was out there to start the third with a face shield after he received 30 stitches for a nasty cut on his face. His tripping penalty cost the B's as Weiss was able to make it 2-0 at 2:52 of the third with a power-play goal. He did a give-and-go with Riley Sheahan (yes, they do those in hockey too) and beat Rask from in tight. Marek Zidlicky had the second assist on the power play goal and Weiss' ninth tally of the season.

At that point, it certainly didn't look good for the Bruins but we should have remembered that this is a team that they own (they were 3-1 coming into tonight this season vs. Red Wings). Soderberg got the comeback started with a power-play goal at 5:05. After Petr Mrazek (22 saves) left a juicy rebound of Reilly Smith's shot, Soderberg was able to roof it from close range. Brett Connolly had the second assist for his first point in his first game as a Bruin.

2:14 after that, Eriksson tied it thanks to a nifty backhand pass through traffic and behind the net from Smith. Soderberg had the second helper on Eriksson's 21st goal of the season. Honestly, Trotman's goal was pretty weak on Mrazek's part not that any of the Bruins or their fans were complaining about it. His first shot from the point was blocked so he got more aggressive and drove to the net before his shot somehow squeezed past Mrazek. Ryan Spooner and Connolly had the assists on the game-winner which occurred with 2:08 left in regulation.

Boston wasn't able to gain any ground on Washington (who beat Montreal 5-4 in a shootout) or Florida (who blitzed Carolina 6-1) since they both won tonight as well. The B's host the Maple Leafs (29-43-6) on Saturday night (7, NESN) in their regular season home finale. The Bruins are finally in a nice groove during the stretch run so they should take care of Toronto (who have absolutely nothing to play for but draft position) no problem.

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