Penguins Shut Down Bruins (11/29/24)

So much for that offensive resurgence against the New York Islanders. The Boston Bruins reverted back to their old ways of nothing as they lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins by a score of 2-1. The key to the game was in the second period. Charlie Coyle scored just 84 seconds into the game but with just one second left in the second, Rickard Rakell tucked one past Jeremy Swayman to tie the game. The Bruins never recovered as the much maligned Tristian Jarry held Boston scoreless after that first goal. Just over seven minutes into the third, Philip Tomasino took a dish from Evgeni Malkin and scored to put Pittsburgh ahead. The Bruins put 32 shots on Jarry but 31 of them were saved as the Penguins beat the Bruins 2-1 at TD Garden.

                                                         Stonewalled by HIM?

The Bruins didn't waste any time getting on the board in the first period. Jack St Ivanny turned the puck over right onto the stick of Tyler Johnson. Johnson dished it to Trent Frederic who passed to a wide open Charlie Coyle who fired it in for his fifth goal of the season just 1:24 into the game. Just over a minute later, a 2 on 1 resulted in a wide open Sidney Crosby breakaway....saved by Jeremy Swayman. Swayman also stopped a slapper by Marcus Pettersson to keep the lead intact. Justin Brazeau nearly tucked one past Jarry but it was saved.

                                                       Coyle scores

Just over six minutes into the first period, Cole Koepke had a partial breakaway but couldn't fire it past Jarry. Swayman held the fort with some big saves on the other end but Mason Lohrei's slapshot was saved by Jarry. With just over 8 minutes left in the first period, Johnson dished it back to Patrick Wotherspoon but Jarry saved the slap shot attempt. Swayman kept busy by stopping a Philip Tomasino drive and then Ryan Shea got called for tripping with 7:55 left in the first. Charlie McAvoy was stoned by Jarry on the power play and Kevin Hayes was robbed by Swayman on a shorthanded attempt. Then disaster struck as Brad Marchand got bagged for interference just 56 seconds into the powerplay. Four on four solved nothing and the Bruins killed off the penalty. Jarry stoned Pavel Zacha with just over a minute left and Swayman stopped Michael Bunting at the other end. Then the Bruins got stupid as Tyler Johnson was whistled for tripping with 22 seconds left and Nikita Zadorov on the bench reached over and poked Evgeni Malkin with his stick. Malkin retaliated and a scrum ensued. Both Zadorov and Malkin got matching penalties but the Johnson call put the Penguins on the power play as the first period ended with the Bruins up 1-0.

                                                    Zadorov causing trouble

Ironically it was the Bruins who got the first chance of the second period on the penalty kill. McAvoy tossed the puck to Marchand who passed it to Coyle for the one timer....saved by Jarry. Three minutes later, David Pastrnak sent the puck right to Pavel Zacha on the doorstep but Zacha couldn't tuck it in. 7 minutes into the period Pettersson shot it off Swayman for a rebound but Tomasino couldn't bang it home. 8:11 into the period Bunting stripped McAvoy of the puck for a 2 on 1 but Swayman robbed Anthony Beauvillier point blank. The Bruins went on the power play again when St. Ivanny went off for tripping halfway through the period but once again the Bruins could do nothing with it. Disaster struck at the end of the period with a Bruins zone faceoff with six seconds left. Crosby won the draw back to Erik Karlsson who's slapshot went wide. Crosby scooped the puck up, tossed it to Tomasino who fired it past Swayman with 1 second left in the period to tie the game. That turned out to be the backbreaker as we went to intermission tied 1-1.

                                                      Killer goal by Pittsburgh

The third period belonged to the Penguins as they peppered Swayman with six shots in the first couple of minutes. The game was essentially over 7:26 into the third when Malkin skated around Zacha and threw it in front. Tomasino shot it past Swayman to give the Penguins the lead. It was Tomasino's first of the season to boot. The final big chance came with 8:14 left as Brandon Carlo fired it on net and Jarry left a rebound. Charlie Coyle dragged it and drew Jarry out of the net, but a heads up play by Kris Letang blocking the shot from going into the net kept Pittsburgh in front. With 7:03 left, Bunting was whistled for holding the stick to give the Bruins one last power play chance, but they failed to score. Karlsson saved the day for Pittsburgh after Andrew Peeke's slapshot caromed right to Morgan Geekie with Jarry down. Karlsson stepped in front and blocked Geekie's attempt. The Bruins pulled Swayman for the extra attacker but Pastrnak's last second blast was saved by Jarry to give Pittsburgh the 2-1 win.

                                                      Lost to the damn Penguins

Reaction:

The good news is once again the defense put up a damn good fight, holding the Penguins to just two goals after teams were utterly dominating the Bruins throughout most of November. The bad news was the offense once again evaporated. Getting stoned by Tristian Jarry is embarrassing enough but the saves made by Karlsson and Letang just goes to show the Bruins have no puck luck at all. The Bruins power play currently ranks dead last in the NHL and Joe Sacco needs to change up the lines or Don Sweeney needs to call up Fabian Lysell to sink or swim. Whatever they're doing now clearly isn't working since the only team they beat up were the god damned New York Islanders. Crosby, Malkin, Letang and Karlsson make a great NHL 2010 all-star team but its 2025 in a month, the Bruins shouldn't be getting shut down like this damn near every game. The loss drops the Bruins to 11-11-3....ugh. The Bruins remain home for their special Centennial Game against the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday afternoon. 100 years to the day the Boston Bruins played their first game, they take on Les Habitants at 3:00 PM at the TD Garden.

Bruins Bounce Back Against Islanders (11/27/24)

The much maligned Boston Bruins offense had been as rotten as their jockstraps the past four games, scoring just 4 goals combined. Tonight they turned the tide against the New York Islanders by scoring SIX goals in tonight's game against New York goalie Ilya Sorokin. Less than one minute into the game Brad Marchand set the tone for the game with a goal and just over five minutes later, he scored again. Two goal leads are the worst in hockey and tonight was no different as Maxim Tsyplakov and Brock Nelson scored to tie the game. Morgan Geekie scored his second of the season but Nelson answered to tie the game going into the third. Then it was the Pavel Zacha show as he scored twice in two and a half minutes to put the game away. Nikita Zadorov got the empty net goal, Joonas Korpisalo held the Islanders scoreless in the final twenty minutes and the Bruins got back in the winning column with a 6-3 win at the UBS Center.

                                                     Bruins remembered how to score

56 seconds into the game Elias Lindholm took the faceoff in the Islanders zone and dumped it to Brad Marchand, the captain scoring on a one timer to give the Bruins the lead. Less than a minute later Pavel Zacha dished the puck to Lindholm for a one timer but Sorokin stopped it. Four minutes into the game Joonas Korpisalo stopped a shot from the point by Dennis Cholowski. Just over four minutes into the game, Zacha found Mark Kastelic but was unable to jam it home. Then the Bruins caught the Islanders asleep when Lindholm passed it up to Justin Brazeau who left the puck to Marchand, scoring his second goal of the period to put the Bruins up by two. Then with just over seven minutes left in the period, Parker Wotherspoon passed it off the boards right to Brock Nelson, who found Maxim Tsyplakov all alone in front to score a goal. Just a lazy play by Wotherspoon. Less than thirty seconds later, Kastelic tried to pass the puck to Cole Koepke but it went through his legs right to Oliver Wahlstrom. Thankfully Korpisalo denied the back hand attempt but that was two terrible turnovers in under a minute. Bo Horvat fired it right to Korpisalo off the faceoff then Joonas denied Tsyplakov. With 3:10 remaining, Morgan Geekie dished it to Zacha but Sorokin denied the shot attempt. Brandon Carlo was also stopped by Sorokin with 101 seconds left in the period. Pastrnak too was denied with one minute left in the period as the Bruins ended the period still up 2-1.

                                                       Marchand means business tonight

Marchand damn near got a hat trick just 34 seconds into the second period but Sorokin just got a pad blocker on the shot attempt. The Islanders completed the inevitable when Brock Nelson blew by Mason Lohrei and fired the puck past Korpisalo to tie the game just under nine minutes into the period. Three minutes later the Bruins answered when Pastrnak passed it to Zacha who found Geekie wide open in the slot. Geekie fired it into the net for just his second goal of the season to put the Bruins back on top 3-2. The Bruins went into shell mode for the rest of the period and strangely there weren't any penalties either. With 7 seconds left in the period, Nelson skated right past Zadorov and McAvoy to score the game tying goal, going into intermission tied 3-3.

                                                     Unhappy Islanders fan

Korpisalo made the biggest save of the night on a 3 on 2 rush just under four minutes into the third period. Horvat dished it to Jean Gabriel-Pageau who dished it back to Horvat for a one timer....stopped by Joonas. The Bruins took control of the game halfway through the period when Andrew Peeke fired it on net, tipped home by Zacha to put Boston back on top with 9:12 remaining. Less than three minutes later, Zadorov passed it behind the net to Pastrnak. David threw it in front of the net and Zacha happened to be there to bang it home for the big insurance goal with 6:37 remaining. Suddenly the referees decided to call a penalty when Zadorov got called for a borderline cross check call on Anders Lee with 4:10 left. With three minutes left, Islanders coach Patrick Roy pulled Sorokin for the 6 on 4 advantage. The Bruins held fast as Lindholm took the puck, passed it to McAvoy who fired it up the boards as time expired. Zadorov just happened to be coming out of the box and he casually swept the puck into the empty net for the final goal with 2:02 left. That was it and the Bruins had won the game 6-3.

                                                       Big win by Boston

Reaction:

Its about damn time the Bruins figured out how to score goals again. Yes it was against Ilya Sorokin but good goals are good goals. Charlie McAvoy said after last night's disaster that "the damn is gonna break" and it took less than 24 hours for it to happen. Marchand and especially Zacha needed to step up and they did. The Geekie goal was big too because the Bruins had blown a two goal lead and momentum could have slipped away. Kudos to Korpisalo for stoning the Islanders cold in the third period as well. Another interesting factor is there was only one penalty in the entire game and it was a pretty soft call. It was only fair Zadorov came out of the box to score the empty netter. The offense could still use an uplift (Fabian Lysell) in the long run but for one night, it looked to be back on track. With Jeremy Swayman appearing to shake off the rust, the Bruins might be fine after all. The win improved the Bruins to 11-10-3, good for 25 points and just three back of the Toronto Maple Leafs for first place in the Atlantic Division (Toronto does have two games in hand). The Bruins now play a Black Friday showdown against the Pittsburgh Penguins at home. The game begins at 6:30 PM at TD Garden.

Canucks Blank Punchless Bruins (11/26/24)

The Boston Bruins offensive woes continued as the Bruins failed to score in tonight's game against the Vancouver Canucks. Old pal Jake DeBrusk naturally got the Canucks started with a second period power play goal after Canucks nemesis Brad Marchand was in the penalty box for cross checking. The good news was the Boston defense showed up big time in this one, suffocating the Canucks for pretty much the rest of the game. The Canucks only had 15 total shots while the Bruins peppered Kevin Lankinen for 32 on the other end. Unfortunately none of the 32 shots went in as Lankinen posted the shutout for the Canucks. Jeremy Swayman continued to show signs of his former self but the hapless offense continues to drag the Bruins down. Conor Garland got the empty net goal with 13 seconds left to hand Joe Sacco his first loss as Bruins coach 2-0 at TD Garden.

                                                       Of course it had to be DeBrusk

The first period was a whole lot of nothing mostly due to the Bruins defense. The first big save by Kevin Lankinen came with 7 minutes gone in the first period. Charlie McAvoy passed it to Mason Lohrei who fired to David Pastrnak. Pastrnak's one timer was denied and Pavel Zacha failed to tuck it in. Conor Garland then passed it to Pius Suter but his one timer was denied by Jeremy Swayman. With 11:20 left in the period, Swayman denied Filip Hronek and Teddy Blueger on the doorstep. Down the other end, John Beecher fed a pass to Andrew Peeke, who fired on net. Lankinen made the save and both Cole Koepke and Mark Kastelic failed to bang it in. Down the other end again, Dakota Joshua passed to a wide open Gardland but Swayman stoned him cold. With 5:30 left Charlie Coyle fired on net but was denied. Beecher was also denied by Lankinen a few seconds later. With four minutes left, Brad Marchand threw it in front to Justin Brazeau. Brazeau had Lankinen beat clean....if he didn't fire it completely over everything. Trent Frederic was also stopped and the biggest chance was blown when Morgan Geekie was stopped point blank with no one around him with two minutes left. Nothing else happpened the game was tied 0-0 after one.

                                                    Defensive masterclass in the first

The Bruins blew another chance off the bat just 66 seconds into the second period. Pastrnak had a wide open breakaway but failed to score on Lankinen. Charlie McAvoy had the pick with Lankinen down but failed to backhand it in. Marc McLaughlin was denied a few seconds later but down the other end, Nils Hoglander was denied by Swayman. That was Vancouver's fourth shot the entire game to show how dominant the defense was. With just over 3 minutes gone, Pastrnak centered a pass to Zacha who was denied by Lankinen. Everything fell apart when Marchand was whistled for cross checking 4:05 into the period to put the Canucks on the power play. Quinn Hughes fired it wide with Gardland scooping up the puck, dishing it to old buddy Jake DeBrusk who scored to put Vancouver ahead. Swayman argued that he was interfered with and Bruins coach Joe Sacco challenged the goal. The officials held the call and the Bruins took a delay of game penalty. With a few seconds left on their second power play, old buddy Danton Heinen left the puck for Kiefer Sherwood but Swayman stopped that one. Hoglander then passed it to a wide open Heinen but it went through his legs, otherwise Swayman would have had no chance to stop it. Carson Soucy then had a good look but Swayman stopped that too. With 7:20 left in the period Nikita Zadorov was denied a goal by Lankinen. Brazeau was also denied and the Bruins caught a break when Brock Boeser was called for slashing with 6:10 left in the period. On the power play, Marchand failed to bang a puck home for their only shot. With 3:35 left, Peeke found Pastrnak for a one timer but Lankinen made the save. A minute later, Marchand was denied as well as the Bruins ended the period down 1-0.

                                                    A goal by GUESS WHO

The third period began with the Bruins continuing to stifle the Canucks and got a chance with 2:22 gone in the period. Peeke fired it on net and Lankinen left a rebound, the Bruins failed to bang it home. Then Marc McLaughlin threw it on net and it squirted underneath Lankinen in the crease. Kevin BARELY got to it before Brazeau was able to bang it in to preserve the shutout. In the ensuing scrum, Joshua got called for roughing when he punched Frederic's helmet off. Naturally the Bruins failed to score on the powerplay when Zacha's one timer was stopped by Lankinen. Pastrnak fired it on net and Elias Lindholm failed to bang it in. With 9:45 left in the game Boeser was sent to the box for interference but once again the Bruins failed to score on the power play. The Bruins got good chances but Lankinen was a wall in the net. The Bruins final faux-pas came with 2 minutes left when Lohrei fired on net and Lankinen left a rebound. Pastrnak failed to bang it home and the puck moved safely out of the zone. The Bruins pulled Swayman and with 25 seconds left, a McAvoy blast went wide of the net. Pastrnak threw it in front and Lankinen somehow stopped Lindholm's shot from point blank range. Naturally Suter fed Garland for the empty net goal and the Canucks won the game 2-0.

                                                     Canucks win

Reaction:

That loss stings big time. The Bruins essentially controlled the game defensively but couldn't bury any pucks pas Lankinen. Some of the shots were routine saves but other times it was "how the hell did that not go in"? The lone goal scored against Swayman was also on a power play which makes it even worse that the Bruins were perfect 5 on 5. The Bruins also have an ignominious stat as they have only ONE goal all year in the third period at home. Can't blame Swayman or the defense for this one as the Bruins couldn't score. That's four goals in their last four games going back to the cataclysmic Columbus game that got Jim Montgomery fired. Sacco isn't exactly a neutral zone trap coach like Claude Julien so something has to be done about the offense. They may as well call up Fabian Lysell and tell him to sink or swim because nothing else is working lately. The loss drops the Bruins to 10-10-3 on the season. The Bruins play tomorrow night on the second night of a back to back tomorrow night on the road against the New York Islanders. The game begins at 7:00 PM at UBS Arena.

Bruins Edge Red Wings in Detroit (11/23/24)

The Boston Bruins made it two in a row for new head coach Joe Sacco as they came to Detroit looking for another strong performance against the Red Wings. Once again it was a defensive struggle but once again, the Bruins defense held for the second straight game. Jeremy Swayman bounced back to stop 19 out of 20 shots as once again the Bruins defense suffocated their opponent. On the offensive side, the power play woke up with Justin Brazeau sniping his fifth goal of the season in the first period. Lucas Raymond scored with one minute left in the period and the game wasn't decided until the third. With 8:30 left, Brad Marchand scored his sixth goal of the season to put the Bruins ahead where the defense held. The Bruins held on to win 2-1 at Little Caesar's Arena.

                                                       The Captain wins this one

Red Wings goalie Cam Talbot robbed David Pastrnak point blank just 26 seconds into the game while Swayman stopped a Raymond shot four minutes into the game. Elias Lindholm's slapshot was caught 4:12 into the game but the Bruins caught a break when Marco Kasper was whistled for tripping 6:40 into the game to put Boston on the power play. With a few seconds left in the power play, Mason Lohrei passed it to Tyler Johnson who fired it on net. The puck bounced off Brazeau's stick and it in to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead. Ironically 23 seconds later, Johnson flipped the puck out of the arena for a delay of game penalty. Swayman made some good stops to kill the penalty including after the power play on a shot by Erik Gustafsson. With three minutes left in the period, Morgan Geekie passed to a wide open Pastrnak but Talbot stoned him for a big save. Mark Kastelic got stopped as well with 1:46 left in the period but then Detroit struck. With 58 seconds left, Dylan Larkin passed up to Vladimir Tarasenko who dished it to Lucas Raymond for a slapshot goal to tie the game. That was it for the first period as the game was tied 1-1.

                                                         Brazeau gets credit for the tip

The second period was a defensive struggle although Detroit got an early power play when Johnson took a tripping penalty 1:35 into the period. Swayman stopped Tarasenko on the doorstep and a wide open Andrew Copp down low. After the penalty was over, Johnson dished to Nikita Zadorov who was stopped by Talbot. Alex DeBrincat almost scored on Swayman but he made the save just over five minutes into the period. A minute later Trent Frederic was robbed but on the other end, Parker Wotherspoon gave the puck to an open Marco Kasper but Swayman made the save. With 9:21 left in the period, Raymond got bagged for hooking and the Bruins went on the power play.  As usual they did nothing with it and Wotherspoon got thrown in the box for interference with 4:45 to go in the period. The Red Wings were even worse than the Bruins as they gave the puck away. Pavel Zacha came down on a two on one with Marchand but Zacha failed to score on the pass. John Beecher also had a shorthanded bid denied. With 40 seconds left in the period Frederic passed to Lohrei who missed the net. Copp had an open breakaway with 5 seconds left but Swayman made the save to end the period with the game still tied 1-1.

                                                         Tie game going into the third

Four minutes into the third period the puck found Copp streaking toward the Bruins net but the alert Swayman stoned him cold. Just over seven minutes into the period Zacha found Geekie wide open in the slot but Talbot made the save. Kastelic then buried Michael Rasmussen with a check into the boards and then the Bruins went back on top with 8:30 left in the game. Pastrnak passed it to Andrew Peeke who dished it to Marchand who zig zagged in front of the net for his sixth goal of the season to put Boston in front. The Bruins defense smothered Detroit from there until Marchand was called for hooking with 1:22 left in the game. The Red Wings had a 6 on 4 with the goalie pulled and Mortiz Seider beat Swayman glove side but it rang off the post and out, Swayman pouncing on it to stop play. That was it and the Bruins hung on to win 2-1.

                                                    Bruins win the game

Reaction:

Just like the other night against Utah, this was a near defensive masterpiece. With the limited offense the Bruins have, the way to win is to play defense and pray the goalie stands on his head. Swayman made some big saves but holding the Red Wings to 20 shots is on the defense. The problem is they're not going to be able to win every game 1-0 or 2-1 so this isn't sustainable. It might be time to call up Fabian Lysell because what have they got to lose at this point? The Bruins are in danger of not even making the playoffs if the offense doesn't wake up so it might be time to let Lysell sink or swim. As for this game, kudos to Swayman and the defense. Also shout out to Tyler Johnson for his first point of the season. He damn well isn't going to score 29 goals like he did for Tampa Bay six years ago but SOMETHING would be nice. The Bruins improve to 10-9-3 on the season and now travel home to Vancouver to play the Canucks this Tuesday night. The game begins at 7:00 PM at TD Garden.

Bruins Blank Utah, Sacco Gets First Win (11/21/24)

Good news Boston Bruins fans, the Bruins won their first game after sending Jim Montgomery packing, defeating the Utah Hockey Club by a riveting score of 1-0. Joonas Korpisalo was a perfect 22 of 22 to pitch the shutout for the Bruins, making a winner out of new head coach Joe Sacco behind the bench. The only goal of the game was scored by the much maligned Elias Lindholm who got mobbed on the bench after scoring it. For one night anyway, the Bruins defense stepped it up, Korpisalo was solid and the Bruins beat the HC's 1-0 at TD Garden.

                                                         Sacco wins his Bruins debut

The first period was about as exciting as a glass of water although Korpisalo had to make an early save on a Mikhail Sergachev blast. Then 6 minutes into the period Mark Kastelic decided to trade punches with Robert Bortuzzo. One minute later, Lawson Crouse got whistled for tripping to give the Bruins the first powerplay. Utah goalie Karel Vejmelka stopped Georgii Merkulov, Pavel Zacha and Morgan Geekie to keep the game scoreless. Parker Wotherspoon was also robbed by Vejmelka before Geekie got bagged for tripping to put Utah on the powerplay 10 minutes into the period. On the power play, Korpisalo robbed Sergachev point blank to keep the game tied and Jack Bain got whistled for high sticking to put the Bruins back on the power play with 6:58 left in the period. The Bruins could do nothing although David Pastrnak was stoned by Vejmelka. Justin Brazeau also got robbed to keep the game scoreless. Vejmelka robbed Geekie twice as the B's were now 0-3 on the PP. With just over 3 minutes left in the period, Crouse got two minutes for slashing to put the Bruins on another power play. Merkulov whiffed on a chance but Vejmelka stoned Zacha on a blast. That was it for the first period with the game tied 0-0.

                                "I aughta beat your brains in and I think I will!" - Kastelic

Early in the second period Korpisalo had to make a save on a Dylan Guenther blast as Vejmelka had to stop Cole Koepke on the door step. Pastrnak had a partial breakaway 3 minutes into the period but was poked check away at the last second by Jack McBain....but wait! The refs called hooking on the play to put the Bruins back on the power play.  One second on the power play, Pastrnak's blast was gloved by Vejmelka. Another Pasta blast was saved by Vejmelka then McAvoy was robbed. Brad Marchand tried to whack it in but failed. Charlie Coyle got sent to the box with 14:31 left in the period but Korpisalo held strong. The Bruins once again went on the power play when Cooley was called for holding with 7:40 left in the period. Finally the Bruins hit paydirt when Pastrnak's blast ricocheted to Elias Lindholm, who tucked it on to put the Bruins up 1-0. Not too long after, Kastelic once again went blow for blow with Bortuzzo although he picked up a 2 minute roughing penalty to put the HC's on the power play. The HC's failed to score on the power play and not much else happened in the period. The Bruins went into intermission up 1-0.

                                                     Bruins take the lead

One minute into the third period Zacha gave the puck to a wide open Crouse but Korpisalo made the save. Half a minute later, Michael Kesselring got bagged for cross checking to put the Bruins on another power play. Charlie McAvoy was robbed point blank and the Bruins once again failed to cash in. With 8 minutes left, Guenther hit the post and nearly kicked the air in frustration. With just under seven minutes left, Koepke got thrown in the box for slashing to put Utah on the power play. Utah failed to cash in and Vejmelka went to the bench with 2:13 left in the game for the extra attacker. The game was essentially ended when Kevin Stenlund took a slashing penalty with 1:48 left. It looked like Pastrnak hit the empty net with 58 seconds left but for whatever reason the goal was reviewed. The refs said Pastrnak played it with a high stick, which wasn't even on the shot attempt. Either way the goal was disallowed. With 5 on 5 for the remainder, the Bruins held on to post the goose egg 1-0.

                                                          Bruins win

Reaction:

That was more like it. The Bruins offense continued to be completely inept but the defense woke up big time. Utah is not a great team but that was 60 minutes of hockey aided by the Korpisalo performance. He didn't have to make any highlight reel saves but when the defense isn't a turnstile, he didn't have to make any. The power play did score a goal but had plenty of other chances to score more. The lack of offense on this team is frightening but its only November. There's a long way to go before they sell or add at the trade deadline. Lindholm was desperate for a goal, Korpisalo needed a good game and Nikita Zadarov needed to anchor the defense. All three things happened and the Bruins won the game. The win improved the Bruins to 9-9-3 and next on the agenda is a Saturday night showdown against the Detroit Red Wings. The game begins at 7:00 PM at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.

Jim Montgomery FIRED (11/19/24)

Well the inevitable happened a day after another brutal, lifeless loss. The Columbus Blue Jackets spanked the the Boston Bruins 5-1 last night and finally, FINALLY it was too much for Bruins upper management to take. Montgomery was fired this afternoon and assistant coach Joe Sacco will be the interim coach for the rest of the season.

                                                             Jim's expression says it all

So what happened? How can a franchise that came two wins short of the East Finals last year suddenly can their coach before Thanksgiving? Here's why.

Following the 2022 season, a group of Bruins players came to General Manager Don Sweeney and begged them to get rid of head coach Bruce Cassidy. Cassidy had made the playoffs every season since taking over in 2017 including Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals in 2019. The fact the Bruins kept the players over the coach was a bad sign, but they needed a new coach. Jim Montgomery was a formerly disgraced coach of the Dallas Stars before alcoholism got him fired. Now sober, Montgomery took over the Bruins for the 2022-23 season. The 23 Bruins would be getting David Krejci back from temporary retirement along with Pavel Zacha. The 23 Bruins were a complete wagon during the regular season, winning 65 games and setting the NHL regular season point record with 135. As well all know, the season ended with an ignominious defeat at the hands of the Florida Panthers. The Bruins not only blew a 3-1 series lead but the lead in Game 7 before losing in overtime.

                                                     A record regular season WASTED

Montgomery won the Jack Adams Award for coach of the year for the 2023 season but his best work was arguably last season. The Bruins were gutted as Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci retired for good, Taylor Hall, Connor Clifton, Tyler Bertuzzi, Garnett Hathaway and Dimitri Orlov left in free agency and the Bruins made the playoffs with a rag tag bunch including aging James Van Reimsdyk, Pat Maroon, Morgan Geekie, Justin Brazeau, 19 year old Matt Poitras and John Beecher. The Bruins stomped their perennial bitch in the Toronto Maple Leads with a David Pastrnak OT game winner in Game 7 before running into the Panthers again. The Bruins did win the first game but lost the next three straight. They did manage to win Game 5 in Florida but a late goal in Game 6 won it for the Panthers. Still, Montgomery managed to coach this team of rag tags to coming two wins short of the East Finals.

                                             Jim can't bear to watch....see what I did there?

So what went wrong this year? Quite frankly, it wasn't even his fault. The main reason the Bruins got as far as they did was their tag team in the net. Linus Ullmark the 2023 Vezina winner and Jeremy Swayman strong armed the Bruins the past two seasons. Then before the season the Bruins made an idiotic trade, sending Ullmark to the Ottawa Senators for a first round pick, cement head Mark Kastelic and the worst goalie contract in the league, Joonas Korpisalo. Korpisalo is on the books for 3 million dollars a year the next four years. After that, Jeremy Swayman held out for a better contract throughout training camp. Swayman signed a superstar contract just before the season started, but he was clearly not ready for prime time. The Bruins looked lost, lifeless and fightless most of the start of this season as Swayman was playing himself into shape and Korpisalo was exactly what the perssimistic Bruins fans thought he'd be. Most everyone in the lineup is underachieving and not only were they losing, they were getting beat badly. They got shutout 4-0 by Nashiville on October 22nd then got smashed 5-2 by the Dallas Stars the very next game. The kiss of death was when they got demolished 8-2 by Carolina on Halloween night. Two games later they got blasted by the Maple Leafs 4-0 in a game Steve Dangle would be proud of. People began calling for Montgomery's head when they got spanked 7-2 by the Stars on November 14 and after losing in overtime to the Blues this past Saturday. Last night the Columbus Blue Jackets pounded the Bruins 5-1 and that was it for Montgomery. Swayman is clearly not ready and the castoffs and rag tags came back to earth. The sad part is the roster construction isn't his fault. He got stripped of hall of famer Patrice Bergeron, Krejci, Hall, etc and had to make due with Beecher, Brazeau, Geekie, etc. The problem is upstairs in the GM box, but with owner Jeremy Jacobs turning a profit, Sweeney's job is safe.

                                                         Bye bye Jim

So who is Joe Sacco? He's a local star from Medford High that went to college at Boston University. He was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1987 and played 16 years, making his name with the Anaheim Ducks and Washington Capitals mostly. He coached the Lowell Lock Monsters for two years before spending 4 years as head coach of the Colorado Avalanche for four years. The bad news is they sucked in that time period. He's been a Bruins assistant coach for 10 years getting passed up by Bruce Cassidy and Jim Montgomery before being named as head coach this morning. The good news is he has head coaching experience, bad news is he didn't light the world on fire. 

                                              "What have I got myself into?" - Sacco

This seems like putting a band-aid on a gushing wound as its really the fault of upper management that put this team together. There's no high end talent apart from Pastrnak and Swayman is still not in shape. The Bruins are stuck with Korpisalo for 4 years and if anyone deserves to be fired, its Don Sweeney. The Bruins are back in action this coming Thursday night at home against the Utah Hockey Club. The game begins at 7:00 PM at the TD Garden.

Swayman, Bruins Blank Kraken (11/3/24)

Talk about "Anything you can do, I can do better." One day after Joonas Korpisalo shut out the Philadelphia Flyers, Boston Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman posted a shutout of his own over the Seattle Kraken. The Bruins defense held Seattle to just 23 shots in the game while the Bruins offense was limited to just the first period. Justin Brazeau scored just 3:23 into the game and seven minutes later, Charlie Coyle scored on the power play. That was all the offense that would be scored for both teams the rest of the way. The Bruins and Kraken matched a lot of penalties the rest of the game, but the Bruins defense suffocated the Kraken. Besides a fight breaking out between Trent Frederic and Adam Larsson, nothing else exciting happened as the Bruins beat the Kraken 2-0 at TD Garden.

                                                                  This is the Sway

Just 54 seconds into the game, Brad Marchand passed to a wide open Charlie McAvoy but Kraken goalie Joey Daccord saved the shot. 20 seconds later Marchand himself was denied by Daccord. Then just 3:23 into the game, McAvoy got the puck down low. He passed to Nikita Zadorov at the point. His shot was deflected in by Justin Brazeau to give the Bruins the lead. Two minutes later, Andrew Peeke's shot was gloved by Daccord. 7:21 into the period Oliver Bjorkstrand gave the puck right to Marchand at the point. Brad's shot deflected right to David Pastrnak but Daccord saved that one too. With 12:10 left in the period McAvoy's blast was kicked out by Daccord and 10 seconds later, Brandon Montour was whistled for cross checking. With the puck still in their possession on the delayed penalty, McAvoy's shot was saved by Daccord. With 10:15 left in the period, Elias Lindholm passed to Marchand. He sent it to an open Coyle who deeked out Daccord for his second goal of the season to increase the lead. One minute later, Pavel Zacha and Brazeau had a two on one but Brazeau couldn't jam it home. With 8:54 left it looked like Zacha had scored on a deflection but Kraken coach Dan Bylsma challenged the play was offsides to begin with. Replays showed Zacha's baby toe was behind the line and the refs signaled for no goal. Then with 8:42 left in the period, Jordan Eberle hooked Brazeau who managed to get the puck to McAvoy. Zacha took the McAvoy pass but Daccord saved the shot as the whistle blew for the penalty. With 8 minutes left in the period, Pastrnak used Elias Lindholm as a screen but Daccord saved the shot anyway. Trent Frederic couldn't jam it home either and with 6:17 left in the period, Zadorov couldn't shoot it in. With 5:08 left, Ryker Evans got bagged for holding to put the Bruins on yet another power play. Daccord denied Coyle and McAvoy on the power play and the Kraken FINALLY got a shot on goal with four minutes left in the period. The Kraken got another shot when Chandler Stephenson passed to Eeli Tolvanen. Eeli was denied down low by Swayman and the Bruins rode out the period up 2-0.

                                                              Bruins take the lead

The Bruins got the first chance of the second period when Coyle was denied just 21 seconds into it. The Bruins got the next power play 8:11 into the period when Larsson went off for interference, but the Bruins did nothing on it. With six minutes to go in the second period, the Bruins were outshooting the Kraken 22 to 7. Zacha and Brazeau were both denied at the doorstep by Daccord immediately after. Then Seattle got a power play when Mark Kastelic was whistled for high sticking with 4:32 left in the period. The Bruins killed off the penalty then Bjorkstrand was kicked to the box for high sticking with 1:146 left in the period. Yanni Gourde walked in alone on a shorthanded bid and somehow Swayman stopped the shot. With 5 seconds left, Geekie shot the puck that squirted behind Daccord. Somehow Frederic failed to tap it in and the score remained 2-0 going into the third.

                                                    How did Frederic miss THAT?

3 minutes into the third period, the Bruins were outshooting the Kraken 31 to 11 when Geekie fired on net. Daccord made the save but Larsson dropped Frederic with a check. Frederic said "its go time" and rumbled with him. Freddy pounded him but the linesmen broke it up with Trent getting an extra two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct. Halfway through the the third period, Swayman stopped Larsson's shot attempt but got lucky with 8:39 left in the game when Stephenson's shot beat him clean....off the post. With 8 minutes left in the period, Koepke got denied by Daccord as well. Brandon Tanev and Stephenson were stopped by Swayman and the Kraken pulled the goalie. With 45 seconds left, John Beecher hit the post on the empty net shot attempt. Marchand also missed the empty net but the Bruins won the game 2-0 anyway.

                                                         Bruins win

Reaction:

This was boring to watch with barely any offense or that many attempts by the Kraken. Still, Swayman needed a game like that to get his mojo back, coming off the heels of Joonas Korpisalo's shutout yesterday. Brazeau and Coyle scored again but once again Pastrnak, Marchand and Zacha were held scoreless. Still, after getting their brains beat in on Halloween night, they haven't allowed a goal since. Back to back shutouts by Korpisalo and Swayman are just what the doctor ordered. Now if the offense would get a jolt, things would go back to normal real quick. Toronto lost tonight so they're not exactly running away with the Atlantic Division either. Hopefully October is behind them and they can start dominating November. The win improved the Bruins to 6-6-1, good for 13 points in the Atlantic Division. The Bruins now head to Toronto for a re-match with the Maple Leafs. The game begins this Tuesday night at 7:00 PM at Scotiabank Arena.

Bruins Shut Out Flyers (11/2/24)

The Boston Bruins stumbled at the end of October but entered November with a bang. The much maligned Bruins defense held together along with Joonas Korpisalo to post their first shut-out of the season. The Bruins defense held the Philadelphia Flyers to just 20 shots the entire game and Korpisalo stopped all of them. Matthew Poitras finally scored his first goal of the season in the first period while Justin Brazeau scored in the second. Things got chippy at the end of the third period after Brad Marchand scored an empty net goal. EIGHTEEN penalty minutes were dished out in the final 2:14 of the game but the final score remained the same. The Bruins had won the game 3-0 at Wells Fargo Center.

                                                  First Bruins shutout for Korpisalo

The Flyers wasted no time taking a penalty as Travis Konecny got called for tripping just 42 seconds into the game. The Bruins failed to score on the power play and just 3:03 into the game, David Pastrnak won the faceoff. The puck went to Brad Marchand for the one timer but Flyers goalie Samuel Ersson made the save. A few seconds later, Charlie McAvoy sent the puck in front but Pastrnak failed to score. A minute later, Matthew Poitras sent the puck to Hampus Lindholm but Ersson made the save. John Beecher had a give and go with Cole Koepke but Ersson made the save again. Just 5:25 into the period, McAvoy was whistled for roughing and the Flyers were on the power play. Jamie Drysdale passed to Owen Tippett for the one timer, but Korpisalo made the save. Nikita Zadorov took a shorthanded slapshot but Errson made the save. All of a sudden Errson had to leave the game and Aleksei Kolosov took his place. With just over 8 minutes left in the period, Pavel Zacha was robbed on the doorstep by Kolosov. With 6:49 left in the period, Matvei Michkov sent the puck to Travis Sanheim but Sanheim's shot went wide with Elias Lindholm crashing into Korpisalo. Then with 6:32 left, Morgan Geekie shot the puck wide of the net. Hampus Lindholm gathered it and shot it off the boards only for Matthew Poitras to shoot it off the pad of Kolosov and in for the game's first goal. With 4:37 left, Trent Frederic threw it in front but Morgan Geekie couldn't bang it home. Korpisalo denied a shot by Nick Seeler and with 1:13 left in the period, Noah Cates was sent to the box for holding to put the Bruins on the power play. With 25 seconds left, Marchand and Pastrnak had a 2 on 1 and Marchand beat Kolosov clean...but the shot hit the post. The Bruins went into the break still up 1-0 and had 47 seconds left of power play time.

                                                       Bruins take the lead

35 seconds into the second period, Elias Lindholm sent the puck to Charlie Coyle but he couldn't put it past Kolosov. Pastrnak was also denied a few seconds later. McAvoy's shot was saved to end the power play. Sanheim passed the puck to Cates but his shot was gloved by Korpisalo. Just five minutes into the period, Tippett had a wide open shot but Joonas batted it away. Just over five minutes into the period, Korpisalo stopped Erik Johnson's shot attempt. A few seconds later Zacha failed to get three straight backhand shots past Kolosov. Just 6:13 into the period, Poitras was sent to the box for slashing. On the power play, the Flyers couldn't get anything going until Bobby Brink had a wide open look as time experied. Korpisalo saved the shot and the penalty was killed off. With 9:50 left in the period, Koepke walked in alone and shot...saved by Kolosov. With 8:37 left in the period, Elias Lindholm tipped a pass up ice to Marchand. Marchand skated around the net and fed a streaking Brazeau who scored his third goal of the year to put the Bruins up by two. With 8 minutes left in the second, Farabee left a puck for Brink but his shot clanged off the post. With 3:42 left in the period, Tippett blew by a falling down Brandon Carlo to pass to a wide open Morgan Frost in the slot. Somehow the puck went through Korpisalo and over the net. The period ended with the Bruins up 2-0.

                                                   Brazeau scores

With 17:12 left in the game, Michkov took a point blank shot but it was saved by Korpisalo. Farabee shot on the net and Brink damn near tipped the puck home, but it stayed out of the net. With 8:36 left, Couturier was denied by Korpisalo on the door step as well. With 5:16 left, Frost took McAvoy down but lost his stick in the process. The puck was kicked over to a wide open Brazeau but Kolosov saved the shot. Flyers coach John Tortorella pulled Kolosov with 4 minutes left and Farabee tried to pass through the Bruins zone, but it was intercepted by Pastrnak. Pastrnak hit Marchand and he flipped the puck down the ice and in for the empty net goal to seal it. Things got chippy with 2:14 left when Hathaway and Kastellic went at each other. Hathaway got 2 minutes for cross checking and 2 minutes for roughing while Kastelic got 4 minutes for roughing. Then with 51 seconds it was a free for all as Carlo, Frederic, Poitras, Konecny and Sanheim were all sent out of the game for roughing. The final seconds ticked down and the Bruins had won the game 3-0.

                                                       Marchand ends it

Reaction:

That was their most complete win of the season so far. The Bruins defense held the Flyers to just twenty shots and Joonas stopped all of them for his first Bruins shutout. He made some big stops too so not all of them were pedestrian. This was the kind of game they needed after getting carved up by Carolina on Halloween. Hopefully that game was a wakeup call to turn the tide after they've been mediocre to start the season. Finally Poitras scored and it was important for the 20 year old to get the monkey off his back. He looked damn good last year before his season was cut short by injury and hasn't seemed on his game so far. Just like Korpisalo getting the shutout, hopefully that goal launches Poitras. Getting goals from Brazeau and Poitras on a night when the defense steps up shows Pastrnak, Marchand and Zacha aren't just offensive machines. Hopefully more wins like this are in order. The win improved the Bruins to 5-6-1, good for 11 points. The Bruins play tomorrow afternoon in a Sunday special against the Seattle Kraken. The game begins at 5:00 PM at TD Garden.