Brewin Flames Posted November 26, 2023 Author Share Posted November 26, 2023 Game # 20 Bos 4 NYR 7 Vesey puts New York ahead, Krieder scores 2, Rangers beat Bruins 7-4 in matchup of East's top teams 1:47 Rangers make history in 7-4 win over Bruins The Rangers beat the Bruins to make it 15 wins in 19 or fewer games for the first time in franchise history. ByAP Updated: Nov 25, 2023, 04:53 pm NEW YORK -- — Jimmy Vesey's goal put the Rangers ahead late in the second period, Chris Kreider scored twice and Jonathan Quick made 27 saves as New York beat the Boston Bruins 7-4 on Saturday in a matchup of the top teams in the Eastern Conference. Vesey’s fourth goal of the season came during a delayed penalty at 16:37 off a scramble in front of the Boston net. It gave the Rangers the lead to stay en route to their seventh win in eight games. Kreider scored on the power play and short-handed for the fourth time in his career. He leads the Rangers with 13 goals. “We did a good job carrying the offense with all four lines,” Kreider said. “We got two points. We can enjoy that tomorrow and get back at it the next day.” Nick Bonino, K’Andre Miller, Tyler Pitlick and Artemi Panarin also scored for New York. Vincent Trocheck had two assists for the Rangers (15-3-1), who are 13-1-1 in their last 15 games and have 15 wins in 19 or fewer games for the first time in franchise history. “We were ready to go at puck drop,” Miller said. “We knew it would be a battle for a full 60 minutes and we would need all 20 guys.” Charlie Coyle scored twice for Boston (14-3-3), which was coming off a 5-2 loss to visiting Detroit on Friday. Morgan Geekie and David Pastrnak also scored for the Bruins. “They played a back-to-back too and we looked like we did way more they did,” Coyle said. Quick continued his sterling start as a Ranger, improving to 6-0-1. The 37-year-old signed as a free agent last summer. “We were solid in the third,” said Quick, who recorded his 381st win. “It's a game against a great team. It's a game you come out and give your best effort.” Bonino opened the scoring with his first goal as a Ranger, whipping the puck past goaltender Linus Ullmark at 5:58 of the first. Kreider made it 2-0 at 10:56 with the 99th power-play goal of his career. Boston didn’t record its first shot until more than 13 minutes had elapsed in the first, but the Bruins then scored two quick goals to tie it. Coyle scored at 13:50 when he picked up his own rebound, and Geekie rifled a shot past Quick at 14:14. Kreider put the Rangers ahead 3-2 with a short-handed score at 18:41 of the first, bursting in alone on Ullmark. With 278 career goals, Kreider is two behind Adam Graves for third in Rangers history. Pastrnak scored 26 seconds into the middle period on the power play to tie the game at 3-all. Pastrnak leads Boston with 13 goals and 31 points. After Vesey’s go-ahead goal, Miller added his second of the season at 19:36 of the second. In the third, Pitlick increased the lead to 6-3 at 1:26 with his first goal as a Ranger before Boston’s Coyle scored his second of the game and ninth of the season at 2:29. Panarin made it 7-4 with his 11th goal at 4:36. New York improved to 8-1-0 against Eastern Conference opponents this season. Ullmark allowed seven goals on 40 shots. “Our habits and details eroded on us,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. “We’ve been a little spoiled by what we’ve been accomplishing so far. ... Detroit jumped us yesterday and the Rangers were better than us today.” Kreider, who has nine career short-handed goals — all in the last three seasons — said the Rangers made the most of their scoring opportunities. “There are no easy games,” the 32-year-old forward said. “Both coaches had to be perturbed. We just had a lot of offensive chances in this game.” Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted November 28, 2023 Author Share Posted November 28, 2023 Game # 21 Bos 2 CBJ 5 Columbus Blue Jackets win 5-2, handing the Boston Bruins their third straight loss 1:48 Boston Bruins vs. Columbus Blue Jackets: Full Highlights ByAP Updated: Nov 27, 2023, 10:35 pm COLUMBUS, Ohio -- — Yegor Chinakhov had a goal and an assist, lifting the Columbus Blue Jackets over Boston 5-2 on Monday night, handing the Bruins to their third straight loss. Dmitri Voronkov, Ivan Provorov, Kirill Marchenko and Justin Danforth also scored for Columbus, and Boone Jenner added a pair of assists. Spencer Martin stopped 31 shots for Columbus, which has won three of its last four games and beat Boston for the first time in seven games, dating back to Jan. 14, 2020. The scores by Chinakhov, Voronkov, Provorov and Marchenko marked the first time in NHL history four Russians scored in a single game for the same team. “Everybody chipped in,” Blue Jackets coach Pascal Vincent said. “Everybody had a good game. We played really well as a team, and our goalie was really good one we needed him to be. I’m happy about it, but not overly surprised. Regardless of the score, just the way we played. We have very good people, and they want to be here, and they want to do well.” Matthew Poitras and John Beecher scored for Boston and Jeremy Swayman stopped 17 shots before being replaced in the second period by Linus Ullmark, who stopped 19 shots. The Atlantic Division-leading Bruins haven't lost three consecutive games since April 2022. “There (are) a lot of things to address and move forward, but we’ve got to move forward," Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. Voronkov put Columbus on the board at 15:52 of the first period after winning a battle for the puck along the boards and sneaking it past Swayman on the right side of the net. Provorov made it 2-0 at 5:38 of the second period driving in from the right circle and taking advantage of Voronkov’s screen of Swayman, who then left the game and the bench, and was replaced by Ullmark. “I think we played fast,” Provorov said. “Maybe the first five minutes we didn’t start the way we wanted to, but afterwards we played fast. We were physical. We were taking the game to them. Our game was a complete game as a team.” Chinakhov forced a turnover in the neutral zone and padded the Blue Jackets lead at 16:42. Marchenko made it 4-0 after a pair of Bruins penalties gave Columbus a 5-on-3 power-play, just their eighth goal with a man advantage in 71 attempts. Poitras found the back of the net for Boston at 8:24 of the third. The Bruins pulled Ullmark with more than seven minutes left in the game, resulting in Danforth’s empty-netter at 13:41. Beecher provided Boston's second goal with 2:20 remaining. The Bruins, which won nine of their first 10 games, have now fallen in six of their last 11. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted December 1, 2023 Author Share Posted December 1, 2023 Game # 22 Bps 3 SJS 0 Swayman rebounds with a shutout as the Bruins blank the Sharks 3-0 to stop their 3-game skid ByAP Updated: Nov 30, 2023, 11:20 pm BOSTON -- — Paval Zacha had a goal and an assist as the Boston Bruins snapped a three-game losing streak with a 3-0 win over the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night. Danton Heinen and Jake DeBrusk also scored. Jeremy Swayman — pulled during Monday’s 5-2 loss to Columbus — stopped all 28 shots he faced for his second shutout this season. “I’m just so happy to see everyone take initiative and play Bruins hockey in front of our fans. It’s a good step for us. Now we have to continue it,” Swayman said. “It was exactly what I wanted to do — keep the puck out of the net. It was good, but at the same time, there’s still plenty to work on. You want to use this as a momentum piece moving forward.” David Pastrnak added two assists for the Bruins, who beat the NHL-worst Sharks for the 13th straight time. “You give up 17 goals in three games and we didn’t look anything like ourselves. It was good to see us look like ourselves without the puck in all three zones,” Boston coach Jim Montgomery said. MacKenzie Blackwood made 32 saves for San Jose, which won its previous two games. After both teams squandered power-play chances in a scoreless first period, the Bruins struck 1:38 into the second as Heinen drilled a shot short side for his third goal of the season. San Jose had an opportunity to clear the puck but Matt Poitras kept the play alive by sliding a backhand feed over to Heinen, who glided through the circle by his lonesome before ripping the puck past Blackwood. Later in the same period, Boston’s advantage grew to 2-0 when DeBrusk was the recipient of strong puck movement that enabled the forward to walk in and beat Blackwood with a backhand at 8:10. It was DeBrusk’s third goal in the last five games, with assists from Zacha and Pastrnak. San Jose was awarded a 5-on-3 chance with 25.5 seconds remaining in the second. The power play carried over into the third period, with the Sharks failing to register a single shot after Charlie McAvoy was given a boarding penalty and Brad Marchand received an additional two minutes for instigating a fight. “They did a great job. Penalty killing has always been one of our strengths … cutting sticks and reading plays and having good sticks,” Marchand said. “It was a huge momentum swing for us to get that kill.” A give-and-go sequence between Pastrnak and Zacha turned into a power-play goal at 6:37 of the third. Pastrnak has 20 assists. “There’s still a lot of things we can get better at, but this was a good step forward,” Zacha said. “Swayman played a great game, which helped us out a lot.” Boston’s dominance in the second translated into an 18-6 advantage in shots. For the game, San Jose was outshot 35-28. The Sharks are 0-10-0 on the road this season. They opened a six-game trip with the first of three games in four days. “Psychologically, we get down — especially on the road. We tend to feel sorry for ourselves,” coach David Quinn said. Sharks forward Tomas Hertl returned to the lineup after missing a game with an upper-body injury. He confirmed afterward he had surgery Monday to remove a kidney stone. “It was pretty painful, but I felt good enough to jump in,” Hertl said. “Two minutes with a 5-on-3, you have to put one in.” Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted December 3, 2023 Author Share Posted December 3, 2023 Game # 23 Bos 4 Leafs 3 OT Marchand scores late in OT to lift Bruins to 4-3 win over Maple Leafs 1:04 Marchand scores OT winner for Bruins on an open net The Bruins force Joseph Woll away from the front of the net, allowing Brad Marchand to score the overtime-winning goal for Boston. ByAP Updated: Dec 2, 2023, 11:52 pm TORONTO -- — Brad Marchand scored at 4:52 of overtime as the Boston Bruins beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 on Saturday night. David Pastrnak had a goal and two assists, and Trent Frederic and Kevin Shattenkirk also scored for Boston. Linus Ullmark made 37 saves for the Bruins, who have won two in a row after three straight regulation losses. Marchand’s winner came after William Nylander fell in the neutral zone. Pastrnak was denied on a breakaway by Woll, but the puck found its way back in front for the Boston captain to bury his eighth goal of the season to snap an eight-game goal-scoring drought. “Great handle by him,” Pastrnak said. “So happy for him ... Always fun to win. Especially here.” Auston Matthews scored twice and Max Domi also had a goal for Toronto. Joseph Woll stopped 33 shots. “Hard-played hockey game,” Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said. “Not your typical early December hockey game.” Woll made a breakaway stop on Pavel Zacha in OT and Ullmark denied Marner from in close to set up Marchand’s dramatic clincher. Toronto tied the score with 6 seconds left in regulation when Matthews scored his second of the night and 16th of the season. “Two competitive teams,” Matthews said. “They’ve been the class of the league the last two years … could have went either way.” Boston opened the scoring at 10:45 of the first period when Pastrnak dashed over the Toronto blue line and rifled his 14th goal over Woll’s shoulder to become the first player to score 50 times in the 2023 calendar year. Matthews hit the post early in the second before Pastrnak found a pinching Shattenkirk with a perfect diagonal pass in the offensive zone for the defenseman to roof his first with the Bruins at 7:31 to make it 2-0. Matthews got the Maple Leafs on the scoreboard with 7:54 remaining in the middle period when he scored his 15th with Ullmark out of position and Boston defenseman Charlie McAvoy trying to play goal on a scramble. “He was a beast out there,” Keefe said of Matthews, who had one goal in his previous nine games. “He was all over the puck.” Domi, who’s father Tie was a Toronto fan favorite, then scored his first with the Maple Leafs at 2:11 of the third after taking a pass from Nick Robertson and moving in all alone on Ullmark to tie it 2-2. “Feels good to contribute,” Domi said. “But that (stuff’s) irrelevant when you don’t win.” Frederic put the Bruins ahead 3-2 with 6:50 left when he poked home a rebound for his sixth after Derek Forbort took the initial shot. Toronto goalie Ilya Samsonov sat out with an illness. Martin Jones was recalled from the AHL on an emergency basis to serve as Woll’s backup. Maple Leafs captain John Tavares now has 996 career points after picking up an assist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted December 4, 2023 Author Share Posted December 4, 2023 Game # 24 Bos 3 CBJ 1 Brad Marchand gets natural hat trick in 3rd period; Bruins beat Blue Jackets, 3-1 ByAP Updated: Dec 3, 2023, 10:24 pm BOSTON -- — Brad Marchand recorded a natural hat trick in the third period to lead the Boston Bruins to a 3-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday night. Facing each other for the second time in six days, the Bruins got some payback for a 5-2 loss in Columbus with their third straight victory. “They don't come often,” Marchand said of his first career natural hat trick. “It's just sometimes how it goes. Sometimes you get the bounces, sometimes you don't.” Jeremy Swayman, pulled in the loss at Columbus in the second period, made 24 saves. “He’s a world-class player,” Swayman said of Marchand. “He’s going to keep goalies guessing.” Boone Jenner scored for the Blue Jackets, who lost for the third time in five games, and Spencer Martin stopped 25 shots. Boston defenseman Charlie McAvoy blocked a shot in the closing minute and skated to the bench slowly. Trailing 1-0, the Bruins tied it 1:56 into the third when Marchand’s shot from the right circle deflected off the stick of Columbus defense Zach Werenski and over Martin’s right shoulder. Marchand gave them the lead 3:41 later when he fired a wrister past Martin from the high-slot for a power-play goal. He completed the hat trick from the left side, scoring from all three sides of the ice, when he slipped a wrister inside the right post from the bottom of the left circle at 7:46 for his second power-play goal of the night. “I didn't notice that. It is,” Boston coach Jim Montgomery said when asked about the “uniqueness” of Marchand scoring on all three sides. “It just shows how diverse he is.” The TD Garden fans showered the ice with hats on a cool, rainy night in Boston. The PA played an oldie, “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You,” while the ice crew picked up the hats. One, though — a red and white Santa hat — Marchand retrieved from a member of the crew and handed to a Bruins’ equipment person on the bench. “I saw a nice camel one that I went after right away,” Marchand said of the pile of hats. “Then someone saw a Santa hat. I'm a huge Christmas guy. It's was a no-brainer.” Marchand scored an overtime winner in the closing seconds of Boston’s victory at Toronto on Saturday night. Martin was solid in the second period, making 15 saves in a period where Boston had a handful of excellent scoring chances. “I don't think it was the whole team. It was just a few events,” Columbus coach Pascal Vincent said. “Spencer Martin was outstanding tonight.” Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted December 8, 2023 Author Share Posted December 8, 2023 Game # 25 Bos 1 Buff 3 Sabres snap 4-game skid with a 3-1 win over Atlantic Division-leading Bruins ByAP Updated: Dec 7, 2023, 10:38 pm BOSTON -- — JJ Peterka, Tage Thompson and Victor Olofsson scored and the Buffalo Sabres snapped a four-game losing streak with a 3-1 win over the Boston Bruins on Thursday night. Devon Levi made 30 saves for Buffalo, which beat the Atlantic Division-leading Bruins for the first time in nearly a calendar year. The Bruins had won three straight against Buffalo. The Sabres last beat Boston on Dec. 31, 2022. “Just focusing on stepping over the boards and winning your shift and beating the guy across from you,” Thompson said. “From there, you get time and space to make plays.” Brad Marchand scored for Boston, which had its four-game winning streak halted. Marchand also recorded the 1,000th penalty of his career. “This game will humble you quickly and we saw that tonight,” Marchand said. “It’s about making sure you play hard and make life difficult on the other team.” Linus Ullmark finished with 33 saves, and the Bruins were outshot 35-29. “We just didn’t have any energy or life to us,” said Boston head coach Jim Montgomery, noting there was concern coming into the game based off the stagnant vibe that was given off during Wednesday’s practice. “I expect us to get better every period. I think we went from awful to poor to average.” A scramble in front of the Boston net was originally ruled a no-goal by the referee behind the net, then ruled a goal for Buffalo’s Eric Anderson after the officials huddled. The play was reviewed for goaltender interference, with the Bruins winning the challenge with 5:18 left in the first period. The period ended with the Sabres outshooting Boston 19-5. Early in the second period, Buffalo’s Dylan Cozens won a faceoff in the Boston zone and Peterka scored his 11th goal of the season on a shot from just outside the circle. “It was a good shot,” Ullmark said. “Sometimes, you’re in a good position and see it all the way. Sometimes, they utilize people in front of you in a good way and that was one of those situations. They want to create chaos and put a lot of bodies in front of you.” Buffalo made it 2-0 with three minutes left in the second. Former Bruin Connor Clifton sent a pass to Thompson, who scored his seventh of the season on a one-timer from just outside the hash marks of the left circle. “I think (Clifton) saw me the whole way. Great pinch along the boards,” Thompson said. “We locked eyes and he was probably waiting for me to open up. He made a great pass.” The Bruins cut their deficit in half 28 seconds later when Marchand’s shot bounced off Buffalo defenseman Erik Johnson and into the net. The score made it five straight Boston goals coming off the Marchand’s stick dating to last Saturday. Boston spent considerable time in the Buffalo zone early in the third period before a developing 2-on-1 break resulted in Olofsson scoring his fourth of the season. Anderson made his debut with the Sabres one day after being acquired from Columbus. Boston recalled two players before Thursday’s game. Defenseman Mason Lohrei took the place of Derek Forbort, who was placed on long-term injured reserve with a lower-body injury. With Jeremy Swayman missing the game for the Bruins with an illness, goalie Brandon Bussi served as the backup to Ulllmark. The Bruins played the majority of the third period without top defenseman Charlie McAvoy, who went to the dressing room after a heavy collision. Montgomery said afterwards that McAvoy suffered an upper-body injury. “Obviously that’s a gap that’s hard to fill,” said Boston forward Charlie Coyle when asked about Boston attempting to make a comeback without McAvoy. “If you’re down a goal, he’s a guy you want on the ice, specifically in the situation we were in tonight.” Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted December 10, 2023 Author Share Posted December 10, 2023 Game # 26 Bos 5 Yotes 3 Pastrnak scores twice as Bruins beat Coyotes 5-3 0:52 David Pastrnak's second goal puts Coyotes away for good Updated: Dec 9, 2023, 05:15 pm BOSTON -- — David Pastrnak had two goals and an assist, Trent Frederic added two assists and the Boston Bruins held off the Arizona Coyotes 5-3 on Saturday. Charlie Coyle also scored for Boston and Kevin Shattenkirk got his 99th career goal as the Bruins won for the fourth time in five games and improved to 10-2-1 at home. Trailing 3-0, Arizona got back-to-back goals from Clayton Keller and Michael Carcone 32 seconds apart early in the second period. They never got closer as Linus Ullmark finished with 31 saves. “They’re a good team offensively and they can make you pay. I thought we regrouped really well," Shattenkirk said. “We stuck with it, got back to our gameplan and got that fourth and fifth goal at the right time.” Ullmark came up with a pair of stops just outside the goal line late in an Arizona power play and Pastrnak sealed it with his second goal of the game, beating Connor Ingram with a wrist shot with 5:31 left in the third. “Our execution was a little bit below average, but Linus played great,” Frederic said. Danton Heinen also scored for Boston. Ingram stopped 24 shots for Arizona, which kicked off a three-game road trip with its second straight loss following a five-game winning streak. The Coyotes went 0-for-5 on the power play. “I think they just capitalized on our mistakes. We got off to a good start. There were good moments,” Carcone said. “I thought we played a pretty solid game overall. It’s just when we had those mental collapses they took advantage of it.” Pastrnak scored his 15th of the season when he skated the puck out from behind the net, delayed and beat Ingram with a wrist shot 15:22 of the first period. Coyle redirected a crossing pass from Frederic for his 10th goal of the season and a 2-0 lead less than a minute later. “I was just trying to plant myself there and he fired it,” Coyle said. “There was a stick there, but he still made a great pass and I honestly didn’t do much with it.” Shattenkirk made it 3-0 early in the second period on a power play, one-timing a pass from Pastrnak. Keller beat Ullmark with a wrist shot from the left circle 2:50 into the second, then Carcone grabbed the puck after a turnover just outside the Arizona zone and beat Ullmark with another wrister from the same circle. Frederic picked up his second assist with a pass that set up Heinen’s goal from the slot that put Boston back up 4-2 9:12 into the second period. The Bruins were without injured defenseman Charlie McAvoy and lost center Pavel Zacha early in the game to an undisclosed upper-body injury. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted December 14, 2023 Author Share Posted December 14, 2023 Game # 27 Bruins 1 Devils 2 OT Jack Hughes scores in OT to give Devils a 2-1 win over Bruins NEWARK, N.J. -- — When the New Jersey Devils head into overtime, Jack Hughes takes over. Hughes scored with 2:13 to play in overtime and the Devils rallied to beat the Boston Bruins 2-1 on Wednesday night despite an outstanding 34-save effort by Jeremy Swayman. The goal was Hughes’ sixth career overtime winner, and second this season. He came into the overtime without a shot on goal in the game and had five in the 2:47 of play. He played 1:57 of the extra session. “I think we gave him about 20 seconds off,” Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. "He’s got incredible glide in his skating so he can recover in a short period of time. He had a couple breathers but we knew he was ready to go. And the opportunity was there and he put it in the back of the net for us.” On the game winner, Hughes took a pass from Jesper Bratt and ripped a shot behind Swayman for his 11th goal. “Me and Bratter play so well together," Hughes said. “We read off each other. We have not played together much in the last month or two, but when we play together, it’s like right back together, you know, it’s like peanut butter and jelly.” Dawson Mercer tied the game in the third period and Vitek Vanecek made 24 saves as the Devils won for the seventh time in nine games. Morgan Geekie scored for the Bruins, who are now 13-1-3 when leading after two periods. The Bruins have won four of their last six. Mercer tied the game 1-all early in the third period, batting a rebound of Erik Haula's shot that hit off the goalpost out of the air and past Swayman. “He was playing a big game," Mercer said of Swayman, who fell to 9-1-3. "Obviously, when you keep a shutout for two periods, we got to make sure we get one past him. It was nice to get that at the start of the third period just for us to keep battling. But whenever you get a goalie hot on their head, making big saves, just try to get some pucks on net, get some greasy goals.” Geekie had given the Bruins a 1-0 lead at 16:51 of the first period after Boston had a hard-working shift deep in the Devils zone. Vanecek got a glove on a shot from the slot by James van Riemsdyk but Geekie got the rebound and slid the puck into an open net for his third goal of the season. Vanecek kept New Jersey close late in the second period, with a pad save on David Pastrnak after the Bruins leading scorer made a spectacular move in close. "Its’ the type of save that gives you a chance to win a hockey game,” Ruff said. “I thought it was a good hockey game,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. “Their goalie played well, our goalie played well.” The Bruins played without defenseman Charlie McAvoy for the second straight game and top-line center Pavel Zacha because of upper-body injuries. “I think we played a solid 60 and a little bit extra,” Geekie said. “Just something to build off of and continue to take the momentum with us.” Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted December 16, 2023 Author Share Posted December 16, 2023 Game # 28 Bos 5 NYI 4 David Pastrnak scores shootout winner, Bruins beat Islanders 5-4 ByAP Updated: Dec 15, 2023, 11:23 pm NEW YORK -- — David Pastrnak scored in the third round of a shootout to give the Eastern Conference-leading Boston Bruins a 5-4 victory over the New York Islanders on Friday night. Pastrnak, Morgan Geekie, James van Reimsdyk and Mason Lohrei scored in regulation, with Lohrei tying it with 3:09 left on a bank shot from behind the goal line. Linus Ullmark made 34 saves to help Boston improve to 19-5-4. “That's the biggest win of the year,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. “Because of the attitude on the bench. It's the first time where I felt like there was energy, emotion, everybody believed.” Brock Nelson, Bo Horvat, Alexander Romanov and Simon Holmstrom scored for New York and Ilya Sorokin made 29 saves. New York had won four in a row. “Just one of those nights where we made a couple mistakes and they ended up in the back of our net,” Islanders coach Lane Lambert said. “But overall I thought the effort was outstanding.” Following a wide-open overtime session in which the teams traded chances, Charlie Coyle and Pastrnak scored in the shootout for Boston, while Holmstrom scored for the Islanders. “It's a (heck) of a win for us,” Pastrnak said. “Obviously an amazing job by (Ullmark) to keep us in the game early on and then a great job by the (penalty) killers ... and power play finally got some important goals." Horvat gave the Islanders a 3-2 lead on a power play goal at 5:06 of third that extended his points streak to nine games. It appeared Brad Marchand tied it with 10:21 remaining, but a video review showed the Boston captain punched the puck past Sorokin while laying prone on the ice. While the goal was disallowed, Marchand drew a tripping penalty on New York captain Anders Lee on the play, and van Riemsdyk’s power-play goal tied it with 9:12 left. “We were focused on the task at hand,” Ullmark said. “”We (weren't) complaining and talking down to each other or anything like that." Nelson lifted a feed from Horvat over Ullmark on a power play with 7:59 to go to put New York ahead 4-3. but Lohrei banked a shot from behind the goal line with 3:09 left in regulation to force overtime. “I just jumped in on the rush,” Lohrei said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted December 17, 2023 Author Share Posted December 17, 2023 Game # 29 Bos 1 NYR 2 Trocheck scores 2 as Rangers rally to beat Bruins 2-1 in OT ByAP Updated: Dec 16, 2023, 10:49 pm BOSTON -- — Vincent Trocheck scored his second goal of the game 2:03 into overtime and the New York Rangers rallied to beat the Boston Bruins 2-1 Saturday night in a matchup of the Eastern Conference’s top two teams. Igor Shesterkin made 22 saves for the Rangers, who have won three of their last four games. New York is tied with Boston with 43 points atop the conference, but the Rangers have two more wins. “It was a really good hockey game,” Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said. “Give our guys a lot of credit for just staying with it. ... We're attacking and attacking and it's just not going in. We just can't seem to find that first one. We eventually got one, got it to overtime and walked away with two points.” Trent Frederic scored for the Bruins and Jeremy Swayman stopped 31 shots. Boston had won five of its last seven games. Boston star David Pastrnak was given a 5-minute major and a game misconduct for boarding Ryan Lindgren late in the second period. “I liked our effort,” Boston center Charlie Coyle said. “Some key injuries; I think a lot of guys stepped up. It’s good to see the effort with guys going down with injuries and (without) your best player." Trocheck tied it with a power-play goal on a wrister from the slot with 9:10 left in the third period. It was the Rangers' only goal in six power plays. “We had a lot of chances, a lot of power plays tonight,” Trocheck said. “ We were getting a lot of chances, good looks. It was just a matter of us staying with it.” On the game winner, Artemi Panarin sent a pass from the slot to Trocheck near the left side of the crease, where he fired it past Swayman. As part of the Bruins’ 100th season in which they’re honoring different team eras, they had a pregame on-ice ceremony to commemorate what they called the “Lunch Pail Era” from 1977-85. Frederic’s goal, appropriately, fit into that type of play when he went hard to the net and knocked a loose puck behind Shesterkin 2:07 into the second period after forward James van Riemsdyk sent a backhand pass from the right circle. Frederic later fought Jacob Trouba after Boston rookie Matt Poitras left the ice favoring his right shoulder following a hit into the boards by Erik Gustafssson. “That's a game that kind of brings a team together a little bit,” Trouba said. “The last 10 minutes almost felt like a playoff game with just how tight it was. One mistake and it's going to end up in your net.” The Bruins killed off a 3-minute power play, with Swayman making a right-shoulder stop on Trocheck’s wrister from the slot. Before the game, Hall of Famer Ray Bourque pushed Normand Léveillé onto the ice in his wheelchair and the former forward — with the help of teammates Rick Middleton and Terry O’Reilly — lifted himself up to drop the ceremonial first puck, drawing a roar from the TD Garden crowd. Léveillé’s career was cut short when he suffered a brain aneurysm after the first period of a 1982 game in Vancouver that left him unable to walk. Also, during that era, O’Reilly and Mike Milbury went into the stands in Madison Square Garden after a fan hit Stan Jonathan under the eye — with what Jonathan said during an interview between the first and second periods was a “rolled up program” — and grabbed his stick. Milbury hit the fan with a shoe and Saturday he walked onto the ice, holding a shoe, to the delight of the fans. The Bruins were again without top defenseman Charlie McAvoy and top-six center Pavel Zacha. Both were placed on injured reserve Thursday. McAvoy missed his fourth straight game and Zacha his third. “There's a opportunity right now for some guys to step up, to have more minutes and show what they can do in different situations,” Boston captain Brad Marchand said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted December 20, 2023 Author Share Posted December 20, 2023 Game # 30 Bos 3 Wild 4 Kirill Kaprizov's second of game in OT lifts Wild to 4-3 win over Bruins ByAP Updated: Dec 19, 2023, 10:39 pm BOSTON -- — Kirill Kaprizov scored his second goal of the game with 2:06 left to play in overtime, lifting the Minnesota Wild to a 4-3 victory over the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night. Boston captain Brad Marchand had scored with 66 seconds left in regulation, sending the Bruins to their fourth consecutive overtime game. But Kaprizov finished off a 3-on-1 break for the winner. Ryan Hartman and Kaprizov each scored a third-period goal for Minnesota before Marchand tied it. “You get down a little for a moment as it goes in,” Hartman said. “We had a lead and they're a good team and going to do everything they can to put the puck in the net.” Marcus Johansson also had a goal for the Wild and Marc-Andre Fleury made 40 saves. Hampered by injuries to three key players — forward Mats Zuccarello and top defensemen Jonas Brodin and Jared Spurgeon — Minnesota found a way to improve to 8-3 under coach John Hynes since Dean Evason was fired on Nov. 27. “I think its an important win for us because these are the games that you have to find ways to win under averse conditions in a lot of different ways, whether that's guys out of your lineup or back-to-back against a rested team," Hynes said. “In a highly competitive game, to find a way to win is very important.” The Wild had lost in Pittsburgh, 4-3, on Monday night. David Pastrnak had two goals for the Bruins, who have taken at least a point in eight of their last nine games (5-1-3). Linus Ullmark stopped 27 shots and Pavel Zacha returned from missing three games with an injury to set up Pastrnak’s second score. “It's a terrible loss,” Pastrnak said. “We should have won this game. They're on a back-to-back. We were the better team. But credit to them, they stuck with it and got the win.” Hartman beat Ullmark with a wrister from the left circle less than two minutes after Kaprizov scored off a rebound that hit the left post, tying the game with 6:48 to play. Marchand scored out of a scramble with the Bruins on a power play and the goalie pulled. Ullmark stopped Matt Boldy on a clean breakaway with 2:50 to play in the OT. With the score tied at 1 late in the opening period, Pastrnak snapped a shot into the net for his 19th goal with eight-tenths of a second left on the clock after Zacha slipped a pass through the slot to the left wing. Bruins winger Jakub Lauko had a decisive victory in a fight against Connor Dewar four seconds after Minnesota moved ahead. When it was over, Lauko waved his arms and yelled “Let’s Go!” looking to get the crowd and his team fired up. It seemed to work. “It's the first week I kind of had a green light to fight," Lauko said. “We scored right after. ... Obviously it gets the guys going. There's a lot of emotion at the time.” The Bruins tied it when Pastrnak took a cross-ice pass from John Beecher and slipped a wrister between Fleury’s pads. The Wild jumped in front 1-0 on Johansson’s power-play goal 7:44 into the game. The Wild’s Vinni Lettieri took a shot off the left ankle and had be helped off the ice to the dressing room in the third period. Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy returned to the lineup after missing four games with an injury. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted December 23, 2023 Author Share Posted December 23, 2023 Game # 31 Bos 1 Jets 5 Niederreiter scores twice to lift Winnipeg Jets to 5-1 win over Boston Bruins ByAP Updated: Dec 23, 2023, 12:53 am WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- — Nino Niederreiter scored a pair of power-play goals and had an assist to help the Winnipeg Jets defeat the Boston Bruins 5-1 on Friday night. Winnipeg’s Gabriel Vilardi extended his goal-scoring streak to five games with a goal and one assist, while Josh Morrissey and Adam Lowry also scored goals. Mark Scheifele contributed a pair of assists for the Jets, who have points in five consecutive games and are 8-1-1 their past 10 outings. “We came out wanting to win the game and go into the Christmas break with a good feeling,” Niederreiter said. “I think we left it all on the line. I think we gave ourselves the feeling that we can compete against anyone.” They also stretched a franchise record by holding opponents to three or fewer goals in 22 consecutive games. Connor Hellebuyck made 24 saves to help Winnipeg finish a four-game homestand 3-0-1. Boston defenseman Brandon Carlo spoiled Hellebuyck’s shutout bid with 5:38 remaining in the third period. The Jets failed to clear the puck and Carlo’s shot on net went in off a Winnipeg player. Jeremy Swayman stopped 28 shots — including a penalty shot — for the Bruins, who fell to 1-1-3 in their past five games. Boston had won six straight meetings with Winnipeg before Friday’s loss. “We know how good they are, so that’s a big standard that we want to be in the league,” Morrissey said. “I think we did a great job and everybody feels great.” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said he had a bad feeling at his team’s morning skate. “I was worried this morning, I don’t really know why,” he said. “It wasn’t really because of anything I had noticed, I just had that feeling. It’s all excuses, anything I give you. We weren’t good.” Morrissey put the Jets on top 1-0 with 7.8 seconds remaining in the first period, putting home the rebound of Vilardi's shot. “Dominant. Dominant,” Jets coach Rick Bowness said of Morrissey’s first period. “He can take over the game. Both sides of the puck. He loves the challenges. He just loves to be challenged. And he rises to it.” Vilardi made it 2-0 when he banged the puck in from the side of the net at 11:17 of the second period. Niederreiter made it 3-0 with a power-play goal from the side of the net with 2:29 remaining in the period. “I think our start wasn’t very good,” Carlo said. “We didn’t come to play tonight and that’s on us. They did and it showed, especially in the first period and then throughout the game. We didn’t really get much momentum at any point.” Niederreiter scored his second power-play goal with 19 seconds remaining in the third period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted December 24, 2023 Author Share Posted December 24, 2023 Game # 32 Bos 2 Wild 3 Kaprizov scores for the third-straight game; Minnesota holds off struggling Boston 3-2 The Bruins slump to their first four-game losing streak since August 2020. ByAP Updated: Dec 23, 2023, 11:01 pm ST. PAUL, Minn. -- — Kirill Kaprizov scored for the third straight game, Joel Eriksson Ek and Marcus Foligno added goals, and the Minnesota Wild held off struggling Boston 3-2 on Saturday night. Marc-Andre Fleury made 19 saves for career win No. 550, one shy of tying Patrick Roy for the second-most in NHL history. David Pastrnak and Morgan Geekie scored, and Linus Ullmark made 33 saves for the Bruins, who are 0-2-2 in their past four. Boston has not lost four in a row since an 0-4-1 skid Dec. 5-12, 2019. “It was one of our better games defensively. We played a very good team out there and didn’t give them much,” Fleury said. Boston captain Brad Marchand said the Bruins made it too easy for Minnesota. “Will and compete is what it comes down to,: he said. "Seems like we’re losing a lot of battles that we should be winning.” Kaprizov has four goals and two assists in his past three games. In addition to Tuesday’s overtime winner against Boston, Kaprizov scored with 4.9 seconds left in overtime in Thursday’s 4-3 win against Montreal. “Since I’ve been here, I haven’t seen a difference in his game. For me, I would just say that he’s getting rewarded for it,” said Wild coach John Hynes, who took over Nov. 27. “When you’re an elite player like him, and you play the game the right way, and play the style of game that he has, it’s kind of what I said, it wasn’t if, it was going to be when.” Minnesota, 10-3-0 under Hynes and winners of six straight at home, took over in the middle stanza, outshooting Boston 19-6 and turning a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead in 85 seconds. Eriksson Ek netted his team-leading seventh power-play goal of the season almost six minutes into the second period, scoring off a rebound of a one-timer by Matt Boldy. Then, Kaprizov, from the top of the slot, passed to Alex Goligoski near the left dot, continued cutting down the slot, and buried a perfect return feed for a 2-1 Wild lead. Foligno converted a pass from Pat Maroon early in the third period for his first goal in nine games. “To be going into the break with another win is huge, and the consistency we’ve been getting has been nice,” Foligno said. “It makes the egg nog taste a little bit better come the Christmas holidays, and we’ve just got to keep it rolling when we come back.” Geekie, stopped twice by Fleury on breakaways, buried a pass from Danton Heinen with 6:07 to play to get the Bruins within 3-2. “I liked the first 15 minutes of our game, and I liked the last 10 minutes of our game,” said coach Jim Montgomery. “We just need a more concerted effort.” Pastrnak, who scored twice on Tuesday against Minnesota, scored on the power play early in the first with a one-timer from the left dot for his 20th tally of the season. He is the sixth player in franchise history to reach the 20-goal mark in eight consecutive seasons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted December 28, 2023 Author Share Posted December 28, 2023 Game # 33 Bos 4 Buff 1 Charlie Coyle scores twice as Bruins beat Sabres 4-1 to end 4-game skid ByAP Updated: Dec 27, 2023, 11:20 pm BUFFALO, N.Y. -- — Charlie Coyle scored twice and Brad Marchand had two assists to lead the Boston Bruins to a 4-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday night. Mason Lohrei and Morgan Geekie also scored for the Bruins, who ended a four-game losing streak. Jeremy Swayman made 25 saves. “As a group, obviously, we didn’t like how we ended the break,” forward Jake DeBrusk said. “Had a couple days to reset and came out with a good effort tonight, had some good goaltending and just rolled with it.” Erik Johnson scored for the Sabres. Devon Levi made 21 saves. Special teams played a big role in the outcome as the Bruins scored on their first three power-play chances. Meanwhile, the Sabres went 0 for 6 with the man advantage. “Bottom line is special teams, no doubt,” Johnson said. “They scored when they needed to and they capitalized on their chances, especially on the power play. That was the difference.” Lohrei opened the scoring 4:19 in, sending the rebound of a shot past Levi. Coyle stretched the lead to two goals, scoring on a power play with 6:18 left in the first period. Jake DeBrusk got the puck behind the Buffalo net and spotted a wide-open Coyle in front of the Buffalo crease. Coyle then buried a one-timer. Coyle scored his second power-play goal of the game 4:18 into the second, when his shot deflected off Johnson’s skate into the net. “We always want to get out to a lead if you can, and then it’s up to us to push that lead, build in our game, play the right way,” Coyle said. “We’ve just got to keep building on our game.” Geekie made it 4-0 with 6:16 left in the second on another power-play goal for the Bruins. After Charlie McAvoy’s shot bounced off the end boards, Geekie fired the puck toward the net and a sprawling Levi was unable to make the save. It was Geekie’s fourth goal in seven games. Johnson got the Sabres on the board 5:11 into the third, scoring on a slap shot from the right circle. Tage Thompson, Buffalo’s No. 1 center, missed the game due to personal reasons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted December 31, 2023 Author Share Posted December 31, 2023 Game # 34 Bos 5 Devils 2 David Pastrnak and Kevin Shattenkirk each score twice to lift Bruins over Devils 5-2 ByAP Updated: Dec 30, 2023, 10:39 pm BOSTON -- — David Pastrnak scored two of Boston’s four second-period goals, Kevin Shattenkirk recorded his 100th and 101st career goals and the Boston Bruins rallied for a 5-2 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night. Jake DeBrusk also had a goal during the second-period scoring burst and Linus Ullmark stopped 31 shots for Boston, which posted its second straight win after a four-game losing streak. Charlie Coyle added a pair of assists. Luke Hughes and Nico Hischier scored for the Devils, who had their three-game winning streak stopped. Vitek Vanecek made 26 saves and Tyler Toffoli had two assists. Boston star defenseman Charlie McAvoy left the ice late in the game, favoring his left leg, after crashing into Ullmark hustling back on a Devils’ 2-on-1 break. “He's fine,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. “I think he just had a little bit of a scare with a burner or a stinger of some sort. I don't know where it was but he's walking around. He's happy right now.” Trailing 2-0, the Bruins scored four goals in just under 12 minutes. “I just think it was nice, honestly, having a reset and just having some time away from the game,” DeBrusk said of the Christmas break before the consecutive wins. DeBrusk got it going when he took a pass in the slot from Brad Marchand, shifted around Vanecek and tucked a backhander in at 5:35. Pastrnak then went to work, scoring his team-leading 21st and 22nd in a 2:48 span. On the first, he was cutting to the net from the right wing when Brandon Carlo’s shot from the left point was tipped and sailed over near the winger. He redirected it at the back of Vanecek’s pads before tapping a backhander into the net when the goalie didn’t seem to know that puck was behind him. Pastrnak’s go-ahead goal came on the power play when he was skating in hard from the right wing, collected a pass from DeBrusk and shifted before putting a backhander into the net at 15:39. “You're on the bench and you're excited: 'What's he going to do next?'" Montgomery said. “He just went for a simple, traditional backhand goal around the far post, but he makes it look pretty nice.” Pastrnak saw the goalie make a move and changed his mind quickly. “I think he challenged me forward,” Pastrnak said. “I was thinking about shooting high glove, had a quick look, had a lot of speed. It's hard for the goaltender to follow me all the way to the far post.” After he scored, Pastrnak spread his arms wide before pumping his left fist as he skated to the bench. Shattenkirk’s 100th came on a wrister from the right circle at 17:14. He added a power-play score with less three minutes left after being set up by Pastrnak. Playing their second straight night, Hughes scored just 71 seconds into the middle period to give the Devils a 2-0 edge after Hischier’s power-play goal 6:03 into the game. “We let Pastrnak walk right in and he took advantage of a tough change,” Devils coach Lindy Ruff said of Boston's go-ahead score. Boston’s 23-year-old center Georgii Merkulov made his NHL debut, and Bruins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk collected an assist in his return after missing three games with an upper-body injury. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted January 1 Author Share Posted January 1 Game # 35 Bos 5 Wings 3 Frederic scores 2 goals as Bruins win 3rd straight by downing Red Wings, 5-3 Updated: Dec 31, 2023, 10:06 pm DETROIT -- — Trent Frederic scored twice, Charlie Coyle had the go-ahead goal and the Boston Bruins beat the Detroit Red Wings 5-3 on Sunday. Boston forward Pavel Zacha scored an empty-net goal in his 500th regular-season game. Jake DeBrusk also added an empty-netter and Charlie McAvoy had three assists for the Bruins, who have won three straight. Jeremy Swayman made 25 saves. Boston beat New Jersey at home Saturday night. “We have a tough travel with a 5 o'clock game, but we had really good energy and it was nice to pull that one off,” Frederic said. “Call it a little bit of a gutsy win.” Jake Walman scored his third goal in two games for Detroit. Ben Chiarot and J.T. Compher had the Red Wings' other goals, and Alex Lyon stopped 23 shots. “We did some quality things tonight,” Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said. “You look back, we easily could have won that game. Probably our most complete 60 minutes from start to finish in a while. It just came against a team with a very slim margin of error to be successful.” The Atlantic Division opponents split their four-game season series. Frederic scored his first goal of the game with 51.8 seconds left in the first period. David Pastrnak flicked the puck out of his own zone as Frederic got behind Detroit's defenders. Frederic backhanded the puck over Lyon's left shoulder. “Pasta hit a nice little 60-degree wedge shot to me, and I was a little slow, so all I had was the backhand,” Frederic said. “I was lucky to get that over his shoulder.” Frederic crashed into Lyon, who was checked out by the team's trainer but remained in the game. Frederic's second goal and ninth of the season came at 4:25 of the second. He skated in along the right boards and wristed a shot that whistled through Lyon's pads. “I think he’s playing faster," Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. ”He’s underrated as to how great a skater he is, and now he’s going north consistently instead of delaying, which he did a lot. He’s opening up space for himself and he’s got great hands." Walman notched his ninth goal this season at 13:01. He lifted a shot from the left circle over Swayman's shoulder. Chiarot scored his third goal later in the period from the slot to tie it at 2. Boston's challenge of goalie interference was denied. Boston regained the lead at 3:52 of the third. McAvoy passed the puck to Coyle, who scored his 13th goal from the slot. DeBrusk's empty-netter came with 2:01 remaining. Following a Boston penalty, Compher scored on a rebound with 1:22 left. Detroit had gone 0 for 5 on the power play before Compher's goal. “I thought we had chances,” Compher said. “It wasn’t perfect tonight. You’re judged on goals and we weren’t able to capitalize early in the game.” Zacha's empty-netter with 24 seconds to go clinched the Bruins' victory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted January 3 Author Share Posted January 3 Game # 36 Bos 4 CBJ 1 James van Riemsdyk has a goal, 2 assists to lead Bruins over Blue Jackets 4-1 ByAP Updated: Jan 2, 2024, 10:27 pm COLUMBUS, Ohio -- — James van Riemsdyk scored on a power play and added two assists, lifting the Boston Bruins over the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-1 on Tuesday night and extending their win streak to four games. Kevin Shattenkirk, Danton Heinen and Trent Frederic contributed goals, and Linus Ullmark stopped 25 shots to win the rubber match in the team’s three-game season series. "Going into the break we were probably playing a little uneven," van Riemsdyk said. "Coming out of that we really took advantage of that, as far as hitting the reset and getting back to the things that made us successful. I think we’ve done a really good job of focusing on that.” Kent Johnson scored and Spencer Martin stopped 23 shots for Columbus, which has lost two in a row and five of its last six. The Blue Jackets sit last in the Metropolitan Division. The Bruins are atop the Atlantic Division. After a scoreless first period in which Boston was outshot 12-5, the Bruins took control of the game with a pair of goals in both the second and third periods. Shattenkirk gave the Bruins a lead at 2:12 of the second with his third goal in three games, an uncontested shot from the right circle. Columbus pulled even 1:52 later with Johnson’s laser from between the circles. Dmitri Voronkov’s assist was his 20th point on the season, fifth best among NHL rookies, and extended his point streak to three games. “In the first period (we had) good energy,” Blue Jackets coach Pascale Vincent said. “We had more scoring chances than they did. They just elevate their play.” Van Riemsdyk made it 2-1 at 13:07, with 5 seconds remaining in the Bruins’ third power-play of the night. “He’s contributing to our team game every night," Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said of Van Riemsdyk. "Somehow, he always ends up getting a play, because he’s smart. He gets to the right areas.” Heinen made it 3-1, burying a rebound at 7:29 of the third period. Frederic extended the Bruins lead at 15:53 of the third with his third goal in two games, off a give-and-go with van Riemsdyk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted January 5 Author Share Posted January 5 Game # 37 Bos 5 Pens 6 Crosby's power-play goal in 3rd period sends Penguins to 6-5 win over Bruins ByAP Updated: Jan 4, 2024, 11:09 pm BOSTON -- — Sidney Crosby scored on the power play to snap a third-period tie and added two assists, lifting the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 6-5 win over the Boston Bruins on Thursday night. Crosby’s goal at 11:19 broke a 5-all deadlock and halted a four-game winning streak for the first-place Bruins, who rallied from three down to tie it. The Penguins also got goals from Drew O’Connor, Ryan Graves, Jake Guentzel, Lars Eller and Jeff Carter. Alex Nedeljkovic made 24 saves. “We were probably a little hesitant and allowing them to come at us, but I thought we did a good job staying on our toes for the most part. That’s what got us the lead in the first place,” Crosby said after Pittsburgh won for the fourth time in five games. Brad Marchand scored twice for the Bruins, and David Pastrnak and Morgan Geekie both finished with a goal and two assists. Jeremy Swayman stopped 29 shots. “We were getting plenty of offense. We didn’t have to force it. Unfortunately, our game management cost us the game,” Boston coach Jim Montgomery said. “We believed we would come back to win. You want to have that spirit, but we need more players to rise up to the occasion.” The game started with a back-and-forth flourish as the teams combined for five goals in the first eight minutes. Boston opened the scoring 41 seconds in as Marchand won a 1-on-1 battle in front of Nedeljkovic after Pastrnak fired a wrist shot. The Penguins got the next two goals from O’Connor and Graves before Pastrnak collected his second point of the period on his 23rd goal of the season. Guentzel capped the wild start by putting Pittsburgh back in front. The forward converted a long pass from Kris Letang, with Crosby credited for his second assist of the first period. “Weird start, but some games happen like that. You’ve got to be able to handle it,” Crosby said. “The momentum swung a couple of times. It was one of those games where the last goal is going to win and we got the last one.” After eight scoreless minutes, the Penguins grabbed a two-goal advantage at 15:58 when Eller sizzled one past Swayman from a tough angle. Despite allowing four goals on 16 shots in the first, Swayman was back in net at the onset of the second period. He allowed another point-blank rebound goal to Carter that increased Pittsburgh’s lead to three at 6:38. Boston got one back as Pastrnak’s 30th assist of the season saw him zip a pass to Geekie, who waited for the lane to open up before beating Nedeljkovic. “We definitely had our chances. Couple of bad bounces, but that’s the way it goes sometimes,” Geekie said after Pittsburgh outshot Boston 35-29. From the high slot, Jake DeBrusk added to the scoring spree and trimmed Boston’s deficit to a single goal entering the final period. Marchand’s second goal was Boston’s first short-handed this season as he fired one past the blocker to tie the game at 5 early in the third. “There was some good and some bad. I liked our intensity and the way we battled back,” Marchand said. “Obviously, there are some plays we need to clean up and be better at.” Before the game, the NHL announced that Crosby and Pastrnak will represent their Eastern Conference teams at next month’s All-Star Game in Toronto. It’s the 10th career honor of Crosby’s brilliant career, while Pastrnak earned his fourth selection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted January 7 Author Share Posted January 7 Game # 38 Bos 7 TB 3 Trent Frederic scores 2 goals, David Pastrnak gets 24th as Bruins beat Lightning 7-3 Updated: Jan 6, 2024, 10:24 pm BOSTON -- — Trent Frederic scored two goals, David Pastrnak added his team-leading 24th and the Boston Bruins beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 7-3 on Saturday night. Charlie McAvoy, Morgan Geekie, Charlie Coyle and Jake DeBrusk also scored for Boston, which has won five of its last six games. Hampus Lindholm and Matt Poitras each had two assists, and Linus Ullmark made 23 saves. The loss spoiled Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper’s chance to become the 29th coach to reach 500 NHL wins for at least one game. Brayden Point scored two goals and Nikita Kucherov had a goal with two assists for the Lightning, who have dropped four of six. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 20 shots. After the Bruins gave up Point’s goal 21 seconds into the game, Frederic tied it with his power-play score at 4:42. The Bruins forward got a pass in the slot, quickly shifted from his backhand to forehand and shoveled it over Vasilevskiy’s right pad. “I think his confidence has increased his poise with the puck, and he's got tremendous hands," Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said of Frederic. “In practice he's scores more than anyone except for (Pastrnak).” Seconds after Frederic’s hard check sent Emil Martinsen Lilleberg into the side boards and brought a loud roar from the TD Garden crowd, McAvoy’s goal pushed Boston ahead 2-1 with 5:04 left in the first when his wrister from the right point deflected off Point’s stick and sailed over Vasilevskiy. Frederic added his second early into the second period, scoring off his own rebound when it caromed in off the back of Vasilevskiy’s right pad to make it 3-1. “A lot of that is confidence,” Fredric said of his 12 goals this season. “I don't think it's something that I haven't had, it's just having that confidence to look up to have the puck on certain parts of you stick.” Tampa Bay sliced it to 3-2 on Kuchreov’s hustle goal before Pavel Zacha sent Pastrnak in on a semi-breakaway. The Bruins’ star forward fired a wrister past Vasilevskiy’s glove to restore the two-goal lead, then pumped his left fist as he was gliding on one knee celebrating along the boards. Point’s second cut the Lightning's deficit to one again late in the second when he scored off a cross-ice feed from Kucherov, but Geekie made it 5-3 at 1:35 of the third. “Penalties hurt us early, took a little wind out of our sails and we kind of got ourselves back,” Cooper said. “Weird game. A lot of weird pucks going in the net. ... The bottom line is a 4-3 game going into the third and they took advantage of their three shots.” DeBrusk’s empty-net short-handed score sealed it with 3:26 to play, and Coyle scored his 14th just 40 seconds later. Copper was whistled for a misconduct when he was screaming at the referees after Frederic’s second goal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted January 9 Author Share Posted January 9 Game # 39 Bos 3 Avs 4 SO Nichushkin scores only goal in shootout, Avalanche beat Bruins 4-3 Updated: Jan 9, 2024, 01:07 am DENVER -- — Valeri Nichushkin scored the only goal in the shootout, and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Boston Bruins 4-3 on Monday night. The first five shooters couldn’t convert but Nichushkin beat Jeremy Swayman with a shot under his glove. Colorado bounced back from an 8-4 loss to Florida on Saturday to win for the fifth time in six games. “From start to finish that’s probably one of our most complete games of the year,” coach Jared Bednar said. “Just the way we played, competed, took care of the puck — it was a really good hockey game.” Sam Malinski, Mikko Rantanen and Logan O’Connor had goals and Alexandar Georgiev had 23 saves through overtime and three more in the shootout for the Avalanche. “Anytime you’re able to contribute to a big win it feels good,” said Malinski, who was recalled from the Colorado Eagles of the AHL to replace Josh Manson (undisclosed) in the lineup. “Considering it’s my first game back it makes a little bit more special.” Nathan MacKinnon had an assist to continue his dominant play in Denver, where he has 16 goals and 29 assists. He has registered at least one point in all 22 home games this season and is one shy of tying Joe Sakic for the longest home point streak in franchise history. Brad Marchand had two goals, John Beecher also scored and Swayman stopped 33 shots for Boston, which opened a four-game road trip with a loss. Defenseman Brandon Carlo left the game early in the second with an upper-body injury. Coach Jim Montgomery had no update on Carlo’s condition after the game. The Bruins had a chance to win it in overtime when they got a 4-on-3 power play but couldn’t get one by Georgiev. “Unfortunately we couldn’t get that second point,” Marchand said. “We kind of squandered the power play in overtime so we need to be better there in those opportunities to close out games.” Malinski got his second goal of the season when his shot from the point at 17:56 of the second beat Swayman to give the Avalanche a 3-2 lead. “He’s played really well when he’s been with us,” Bednar said of the rookie, who played in his 15th game Monday night. “We have a couple of (defensemen) out of the lineup now so he’ll be here for a little bit.” Marchand’s second of the night and 17th of the season at 5:46 of the third tied it again. The teams traded power-play goals in the first period. Boston scored first on Marchand’s goal midway through the frame but Rantanen tied it at 16:13. O’Connor scored an unassisted goal off of a turnover just 2:23 into the second period but Beecher tied it 2 when he knocked in a rebound at 10:05 of the second. “The puck squirted out to me and I just wanted to get it off my tape quick,” O’Connor said of his sixth goal of the season. Colorado was without forward Miles Wood (illness) for the second straight game. Jason Polin was recalled from the Eagles and made his NHL debut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted January 10 Author Share Posted January 10 Game # 40 Bos 3 Yotes 4 Schmaltz scores with less than a minute left in OT, lifts Coyotes past Bruins 4-3 1:13 ByAP Updated: Jan 10, 2024, 01:01 am TEMPE, Ariz. -- — The Arizona Coyotes have thrived on a feisty, hard-nosed mentality during a surprisingly good season, but that reputation was wavering some after three straight home blowouts. Nick Schmaltz's goal with less than a minute left in overtime gave the Coyotes a jolt they needed badly. Schmaltz's 13th goal of the season came with 55.6 seconds remaining in extra time and Arizona edged the Boston Bruins 4-3 on Tuesday night. The center's shot found the far side of the net, beating Jeremy Swayman, who entered the game midway through overtime after Linus Ullmark left with an injury. Arizona's Connor Ingram had 30 saves, including a few impressive stops in overtime. “We pride ourselves on working hard and being a hard team to play against, no matter the result,” Schmaltz said. "The last couple games we got away from that and the score got pretty lopsided. These are tough days of the season, guys are banged up, everyone's feeling a little something. But we get paid to do this, so you've got to be able to bring it every night.” The Coyotes pushed ahead 3-2 early in the third period when Mattias Maccelli scored on a rebound. Lawson Crouse got the play started on a breakaway and his wrist shot bounced off Ullmann, giving Maccelli the easy opportunity to get his seventh goal of the season. Jake DeBrusk responded with Boston's second power play goal of the night, making it 3-all with 14:56 remaining, which held until the end of regulation. The Bruins have lost three of their last four. “You've got to bring it right from the puck drop, especially against the team that can make you pay if you're not ready to go,” Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy said. Boston's David Pastrnak got the scoring started on a power play less than five minutes into the game, smacking a well-placed shot into the top right corner of the net, just over the shoulder of Ingram. It was his 25th goal of the season. Clayton Keller tied it up for Arizona on its own power play goal midway through the second period. Keller's initial shot bounced off Ullmark, but the forward corralled the rebound and scored. Boston responded less than a minute later to take a 2-1 lead when Jesper Boqvist scored his first goal of the season and first for the Bruins, hitting a high wrister past Ingram. The 25-year-old spent his first four seasons with the New Jersey Devils. The back-and-forth continued late in the second period when Arizona's Dylan Guenther beat Ullmark with a low wrister. Logan Cooley got the assist. The 20-year-old Guenther has scored a goal in each of his first two games since being called up from Tucson. Coyotes coach Andre Tourigny said he's already got a lot of confidence in him. “You see the way we use him — words don't mean much, especially early in 2024, I think actions speak louder than words,” Tourigny said. “Same thing as a coach, you put him in that position. I know the organization loves him.” Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted January 12 Author Share Posted January 12 Game # 41 Bos 1 VGK 2 OT Alex Pietrangelo scores in OT to lift Knights past Bruins, 2-1 ByAP Updated: Jan 12, 2024, 01:55 am LAS VEGAS -- — Alex Pietrangelo scored 46 seconds into overtime on a 2-on-1 to give the struggling Vegas Golden Knights a 2-1 victory Thursday night over a Boston Bruins team still searching for a victory with a game left on a four-game trip. Jack Eichel also scored for the Knights, and Mark Stone assisted on the winner. Logan Thompson made 32 saves. “I love to beat the Bruins,” said Knights second-year coach Bruce Cassidy, who coached Boston for six seasons. “A big piece of my heart will always be with that organization. I've got friends on the other team. But it's always nice to beat the team that lets you go.” The Knights had lost seven of nine games before this one. “There was a sense of desperation from us,” Eichel said. “I think that we need that.” Matt Grzelcyk scored for the Bruins. Jeremy Swayman made 23 stops. “(Swayman) was terrific again,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery. “Unfortunately, our goaltender's got to make several great saves for us to get a point right now.” Boston fell by 4-3 scores in a shootout Monday night at Colorado and overtime Tuesday night at Arizona. Neither team scored through the first two periods, and each had 18 shots on goal. The Bruins, though, missed a big opportunity in the second period when Eichel and Stone left the game minutes apart and headed to the locker room. Boston went on a power play during that time, but failed to score. Vegas broke through 7:01 into the third when Eichel, who is from northwest of Boston, scored on a power play off a pass from Jonathan Marchessault. Eichel, with his 19th of the season, ended Vegas' goal drought at 122 minutes, 41 seconds. The Knights were on a 3-for-31 power-play skid, including 0 for 4 in this game, before Eichel's goal. Boston tied it with 7:42 left on Grzelcyk's blast from the left point that went off the stick of Vegas defenseman Alec Martinez. Bruins defenseman Mason Lohrei left the game with 4:15 left in the third period. MILESTONE GAME Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb played his 700th NHL game. “I just feel very fortunate being in the NHL and playing in Vegas,” McNabb said. “I never thought that would be a thing, but it's been awesome. It's been an awesome ride. Now, I'm just looking to keep it going.” SHOUT-OUT TO BELICHICK Cassidy opened his post-game news conference with a tribute to Bill Belichick, who stepped down Thursday after 24 seasons as the New England Patriots' coach. “He was good to me as a young coach there,” Cassidy said. "Our relationship grew over the years because I got to know him better and I had more tenure there. I wish him all the best. There is an opening in Vegas. I love the job that coach (Antonio) Pierce did there, too.” Pierce served as the Las Vegas Raiders' interim coach and could get the job full time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted January 14 Author Share Posted January 14 Game #42 Bos 4 Blues 3 OT Marchand scores twice, passing 900 career points, as Boston beats St. Louis 4-3 in OT ByAP Updated: Jan 13, 2024, 11:54 pm ST. LOUIS -- — Charlie McAvoy scored his second goal in overtime and Brad Marchand added two goals Saturday night, leading the Boston Bruins to a 4-3 victory over the St. Louis Blues. The game-winning goal came 1:10 into overtime when McAvoy snapped in a wrist shot. “He’s a great talent and it was a great shot,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. “That’s a goal-scorer’s shot right there.” The final play began when Robert Thomas was tripped by David Pastrnak. McAvoy picked up the loose puck near the red line. He skated in and shot from the faceoff circle into the upper part of the goal. “It was a two on one, and I didn’t want to try a pass so I shot it,” McAvoy said. “I picked my shot. It was sort of a quick bang-bang play.” Drew Bannister, the St. Louis interim coach, didn't offer an opinion on there being no call on the play. “It’s disappointing the way it ended. I don’t need to comment on it that much guys, to be honest with you. I think the replays said enough,” Bannister said. “I’ve only been here five weeks. I’m smart enough to know I can’t comment on certain things.” The win snapped a three-game losing streak, although the Bruins picked up a point in each of the first three games of the road trip that ended in two overtimes and a shootout. “This felt good. Points in every game sounds good but it was kind of disheartening losing three overtimes in a row,” McAvoy said. “Tonight we blow a lead and go into overtime again. But it all worked out.” Marchand scored in the first period and had a power-play goal in the third. He has 901 points in his 15-year NHL career. He is the fifth player in Bruins history to pass the milestone. Jeremy Swayman recorded 20 saves in regulation. Earlier Saturday, the NHL announced Swayman was chosen as part of the All-Star Game Fan Vote, where fans got to vote for their favorite players online and through social media. “It’s a special win,” Swayman said. “That’s what we wanted. We wanted to end this road trip off right. We got it done in overtime tonight. It’s something we’ll build on moving forward.” Jordan Binnington, who had won his previous three starts, saved 31 shots in regulation. Pastrnak and James van Riemsdyk had two assists for the Bruins. Oskar Sundqvist, Jake Neighbours and Kevin Hayes scored for the Blues. St. Louis scored its second power-play when Sundqvist tipped in the puck at 14:47 for a 3-3 tie. The Blues power play is 9 for 37 (24.3%) since Bannister’s first game as interim head coach on Dec. 14. Before Bannister took over, the Blues’ power play was 7 for 83 (8.4%), which ranked 31st in the NHL. Marchand's power-play goal came on a two-man advantage at 7:43 from the right faceoff circle. A power-play goal by Neighbours tied it 2-2 at 10:57, his first goal in seven games. “We battled back,” Hayes said. “We were down, our power play was great tonight, got a point, but yeah, definitely a tough way to lose.” Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted January 16 Author Share Posted January 16 Game # 43 Bos 3 Devils 0 Sway Now: All-Star Swayman posts shutout, Bruins beat Devils 3-0 ByAP Updated: Jan 15, 2024, 05:09 pm BOSTON -- — Jeremy Swayman is making the most of being the new full-time goaltender for the Boston Bruins. Starting his third straight game since goalie tandem partner Linus Ullmark was injured, Swayman stopped 31 shots for his third shoutout of the season to lead the Bruins to a 3-0 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Monday. “It’s nice to be able to see him have this opportunity,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. “If Linus wasn’t injured, we wouldn’t have seen it. But his makeup is someone that wants the net every night. Linus has that, too. The swagger that he brings, it feels like he never gets tired.” Swayman, who was named to the NHL All-Star roster on Saturday, had been splitting time with Ullmark, with each goalie starting 20 of the team's first 40 games. But the reigning Vezina Trophy winner had to be helped off the ice in an overtime loss to Arizona on Tuesday, and Swayman has been in the net ever since. Ullmark was skating before Saturday's game and was considered day to day. “Something I take it seriously is whenever I’m in the net, I’m going to compete and give a team a chance to win every night,” Swayman said. “No doubt my mind Linus is going to be back in no time. He’s a Swedish Viking; we all know that he’s a stud. He’s going be back, and I can’t wait to have him back.” David Pastrnak and Charlie Coyle scored for Boston, and Trent Frederic added a diving empty-netter to help the Bruins to their first regulation victory in five tries. The previous four games — all on the road and all in six nights — went to overtime, with Boston losing the first three before snapping the streak on Saturday against St. Louis. “That’s not an easy game for us after being in three different time zones in nine days, playing five games,” Montgomery said. “I think we were running out of fumes, but we really managed the game well.” Coyle scored 30 seconds into the second period on a backhander, and Pastrnak made it 2-0 on a power play early in the third. Brad Marchand had a pair of assists, and Pastrnak also assisted on Coyle’s goal to give him 61 points on the season, third-most in the NHL. Frederic’s empty-netter came with 78 seconds left when he out-dove a defender to tip the puck off the post and over the goal line. Swayman improved to 2-0 since being announced as a selection through fan voting for the Feb. 3 All-Star Game in Toronto. The honor came just six months after the Bruins filed for arbitration even after he and Ullmark split time in a record-setting, 65-win season. “It doesn’t matter what happens away from the rink. It’s all about what happens when you step through the doors every night,” Swayman said. “That accolade belongs to this team. So very grateful, and moving forward all we care about is Bruins hockey." Nico Daws made 33 saves for New Jersey. Boston appeared to take a 1-0 lead on a first-period power play when Marchand fed James van Riemsdyk in front, but a replay ruled that Pastrnak was offsides entering the zone. So it was still scoreless when the Bruins scored off the second-period faceoff, with Marchand backhanding it from the left boards to a streaking Coyle, who put a backhand of his own past Daws. Pastrnak made it 2-0 three minutes into the third period on a one-timer off a cross-ice pass from Charlie McAvoy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewin Flames Posted January 19 Author Share Posted January 19 Game # 44 Bos 5 Avs 2 David Pastrnak scores hat trick, Bruins beat Avalanche 5-2; Cale Makar falls just shy of Bobby Orr David Pastrnak scores a trio of goals in the Bruins' win vs. the Avalanche. ByAP Updated: Jan 19, 2024, 12:19 am BOSTON -- — David Pastrnak scored on the game’s opening shift, had two insurance goals late in the third period, and the Boston Bruins held off the red-hot Colorado Avalanche 5-2 on Thursday night. Jake DeBrusk and Jakub Lauko also scored for the Bruins, who won their third straight and improved to 8-1-3 in their last 12 games. “I guess obviously its always nice to get one early to get the lead early,” Pastrnak said. “You definitely feel like its going to be (a good night).” Colorado's Cale Makar collected one assist but fell a point short of tying Hall of Famer Bobby Orr as the fastest defenseman to collect 300 NHL career points. Orr did it in his 279th career game on Dec. 13, 1970. Makar played his 279th game on Thursday and now has 299 career points. Playing his sixth straight game and making his fourth consecutive start for the first time since the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs, Jeremy Swayman made 30 saves for Boston. Nathan MacKinnon and Miles Wood scored for Colorado, which lost for just the fourth time in 14 games. Making his league-leading 37th start, first-time All-Star Alexandar Georgiev stopped 26 shots. Pastrnak’s first goal pushed Boston ahead 1-0 when the All-Star winger fired a wrister from the slot that beat Georgiev inside the left post 44 seconds into the contest. He added a power-play score with 2:36 left in the game, then put in an empty-netter for his team-leading 29th of the season. After his trick was complete, Pastrnak was handed a cowboy hat in the team colors of yellow and black from the many that littered the ice. He brought it to the bench and handed it to an equipment person. “The hat that was actually handed to me was a pretty nice hat,” he said, smiling. “The one is nice. Thank you to whoever threw it.” Lauko redirected Morgan Geekie’s pass into the net from the edge of the crease for his first goal of the season to make it 2-0 at 4:58 of the first. Wood collected a rebound off the backboards and flipped the puck between Swayman’s left pad and the post to slice Colorado’s deficit in half just under 3 minutes later. “We're trending the right way,” Boston coach Jim Montgomery said. “You have peaks and valleys. ... I think the last three games might be the best three consecutive games we've had all year.” Boston opened a 3-1 lead when DeBrusk tipped in Parker Wotherspoon’s shot from the point at 14:52 of the second period before MacKinnon banged home a rebound of Josh Manson’s shot with 3:40 left in the second for his 24th goal. Makar had the second assist on the goal, sending a cross-ice pass to Manson at the blue line. Makar leads NHL defenseman in scoring with 53 points (10 goals, 43 assists). “It's about making the road trip a successful trip,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said of the team's final spot on a five-game a trip coming Saturday. “You come out 3-2 if you win the game. ... It has not been easy but sometimes you have to embrace the grind.” Boston goalie Linus Ullmark, who hasn’t played since suffering an undisclosed injury on Jan. 9, practiced Wednesday and dressed as the backup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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