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.

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.

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.

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.

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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.

JVR Guides Bruins Past Predators (10/14/23)

Make it two in a row for the Boston Bruins to start the 2023-24 season as they defeated the Nashville Predators before embarking on their west coast trip. This was a hard fought contest and the Predators got on the board first when the Bruins were stoned on a breakaway and Kiefer Sherwood set up Colton Sissons who scored to put Nashville on top. The Bruins killed off a 5 on 3 powerplay and James van Riemsdyk scored on their own power play to tie the game. In the second period, David Pastrnak scored on a penalty shot to give the Bruins the lead with 5:14 remaining but the Bruins were called on a delayed penalty. That gave the Predators the 6 on 5 advantage and Sissons tipped home a Josi slapshot to tie the game going into intermission, 2-2. The Bruins didn't wait long to jump back in front in the third when van Riemsdyk tipped a shot home 2:52 into the period. The Bruins defense held the rest of the way and the Bruins had won their second straight game 3-2 at TD Garden.

                                                    Big win

The Predators struck first when Predators goalie Juuse Saros stoned a Kevin Shattenkirk shot on a great pass by Jakub Lauko. The puck went right to Kiefer Sherwood who found Colton Sissons for the one time goal to put Nashville up 1-0 just 3:29 into the first. Less than a minute later Brad Marchand was called for hooking Juuso Parssinen to put the Bruins on the penalty kill. Just as the Bruins had it killed off, Charlie McAvoy got called for holding Gustav Nyquist's stick to put Nashville on a 15 second 5 on 3. This was the most important sequence of the game as the Bruins killed off the penalties and Tommy Novak was sent to the box 7:38 into the period. Nashville killed it off and Derek Forbort hooked Parssinen to put the Bruins back on the penalty kill 10:18 into the period. The Bruins killed it off and Kiefer Sherwood got called for roughing Charlie McAvoy. On the ensuing power play, Marchand found James van Riemsdyk behind the net who simply shot it off Dante Fabbro and into the net to tie the game with 5:12 left in the period. Saros robbed Matthew Poitras on a feed from Morgan Geekie. The Bruins went into the break tied 1-1.

                                                               Happy fans

The parade to the penalty box continued in the second period for the Bruins as Lauko took a double minor for high sticking Roman Josi just 3:19 into the period. The Bruins killed off all four minutes then Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman robbed Filip Fosberg cold 7:40 into the period. Pastrnak got the buck on a wide open breakaway but Saros saved the shot. Hampus Lindholm was called for interference on Ryan O'Reilly 10:28 into the period and Swayman kicked out a shot by Josi. The Bruins killed that off but then the Bruins went to the box AGAIN as Marchand cross-checked Nyquist 12:23 into the period. Pastrnak then went on a breakaway but was awarded a penalty shot because Alexandre Carrier held him to prevent a shot. Pastrnak buried the penalty shot to put the Bruins up 2-1 with 5:17 left in the second period. The Bruins were called for a delayed penalty and this allowed Sissons to slam home a Josi slapshot to tie the game with 3:06 remaining in the period. Nothing happened after that and the game was tied 2-2 going into the third.

                                                    Pastrnak scores on the penalty shot

This time it was the Predators that took the first penalty of the third period as old friend Jeremy Lauzon roughed Matthew Poitras 2:10 into it. 42 seconds later van Riemsdyk tipped a McAvoy slapshot to put the Bruins up 3-2. The Bruins defense then stifled the Predators as they started to get frustrated. Yakov Trenin interfered with Brad Marchand but the Bruins failed to score on the powerplay. With 5:41 left in the game, Sissons got called for interfering with Zacha. The Bruins once again failed to score but both instances kept Nashville from attacking even strength. Swayman and the defense survived and empty net flurry at the end of the game to take home the victory. The Bruins had won the game 3-2.

                                                                     Goalie hug

Milestones:

Trent Frederic played in his 200th career game.

James van Riemsdyk earned the Smokey Harris Award for first career Bruins goal

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That was another big win by the Bruins and an impressive display of defense in the third period. That's back to back goose eggs in the third period for the Bruins who I mentioned on Opening Night still has a nasty defense that carried over from last year. James van Riemsdyk has stepped nicely into the team's chemistry and Pastrnak once again showed he's a future hall of famer the way his career is going. The best part are the youngsters Beecher and Poitras are only going to get better with more experience. The fact the Bruins stayed out of the box in the third period as well as damn near went flawless on the penalty kill was instrumental in the victory. The Chicago Blackhawks and the Predators aren't exactly Stanley Cup contenders but victories are victories no matter who they're against. The mood is about to shift as the Bruins now embark on their early season west coast trip to California. The Bruins don't play again until Thursday when they go to San Jose to play the Sharks. The game begins at 10:30 PM Eastern time at SAP Arena.

Bruins Beat Bedard, Blackhawks on Opening Night (10/11/23)

After the unmitigated disaster last year that took a historic season and flushed it down the toilet with the most humiliating playoff loss since the 2010 reverse sweep, the Boston Bruins did manage to start the 2023-24 season on a high note by beating rookie sensation Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks in front of a sold out crowd at TD Garden. In the Bruins 100th centennial season, the Bruins defense played the heroes in this one. Bedard himself scored the first goal of the season but Trent Frederic tied the game a few minutes later. In the second period David Pastrnak scored his first of the season assisted by the returning Milan Lucic to put the Bruins on top. At that point the suffocating Bruins defense led by Charlie McAvoy, Brandon Carlo and new Bruin Kevin Shattenkirk stymied the Blackhawks. Linus Ullmark stopped the next 20 straight shots after the Bedard goal and Pastrnak scored an empty netter with a minute left to ice the game. The Bruins may be weaker offensively than last year but the defense held the fort in this one as they beat the Blackhawks 3-1 at TD Garden.

                                                    The new captain celebrates with Pasta

The Bruins almost scored right away when Jakub Lauko damn near put one past Arvid Soderblom 15 seconds into the game. Two minutes later Wyatt Kaiser got called for cross checking to put the Bruins on their first power play of the season. Brad Marchand got a good shot off but Soderblom stoned it. The Blackhawks struck first when Bedard scored his first NHL goal on a wraparound 5:37 into the first period. To add insult to injury, two former Bruins Ryan Donato and Taylor Hall assisted on the goal. New Bruin James van Riemsdyk almost tucked one past Soderblom seven minutes into the first but couldn't get it through. The Bruins got on the board 11:22 into the first when Brandon Carlo fired a slapshot and the puck deflected off Trent Frederic's stick into the net to tie the game. The Blackhawks had a chance to jump ahead when Hampus Lindholm heaved the puck out of play for a delay of game penalty, but Ullmark stopped Taylor Hall on the power play. The Bruins headed into the break tied 1-1.

                                                              Tie game

The second period was all Bruins as Kaiser got called for tripping to put the B's on the powerplay 3 minutes into the period. Kevin Shattenkirk fired on Soderblom and new Bruin Morgan Geekie almost put it in. Bedard got called for tripping 7:48 into the period but the Bruins did nothing on the ensuing powerplay. Jake DeBrusk then got called for tripping 10 minutes into the period but the Bruins killed it off. Then 13:09 into the second, the returning Milan Lucic found a streaking David Pastnak who shot it past Soderblom to give the Bruins the lead. Ullmark stoned Connor Murphy cold with a few minutes remaining but the Bruins failed to score in the final seconds to head into intermission up 2-1.

                                                   Welcome back Looch

The third period started ominously when Lucic got his first Bruin penalty minutes in nine years by holding the stick 20 seconds into the period. The Bruins killed it off then things got chippy. Bruins rookie John Beecher boarded one of the Blackhawks and Jason Dickinson said PUT EM UP! After an even fight, Dickinson took a 2 minute instigator penalty and a 10 minute game misconduct for attacking the rookie who didn't even board him. The Blackhawks almost tied it when Lukas Reichel got a partial breakaway but Ullmark made the save four minutes into the period. 19 year old rookie Matthew Poitras assisted on the Frederic goal earlier and almost tucked one past Sodenblom with 12 minutes left in the game. Poitras then stripped Reichel off the puck and Frederic missed a great shot from the point. Lucic almost set up Pavel Zacha but Sodenblom made a great save 9 minutes into the period. Pastrnak got robbed shortly after but Ullmark had to make a great stop on Reichel to keep the game 2-1. The Bruins peppered the net with 2 minutes left but Sodenblom made some great stops. The Hawks pulled their goalie with a minute left but defenseman Charlie McAvoy found Brad Marchand who passed it to a wide open Pastrnak who buried the empty net goal to ice it. The Bruins had defeated the Blackhawks on Opening Night 3-1.

                                                     Bruins win

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Good win by the Bruins but they have a lot of work to do this season to erase the stink of last year's choke. The retirements of Patrice Bergeron & David Krejci along with losing Garnet Hathaway, Taylor Hall and others did create some roster spots. The Bruins got much older and much younger at the same time by signing aging veterans Lucic, JVR and Shattenkirk but giving 22 year old Beecher and 19 year old Poitras a chance to play. We may see 20 year old Fabian Lysell make his NHL debut later this year as well. Now the Bruins got weaker offensively by losing a lot of top 6 talent but their defense is still as nasty as it was last year. If Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman stay healthy this team can still keep the puck out of the net as well as they did last year. They'll need a tougher test than the Blackhawks to show off but that time is coming. Its good to see Lucic back in uniform after 9 years away and he pretty much replaces Nick Foligno as the "uncle" of the team. Replacing Krejci with James van Riemsdyk was interesting although Kevin Shattenkirk might be an upgrade over Connor Clifton. The real story is trusting Poitras and Beecher to replace Hall & Hathaway. We'll see what happens moving forward but for now its a new season and the Bruins won their first game. The B's will be back in action Saturday night when they take on Roman Josi and the Nashville Predators. The game begins at 7:00 PM at TD Garden.