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

Reaction:

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.

Swayman, Bruins Blank Blackhawks(10/24/23)

With all eyes in the NHL on Chicago Blackhawks rookie Connor Bedard going into the season, a lot of rookies got overlooked. One of them was Boston Bruins 19 year old center Matthew Poitras. As it stands right now Poitras has more goals on the season then Bedard, one of them was a big one in tonight's game. Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman and Blackhawks goalie Peter Mrazek stayed tough in the first period although the key of the game was the Bruins' eye in the sky getting a Bedard goal wiped out due to being offsides. The Bruins struck first in the second period when Pavel Zacha tipped in a Kevin Shattenkirk shot to put Boston on top. In the third, Matthew Poitras skated past the entire Blackhawks team and scored on a backhand goal to essentially ice it. Trent Frederic scored just a minute later and the Bruins defense went hunting for the goose egg. Swayman stopped all 21 shots as the Bruins shutout the Blackhawks 3-0 at the United Center.

                                                          The rookie strikes again

The Bruins almost struck first 2 minutes into the period when Kevin Shattenkirk passed it to Matthew Poitras but Blackhawks goalie Peter Mrazek stopped the shot. The Bruins got the first powerplay four minutes into the period when Kevin Korchinski held Morgan Geekie when Morgan was shooting at the net. Mrazek stopped Charlie McAvoy on one attempt and the Blackhawks killed it off. Jakub Lauko then got called for tripping old friend Nick Foligno and Chicago went on the powerplay. It looked like Bedard scored on a horrific turnover by Charlie Coyle but eagle eyed Bruins coach Jim Montgomery challenged the play was offsides. Sure enough, it WAS off-sides and the goal was disallowed. To add insult to injury, Tyler Johnson hooked Coyle a minute after the goal was called off to negate the powerplay.  The Bruins failed to score although the Blackhawks had the advantage going into the second period when Trent Frederic hooked Andreas Athanasiou with 24 seconds left in the period. The game remained tied 0-0 going into break.

                                                                    Big no goal call

The Bruins killed off the penalty to open the second period despite a big scoring chance by Bedard then old friend Ryan Donato once the powerplay ended. James van Riemsdyk got robbed by Mrazek four minutes into the period. A few seconds later Frederic fed Coyle in front but Mrazek made the save. Then 3:50 into the period Kevin Shattenkirk fired on net and the puck deflected off Pavel Zacha's stick and in for his first goal of the season to give the Bruins the lead. Chicago got a powerplay when McAvoy got called for holding Foligno but the Hawks failed to score. Swayman made a great save to rob Boris Katchouk then later Katchouk got called for tripping McAvoy with 7:15 left in the period. The Bruins failed to score on the powerplay and with 3:30 left DeBrusk got stripped of the puck by Taylor Raddysh. He passed to Athanasiou who dished to a wide open Lukas Reichel but Swayman made a great save. This time it would be the Bruins on the powerplay to end the period as Seth Jones hooked Zacha with 57 seconds left in the period. The Bruins went into intermission up 1-0.

                                                      Bruins take the lead

The Bruins began the third period on the powerplay but failed to score. Ironically ESPN broadcaster Sean McDonough was in the middle of saying that former Bruin Taylor Hall was placed on IR by the Blackhawks this morning when Poitras outskated three Hawks to the puck, broke in on Mrazek and scored to increase the lead. With five minutes gone in the period, Coyle fired on net but Mrazek couldn't control the rebound. JVR passed backwards to a wide open Frederic who buried it to ice the game. Things got scary when Jakub Lauko took a skate to the face and left the ice a bloody mess and things went from scary to chippy with 5 minutes left when perennial Stanley Cup Finals pest Corey Perry got into a donnybrook with Shattenkirk, both getting minor penalties for roughing.  The Bruins defense held in the final five minutes and the Bruins earned the goose egg with a 3-0 victory over the Blackhawks.

                                                                Goalie hug

Reaction:

Yes its another win against a bad team on paper but at the same time the Bruins might have something going here. The Bruins lost a ton of offense in the off-season due to retirements plus the salary cap and if Poitras can keep playing like this, that's a load off guys like Marchand and Pastrnak. Speaking of which, this was the first real game where Brad & David did virtually nothing so it was nice to see the others step up. Milan Lucic is still banged up from taking the puck off the foot but it was good to see Derek Forbort make his return. Lauko took a skate right above the eye but according to coach Jim Montgomery, he'll just need stitches. One thing mentioned during the broadcast that the Bruins are going to have a tough time replacing are the faceoff percentages of Tomas Nosek and Patrice Bergeron, especially Bergeron. Poitras may score some goals but winning faceoffs will be important. Once again the defense and goaltending was superb and so far the Bruins remain undefeated at 6-0. The Bruins now return home to face the Anaheim Ducks this Thursday night. The game begins at 7:00 PM at TD Garden.

Poitras Scores Twice, Bruins Beat Ducks (10/22/23)

Before the game it was announced that Derek Forbort would be missing tonight's game and Ian Mitchell would be taking his place. Last night Milan Lucic took a puck off the foot on a Morgan Geekie goal so he too is out. Patrick Brown continues to be in the lineup to take Lucic's place with Jake DeBrusk returning. That's two guys down on the second night of a back to back, not good.

                                                                           OUT

                                                                    IN

Way back in the 2003-04 season an 18 year old Patrice Bergeron made his NHL debut and was an instant sensation. By March, he was one of top contenders of the Calder Trophy. Know what else happened in March of that year? Tonight's hero was born. Boston's second round pick last year, 19 year old Matthew Poitras scored two goals tonight against the Anaheim Ducks and thanks to a brilliant performance by goalie Linus Ullmark, that was all the offense the Bruins would need. The game was deadlocked until the third period when Mason MacTavish tipped in a puck to put the Ducks up 1-0 with 15 minutes left. Have no fear because just over a minute later Poitras scored his first NHL goal with first Bruins assists by Ian Mitchell and Morgan Geekie. Four minutes later Poitras found the back of the net again thanks to Jake DeBrusk and Charlie McAvoy to put the Bruins on top. Anaheim pulled the goalie with three minutes left and Charlie Coyle found Brad Marchand for the empty net goal to ice it. The Bruins had won their fifth straight game to start the season and sweep the California triangle by beating the Ducks 3-1 at the Honda Center.

                                                    First career goal by Poitras

Things got off to an ominous start when 29 seconds into the first period, Brad Marchand was sent off for cross-checking old friend Urho Vaakanainen. The Bruins actually got the best chance when Jake DeBrusk got a wide open breakaway on the penalty kill and beat goalie John Gibson clean.....but off the post. Bruins goalie Linus Ullmark robbed Max Jones point blank on the Ducks' powerplay and the Ducks killed their own penalty when Brett Leason tripped Brandon Carlo at 2:19. Things looked bad when Matt Grzelcyk got lit up on a hit and had to go get cleaned up and the Bruins failed to score on the powerplay. 6 minutes into the first Ullmark had to stop both Trevor Zegras and Troy Terry from scoring. With 7:40 left in the period, Radko Gudas got called for high sticking Marchand but the Bruins failed to score on the powerplay. Gudas then got called for interference with 1:11 left but Marchand & David Pastrnak failed to score as the game was tied 0-0 going into the second.

                                                             Look out Matt

The Bruins started the second period on the powerplay but failed to score. 3:41 into the period Ian Mitchell flipped the puck over the glass for a delay of game penalty and the Ducks went on the powerplay. Pavel Mintyukov blasted one off Ullmark and Linus had to stop Mason MacTavish on the rebound. 7 minutes into the first the Ducks got a 3 on 1 and Ullmark again stopped MacTavish. With 11:50 left in the period Charlie Coyle got into a chinwag with Max Jones and they both went off for roughing. With 7:03 left in the period Mitchell went off for tripping Zegras but 88 seconds later Terry interfered with Coyle to make it a 4 on 4. On the 4 on 4 Matthew Poitras found Kevin Shattenkirk alone in the slot but Gibson made the save. The Bruins failed to score on the powerplay but with 14 seconds left, Gibson made a good save to stop Pavel Zacha from scoring. After two it was still 0-0.

                                                      No goals through two periods

The Bruins wasted no time in the third period trying to get to Gibson when Hampus Lindholm passed to a wide open Morgan Geekie, but failed to put the puck in net. Ullmark had to make a great save on old friend Frank Vatrano and another one on Zegras within the first four minutes. Then disaster struck as Vatrano passed to Ryan Strome on a two on one with MacTavish. Ullmark stopped Strome's shot but MacTavish scored on the rebound to make it 1-0 Ducks with 15 minutes to go. The Bruins didn't wait long to get on the board themselves. With 13:31 left, Mitchell passed it to Geekie who threw it in front for Poitras to bang it home, tying the game. Then with 9:40 left, Charlie McAvoy passed to DeBrusk who threw it off Gibson. Poitras banged home the rebound and the Bruins had the lead 2-1. With four minutes left Ullmark made a good save off a Strome slapshot, then a minute later Ullmark robbed Gudas point blank. With the goalie pulled, Coyle found Marchand for the obligatory empty net goal to end this one with 2:34 left. Zegras got so mad he whacked Marchand with his stick with 1:01 remaining to put the Bruins on the powerplay. Bruins coach Jim Montgomery called off the dogs and just burned the final minute off the clock rather than try for a fourth goal. The game ended and the Bruins had won the game 3-1.

                                                          Goalie hug

Reaction:

That was far from the Bruins best game this season but their defense and goaltending hasn't missed a beat since last year. As long as Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman stay healthy they're going to be pretty tough to beat. Getting that type of effort by Poitras was clutch tonight when Pastrnak & Marchand were silenced for the most part. It would be completely unfair to expect Poitras to have a Calder type season but at the same time the Bruins lost a lot of offense in the off-season, hopefully Matthew can make up for some of it. Ullmark had a great game tonight, stopping 30 of 31 shots and they needed each and every save. Ironically the only one who was -1 tonight was Pastrnak, who was due for a low key game. Still, in a game without Lucic & Forbort and losing Trent Frederic to injury, a win is a win. The Bruins look to make it 6 wins in a row this coming Tuesday night and a road trip sweep when they travel to Chicago for an opening night rematch. The Bruins face Conor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks at 8:30 PM eastern time at the United Center.

Bruins Down Kings Without DeBrusk (10/21/23)

Looks like Boston Bruins coach Jim Montgomery isn't messing around this year. After giving the team a tongue lashing during morning skate on Thursday, he responded by benching Jake DeBrusk after he was late for a team meeting this morning for tonight's game against the Los Angeles Kings. After the embarrassment of last April, Montgomery is holding the team accountable for pretty much everything this season. Replacing DeBrusk tonight is veteran forward Patrick Brown who played 18 games for the Ottawa Senators last season.

                                                                 Scratched

                                                               Called Up

Whatever Montgomery is doing, its working as the Bruins have won their fourth game in a row to start the season and second straight in California. Tonight the Bruins knocked of the Los Angeles Kings in a game that wasn't as close as the final score suggests. David Pastrnak scored his fifth goal of the season to put the Bruins up in the first period but the Kings tied it in the second on a Alex Laferriere breakway goal. The Bruins then responded as a puck ricocheted off Milan Lucic's first over to Morgan Geekie for his first Bruins goal. Captain Brad Marchand scored later in the period with the Bruins leading 3-1 going into the third. Marchand scored the dagger goal but Carl Grundstrom scored with 70 seconds left in the game to make the final score closer. The Bruins still won their fourth game in a row to start the season 4-2 over the Kings at the Staples Center.

                                                        Another win

The first period belonged to the Bruins as Charlie McAvoy walked in alone on Kings goalie Cam Talbot just 5 seconds into the game but Cam made the save. The Kings got the first powerplay of the game when Charlie Coyle interfered with Trevor Moore just two minutes into the game. Adrian Kempe had a breakaway but Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman stoned him cold then stopped Pierre-Luc Dubois on the rebound. It didn't look good for the Bruins when just a minute into the penalty, John Beecher got called for holding the stick to put Boston on a 5 on 3 PK. The Bruins were pinned down and Dubois was alone in front of Swayman but Jeremy stopped the shot. The Bruins killed off both penalties but 8 minutes into the period Swayman had to stop two more chances to keep the game tied. The Kings took their first penalty 12:57 into the first when Mikey Anderson plowed into James van Riemsdyk for interference. On the ensuing powerplay, van Riemsdyk passed it along the boards to Brad Marchand who found David Pastrnak in the slot open for the one time goal to put the Bruins on top. The Bruins looked to have gotten a break when Arthur Kaliyev nailed McAvoy with a high stick for a 4 minute double minor with 1:49 left in the period. The Bruins failed to score to end the period but were still up 1-0.

                                                         Bruins go up early

The Bruins went into the second period with 2:11 left in powerplay time but the Kings ended up dominating. Less than a minute into the first period Trevor Moore passed it to a streaking Phillip Danault who beat Swayman.....off the post and out. They were 3 inches from a shorthanded goal. The Kings killed off the penalty and Coyle went off for boarding Andreas Englund 3:16 into the period. The Bruins killed it off but McAvoy went off for hooking Kevin Fiala 10:15 into the period. Then disaster struck as Fiala passed it to Dubois who found Alex Laferriere streaking past the Bruins for a wide open breakaway goal 6:28 into the period to tie the game with his first NHL goal. The Bruins then got the lead back when Derek Forbort fired a shot on net that ricocheted off of Milan Lucic's foot over to Morgan Geekie who scored his first Bruins goal to put Boston back on top with 5:15 left in the second. 4 seconds after the puck dropped, it was go time as Andreas Englund wanted a piece of Trent Frederic. Freddy landed some bombs in an entertaining fight. Less than a minute later Pastrnak passed it to Forbort who found Marchand in traffic. Marchand snapped the shot off of Anze Kopitar's skate through the legs of Talbot and in to increase the lead with 4:27 left in the period. That's how the period ended with the Bruins up 3-1.

                                                    First Bruins goal for Geekie

The Kings took the opening faceoff and skated into the Bruins zone but a Kopitar shot was blocked in front. The Bruins went on the powerplay 1:39 into the period when Dubois hooked Frederic. Unfortunately the Bruins failed to score on the powerplay because Geekie went off for hooking Drew Doughty 62 seconds later. The Bruins did kill off the penalty and action resumed. The Bruins almost scored when Matt Grzelcyk hit the post 6:23 into the period and Coyle missed seconds later. Swaymen then stoned Kempe and Quinton Byfield back to back 7:28 into the frame. The Bruins finally iced the game when Pavel Zacha passed it to Pastrnak behind the net who dished it to Marchand who buried it for the dagger with 2:12 left. The Kings didn't go quietly as Frederic went to the penalty box for cross-checking Englund. On the powerplay, Trevor Lewis dished it to Matt Roy who shot it off Carl Grundstrom and in for a goal with 1:10 left in the game. The Kings emptied the net but failed to score as the Bruins had won the game 4-2.

                                                          Goalie hug

Awards:

Morgan Geekie gets the Smokey Harris Award for first Bruins goal

James van Riemsdyk gets the Carson Cooper Award for first Bruins assist

Baby B's Bulletin:

Tonight the Providence Bruins lost 5-4 in a shootout to the Hershey Bears. Fabian Lysell got his first goal of the season, Oskar Steen got his third and John Farinacci & Jayson Megna both scored their second goals. Even though they lost in a shootout, its encouraging to see Lysell and Farinacci score because those are two of the young prospects the team could use down the road. Vincent Arseneau also got into a scrap with Dylan McIlrath.

Mariner Minute:

Tonight the Maine Mariners lost 6-4 to the Trois Rivieres Lions. Alex Kile scored twice while Reid Stefanson and Ethan Keppen both scored goals. Tim Doherty had four assists while Gabriel Chicoine had two with Stefanson & Keppen with the other assists. Austin Albrecht got thrown out of the game for spearing during a scrum with Chris Ortiz and Jakov Novak. Connor Doherty also went off for roughing in the scrum. Like mentioned in the Mariners Preview: Kile was THAT close to the NHL in 2019 so he might be their best player. Doherty had 52 assists last year and he got four in one game tonight. Keppen was one of just two players drafted by an NHL team and he had a goal and an assist. Too bad they lost.

Bruins Reaction:

As mentioned in the intro, winning this one without DeBrusk was big and it also showed that Montgomery isn't tolerating failure this season. The Bruins were an absolute wagon last year and the wheels fell off in the playoffs, Jim wants to make sure that doesn't happen again. Benching a guy early means he won't be pulling this stuff down the road....in theory. It was still a great team win with Pastrnak & Marchand doing the most damage and kudos to Geekie for his first Bruins goal. JVR got his first Bruins assist and Swayman did a hell of a job for the most part besides one breakaway and a deflection with a minute left. Essentially the Bruins are picking up where they left off last year but the word around hockey is "they haven't played anyone good yet!" Well, when the time comes to face the Florida Panthers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Las Vegas Golden Knights and Tampa Bay Lightning, we'll see how that turns out. The one lone problem with the Bruins is their lack of forward depth since they had to call up Patrick Brown for this one. No disrespect to Brown but he's not exactly some of the guys from last year that retired or moved on. The sooner Lysell down in Providence develops, the better. The Bruins have no time to rest as tomorrow night they conclude their California road trip against the 1-3 Anaheim Ducks. The game begins at 8:30 PM Eastern time at the Honda Center. Hopefully DeBrusk comes out full of fire for that one.

Bruins Hang On To Beat Sharks (10/19/23)

It wasn't pretty but the Boston Bruins remain undefeated on the young season with a big win on the road against the San Jose Sharks. The Bruins scored twice 21 seconds apart in the first period to jump out to a lead. Captain Brad Marchand scored his first of the season while James van Riemsdyk pumped in his third. The Bruins added to the lead in the second period when David Pastrnak went down trying to score and the puck went in off his skate. The third period was the Sharks best period as Anthony Duclair got a lucky bounce past Linus Ullmark to put the Sharks on the board. The Sharks pulled the goalie with three minutes left and Marchand took a penalty with 36 seconds left to make it 6 on 4. The Bruins defense held on and beat the Sharks 3-1 at the SAP Center.

                                                       Captain leads the way

The first period belonged to the Bruins as they played a nearly flawless period. Trent Frederic nearly scored off the opening faceoff and neither team took a penalty the entire period. With 3 minutes left, Mike Hoffman was open at the point but his shot went off Hampus Lindholm's skate and out of harms way. Rookie John Beecher dished it to Brad Marchand who fired it in for Beecher's first career assist on Brad's first goal of the season. 21 seconds later there was a lot of traffic in front of Sharks goalie Kaapo Kahkonen and James van Riemsdyk tucked in a rebound to give the Bruins a two goal lead just like that. That was it for the first period with the Bruins leading 2-0 at the break.

                                                   All smiles so far

 

Things got chippy right away in the second period as van Riemsdyk got cleaned out by Kyle Burroughs which was deemed a cross-check by the referee. The Bruins went on the powerplay but failed to cash in as Jake DeBrusk was called for hooking Duclair to put the Sharks on the powerplay. The Bruins killed it off and continued to get good defense from Brandon Carlo & Charlie McAvoy. With 3:14 left in the period, Carlo found Pastrnak on a breakaway who was checked by Marc-Edouard Vlasic.....only for the puck to bounce off David's skate into the net for a goal. Whoops! That was it for the period with the Bruins holding a commanding lead 3-0 going into intermission.

                                                      Lucky bounce for Pastrnak

The Sharks took control in the third period and it didn't help that Charlie Coyle tripped Luke Kunin 58 seconds into the period. The best scoring chances came from the Bruins actually as Brad Marchand had a wide open breakaway but couldn't it it past Kahkonen. Seconds later Pavel Zacha got stoned cold by Kahkonen all alone in front. 4:30 into the period Matt Geekie got open but fired wide of the net. Nico Sturm had Ullmark down with just over 15 minutes left in the game but missed the net. A few minutes later Kahkonen robbed Zacha again. Then the Sharks struck with 8:47 left as Lindholm shadowed Duclair who ended up throwing it off Lindholm's skate and in for the goal. Pastnak almost got the goal back with just over 5 minutes left and San Jose pulled Kahkonen with about 3 minutes left. The Sharks then caught a break when Marchand was sent off for hooking Thomas Hertl with 37 seconds left. The Bruins held on and had won the game 3-1.

                                                                  Goalie hug

Awards:

John Beecher won the Carson Cooper Award for first Bruins (and career) assist.

James van Riemsdyk passed Jarno Kultanen, Mattias Timander and Jaromir Jagr on the Bruins all-time goal list with this 3rd Bruins goal.

Reaction:

That was a dominating performance that got sloppy in the third period. It was reported Bruins coach Jim Montgomery wasn't happy with their morning practice and it showed as they came out with fire against the Sharks. The two goals in 21 seconds set the tone and Ullmark ended up stopping 26 out of 27 shots for the victory. Hats off to Beecher who got his first career assist and Brad Marchand for his first goal of the season. Shockingly, Pastrnak is just 39 goals away from tying Cam Neely for 7th place on the all-time list while Marchand is now 22 away from tying Ray Bourque for 5th place. The third period got a little dicey but they survived. Like I mentioned in the previous two games, this is the same defense and goaltending that won the Vezina & Jennings trophies last year so even if the offense isn't what it was a year ago, they're still nasty in the back end. Barring injury they still should win quite a few games this year. The Bruins look to make it 4-0 on the season as they continue their west coast trip with a date with the Los Angeles Kings. The game begins this Saturday night at 10:30 PM Eastern time at the Staples Center.