The Future is Here for the Bruins In Their Exciting 2017-18 Season-Opening 4-3 Win vs. Nashville

Coming into the 2017-18 opener, the Bruins knew that they would have their hands full with the Western Conference champion Predators. That challenge only increased this morning as they discovered that Patrice Bergeron (lower-body injury) was out at least for this contest and David Backes (diverticulitis) could miss three or four weeks with some bizarre illness that I had to Google since I'd never heard of it. Who knows how long it can hold up for but at least in this tilt, Boston's rookies played collectively out of their minds in an exciting 4-3 victory at TD Garden.

Charlie McAvoy (1 goal, 1 assist) and Jake DeBrusk (1 goal, 1 assist) each recorded two points in their NHL regular season debuts (remember that McAvoy was called up for Boston's playoff series vs. Ottawa last April) while Anders Bjork notched an assist in his first career game. Tuukka Rask made 26 saves in the win and Nashville's power play had been 0-for-5 until they scored two late goals (by Scott Hartnell and Filip Forsberg) to make things a little sketchy for the home fans. The B's lost another forward in the proceedings as their fourth line winger Noel Acciari left in the second period after blocking a shot with his hand. That injury sounds somewhat serious too as head coach Bruce Cassidy didn't expect him to be available for Monday afternoon's meeting (1, NESN) with Colorado (1-0).

Boston's front office had to be psyched with the first goal of the season for their club as David Pastrnak potted a one-timer from McAvoy and David Krejci (3 assists; 17-5 on face-offs) at 8:37 of the first period for a 1-0 lead. The B's should have been in front after that frame but they allowed a back-breaking goal to Viktor Arvidsson with 11 seconds left in the first. Boston won the face-off in their own end but coughed up the puck as Ryan Johansen fed Arvidsson in the slot.

The second period was a beautiful glimpse into what the Bruins have to hope is a bright future for all these youngsters in black and gold as DeBrusk scored a pretty goal from Krejci and Bjork at 5:48 (complete with his dad crying in the stands) and McAvoy also sent his parents into hysterics with a one-timer at 15:43 from Krejci and DeBrusk. You wondered if Krejci would be able to keep up with two fast rookies and then he tied his career-high for assists in one game (something he'd done 8 times before).

Brad Marchand put the game out of reach, or at least so it seemed, with a rare short-handed empty-netter at 17:07 in the third period. Brandon Carlo had the lone assist on Marchand's 23rd career shorthanded goal (3rd most in team history). McAvoy had three penalties tonight which will be far from the norm and Kevan Miller got a delay of game penalty while Chara was called for slashing in garbage time. Hartnell chipped in a shot from close range at 18:12, assisted by Johansen and Arvidsson before Forsberg banked a shot off Rask at 19:25. Nashville had a few more chances at a possible tying goal after that but Rask and the Bruins held on. Pekka Rinne finished with 28 saves for Nashville.

It sounds odd to say this after game one of 82 (plus playoffs?) but the Bruins picked a good time to have a spaced out schedule in October. They already planned to have tomorrow off and then they'll have the weekend to ease back into practice before hosting the Avalanche on Columbus Day. Cassidy felt like Bergeron could possibly return for Monday but if he's not available, the Bruins will have to call another forward up from Providence to replace Acciari. I think the most likely name to watch for in that case would be Danton Heinen (Austin Czarnik is on IR) but we'll have to see how things shake out these next few days. Colorado was the worst team in the NHL last season but they kicked things off this evening by beating the Rangers 4-2 in New York so who knows what to expect from them?

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Is It Too Late For the Bruins to Boycott and/or Skip All Their Home Games This Season?

Typically, I am very stubborn so I hate to admit defeat by not coming up with at least a half-ass explanation for almost everything that occurs in life. However, at this point in the 2015-16 regular season, I can only throw up my hands when it comes to the Bruins and say that I have absolutely no idea how a team that is so great on the road (20-7-3) can simultaneously be truly awful at home (12-15-3) after tonight's 6-4 loss to Columbus (24-29-7).

Boston was coming off a 4-2 road trip (its longest of the campaign) and its most impressive victory (7-3 in Dallas on Saturday night) so naturally they returned to TD Garden and laid another in a long line of rotten eggs. After beating the Blue Jackets 3-2 in a shootout here on January 23 and 2-1 in overtime last Tuesday in Columbus, the B's failed to get the all-important season sweep over one of the worst teams in the NHL. The Bruins never led as they were always chasing the game and they wasted a perfectly good performance by their offense (2 goals apiece for Matt Beleskey and Loui Eriksson) and a dominant night at the faceoff dot (44-25).

He didn't have a ton of help on defense but it was a rough game for Jonas Gustavsson (29 saves, 5 goals allowed). Boone Jenner's tip-in from BC's Cam Atkinson and Ryan Murray opened the scoring at 10:52 of the first period. It was the first of two power play goals for Columbus (who had been 1 for their last 16). Conversely, Boston's power play was 0 for 2, another reason why they didn't pick up any points. Eriksson scored his first tally 15 seconds after Jenner's initial score to make it 1-1. He deflected Torey Krug's shot and David Pastrnak had the second assist on Loui's 22nd goal of the season.

Columbus jumped on Boston to start the second period as Jenner sniped one past Gustavsson just 21 seconds into the frame. Seth Jones and Brandon Dubinsky assisted on his 21st goal of the season. Beleskey knotted it at two only 2:36 after that as he deflected in Joe Morrow's shot with Jimmy Hayes notching the second assist. William Karlsson (8th goal of the season, unassisted) blasted in a turnaround shot at 10:17 to put Columbus up for good at 3-2. Then Scott Hartnell deflected in Murray's shot for the other man-advantage goal at 17:21. Alexander Wennberg also assisted on Hartnell's 19th goal of the season. With so many pro scouts in attendance this evening, you'd have to think that a quality veteran like Hartnell would be in high demand (relatively speaking) with the trade deadline now a week away.

Beleskey made it interesting for a while in the third as he worked tirelessly to tip in another shot (from Kevan Miller) that trimmed Columbus' lead to 4-3 at 2:52. Morrow registered his second assist (for the second game in a row). Joonas Korpisalo (26 saves) made enough stops and former Blackhawk Brandon Saad added the insurance goal that the Blue Jackets needed at 14:29. His 22nd goal of the season was assisted by Hartnell and Wennberg. It came on a strange play as Bruins defenseman Dennis Seidenberg went down to block the shot, only to lose his stick which Hartnell "accidentally" shot at Gustavsson. It was reviewed but similar to Columbus' fruitless challenge on Eriksson's first goal, it still stood up.

Eriksson is certainly doing everything he can to make sure his value is at its peak for next Monday: his second goal made it 5-4 Columbus at 17:03. The shot through traffic had eyes with helpers from David Krejci (team-leading 34th assist) and Pastrnak. Good old Dalton Prout lives for games in Boston apparently since Columbus' scrub defenseman scored his second goal of the season via an empty-netter (both of his goals have been here). Normally, home ice in hockey doesn't mean quite as much as homefield/homecourt advantage in baseball, basketball and football but the B's have made sure no logic applies to them this season.

That said, it'll be a difficult rest of the week as they are off tomorrow before they host Pittsburgh (30-20-8) on Wednesday (7:30, NBCSN), go to Carolina (27-23-10) on Friday (7, NESN) then another national TV game on Sunday (6:30, NBCSN) vs. Tampa Bay (33-22-4), who they are currently tied with in the Atlantic Division (although the Lightning have played one less game). You know that the Bruins will play great against the Hurricanes so I guess we should only worry about the Penguins (2 points behind Boston in Eastern Conference, in 2 less games) and the Lightning, two clubs who figure to be battling for playoff position with the Black and Gold the rest of the way.

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The Bruins Are Really On A Roll Headed Into The Postseason, Oh Wait......

What the hell is wrong with the Bruins? The Northeast Division title and No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference have been laid out on a silver platter (as opposed to a silver Cup) but they can't seem to get out of their own way. Tonight, Boston (27-13-5) played maybe its worst game of the season in a wretched 5-2 loss to Philadelphia (21-22-3) at Wells Fargo Center.

Other than Nathan Horton, who hasn't been anything above average this season, the B's don't have any major injuries to use as an excuse so what is it that's caused them to go 1-4-1 in their last six games? Lack of goal-scoring certainly has hurt them but this loss was all about an endless array of turnovers by the Bruins.

The only good news is that the Canadiens are playing even worse. They lost 3-2 at New Jersey tonight so Boston is still in control with one more game left than Montreal but the same amount of points (59).

Scott Hartnell gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead at 1:40 of the first period, that's how long it took the Bruins to make a fatal mistake. The Wade Redden tied it with his first goal as a Bruin at 4:54 with assists to Jaromir Jagr and Carl Soderberg. Redden was rewarded after his net drive following Steve Mason's (39 saves) juicy rebound, his followup was in the air and crossed the line before Philly could clear it.

For all intents and purpoes, Philadelphia clinched this with a pair of goals seven seconds apart in the second period. Yes, seven seconds. First Matt Read batted a rebound out of mid-air then Zdeno Chara had the hockey equivalent of an own goal (soccer) when he banked an awful pass attempt off Anton Khudobin's skates into the net.

Jakub Voracek made it 4-1 early in the third period but David Krejci cut it to 4-2 with a nifty move for his 10th goal of the season. One more time, the B's were caught with their hockey pants down only 13 seconds later as Redden's turnover gift-wrapped a goal to Simon Gagne.

It might be time to sit Chara for a game or two, the big guy is clearly exhausted (rightfully so) and not himself. If the Bruins are going to play this bad with him in the lineup then what's the difference? They return to TD Garden on Thursday (7:30 p.m., NESN) to host the Lightning (17-24-4). Tampa Bay isn't going to the playoffs so you'd think that they would be a pushover however Philadelphia is going nowhere but they rolled over the B's.

There is no secret formula but with the playoffs starting a week from tomorrow, Boston needs to wake up before they head to another first-round exit like last season against Washington.

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Bruins & Flyers Played A Hell Of A Game

If you call yourself a Boston Bruins fan, the last two days were as close to hockey porn as you'll ever get in the regular season.

The B's fell in an overtime classic yesterday to the Rangers 3-2 and then they came back today to win a wild one 6-5 in a shootout over the Flyers.

Boston's (31-13-2) second straight win over Philadelphia (28-14-5) at the Wells Fargo Center had a bit of everything: fights, a natural hat trick, great goals, an injury and crazy momentum swings.

Tim Thomas (33 saves; 20-9-0) had his worst game of the season but he was still able to grab two points thanks to two saves in the shootout-against Matt Read and Wayne Simmonds. Ilya Bryzgalov (32 saves) gave up shootout goals to David Krejci and Tyler Seguin on the only attempt he faced.

With three goals in the first period, it looked like the Bruins might roll over the Flyers again like they did in December. Patrice Bergeron (15th of the season) scored 50 seconds into the game from Brad Marchand and Seguin. Milan Lucic and Tom Sestito (some no-name goon) fought shortly after that and Philly used that momentum as Maxime Talbot (11th of the season) tied it up at one.

Seguin (18th of the season) made it 2-1 with a power-play goal from Bergeron and Benoit Pouliot at 9:02. Chris Kelly and Brayden Schenn fought less than a minute later. Then Lucic's wrister (17th of the season) increased Boston's lead to 3-1 at 12:30, from Krejci and Adam McQuaid.

Scott Hartnell scored a natural hat trick (3 consecutive goals) in the second period to give Philadelphia a 4-3 lead. Shawn Thornton also fought Jody Shelley after Shelley gave Kelly a cheap shot.

Krejci (11th of the season) and Gregory Campbell (6th of the season) gave the B's the lead once again, at 5-4 early in the third period but Talbot's second goal of the game tied it at 5 and sent it to overtime.

The B's have to be exhausted after the physical toll of the past two games but at least they're tied with New York for first-place in the Eastern Conference. They were taking the train after the Flyers game to Washington, D.C. Tomorrow is an off day but the team gets to visit President Obama at the White House as a reward for winning the Stanley Cup last spring. Their last game before the All-Star break is on Tuesday in D.C. against the Capitals.

Andrew Ference missed today since the NHL handed down a three-game suspension for his dirty hit in the Rangers game. Also, Steven Kampfer (who took his place), left the game after taking a huge (clean) hit. They'll have to see how Kampfer looks tomorrow to figure out if he'll play on Tuesday.

Unfortunately, Boston and Philadelphia will only meet once more in the regular season: St. Patrick's Day (1 p.m. start) at TD Garden. Can you say sloppy? Haha that should be a great atmosphere.

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I apologize for making the Bruins lose

When the Bruins entered the first intermission of yesterday's game up 3-1 on the Flyers, I fired out a mass text message to all my friends that care about hockey. It said, "the Bruins are unstoppable."

Predictably, this jinxed them as Philadelphia (27-15-9) obviously got wind of my cocky message and recovered to win 4-3 in overtime at the Garden.

It all started out so well for Boston (39-8-7). Marc Savard opened the scoring with his 21st of the season, from Milan Lucic and Mark Stuart. Savard took a shot, gathered the rebound and spun around the net, letting another shot fly that trickled under Flyers goalie Martin Biron's pads.

Simon Gagne tied it up for Philly on the power play, with his 21st of the season (assisted by Mike Knuble and Claude Giroux).

B's rookie Byron Bitz tallied his first NHL goal at 18:59 in the first. Stuart blasted a shot from the point that hit the post and lay on the open goal-mouth. Bitz just had to knock it in. Petteri Nokelainen also had an assist.

After the ensuing face-off, the Bruins scored eight seconds later as Chuck Kobasew (11th) took a pass from Shane Hnidy (and Patrice Bergeron), rushed towards the net and put a low slap shot under Biron.

Give credit to the Flyers though, as they are a good, tough team. They showed some pride in coming back on the road.

Philadelphia scored twice in the second. Former Bruin Glen Metropolit (2nd) made it 3-2 Bruins, with an assist from Arron Asham. Then Scott Hartnell (20th) tied it on a power play with helpers from Jeff Carter and Joffrey Lupul.

In his first game in 30 days, Boston goaltender Manny Fernandez (30 saves) looked a bit rusty but he certainly couldn't be blamed for the fluky game-winner in OT.

Flyers goon Randy Jones (best known for knocking out Bergeron last season) flipped a harmless wrist shot that deflected off B's defenseman Andrew Ference and into the net.

Boston will have a few days to think about the loss and their next game is one of the marquee games of the regular season. On Tuesday, the Western Conference leaders, the San Jose Sharks come to the Garden led by former Bruins star (and MVP) Joe Thornton. Should be a great one.