B's Stay Hot As Stafford Scores the Game-Winning Goal With 5.6 Seconds Left to Sink the Flyers 2-1

In any sport, to be considered a true contender and more than just a fringe playoff team at best, you have to win games in many different ways (low-scoring, high-scoring, etc.). Boston (36-26-6) outlasted Philadelphia (31-28-8) 2-1 this afternoon at TD Garden in a staring contest that fittingly ended with a very fluky goal. The newest Bruin-Drew Stafford-threw the puck at the net and Flyers defenseman Brandon Manning ended up deflecting it past his own goaltender Steve Mason (25 saves). That game-winning goal was Stafford's sixth tally of the season and second as a Bruin, he has four points (2 goals, 2 assists) in four games with the black and gold. In other words, nice trade deadline pickup by GM Don Sweeney.

Getting the two points and also not letting Philly have any (when they probably deserved at least one) was a huge result not just for the B's but many other Eastern Conference clubs. It brought Boston closer to a playoff berth, keeping them solidly in third-place in the Atlantic Division. For now, Boston is four points ahead of Toronto (30-22-14) who is playing tonight at Colorado (19-44-3) but the Leafs have two games in hand on the Bruins. Boston is three points ahead of the Islanders (32-23-11) who are in St. Louis (34-27-5) and also have two games in hand. Finally, the Lightning (31-26-9) and Panthers (29-26-11) meet tonight in Tampa Bay in essentially an elimination game. If either club loses in regulation (particularly Florida), you could cross them off the list of teams with a reasonable shot to sneak in the top-eight in the East.

This being a Bruins-Flyers game, even with a family friendly start time of 1 pm, you knew that there would be some physical play. Manning and Matt Beleskey ended up dropping the gloves just 2:02 into the contest. The hard hits continued throughout and Boston gained some serious momentum by killing a 5-on-3 Philadelphia power play that lasted for 1:43 in the first. A few minutes later, the Bruins jumped ahead 1-0 on David Pastrnak's power play goal (his 28th of the season). It was a picture perfect set up as he dumped the puck in and Brad Marchand won a battle behind Philly's net which allowed Patrice Bergeron to feed Pastrnak on the doorstep for the one-timer.

Philly had outshot Boston 14-11 in the first period but it was a relatively even frame despite the 1-0 Bruins advantage. The second period was dominated by the Flyers (outshooting the B's 9-4) but luckily for the home team, Tuukka Rask (26 saves) came to play. The Flyers tied it at one at 1:27 as Jordan Weal tapped the puck through Torey Krug's legs after some chaos around Rask (Brandon Carlo had fallen down). Head coach Bruce Cassidy (who is 10-3-0 by the way, 7-1 at home) challenged the play for a possible offside on Wayne Simmonds but it stood as Weal's third goal of the season, from Simmonds and Claude Giroux.

The black and gold turned up the pressure and started to look much better in the third period (after Cassidy had changed some lines with Austin Czarnik and Jimmy Hayes disappearing for all intents and purposes) as they outshot the Flyers 12-4. Beleskey was stuffed after a juicy rebound allowed by Mason early on and it looked like it would be decided in overtime or a shootout. Luckily, Stafford saved his team and their fans from more hockey on this day (keep in mind the Bruins are only 4-4 in OT and 2-2 in shootouts). Kevan Miller had the lone assist on the game-winning goal which came in truly bizarre fashion but the Bruins will obviously take it with a smile and move on.

Another reason why it was such an important result is because the Bruins are off to Canada for a four-game excursion: at Vancouver (28-30-9) on Monday (10:00, NESN), at Calgary (37-26-4) on Wednesday (9, NESN), at Edmonton (35-23-9) on Thursday (9, NESN) then wrapping up in Toronto (30-22-14) a week from Monday (7:30, NESN). The Bruins are still a great road team (17-12-6) and other than the Canucks, those other three teams have a good shot at reaching the postseason. Needless to say, that meeting with the Maple Leafs should be enormously important to both clubs.

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Serious Question: Will the Bruins Win a Home Game Before Halloween?

After dropping their first three games of the season-all at TD Garden-in humiliating fashion, the Bruins found some life on the road with a pair of wins in Colorado and Arizona last week. Boston (2-3-1) returned home to face the Flyers (3-2-1) who lost 2-1 to Dallas (5-1-0) in Philadelphia last night. For whatever reason, the B's continue to struggle at the Garden as they choked away another two-goal lead (this time in the third period) and fell 5-4 in overtime on Claude Giroux's power-play strike.

Once again, Boston's defense was a mess and Tuukka Rask (32 saves) didn't exactly help matters as he gave up another soft goal. He's allowed 19 goals in his first four starts at the Garden this season. Former Flyer Zac Rinaldo is likely headed for a suspension as he predictably took a run at an old teammate-Sean Couturier-and was called for charging with a game misconduct at the end of the first period. You could argue that it was a clean hit (something that he kept repeating in the dressing room after the game like he was Marshawn Lynch) but this seems to be a case of a bad reputation catching up to a dirty player. I'll never understand why the Bruins traded a third-round pick for this clown and actually thought that he'd change (he's been suspended three times in his NHL career).

The Flyers jumped ahead 1-0 at 9:28 as Canadiens wannabe Pierre-Edouard Bellemare poked in a rebound that Rask dropped right at his skates. Michal Neuvirth returned the favor as he allowed a rebound right to Brett Connolly at 13:28 for a goal after Patrice Bergeron took the initial shot. Connolly's first goal of the season was also assisted by Brad Marchand. Sam Gagner caught Boston on a bad line change and he used Kevan Miller's screen to beat Rask at 15:04. Believe it or not, the Bruins currently have the best power play in the NHL and once again, it came through as Bergeron batted a puck out of mid-air at 17:24 on the man-advantage. Loui Eriksson and David Krejci (who leads the NHL with 11 points) had the assists on Papa Bergeron's fourth goal of the season (his wife had their first child, a boy named Zack earlier in the day).

Neuvirth must have tweaked something on Bergeron's goal because Steve Mason replaced him to start the second period. Mason initially looked like a goaltender who had started last night and expected to have tonight off. Boston killed Rinaldo's five-minute penalty and also scored another special teams goal, this time a shorthanded goal that went off Chris Kelly's skate at 4:31. His second goal of the season was assisted by Eriksson and Zdeno Chara. The Bruins doubled the lead at 8:49 as BC's Jimmy Hayes scored his first goal on his new home ice (2nd of the season). He beat Mason shortside on a shot that many good high schoolers would have stopped, Krejci had the lone assist.

Everything was lined up for Boston to pick up its first home win and ditto for Rask. Instead, they suffered another terrible meltdown. David Pastrnak appeared to make it 5-2 with a one-timer but Mason stopped him with one of the best saves that you'll see all year (his glove snagged it right before it went totally over the line, or so said the replay officials). Giroux cut it to 4-3 at 7:48 after Kevan Miller coughed the puck up behind his net and Jakub Voracek fed him in front for an easy goal. Wayne Simmonds tied it less than three minutes later with a laser over Rask's shoulder into the far corner.

Ryan Spooner was called for hooking in overtime and even before that, you had a feeling that this wouldn't end well for Boston. Sure enough, Philadelphia's stars got it done as Giroux one-timed a pass from Mark Streit (3 assists) and Voracek. A loss is a loss and Boston got the cheap point out of it but make no mistake, this was extremely bitter for the Black and Gold. There is no reason that they should have fallen apart like that to an overmatched opponent like the Flyers (given their injuries and that they had played a good team the night before).

The B's head out on the road again, three of their last four games in October are all away from the Garden which is probably a good thing. They make their first trip to see the Barclays Center on Friday (7:30, NESN) to play the Islanders (4-1-1) who look like one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference. Boston returns home to meet the Coyotes (3-2-1) on Tuesday (7, NESN) before they spend Halloween weekend in Florida: at Panthers (3-2-1) on October 30 (7:30, NESN) and at Lightning (4-2-1) on Halloween (7, NESN).

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Bruins Clinch No. 1 Seed in the Eastern Conference With 5-2 Win Over Flyers

With the 2013-14 regular season rapidly winding down, the Bruins are doing all they can to ensure that their stay in the postseason this spring will be a long one. This afternoon, Boston (53-18-7) clinched the top spot in the East with a 5-2 victory over Philadelphia (39-29-9) at TD Garden. The final score is misleading since it was a 2-2 game late in the third period before the B's scored two quick goals then added an empty netter.

The only thing left for the Black and Gold to accomplish in the regular season is capturing a Presidents' Trophy. That gained some traction as St. Louis lost 4-0 to Colorado meaning the Blues are two points behind the Bruins (with one game in hand). Loui Eriksson had a career-high four points (all assists) as Boston finished 3-0 against Philadelphia a team that they could certainly meet in the playoffs.

The B's never trailed although the Flyers tied it twice before Boston created the separation. David Krejci flipped in a rebound at 15:56 of the first period, his 17th goal of the season assisted by Eriksson and Milan Lucic. Wayne Simmonds made it 1-1 with a power play goal at 14:36 in the second period. Tuukka Rask (24 saves) had made some quality saves and Philly hit a post before they broke through.

Lucic hammered a one-timer past Ray Emery (37 saves) only 19 seconds later as the Bruins took the momentum right back. Krejci and Eriksson assisted on his 23rd goal of the season. Flyers goon Jay Rosehill fought Shawn Thornton earlier in the first but actually showed good hands outside of that as he made a nice move to beat Rask at 16:21.

Overtime beckoned but Boston would have none of it in their penultimate contest at the Garden (in the regular season). Johnny Boychuk cranked a slap shot by Emery following a faceoff win by Patrice Bergeron. It was Boychuk's fifth goal of the season. Lucic had his second goal 31 seconds later, a beautiful passing sequence with Torey Krug and Eriksson resulted in a tip in and two points. Of course Chris Kelly-who else?-bagged the empty netter to give him a fraudulent nine goals (I feel like most of those are from empty netters).

Boston is off until Tuesday (8, NESN) when they'll face Minnesota (40-26-12) at the Xcel Energy Center. After that, they'll be in Winnipeg (35-34-10) on Thursday (8, NESN). It's that time of year where each team has different things to play for: the Wild are basically a lock to make it in the West, the Jets are out and the Bruins are cruising.

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