Bruins Spank Leafs in Game 1 (4/20/24)

Some Boston Bruins fans were worried when the Bruins gagged in succession the President's Trophy then the Atlantic Division in the final weeks of the season forcing them to play the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round. So far those fears are postponed because the Bruins smacked the Leafs around in Game 1 of their NHL Eastern Quarterfinal series. Despite this not being the Zdeno Chara/Patrice Bergeron/David Krejci/Tuuka Rask Bruins that tortured the Leafs for more than half a decade, the ones that played tonight still dominated the defensively challenged Torontonians. Jake DeBrusk was the big hero with two goals and an assist as the Bruins broke out to a 4-0 lead by the end of the second period. Goals by John Beecher and Brandon Carlo put the Bruins up but the DeBrusk goals were the dagger. The Leafs did get one back on a David Kampf wrist shot but Jeremy Swayman stopped 35 of 36 shots. Trent Frederic provided the empty net goal and the Bruins opened the salvo in Game 1 with a 5-1 victory at TD Garden.

                                                    Charlie Coyle says "That's 1"

The Bruins struck first just 2:27 into the game when Jesper Boqvist carried the puck in on a two on one rush and fired it to John Beecher, scoring past Ilya Samsonov to make it 1-0 Bruins instantly. The Bruins picked up the hitting with Pat Maroon leading the charge. The Leafs took the first penalty 5:22 into the period when Simon Benoit hooked Charlie Coyle but the Bruins could do nothing on the power play. Old friend Tyler Bertuzzi high sticked Hampus Lindholm 15:28 into the period but once again the Bruins couldn't score. Finally with two seconds left in the period Charlie McAvoy and Max Domi got in a chinwag and both were sent to the box. Unfortunately as time expired, Lindholm drove Mitch Marner into the ice in front of the net for a cross-checking penalty. The Bruins would start the second period down four on three but with a 1-0 lead.

                                                  Boqvist to Beecher SCORE!

The most important sequence of the game occurred at the start of the second period when the Bruins managed to kill off the four on three penalty. Then the Bruins took over the game. Just 5:37 into the period Jake DeBrusk zipped the puck to Brandon Carlo who fired it past Samsonov for a 2-0 lead. Auston Matthews high sticked Charlie McAvoy with 6:22 remaining and the Bruins made him pay. Brad Marchand passed it to McAvoy who passed it to Jake DeBrusk. DeBrusk fired it in for a power play goal to increase the lead. Then with 4:42 left in the period Domi went off for a foolish slashing penalty on Marchand right in front of the referee. This time McAvoy passed it to Marchand in the slot, who fed it to DeBrusk for the one timer in front of the net for the dagger. With 1:54 left, Coyle went off for tripping Matthews but the Bruins defense held on to end the second period up 4-0.

                                                          DeBrusk makes it 3...then 4-0

The Leafs came out like a house of fire in the third period and got one back almost immediately. Just 1:39 into the period Ryan Reaves passed down to Connor Dewar. Dewar found David Kampf wide open for the goal to put the Leafs on the board. The Leafs continued to pin the Bruins down until Pat Maroon laid a big hit on Nick Robertson that seemed to spring the Bruins to life. The vaunted defense led by McAvoy, Carlo and Matt Grzelcyk stifled the Leafs the rest of the way. Jeremy Swayman didn't have to make any extraordinary saves but he still stopped the shots that were in front of him. The Leafs also screwed up when Jake McCabe got called for interference on Jakub Lauko. The Bruins didn't score on the powerplay but that took two crucial minutes off the clock. Later Carlo dumped the puck over the glass with 4:48 left for a delay of game penalty. For some odd reason Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe waited until the end of the power play to pull Samsonov to make it 6 on 4. The Bruins killed it off and with Samsonov out, Trent Frederic did the honors with an empty net goal to seal it. The Bruins had taken Game 1 of the series with a 5-1 win.

                                                          Game 1 Goalie Hug

Reaction:

That was a damn good win but let's not get too excited here. William Nylander didn't play for Toronto and the Bruins were almost too flawless in this one. Still, the weakness of the Leafs...for pretty much 6 years now is their defense and the Bruins took advantage of it. Nylander will make a big difference in Game 2 so don't expect the Bruins to mop the floor with them the way they did tonight. Also, the Bruins won Game 1 decisively in 2013 and 2018 and both series went to Game 7. The Leafs are definitely going to come out with more fire in Game 2 but there are positives for the Bruins. Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak were relatively quiet and should be able to bust out some time during the series. The last thing on the list is Bruins coach Jim Montgomery being very clear that he intended to rotate the goalies throughout the playoffs. He all but assured Linus Ullmark will be starting Game 2 but hats off to Swayman tonight for his performance. He didn't have to make any earth shattering saves but he stopped everything but a wide open pass to Kampf. Winning Game 1 is never a bad thing and the Bruins look to drive some doubt into the Leafs when they play Game 2 right back here this Monday night at the TD Garden.

Bruins Beat Leafs in Shootout (11/2/23)

Before the game it was announced Derek Forbort wouldn't play tonight, meaning all three defenseman call-ups would play in tonight's game. The D corps was spread pretty thin but at least Mason Lohrei would make his NHL debut with Parker Wortherspoon making his Bruins debut.

                                                                   OUT

As for the game, can't say it wasn't entertaining. The Boston Bruins played the Toronto Maple Leafs in arguably the game of the year so far in a back and forth encounter that needed a shootout to decide it. Mason Lohrei made his NHL debut for the Bruins opening the game on the first defensive pairing and Parker Wortherspoon played his first game as well. The Bruins took the lead early thanks to Lohrei assisting on a Pavel Zacha goal with just over a minute left in the first period. Jake DeBrusk scored in the first 96 seconds of the second period but the Leafs rallied with goals by Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews a minute apart. Controversy erupted when it looked like Brad Marchand dropped Timothy Liljegren right in front of referee Wes MaCauley but there was no penalty called. The third period and overtime solved nothing but in the shootout, both Jake DeBrusk and Charlie Coyle scored on Ilya Samsonov of the Leafs while Jeremy Swayman stopped William Nylander and Matthews to end it. The Bruins had survived 3-2 in the shootout over the Leafs at TD Garden.

                                                    Bruins win

Swayman was the unquestioned star of the first period although David Pastrnak set the tone early by drilling Morgan Reilly 4:12 into the game. Maple Leafs goalie Ilya Samsonov made a big save on Oskar Steen 6:20 into the period and Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman had to make a stop on a William Nylander shot following a turnover by Hampus Lindholm. Swayman had to make another save on John Tavares 8 minutes in then another stop on John 11:02 into the period. Noah Gregor of the Leafs got denied with 7:33 left in the period. Finally the Bruins broke through when Danton Heinen fell down getting the puck to Mason Lohrei. Mason dished it to Brandon Carlo who passed to Pavel Zacha in front of the net for Pavel's 4th goal of the year with 1:09 left in the period. Controversy erupted when it looked like Captain Brad Marchand stuck his stick between the legs of Timothy Liljegren and crashed him into the boards but referee Wes MaCauley decided it wasn't a penalty with 45 seconds left. Nothing else happened and the Bruins went into the break up 1-0.

                                                           Dirty or clean?

The Bruins almost scored 57 seconds into the second period when James van Riemsdyk gathered the puck behind and passed to a wide open Morgan Geekie in front of the net, but Samsonov made the save. The Bruins struck 1:36 into the period when Jake DeBrusk banged home a rebound after a Marchand shot after a pass from Coyle. The Leafs got the first powerplay when David Pastrnak got whistled for tripping TJ Brodie 2:38 into the period. The Bruins killed it off and six minutes into the period, the Bruins almost made it 3-0 but Samsonov made a great save on a Zacha blast. The Leafs then exploded into the game when Mitch Marner completely deeked out Brandon Carlo and scored with 13:29 left in the period. Just a minute later, William Lagesson passed it to Calle Jarnkrok who found Auston Matthews for the one time blast to tie the game just like that with 12:27 left in the period. Things didn't look good when Carlo got called for holding Pontus Holmberg just over a minute later. The play of the game came when Tavares had Swayman down on the ice with an open net but somehow Swayman got his glove up just in time with 10:39 remaining. Just seconds later, Marner, Nylander, Matthews and Tavares had essentially a 4 on 1 in front of the net but Swayman somehow stopped Nylander to bail out the defense. With 6:29 left Jarnkrok skated in alone but Swayman made another great save. With 30 seconds left Swayman made another great play to rob Matthew Knies. The Leafs had tied the game with all the momentum 2-2 going into the third.

                                                   Marner deeks out Carlo

With 3:26 gone in the third period, Nylander walked in alone but Swayman made the save. With 5 minutes gone, Lohrei was absolutely robbed of his first NHL goal by Samsonov. The Leafs took a penalty 8:24 into the period when Holmberg interfered with DeBrusk leading to a Bruins powerplay. Pastrnak blasted one but somehow Samsonov caught it 9 minutes into the period. With 2:40 left in the period Danton Heinen walked in alone and fired....off the post. Bad luck for Heinen on that one. That was pretty much it for the period as we headed to OT with both teams getting a point tied 2-2.

                                     "Overtime again?" - Swayman  "Yup" - Marchand

The Bruins had a chance to win in overtime when Nylander held Pastrnak with 2:35 left to put the Bruins on a 4 on 3 powerplay. Samsonov made a great save to rob Marchand point blank. The Leafs didn't really get a good scoring chance spending half the OT on the penalty kill so we went to the shootout. Jake DeBrusk went first for the Bruins and he scored on Samsonov. Nylander went for the Leafs and Swayman was ready for the backhand deek, blocking the shot away. Coyle did almost the same move and scored to put the pressure on Toronto. Matthews was Toronto's last hope and he did deek Swayman out of his skates and put the puck past him.....it just happened to go wide of the net and the Bruins were victorious 3-2 in the shootout.

                                                                  Bruins win

Carson Cooper Award for first Bruins assist - Mason Lohrei

Reaction:

Toronto fans once again are blaming officiating for the loss rather than the fact Swayman played a great game and they lost in a shootout. Nope, if that dirty no good Marchand got a rightful game misconduct, got thrown out of the building and arrested, the mighty Leafs would have won! Or that's what they want you to think. Yes, Marchand might have gotten away with one at the end of the first but to put the entire blame on Wes Macauley and not the Leafs for allowing the goals to Zacha & Coyle is typical Toronto fan behavior. The bottom line was Swayman played out of his mind and sometimes there's nothing you can do against a hot goalie. Even if Marchand was assessed a penalty, there's no guarantee Toronto cashes in on it. Toronto fans aren't happy with their team as Marchand and the Bruins went untouched after Liljegren got hurt. The Bruins are without Grzelcyk and Lucic yet Ryan Reaves and Max Domi never touched anyone. They did try to beat them on the scoreboard with that flurry in the second but after that, the Bruins locked it down. For a hilarious take on the game, here's Steve Dangle:

LFR

All in all it was a damn good win and improves the Bruins to 9-0-1 on the season. The Bruins hit the road and stop in Detroit on Saturday night. The game begins at 7:00 PM at Little Caesars Arena.

Off-Day News: Lohrei Called Up (11/1/23)

As expected, the Boston Bruins will be out their top defense pairing as Matt Grzelcyk has been placed on Long Term Injury Reserve and he won't be back until at least Thanksgiving. The NHL also dropped the hammer on Charlie McAvoy, suspending him for four games. Jakub Lauko was also placed on LTIR and to replace them, the Bruins called up three defensemen. Ian Mitchell who we saw earlier along with former New York Islander Parker Wotherspoon. The big call up is 22 year old Mason Lohrei, the second round pick from the 2020 draft. 

                                                                         OUT

                                                                             IN

Coach Jim Montgomery made it clear right away they didn't call up Lohrei to sit in the press box, he's going to start tomorrow night's game against the Toronto Maple Leafs opposite Brandon Carlo. Wotherspoon and Mitchell will compete for McAvoy's spot until he comes back on November 11th. Best case scenario is Lohrei plays so well that he stays when McAvoy comes back and can contribute until Grzelcyk comes back. Injuries and illness are part of the game, so the fact that the Bruins have depth to count on will go a long way come the winter months. Hope Lucic, Lauko and Grzelcyk gets well soon.

Bruins Rally To Beat Panthers in Overtime (10/30/23)

Most coaches brush off "Game 8" a year after a grueling seven game deathmatch series in the playoffs, but not Boston Bruins coach Jim Montgomery. Montgomery this morning flat out admitted tonight's game with the Florida Panthers was personal after last year's humiliation. For the first 20 minutes of the game, it looked like the Panthers were going to run away with this one. Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart scored to make it 2-0 going into the second period. Suddenly the Bruins woke up as Brad Marchand scored to cut the lead 2-1 going into the third. Charlie McAvoy tied the game with a goal before getting rightfully thrown out of the game for a dirty hit. The game went into overtime where Pavel Zacha was the hero with the OT goal. The Bruins had come from behind to defeat the Florida Panthers 3-2 in Overtime at TD Garden.

                                                          Bruins win

The first period was all Panthers as Sam Bennett walked in alone just 20 seconds in but Bruins goalie Linus Ullmark made the save. Evan Rodrigues also broke in alone but Ullmark stopped him too. 6 minutes into the period Morgan Geekie passed it to Matt Grzelcyk for a one timer but Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky made the save. After a Matt Poitras blast that Bobrovsky happened to kick directly to Sam Reinhart, Sam passed it to Aleksander Barkov going the other way and he scored on a bomb to give the Panthers the lead 6:13 into the period. The Panthers got the first powerplay when Hampus Linholm manhandled Matt Tkachuk for a roughing call 9:23 into the first. It got even worse after Grzelcyk got hit in the chest and had to leave the game, although the Bruins killed off the penalty. Then with 4:52 left in the first, Matthew Poitras lost control of the puck and Barkov gathered it. He spotted Reinhart streaking and dished it to him for another goal. The Panthers had 17 shots in the first period and led 2-0.

                                                   Didn't look good after 20 minutes

Suddenly the Bruins sprang to life in the second period. The Bruins attacked the net and Charlie McAvoy dished it to James van Riemsdyk but Bobrovsky stoned him 2:34 into the period. Then with 3:38 left, Charlie Coyle passed it to Jake DeBrusk. Jake no-look backhanded it to Brad Marchand who stuffed it to cut the lead in half. The 4:49 into the period Morgan Geekie plowed into Bobrovsky for an interference penalty. The Panthers failed to score on the powerplay and the Bruins got one when Oliver Ekman-Larsson tripped up David Pastrnak with 7:40 left in the period. The Bruins failed to score and Ullmark had to make a great save with 3:11 left in the period when Rodrigues was open in front of the net. Nothing else happened in the period and the Bruins went into the break down 2-1.

                                                       Marchand brings the B's back

The Panthers almost got one 20 seconds into the period when Carter Verhaeghe backhanded the puck past Ullmark but the alert Brandon Carlo swiped the puck just in time down to center ice. With 7:20 gone in the third period, Pavel Zacha dished an outlet pass to David Pastrnak who drew a double team. He found McAvoy streaking to the net and passed it to him who scored to tie the game. Unfortunately, McAvoy went from the hero to the goat as at 9:28 into the period he blasted Larsson right in the head for a 5 minute match penalty. With Grzelcyk already out with injury and McAvoy done for the night, the Bruins now had to kill a 5 minute penalty with just four defensemen. Somehow the Bruins killed it off and kept out of the box the rest of the period. The Bruins went from down 2-0 to tie it 2-2 headed to OT.

                                                      Great goal, terrible hit

The Bruins almost won it 2 minutes into OT when Marchand skated in alone but Bobrovsky stoned him cold. With 1:35 left in OT Eetu Luostarinen shot in on Ullmark but the puck deflected right to Zacha. Zacha skated the entire length of the ice and fired the game winning goal past Bobrovsky to win it for the Bruins 4-3 in Overtime.

                                                            Bruins win

Reaction:

That was a big comeback win in a game that meant something for coach Montgomery. He had this one circled and the Bruins played like garbage for the first twenty, but recovered in the end to get the OT win. The real story is the Bruins are starting to drop like flies on the injury front. First Milan Lucic and Jakub Lauko went down and now Matt Grzelcyk could be out a while. The worst part is McAvoy will most likely be suspended on his unnecessary hit on OEL. They may need to call up three guys from Providence just to field a competitive D corps until at least when McAvoy comes back. As for the game, winning a game like that is composure you just can't teach. Its a new year with new players so it'll be interesting to see how they'll perform come April. The Bruins are now 8-0-1 on the season for 17 out of 18 possible points. The Bruins now come home on Wednesday night to take on the high powered Toronto Maple Leafs. The game begins at 7:30 PM at TD Garden.

Pastrnak, Bruins Crush Red Wings (10/28/23)

Before the game the Boston Bruins made another roster move. Jesper Boqvist was sent back to Providence and Oskar Steen was called up to take his place. With Milan Lucic placed on Injured Reserve, the Bruins figure Steen knows the system so he'd be more valuable than Boqvist.....in theory. Fourth liners are always coming and going so may as well give Oskar a chance.

                                                                   OUT

                                                               IN

As for the game, that was a good bounce back win for the Bruins over the Detroit Red Wings after being humiliated by the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday night. Tonight the Bruins played hard to the very end, possibly learning from their mistake. Boston bolted out to a lead when Pavel Zacha scored his second goal on the season on the powerplay. Late in the period, Charlie McAvoy pulled a Bobby Orr by skating right to left and scoring on a backhander. The score remained 2-0 until the third when Joe Veleno fired one past Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman to cut the lead with 13 minutes left. Unlike the last game, the Bruins bore down and got another goal when David Pastrnak buried another penalty shot. Pastrnak got his 8th goal on the season with an empty netter to seal it. The Bruins had won the game 4-1 at TD Garden.

                                                       Pastrnak stays hot in the win

The game began evenly but it was Detroit who had the first real scoring chance 4:05 into the first period when Charlie McAvoy passed the puck right to Lucas Raymond of the Red Wings in front of the net but Jeremy Swayman made the save. Swayman made another save to rob Alex DeBrincat which led to a 3 on 2 for the Bruins, but that was ruined when McAvoy got tangled up with Raymond for an interference penalty. The Bruins managed to kill off the penalty then got their own powerplay when Michael Rasmussen boarded Matthew Poitras 8:50 into the period. McAvoy set up James van Riemsdyk for a one timer but Detroit goalie Ville Husso made the save. Husso made another save on the powerplay to rob Pavel Zacha point blank. The Bruins broke through when Brad Marchand passed to Van Riemsdyk who shot it off Husso. Zacha then blasted home the rebound to give the Bruins the lead with 9:27 left in the period. Then with 5:24 left McAvoy skated from the right side of the boards in front of the net and dumped the puck past Husso in a Bobby Orr like fashion to increase the lead. The Bruins went back to the powerplay seconds after the goal when Andrew Copp high sticked Hampus Lindholm but the Bruins failed to score. Zacha held David Perron stick's with 1:17 left in the period but Dylan Larkin high sticked McAvoy with 32 seconds left to end the period with the Bruins up 2-0.

                                                       Bruins take the lead

The second period began with a 4 on 4 but the Bruins had a short powerplay they failed to score on. With 5:51 gone the Bruins went on another powerplay when Justin Holl tripped Jake DeBrusk but the Bruins failed to score. Halfway through the period, new call-up Oskar Steen hooked Joe Velano but the Bruins killed off the penalty. With 3:20 left in the period, Trent Frederic high sticked JT Compher but the Bruins killed it off to end the period still up 2-0.

                                                        Stay out of the box, Steen!

The third period began with a Larkin blast off Swayman when everyone started to fall down 40 seconds in on the other end. Disaster struck when Charlie Coyle got stripped of the puck by Daniel Sprong who passed it to Veleno for the slapshot goal to cut the lead. With 9:30 left in the game, Klim Kostin hit the post on a slapshot that was three inches away from being a goal. Derek Forbort and Ben Chiarot then got into a shoving match and both were sent off for roughing. Then on the 4 on 4 David Pastrnak got open on a breakaway but Jake Walman slashed his stick, earning David a penalty shot. David buried it for his seventh goal of the season to put the B's up two with 8:41 left. Oskar Steen fired a puck off Husso but was denied the rebound chance with 6:12 left. The Red Wings pulled Husso with three minutes left and Pastrnak threw the puck off the boards and into the net for an empty net goal to seal it with 2:20 left. That was it and the Bruins had won the game 4-1.

                                                                   Goalie hug

Baby B's Bulletin:

Tonight the Providence Bruins fell to the Springfield Thunderbirds 5-2 during their game. Jayson Megna and the returning Jesper Boqvist scored for the Bruins while Mason Lohrei, Ian Mitchell, Anthony Richard and Reilly Walsh got assists. Unfortunately Michael DiPietro was tagged for four goals with the fifth coming on an empty netter.

Mariner Minute:

Tonight the Maine Mariners defeated the Adirondack Thunder in Overtime during their game in Glens Falls, New York. Curtis Hall scored in the first period assisted by Reid Stefanson and Gabriel Chicoine scored 44 seconds into the second period assisted by Alex Kile and Stefanson. The Thunder scored twice in the second period to tie it up but Chicoine scored again 4 minutes into the third period. Yushiroh Hirano scored for the Thunder to tie the game to send it to overtime. In overtime, Tim Doherty set up Owen Pederson for the game inning goal for Maine.

Bruins Reaction:

Literally if it wasn't for a collapse in the third period against Anaheim, the Bruins would be a perfect 8-0 this season rather than 7-0-1. 15 out of 16 points is still good, especially since the Las Vegas Golden Knights are equally red hot trying to defend their Stanley Cup title. The loss of Lucic long term means someone has to step up in his absence, maybe Steen will. Jesper Boqvist scored for Providence tonight so he may replace Steen if Oskar can't score. Hopefully the Bruins don't suffer many serious injuries this season because defensively they look like a wagon this year.....the last two minutes of Thursday's game not withstanding. Still, hopefully Bruins coach Jim Montgomery used Thursday's disaster to make sure something like that never happens again. The Bruins next game is going to be an important and personal one as the Florida Panthers are coming to the Garden for the first time since humiliating the Bruins with their Game 7 comeback victory to knock out the Bruins. Hopefully everyone still on the team remembers how bad it felt and takes their aggressions out on the Panthers this Monday night at 7 PM at TD Garden.

Bruins Collapse in OT, Lose To Ducks (10/26/23)

Before the games the Boston Bruins made two roster moves. With Jakub Lauko and Milan Lucic out, the Bruins brought back Patrick Brown who was supposed to go down to Providence and called up Jesper Boqvist. He had 10 goals and 11 assists last year for the New Jersey Devils so at least he has NHL experience. It looks like Lucic really messed up his foot and could be out a long time. Unfortunate since his presence was a big factor in going 6-0 to start the season.

                                                           Boqvist is here

As for the game, what an unmitigated disaster. For 58 minutes it looked like the Bruins were cruising for their seventh straight victory, leading 3-1 with just over two minutes left in the game against the Anaheim Ducks. The Ducks scored first when Radko Gudas took advantage of a distracted Ullmark to put one past him to put Anaheim up 1-0 going into the second. The second period was all Bruins as Charlie Coyle, Matt Grzelcyk and David Pastrnak all scored to put the Bruins up two going into the third. The Bruins had three big chances to score but failed on all three. Then after the Bruins took a late penalty, the Ducks pulled the goalie and scored twice to tie the game, the tying goal coming with just 14 seconds left. Mason McTavish did the honors in overtime and the Ducks upset the Bruins 4-3 in overtime at TD Garden.

                                                          McTavish wins it for Anaheim

The game began evenly matched through the first four minutes until Troy Terry of the Ducks set up Cam Fowler in front of the net but Bruins goalie Linus Ullmark made the save. The Bruins took the first penalty of the game when Brandon Carlo held Mason McTavish to put Anaheim on the powerplay with 8:27 left in the period. Ullmark made some key stops to prevent Anaheim from scoring. With 5 minutes left in the period Ryan Strome shot on Ullmark, old friend Urho Vaakanainen jabbed at it but it was Radko Gudas that put it in the net with Hampus Lindholm wrestling with Mason McTavish behind Ullmark. No further penalties or big saves was needed and the first period ended with the Ducks up 1-0.

                                                  The heck happened on this play?

The Bruins took control in the second period although Ducks goalie John Gibson robbed Charlie McAvoy of a goal 33 seconds into it. The Bruins went on the powerplay when Jackson LaCombe cross-checked Matthew Poitras 49 seconds into the period. The Bruins got a fortuitous bounce on the powerplay when McAvoy dished it to David Pastrnak but fanned on the shot. The puck wobbled toward the goal and Charlie Coyle stuffed it in to tie the game 1:41 into the period. A minute later old friend Frank Vatrano and Coyle got into a chinwag with both getting sent off for cross-checking. While it was 4 on 4, Matthew Poitras passed it to McAvoy who dished it to Matt Grzelcyk who scored on a one-timer to put the Bruins on top. Literally seconds after the Grzelcyk goal, Pastrnak damn near had a goal but Gibson made a great save to rob David. Six minutes into the period Derek Forbort got sent to the penalty box for cross-checking Sam Carrick but the Bruins missed a HUGE shorthanded chance. Tape to tape passing had the puck on John Beecher's stick but he hit the post with his shot. The Bruins got a goal anyway when Pastrnak blasted a shot off Gibson and Zacha also hit Gibson in the chest with a shot. The puck rebounded right to Pastrnak who buried it to put the Bruins up by two goals with 3:20 left in the second period. The Bruins caught a break when Gudas interfered with Coyle with 33 seconds left in the period which had the Bruins going into intermission on the powerplay and up 3-1.

                                                       Bruins looked in control

The key to the game it turns out was the Bruins failed to score on the powerplay to open the third period. Had the Bruins scored, the game would have been over for sure. 5:14 into the period, Lindholm got called for roughing Trevor Zegras. The Bruins killed off the penalty and damn near made it 4-1 but Gibson stoned Coyle in front of the net 9 minutes into the period. Then Gibson made a huge save on a Trent Frederic one-timer but Vatrano got bagged for cross-checking Lindholm. Again the Bruins would have iced the game with a goal and finally the Ducks started their comeback with 3:59 remaining in the game. Patrick Brown held Jason Silfverberg. The Ducks pulled Gibson to make it 6 on 4 and with 1:55 left just after the powerplay ended, Leo Carlsson took a feed from Terry and Sam Carrick to score a goal. The Ducks pulled the goalie again when play shifted to the Bruins zone and Lindholm failed to clear the puck with 25 seconds left. Strome passed it to Pavel Mintyukov who found Terry in front of the net to score with just 14 seconds left. The Bruins were that close to winning the game but now we're going to overtime tied 3-3.

                                                              Ducks tie the game

The Ducks didn't need long in Overtime to end it. With 2 minutes gone LaCombe passed it to Carlsson on a rush. He passed it to McTavish who scored on the one timer to win it for Anaheim. The Ducks stunned the Bruins 4-3 in Overtime.

                                                              Ducks win

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That game was a sucker punch to the gonads. The Bruins had the game won in the third period if they capitalized on either powerplay or if Frederic punched it home on his chance. Even then if they played just 14 more seconds of defense, but they didn't. That was a collapse and coach Jim Montgomery is NOT going to be happy. If he went off on them for lollygagging through a morning skate and benched Jake DeBrusk for being late to a meeting, what do you think he's going to do to them tomorrow? Its clear that Montgomery doesn't want a repeat of the Florida series and cutting down on defensive lapses like this would be a good start. Ullmark deserved a better fate, that's for sure. The Bruins just about had this game won even with Pastrnak and Brad Marchand having a low key night. The Bruins better get it together because Saturday night they have a date with the Detroit Red Wings and their first Eastern Conference game of the season. The game begins at 8 PM at TD Garden.

Off-Day News: Baby B's & Mariners (10/25/23)

We interrupt your day off with a special Baby B's Bulletin.....and Mariner Minute. The Boston Bruins sent 2018 4th round pick, center Curtis Hall to the Maine Mariners. The Bruins have a lot going on today but the first transaction was Hall being sent down to Maine. Why? More on that later. Hall basically kept the Mariners season alive in the playoffs last year with 6 points so he's back to do some damage until he's needed in Providence again.

                                                           Back to Maine for Hall

So why was Hall sent down to Maine? Patrick Brown was sent down to Providence. The rumor is the Bruins are going to re-sign Danton Heinen and since Patrick has zero....point...zero points on the season, it makes sense to bring Heinen back at a reduced price. This also shows Fabian Lysell isn't ready yet or they just would have called him up. Brown might be back, but for now he's reporting to Providence.

                                                         Back to Providence for Brown

But but...we ain't done yet! Apparently the Bruins are going to need TWO roster spots ahead of tomorrow night's game against the Anaheim Ducks. Ian Mitchell was placed on waivers earlier today. Another team can claim him or he'll go down to Providence. Either way Mitchell is off the Bruins which leaves them a defenseman down. Rumors are they're going to call up Jakob Zboril to sink or swim after being drafted NINE years ago. They may call an audible but bottom line is Matthews is on waivers.

                                                       Placed on waivers

So that's where we're at going into tomorrow. Mitchell and Brown are off the Bruins roster and Curtis Hall has been sent down to Maine. Who will they call up or sign? We'll find out before tomorrow night's game.