Credit: MassLive.com Author: Nathan Gagne The train just keeps on rolling. I am fully aboard the Bruins train and if you're a bandwagon fan you should probably hop on right about now. Yes the Blackhawks stink, but the Bruins still showed their resiliency and won a game that they're supposed to win. The Bruins move to 6-0 without Bergeron, 3-0 without McAvoy, and 2-0 without Backes. Oh and they also just finished their 6-game home stand with an undefeated record of 6-0. Some great special teams accounted for some iffy goaltending on the behalf of Tuukka Rask. Let's dive into the game. The game began with a controversial play from a certain Bruins player. Guess who it is, it might be tough. Yup, Brad Marchand. As Marchy turned around to head up ice he was about to collide with Anthony Duclair, therefore Marchy jumped out of the way, clotheslining Duclair in the process. Duclair suffered a rough looking knee injury on the play and would not end up returning to the game. Marchand will not hear from the Department of Player Safety, which is surprising based on his reputation, but I truly believe that he was simply trying to avoid a collision with Duclair and by doing so accidentally making contact with him. The collision gave the Blackhawks an early PP and opportunity to score, but it would be the Bruins who scored first. Sean Kuraly was stopped on a shorthanded breakaway but his linemate Noel Acciari was there to clean up the rebound to put the Bruins up 1-0. Shortly thereafter, the Bruins were on the PP and unlike the Blackhawks previously, the Bruins capitalized on the man advantage. After executing a BEAUTIFUL stick lift in the corner, Jake DeBrusk was able to send a pass to the awaiting David Krejci in front of the net who placed it into the wide open right side of the net which doubled the lead. The two goal lead wouldn't last long as Blackhawks defenseman Erik Gustafsson became the catalyst for two quick Blackhawks goals. Gustafsson had a shot that deflected off of Jonathan Toews for a goal, as well as a goal off his own with a shot from the blue line. The Bruins had all the momentum but the Blackhawks and Gustafsson took that away in about a minute. The 2nd period began and the Blackhawks used the momentum from the 1st period to take the lead 3-2 on a John Hayden goal off of a 2-on-1 rush. The lead didn't last long as the DeBrusk and Krejci connection struck again on the PP. DeBrusk sent a backhand pass through a tight window in the goalie crease to the wide open Krejci who put home his second PP goal of the night. The Blackhawks ended the 2nd period with a 4-3 lead thanks to Matthew Highmore's first career NHL goal. In my opinion, this one was a soft serve special from Tuukka. Down one goal to start the 3rd period, the Bruins would put up four goals throughout the period to secure the victory. The 3rd period scoring started with David Pastrnak when he was rewarded for going hard to the net. The Bruins broke things open when they received a 4 minute PP after Patrick Kane drew blood from Kuraly with his stick. The first two minutes of the PP was pure domination from the Bruins after preventing the many clearing attempts from the Blackhawks, ultimately ending with a tap in goal from Gionta that made it 5-4. Gionta continues to have solid games and appear on the score sheet for the Bruins, totaling 6 points in 5 games. On the second half of the 4 minute major, Rick Nash tipped in a goal off of a great pass from Krug below the dot. Kuraly went on to score an empty netter that iced the game for the Bruins. After an undefeated 6-game home stand, the Bruins will embark on a 4-game road trip which begins tomorrow in Chicago. In this Sunday matinee the Bruins will look to continue their winning ways while the Blackhawks will look to seek revenge for the game today. The Bruins will benefit from a rested Anton Khudobin starting in net who will face off against one of the Blackhawks' mediocre goaltenders. Bergeron will be out for the road trip but tomorrow's game will be the last of David Backes' suspension. The Bruins should do no worse than 2-2 on this road trip and look to start strong in the Windy City. Tuukka, play us out!
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Credit: @NHLBruins on Twitter Author: Nathan Gagne This team has the "it" factor. You can say all you want, "they won't get past Tampa" or "Holtby will own them once again," but the with the way this team is going, there is no limit as to how far they can go. You can't say that they have peaked too early because it seems as if they haven't lost for a good three months. Adversity has stared this team straight in the face and they have yet to back down from it. Without three of their top players (McAvoy, Bergeron, and Backes), the Bruins beat a good Flyers team with their top line skill and solid play out of their bottom six forwards. Let's get into the game. The Flyers were buzzing out of the gate following their tough loss to the Pens the night before. In the middle of an intense playoff race in the Metro division, the Flyers looked like a team desperate to get two points for the first time since February 26th. A double minor penalty to Kevan Miller gave the Flyers a golden opportunity to take the lead early and they cashed in. Nine seconds into the four minute penalty Jakub Voracek lit the lamp for the Flyers off a sweet backhand pass from 2017 2nd overall pick Nolan Patrick. The speedy and talented Flyers looked as if they were gonna blow the game open early, but the Bruins penalty kill made sure that didn't happen. The Bruins 1st line answered midway through the period after some nice stick work from every member of that line. Pasta attempted a wraparound, which failed, but Riley Nash was there to clean up the loose puck to tie the game. Riley Nash set a new career high in goals with his 13th of the season, continuing his very effective season. The 28 year old center has played all but one game this year, totaling 35 points, playing a great 200 foot game, and anchoring the 3rd line. He would easily be my vote for the 7th player award. Prior to the end of the 1st period, the Flyers appeared to have an odd man rush and possible great scoring opportunity until Tommy Wingels (Wiggles) broke it up. Wingels probably should've been called for a penalty, but whatever. Chara gathered the loose puck and sent it up the ice for Gionta who scored off a nice backhand deke to put the Bruins up 2-1. I have a request for all the readers, please don't read my last blog when I said that Gionta was done and he was a one game wonder. I didn't think Gionta was a good signing, considering he looked bad in the Olympics, but he has proved me wrong. I am happy to be proven wrong about this one because he has been desperately needed thanks to injuries and suspensions, and for the most part has delivered. In the 2nd period the Flyers tied things up at two with a shorthanded goal from Jori Lehtera. This one hurt. Shorthanded goals are painful and deflating, especially when it ties the game up. I think that this goal was a bit of a softie from Tuukka. The game from this point on was pretty conservative, both teams were looking for a point, and it appeared that the game was heading for OT. Brad Marchand decided that he wanted the game to end in regulation. With 22 seconds left in the game Marchy jumped on a loose puck in the crease, putting it in the net and making the game 3-2 for the Bruins. The Bruins held on in the final 22 seconds, securing their 5th straight win. In the last three Bruins games there has been a game-winning goal. All of those goals were scored by Brad Marchand. Based on his production in the last couple games, he could be mentioned in the Hart discussion as the MVP of the league. I don't think he will win the award based on his suspension and games missed due to injury, but he might be playing the best hockey of his career throughout the past couple weeks. There wasn't too many noteworthy takeaways from the game other than the excellence of Marchy and the relentlessness of the Bruins as a whole. The Bruins will spend the weekend playing a home and home against the Chicago Blackhawks. The Bruins should take 4 points from this two game set because the Blackhawks blow. Let's hope that the train keeps on rolling throughout the weekend. Tuukka, play us out! Credit: The Boston Globe Author: Nathan Gagne
On Wednesday, the NHL Department of Player Safety announced that David Backes would be suspended 3 games for his late and high hit on Frans Nielsen. Link to Video: www.nhl.com/video/backes-suspended-three-games/t-277440360/c-58518803 This an absolute injustice and abuse of power. I believe that Backes did deserve some form of punishment for the hit, but 3 games is banana land. The hit itself was a bit high and late considering that Pasta had already gotten the puck and was already looking to score. There is no way that Backes was targeting the head or trying to maliciously hurt Nielsen. Backes' shoulder made contact with Nielsen's head and caused him injury, which is basically an automatic fine or suspension. I think that 1 game would've been a fair penalty, but the NHL Department of Player Safety would've laughed at my opinion. Backes has played 848 NHL games and has NEVER, I repeat, NEVER been fined or suspended in his career. It is unbelievable that he has never been penalized because of his gritty style of play. No prior history and a borderline dirty hit was enough to yield a 3 game suspension, absolute garbage. I assume that Backes will appeal his suspension and I suspect his suspension to be reduced to 2 games. In the mean time, the Bruins will dearly miss Backes as he joins Bergy and McAvoy on the list of important Bruins players who are out. Backes has been a staple on the 3rd line, power play, and penalty kill. His departure leaves Heinen as the only remaining 3rd liner to actually remain on that line. I would expect Wingels to center the 3rd line with Heinen and Gionta on his wings. That line is not great, but this team has dealt with adversity before, and they won't be derailed by a garbage 3 game suspension. Author: Nathan Gagne LETS GOOOOO! Marchand just saved the Bruins from a potential disgusting loss. This game was by no means pretty, but two points is two points. Let's get into the game. The Bruins came FLYING out of the gate, scoring two goals in the first 52 seconds of the game. Torey Krug opened up the scoring with a nicely placed slap shot from point. Jake DeBrusk quickly doubled the lead for the Bruins as his pass deflected off one of the Red Wings defenders and into the net. DeBrusk has been very good as of late and is now up to 14 goals and 21 assists on the season. The Red Wings, who only have 63 points on the season, gave the Bruins a tough game and it started by answering the Bruins two goals with two of their own. The Red Wings got a power play thanks to a phantom slashing call on Tommy Wingels, which was the first of many inaccurate penalty calls on the night. On the power play, Frans Nielsen capitalized on the Bruins inability to clear the puck making it a 2-1 game. Following some weak defense, Anton Khudobin let in a bit of a softie off the stick of Mike Green to tie the game at 2 apiece. The game was tied but the Red Wings would never get the lead. On the power play, Krug put in his second of the night after receiving a nice pass from Marchand while driving hard to the net, making the game 3-2. The 2nd period featured a Marchy power play goal, putting the Bruins up 4-2, after a great sold shot from Krug who sauced the puck to Marchy who then scored at a bad angle. After a Red Wings goal that cut the Bruins lead to one, Marchy made the lead two again when he banked a shot off of the goaltender. The two goal lead for the Bruins became a zero goal lead. Mantha took advantage of a bouncing puck that Chara couldn't handle, while Fry tied it up off of a loose puck that found his stick near the net. After remaining tied for the rest of the 3rd period the game headed to OT where the Nose Face Killah would strike again. The Bruins secured the extra point 34 seconds into OT when Marchy corralled a juicy rebound and roofed it on his backhand, which was followed by a flurry of hats. Here are some thoughts from the game:
The Bruins head into a Thursday tilt with the Philadelphia Flyers. The Bruins are riding hot, 4-0 without Bergeron and 1-0 without McAvoy, while the Flyers have cooled down. After going 10-0-1 in 11 games, the Flyers have since lost their last three games by a combined score of 15-8. The relentless Bruins will look to extend their winning streak to 5 games against the Flyers in an NHL Super Bowl 52 revenge game. Play us out Tuukka! Credit: John Wilcox and Boston Herald Author: Nathan Gagne
Link to Story: www.nhl.com/bruins/news/bruins-issue-update-on-charlie-mcavoy/c-296668898 On Tuesday morning, Bruins GM Don Sweeney announced that Charlie McAvoy suffered a sprain of his left MCL in last Saturday's game. The injury will require McAvoy to be sidelined until his re-evaluation in 4 weeks. The news has finally broke. It's been pretty nerve-racking the last three days with not knowing the severity of the injury. In the grand scheme of things, a sprained MCL and minimum of a 4 week absence isn't the worst news that Bruins fans could've gotten. It looked like a non-contact injury which could've resulted in an ACL tear which would've kept him out for this season and most of next season. So in that respect, we are lucky. During the teams picture day yesterday, Chuckie was seen in slippers and a left knee brace as he walked onto the ice for the picture. Him walking was a good sign yesterday and still is today. I am not sure whether the re-evaluation is 4 weeks from today or the day of the injury, but I will roll with 4 weeks from today. Four weeks puts us at April 3rd. Without including the game on that date, the Bruins would have three regular season games left on the schedule which ends April 8th. I assume that he won't return immediately after 4 weeks, but more like 5 weeks, and I have no problem with that. If Chuckie was to miss five weeks he would primed for a return in the playoffs. Remember the last time McAvoy returned after a long layoff? Yup, last years playoffs, when he was the best player on the ice for the Bruins. A month worth of rest for the 20 year old won't hurt him. The Bruins would love to have him back for the likely first-round matchup with the young Toronto Maple Leafs. In the meantime, defensive depth should keep the Bruins above water, although having Chuckie would be helpful in the three remaining games against Tampa. I know they are two different injuries, but I think that Bergeron's re-evaluation next week will give a glimpse as to when fans should expect McAvoy back in the lineup. The result of Bergeron's re-evaluation could provide a clearer meaning of what the team means by "re-evaluation" and how close that term is related to the players return. If Bergeron returns within the next week and a half, expect Chuckie to return in 4-5 weeks. P.S. Chuckie, I have an intact left MCL if you want it. Author: Nathan Gagne
Video of Injury: twitter.com/CBeswick/status/970071180467228673 Oof. The Bright Lights have become dimmer. Other than Chara, McAvoy is the one player that the Bruins can't lose. IF he is out for the year, it would derail any hopes of a deep playoff run. A short-term absence wouldn't be the end of the world thanks to the defensive depth of McQuaid and Grzelcyk. It was originally thought that Gallagher caused the injury with a hard slash, but a different angle of the play revealed that the slash didn't contact McAvoy. The injury was labeled as a lower body injury. The worst case scenario is any form of a knee injury, which would put his regular season, at the very least, in jeopardy. I am hoping it is some sort of sprain/strain that would only require McAvoy to be out a couple of games. Light a candle and say a prayer for our dear Chuckie. Credit: @mkmolnar on Twitter Author: Nathan Gagne What a game, and what a dominant effort from the rejuvenated Bruins. Before diving into the specifics of the game, I want to talk about the game in general. Outside of the wretched goaltending, this game was a prime example of why hockey is the greatest. Two of the top teams going at it in a game that stood as a measuring stick for each team, especially the Bruins, when it comes to the playoffs. A lot of casual fans would've loved this game because of the fight and ample amount of goals. I love all of the four major sports (football, baseball, basketball, and hockey), but a great hockey game just doesn't compare to a great game from the other three sports. This game felt like a playoff game, and in hockey playoff games are absolutely unbelievable. This matchup of two of the best teams in the Eastern Conference did not disappoint, and I bet everybody would love to see these two teams meet in a playoff series, preferably the Eastern Conference Finals. Let's dive into how the game went. The 1st period was BANANAS! The action started 35 seconds in when Penguins defenseman Olli Maatta capitalized on a bad Riley Nash turnover to put the Pens up 1-0. With the high stakes nature of the game heading into it, this goal was very deflating at the time and it felt that Bruins fans were going to be in for a long night of Pens offensive domination, but the Bruins quickly responded. A minute and ten seconds after the Pens goal, David Krejci got the Bruins on the board after a hard net drive. Rick Nash had a great pass to the hard-driving Krejci who easily tapped the puck in. The Rick Nash/David Krejci connection, you could even include DeBrusk, has been electric so far and has reenergized both Krejci and DeBrusk, forming a very formidable 2nd line. Not long after this, David Pastrnak got the Bruins the lead thanks to a lucky bounce that resulted in one of the slowest goals I've ever seen. The fluky goal shifted to momentum drastically and the Bruins didn't look back, holding a lead for the rest of the game. On the power play Rick Nash scored his second goal with the Bruins after receiving a nice pass from Torey Krug. Nash is quickly becoming a major force in front of the net with his size and long stick. With the Bruins up 3-1, Tuukka Rask decided to let hot dog boy, Phil Kessel, put one in from no angle. That was a tough one for the Tuukka crew, which includes myself. David Backes joined the party with a snipejob that put the Bruins back up two goals. Although Backes is a bit overpaid and his contract is a little bit too long, there is no denying how good he's been this year, leading the younger guys and producing on the ice. Krug became the 5th Bruin to score in the 1st period, putting them up 5-2 with a seeing eye shot from the blue line. With seconds left in the period Riley Sheahan capitalized on the Bruins sloppy play and laced a slap shot past Tuukka Rask to cut the deficit to two. This goal hurt at the time, going into the 1st intermission up three goals would've been ideal. This was just an unbelievable period. It was almost so sloppy, that it was good. Goals: twitter.com/NHLBruins/status/969377463003475968 twitter.com/NHLBruins/status/969378119714000896 twitter.com/NHLBruins/status/969379009346916353 twitter.com/NHLBruins/status/969379793195229184 twitter.com/NHLBruins/status/969380351901618177 The second period was a good one for the Bruins and not so much for the Pens. One of the other trade deadline additions, Nick Holden, continued the trend of new Bruins having great first games, as he sent a saucy pass to Krejci for his 2nd goal of the night. Unreal vision and patience from Holden on the power play, if he continues to play like this he will be a staple in the Bruins lineup. David Krejci continued to curb stomp the Pens as he netted a hat trick off a great tip pass from Brian Gionta. Pastrnak netted his 2nd of the night off a sweet pass from Chara, 8-3, yawn. Goals: twitter.com/NHLBruins/status/969385060796428288 twitter.com/NHLBruins/status/969394469723410432 twitter.com/NHLBruins/status/969396358535897088 The Pens scored once in the 3rd period, woo hoo. The Bruins won this important game 8-4, and now move to 2-0-0 without Bergeron. Here are a couple of other thoughts from the game:
Credit: AP's Charlie Krupa Author: Nathan Gagne
GOOD LORD! It's getting a little steamy in here. I can't say whether or not a picture has ever made me feel tingly...until now. Pure joy. Pure elation. Pure dominance. Chuckie Bright Lights and Marchand may be the modern day Shrek and Donkey who lead this team all the way to a Stanley Cup, buckle up folks. Author: Nathan Gagne Donald. Clarke. Sweeney. This man just continues to push all of the right buttons. On Saturday he acquired Rick Nash and followed that move up by acquiring Tommy Wingels on Monday. These two players played a MAJOR part in Tuesday's game against Carolina. Other than a few bad moves, including the trade for goon Zac Rinaldo and signing of Matt Beleskey, Sweeney has made a large amount of moves that have propelled the Bruins back to the playoffs and relevancy. Now let's get to the game itself. The 1st period of the game was a wild mix of goals and sloppiness. Carolina opened the scoring with a power play goal (PPG) from Brock McGinn who nicely batted the puck out of mid-air and past Rask. By the end of the first 20 minutes, Carolina put up a total of three goals, two of which were on the PP, and one from Spencer Aho who moonwalked his way to the front of the net and sauced the puck right through the five-hole. The Bruins looked like absolute dog crap in this period. Defensive breakdowns and lazy penalties ultimately did them in for the three goals against them. I am a big Brandon Carlo guy but he has been BRUTAL as of late, including tonight when he was on the ice for all three goals and was one of the defenders who let Aho in all alone. The Bruins had three penalties in the 1st period, which resulted in two goals against their penalty killers who have been terrible as of late. Thankfully the Bruins were called for no more penalties during the remainder of the game. The 1st period was also the Rick Nash show. During this period he saved a goal and scored his 1st goal as a Bruin. I loved Ryan Spooner, and he was playing well, but Rick Nash is noticeably a better fit on the opposite wing of Jake DeBrusk. His ability to bulldoze his way through players and hold them off on the fore-check makes him an almost unstoppable cover. Rick Nash's first goal happened because of a great hustle play from DeBrusk who stole the puck at the blue line, gave it to Krejci, who then passed it to the wide open Nash. The Bruins put themselves in a two goal hole as the period was ending, but thanks to a big hit from Kevan Miller in the defensive zone and a great patience play from the newcomer Wingels, the other Nash, Riley, was able to wait out the goalie and cut the deficit to one with seconds left to play in the 1st. The 2nd period opened up with a bang as Tommy Wiggles, I mean Wingels, sniped a puck into the top left corner of the net to tie the game at three. CUE THE MUSIC: "FRUIT SALAD, YUMMY YUMMY" "TOOT TOOT, CHUGA CHUGA, BIG RED CAR" TOMMY WIGGLES The 3-3 tie stood throughout the 3rd period, each team got a point, and the game went to OT. About a minute into OT, the tie was broken by Charlie McAvoy aka Chuckie Bright Lights. As Tony Mazz would say, "I GOT A CHUBBIE FOR CHARLIE!"
It was a sloppy but well-deserved 2 points as the B's head into Thursday's game against the defending Stanley Cup Champion, Pittsburgh Penguins. Credit: The Chronicle Herald Author: Nathan Gagne
RICK NASH!!!!!! DeBrusk to Krejci to Nash, what a beautiful sight. Don Sweeney...I love you. Video of the goal: twitter.com/PeteBlackburn/status/968645514030931968 Credit: Matt Stone and Boston Herald Author: Nathan Gagne Link to Story: https://www.nhl.com/bruins/news/bruins-issue-update-on-patrice-bergeron/c-296417018 Early this morning, the Boston Bruins issued an update on forward Patrice Bergeron, and oh boy was it a kick in the nuts. During the teams game against the Toronto Maple Leafs last Saturday, Bergeron blocked a shot and was noticeably shaken up following the play. After the tough loss to the Leafs, things went from bad to worse when Bergeron was spotted in a walking boot outside of the arena in Toronto. The severity of the injury wasn't known at the time, but Bergeron still went on to suit up for the Bruins game in Buffalo that following night. With a 17:59 TOI in Buffalo, nothing looked overly wrong with Bergeron, until a CT scan on Monday revealed a small fracture in his right foot. The injury will keep Bergeron out for at least two weeks, which is when he will be evaluated. This sucks. Bergy has been one of, if not the best, player on the Bruins this year with 27 goals and 27 assists on the year while constantly contributing on the power play and penalty kill. This type of year has put him as the leader in the race for the Selke award, as the leagues best defensive forward, which would be his 5th Selke award and most in NHL History. Forget about the Selke, the fans and media have put him in the Hart discussion as the leagues BEST player. With an average time on ice of 19:25 this season, the Bruins will undoubtedly miss his production and defense. The Bruins schedule over the next two weeks is as follows:
The Bruins schedule is going to be pretty favorable over the next two weeks. This 6 game home streak has come at a great time and it will bring about 2, maybe 3, worthy opponents to the TD Garden. I anticipate the Penguins and Flyers games to be tough ones. The Flyers are absolutely ROLLING right now and have taken over the top spot in the Metro. The Pens are always a tough game, even though starting goalie Matt Murray is out with a concussion, the Pens depth at center with Crosby and newly acquired Brassard could exploit the loss of Bergy. For the game against Montreal, Don Sweeney could call up the whole Providence Bruins team and still win. Montreal blows and it's a beautiful thing. We have an exclusive look at Montreal's season: The lines for tonight, and presumably the next 2 weeks, will be: Marchand - Riley Nash - Pastrnak DeBrusk - Krejci - Rick Nash Heinen - Backes - Wingels Schaller - Kuraly - Acciari Riley Nash has the responsibility of filling in for Bergy, which shouldn't be a huge problem considering he has two very good wingers in Marchand and Pastrnak to help him along. The Bruins trade deadline addition, Tommy Wingels, will be in the lineup either centering Heinen and Backes, or being one of Backes' wings. Wingels is a solid, hard-nosed player who should be able to slot in fairly easily with the physical Backes and steady Heinen.
Enter Rick Nash. The player that required the Bruins to forfeit their 1st-round pick this year, Ryan Spooner, Matt Beleskey, and prospect Ryan Lindgren. It's safe to assume that Nash wasn't brought here because of Bergeron's injury, but given the circumstances, they need Nash to play like Columbus/early New York Rangers Rick Nash. Krejci finally has his big physical wing, who resembles the likes of Lucic and Iginla, and it's time for his line to play like they're the 1st line. The Bergeron injury has kind of put a damper on things in Boston, but if Rick Nash decides to snipe every puck in sight, the Bruins fans will be just fine over these next two weeks. The Bruins look to bounce back, following a mediocre 2-3 road trip, at home against the Hurricanes. Two points will be much desired as the Bruins return to Beantown without their best player. |