Panthers Outgun Bruins on Opening Night (10/8/24)

The 2024-25 NHL season started for the Boston Bruins the same way the 2023-24 season ended, with a loss to the Florida Panthers. For most of the game it was utter domination by the defending Stanley Cup champions as the Panthers scored four goals in the first period to put it away early. Not only that, new goalie Joonas Korpisalo got roughed up, allowing six goals on thirty-five shot attempts. To add insult to injury, one of them was a shorthanded goal by Sam Reinhart. Jonah Gadjovich scored to make it 5-1 in the second period but Charlie McAvoy kept the Bruins in it with a goal. Trailing 6-2, Trent Frederic scored with just over 3 minutes left and David Pastrnak scored on the powerplay to make it 6-4 with 1:45 left. That was it as the Panthers mauled the Bruins 6-4 at Amerant Bank Arena.

                                              Opening night belonged to the Panthers

The Panthers set the tone early that this was going to be their night when Carter Verhaeghe sniped one off of Joonas Korpisalo just 67 seconds into the game on a breakaway. Four minutes later, Korpisalo made another save off a Verhaeghe shot. Fireworks erupted just 5:55 into the game when new Bruin Mark Kastelic rumbled with ex-Bruin AJ Greer. Thirty seconds later Evan Rodrigues blasted a slapshot off of Korpisalo and Sam Bennett poked the puck in to put Florida on top 1-0. Just over a minute later Anton Lundell passed it to Sam Reinhart for a one timer. Korpisalo left a rebound and Eetu Luostarinen jammed it in for another goal to put the Panthers up 2-0. Things looked bleak when Trent Frederic took an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty 9:18 into the period but the Bruins were able to kill it off. With 6 minutes left in the period, Verhaeghe beat Korpisalo clean but it rang off the post and out. Then new Bruin Nikita Zadorov took a cross-checking penalty with 5:10 left to put the Panthers on the power play. Andrew Peeke grabbed the puck, passed it ahead to new Bruin Elias Lindholm who dished it to Pavel Zacha. Zacha fired it past Sergei Bobrovsky to cut the lead in half with a short handed goal. The Panthers then served the humiliation back when Greer was sent to the box for hooking with 2:38 left. Brad Marchand was robbed by Bobrovsky and Charlie McAvoy's pass was stripped by Alexsander Barkov. Sam Reinhart took the pass, shot it over the stick of McAvoy past Korpisalo to break the Bruins back. One minute later, Greer came out of the box and fired on the net. Korpisalo saved it but left the rebound, Bennett punching it in for the goal to make it 4-1 Panthers heading into the second period. Brutal!

                                                        All Panthers in this one

The Panthers suffocated the Bruins in the second period and making them lose their composure. New Bruin Cole Koepke got bagged for hooking 3:32 into the period but somehow the Bruins killed it off. Just over nine minutes into the period, Uvis Balinskis passed it to old pal Jesper Boqvist. Boqvist drew Korpisalo out of the net then passed it to Jonah Gadjovich who scored easily to put Florida up by four. The Bruins did fight back when Hampus Lindholm passed it to John Beecher. Beecher shot it on net but the puck was kicked out by Bobrosvky. McAvoy dumped in the rebound for the goal to inch the Bruins closer with 7:28 left in the period. The Bruins went shorthanded when new Bruin Max Jones got called for unsportsmanlike conduct with 3:44 left in the period. The Bruins killed it off and Lundell got sent to the box for high sticking with 1:20 left in the period. The Bruins did nothing on the power-play and went into intermission down 5-2.

                                                       McAvoy scores

The Bruins failed to score with the time remaining to begin the third and Florida essentially ended it with 13:34 left in the game. Aaron Ekblad passed it to Matt Tkachuk who sent it up the boards to Rodrigues. Rodrigues scored but Sam Bennett took Korpisalo out with an unintentional clothesline. A scrum ensued and both Trent Frederic and Tkachuk joined Bennett in the penalty box. The Bruins did nothing on the power play and Jones got sent off for roughing with 10:23 left in the game. The Bruins killed it off but Zadorov was whistled for slashing with 5:44 left. The Bruins killed that one off too and finally struck with 3:09 left. Justin Brazeau won a puck battle behind the net and sent it in front for Frederic who scored to cut the lead in half. Twelve seconds later, Balinskis was called for tripping to put the Bruins on the power play. With 1:45 left, McAvoy dished it to Pastrnak who threw it in front looking for Lindholm. Instead, the puck bounced off the skate of Dmitry Kulikov and in for a Pastrnak goal to suddenly pull the Bruins within two. The Bruins pulled Korpisalo but couldn't get any further as the Panthers won the game 6-4.

                                                     Panthers win

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Meet the new Bruins, same as the old Bruins. With Jeremy Swayman missing the entire training camp, the Bruins essentially HAD to start Korpisalo in this one and he proved why he never deserved the gigantic contract he has. Not only that, the defense totally sucked out there. Brandon Carlo was a -2, Mason Lohrei was a -3 and both Peeke & Zadorov were -1. The defense letting Boqvist & Gadjovich just walk in was inexcusable. Still, no need to overreact after the first game of the season but the talent discrepency between the two teams is appalling. The Bruins are trotting out Max Jones, Cole Koepke and Justin Brazeau mostly because Jake DeBrusk, James Van Riemsdyk and Pat Maroon are gone. They shed talent for the second year in a row and they paid for it tonight. Hopefully its not a trend for the rest of the season because we got a long way to go. The Bruins look to bounce back on Thursday night in the home opener against their century old rivals the Montreal Canadiens. The game begins at 7:00 PM at TD Garden.

Bruins Trade Ullmark To Ottawa (6/24/24)

It was bound to happen but the Boston Bruins finally found a buyer for goalie Linus Ullmark and his $5 million dollar contract. Tonight the Bruins sent Ullmark to the Ottawa Senators for goalie Joonas Korpisalo, Ottawa's first round pick 25th overall and forward Mark Kastelic.

                                                                           OUT

                                                                      IN

So what did the Bruins give up? The 2023 Vezina winning goalie who was just as good as Jeremy Swayman last year. Ullmark was everything they could have asked for after Tuukka Rask retired and more. He was 88-26 with a .924 save percentage in his 3 years in Boston and the goalie hug will forever be remembered by Bruin fans.

Now what did they get? Quite frankly Joonas Korpisalo might be the absolute worst contract in the NHL as his current stats are 115-107 with a .901 save percentage. He was the backup goalie to Sergei Bobrovski in Columbus and was Ottawa's starting goalie for most of this year, going 21-26 with a .891 save percentage. The worst part is he signed a 5 year deal for $20 million which was completely absurd. Ottawa retains 25 percent of the cap hit but the Bruins now must pay $3 million a year for the next four years. They essentially get $2 million in cap relief by taking on this contract. Sweeney is either a genius or a complete moron depending on how this plays out.

They also got 25 year old cement head Mark Kastelic who had 102 penalty minutes for Ottawa in 2023 and 63 last year. He's 6'3, mean and nasty, exactly what you want on your fourth line. With Pat Maroon near retirement and doubtful Milan Lucic comes back, they needed a new goon and Kastelic fits the bill perfectly.

The final piece of the puzzle is the 25th overall pick in the upcoming draft which was originally Boston's to begin with. They sent the pick to the Detroit Red Wings in 2023 in the Todd Bertuzzi trade and Detroit sent it to Ottawa in the Alex DeBrincat trade. Pundits and experts say this is going to be a pretty bad draft class but ironically whoever they pick at 25 is automatically going to be better than anyone they got in Providence not named Fabian Lysell. The Bruins have been trading their first round picks like candy almost every year and they've had to rely on lower round picks not only in Providence but in Boston as well. Hope Sweeney knows what he's doing.

Bruins Edge Panthers in Game 5 (5/14/24)

The season ain't over yet for the Boston Bruins. After falling behind 3 games to 1 the Bruins refused to give up and stuffed it up the Florida Panthers' collective asses in front of their home crowd in Game 5 of the NHL East Semi-Finals. Playing without Brad Marchand, the Bruins defense stepped it up as well as Jeremy Swayman, holding the Panthers to just 1 goal on 29 shot attempts. Morgan Geekie put one past Segrei Bobrovsky 4:49 into the first period and then did everything they could to keep the puck out of their net. It didn't work as Sam Reinhart scored just over six minutes into the second period to tie the game. Fear not! Charlie McAvoy picked a fine time to score his first of the playoffs on a dish from Charlie Coyle to put the Bruins back on top halfway through the second. The Bruins took two penalties in the third period but the penalty kill was flawless, shutting down the Panthers even with the extra attacker to end the game. The Bruins delayed their date with a guillotine by taking Game Five 2-1 at Amerant Bank Arena.

                                                          Not dead yet

With just under five minutes gone in the first period Charlie McAvoy sent the puck around the boards to Jake DeBrusk who found Morgan Geekie alone in front of the net. Geekie scored his fourth goal of the playoffs to put the Bruins on top. Less than a minute later, David Pastrnak came in alone but Sergei Bobrovsky stoned him cold. Charlie Coyle then got sent to the box for hooking to put the Panthers on the power play. The Panthers couldn't muster anything on the man advantage as the Bruins sat on the puck for the next ten minutes. Geekie then cross-checked Anton Lundell who got up and managed to get two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct to put both teams on a 4 on 4. Nothing happened the rest of the period as the Bruins took a 1-0 lead to go along with their 11-4 shot advantage into the second period.

                                                     Geekie puts Boston on top

The Panthers couldn't get untracked to start the second period as Carter Verhaeghe got nailed for closing his hand on the puck 2:38 in to put the Panthers on the PK. Unfortunately, the Bruins did nothing on the powerplay as the Panthers had a 2 on 1 breakaway at one point. Charlie Coyle dished a pass to Danton Heinen who got stopped by Bobrovsky with 14:09 to play in the period. With 6:10 gone in the period, Aleksander Barkov took a slapshot but it was saved by Swayman. Then the Panthers closed in on the Bruins with Aaron Ekblad dumping it off Swayman but the Bruins failed to control the rebound. Sam Reinhart fired the puck past Swayman to tie it up 6:23 into the period. A minute later Verhaeghe got a two on one with Dmitry Kulikov but Swayman stopped Kulikov point blank. A few seconds later Charlie Coyle scooped up a loose puck and dished it to a wide open Trent Frederic, but Bobrovsky denied him for the save. Halfway through the period, Frederic passed it to Coyle who dumped it behind him to Charlie McAvoy. McAvoy fired it off the crossbar and in for his first goal of the playoffs to put Boston in the lead. Panthers coach Paul Maurice challenged that Bobrovsky was interfered with, only for the officials to uphold the call. This put the Bruins on the power play but they failed to cash in. Not only that, Swayman had to stop Eetu Luostarinen on a shorthand attempt. Reinhart then had a wide open breakaway but shot it over the crossbar. Ekblad then tried a wraparound but Swayman stopped it to end the madness. With 7:36 to go in the period, Mason Lohrei got called for hooking to put the Panthers on the power play. This time it was the Panthers that couldn't do anything right as Jake DeBrusk got a wide open breakaway. DeBrusk got denied by Bobrovsky and then Frederic failed to put the rebound in. With five minutes left in the period, Reinhart had a point break shot but Swayman stopped him. Then Barkov beat Swayman clean but it went off the post. The Bruins held on to end the period up 2-1.

                                                      McAvoy comes up big

It looked like Florida was running out of gas in the third period as DeBrusk found Pastrnak down load but Bobrovsky BARELY made the save. The Panthers caught a break as McAvoy was whistled for roughing just 1:23 into the third period, but it was the Bruins who had the first chance. Vehaeghe was stripped by Pavel Zacha but Bobrovsky stopped the breakaway chance. Later on Parker Wotherspoon gave the puck right to Verhaeghe but Swayman made the key save. The Bruins recovered to kill off the penalty and it was the Bruins who'd have the next power play when Ekblad was called for slashing 7:11 into the period. Justin Brazeau found Pastrnak who saw Geekie wide open, but Morgan missed the net on the shot attempt. With 8:32 remaining in the game, the Bruins took yet ANOTHER too many men on the ice penalty. The Bruins defense stepped up to snuff out the Panthers to keep the lead intact. With 2 minutes left in the game, the Panthers pulled Bobrovsky. Vladimir Tarasenko was robbed in front and Brandon Montour was also stoned by Swayman. With 75 seconds left, Barkov was denied by Swayman and the Bruins kept poking the puck out of the zone. With 9 seconds left, Montour passed through the legs of Wotherspoon to a wide open Reinhart but Swayman made the HUGE save to end the game. The Bruins live another day as they beat the Panthers 2-1 in Game 5.

                                                       Game 5 belongs to The Sway

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That took a lot of heart and guts for the Bruins to win this one without Marchand. After getting their teeth kicked in from Game's 2 through 4, they could have easily rolled over and died. Instead they fought hard and forced a Game 6 back in Boston. Its amazing after how last year's team had the all time choke in the first round and this year's team with half the offensive talent is now two wins short of the Conference Finals. McAvoy finally showed up on the offensive stat sheet and thank goodness for Swayman at the end. It would be unbelievable karma if the Bruins were to do what the Panthers did last year and come back down 3-1. The Panthers won Game 5 in Boston last year the same way the Bruins just won Game 5 in Florida. Not saying Game 6 is a guarantee, because it isn't, but that's the next step if they want to extend the season. No matter what happens in Game 6, this year's team deserves a lot of credit for making it this far after shedding so much talent after last year. Hopefully the Bruins can come out firing in front of their home crowd because the season is over if they don't. Also hopefully, Brad Marchand can play as well if he's healthy enough to contribute. Game 6 is this Friday night at 7:00 PM at TD Garden.

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

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

                                                    Charlie Coyle says "That's 1"

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

                                                  Boqvist to Beecher SCORE!

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

                                                          DeBrusk makes it 3...then 4-0

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

                                                          Game 1 Goalie Hug

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

For a hilarious take on the game here's Steve Dangle - LFR Game 1

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

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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.