Bruins Qualify For Playoffs + Season Wrap

The Bruins and Buffalo Sabres square off at the Boston Garden for the final time this season. Craig Smith gets the Bruins on the board right away at the 1:21 mark with a tip-in shot from Krecji and Hall, 1-0 Bruins. Sabres, even the score on a score after a breakaway chance right out of the box, tied 1-1. With a little more than four minutes left on the first, Sean Kuraly scores his first goal on 31 games on a feed from Nick Ritchie to put the Bruins ahead 2-1. Captain Patrice Bergeron makes it 3-1 on a deflected shot, five and a half minutes into the second, and then Nick Ritchie comes through with a tuck of his own, a tip-in shot from Matt Grezclyk, a little over 3 minutes into the third. About 2 minutes later, Craig Smith adds his second of the game, a wrist shot after a dish from Mike Riley to make the score 5-1 Bruins. Sabers attempt to mount their ill-fated comeback a minute and a half later, finding the back of the net cutting it to 5-2 Bruins. Craig Smith completes his hat trick with six minutes left in regulation, another tip-in shot. Smith's second career hat trick. Bruins win 6-2!

On Monday, May 3rd, the Bruins traveled to New Jersey to take on the Devil's at the Prudential Center. The Bruins dominated the pace of play, outshooting New Jersey 29-8 in the first period and 42-20 overall. The Bruins got offensive contributions from Nick Ritchie, Patrice Bergeron, and Matt Grezclyk, two snapshots, and a slapper resulting, Zorbil, Kuraly, Bergeron, and Marchand (x2), all with apples, in 3-0 shutout for Boston. The game saw its first penalty at the 13:18 mark of the third when A.J. Greer boards Jakub Zorbil and is forced to answer a bell, chucking knucks against Connor Clifton; Zorbil returned soon after, appearing unscathed. Tuukka Rask records his 52nd career shutouts, and with the win, the Bruins qualify for the playoffs for the 5th straight season.

In the second game of the series, The Bruins chose to keep Jaroslav Halak fresh with a look instead of riding the young hot hand of Jeremy Swayman in net. The devil's hit the back of the net first with a powerplay shot right off the face-off at 11:18 of the first period, 1-0 Devils. The Bruins find the equalizer in the second period with a powerplay goal of their own when Pastrnak stick-shattered pass to Bergeron that he finishes to knot it all at 1. Around ten minutes of play pass when Taylor Hall tips in his own pass from Matt Grezclyk as he is upended in a brilliant play, 2-1 Bruins. Five or so later, after a defensive breakdown in front of the net, the Devil's put it home to even the game at 2. A minute and a half later, the puck rolls around the left end board where Nick Ritchie throws it out to the front of the crease where puck battle ensues until Sean Kuraly deposits his second goal in three games and thrust the Bruins ahead 3-2. It would, unfortunately, be the last Bruins goal of the night as the Devils come screaming back, scoring the final two on the answered goals, including the game-winner in overtime at the 2:42 mark of the extra frame. Bruins drop an embarrassing effort 4-3. Quite possibly the last time we see Halak dress in a Bruins uniform.

The Bruins welcome an emotionally spent Rangers team into the Garden, a game after their highly contested series against Washington, which garnered many reactions from across the league. The Bruins turned back to their young, hot stud Jeremy Swayman. The Bruins start their assault about seven minutes into the first period when Marchand dekes out four Rangers defenders to find Bergeron out front, who deposits it in the top corner of the net for the 1-0 Bruins lead. Later on, while on the powerplay in the waning moments of the period, Charlie MacAvoy with a rocket beats Ranger goaltender Georgiev with the man advantage and again Marchand with the apple, 2-0 Bruins. Then about six minutes gone in the second, Jake DeBrusk skates in and, with a wicked wrister, makes it 3-0 Bruins, getting the monkey off his back. His first score in 13 games. Brandon Carlo, who has missed 28 games this season, kicks off the third period with his third goal of the season, skating around the boards and banking a shot of the back of the New York goaltender. Bruins win 4-0, Jeremy Swayman records his second career shutout.

In the second game of the series, the Bruins seemed to come out with good legs under them, but we're trying to do too much, whether it was one pass too many or an errant stick in the play that didn't need to be there. Tuukka Rask is back in net, Bruins with solid, grade-A chances in the first, but it's the Rangers who get on the board first six minutes into the second. Bruins find the equalizer at the 18:12 mark on a Nick Ritchie wrister evening, the score 1-1 heading to the third. Twenty-one seconds into hird, David Pastrnak makes it 2-1 Bruins with a tip-in shot from Marchand, but the Rangers seem up to the task, compiled with a crumbling Bruins defense scoring the next three unanswered goals on four shots, 4-2 Rangers. Brad Marchand comes through with a powerplay goal from Krecji with six minutes left in regulation to pull it close 4-3 Rangers. More defensive miscommunication leads to another Rangers goal. Thirty seconds later, Bergeron adds the last Bruins offensive output they can manage to muster up. Bruins lose 5-4.

Bruins welcomed Ondrej Kase back to the lineup and also welcomed an early-season bane of their existence, but a foe they have fared well against as of late. While the Bruins have gone 10-3 since the trade deadline, the Islanders have only gone 5-6. If there is anything dire to do against the Islanders, it is to score first, and that is precisely what the Bruins managed to do with 39 seconds left in the first period when Taylor Hall buries a 5-3 powerplay goal from Krecji, where on the same play Marchand is slashed, and Pastrnak received the butt end of a stick to the chest from Leo Komarov, 1-0 Bruins. The Islanders answer right back with a powerplay goal of their own with less than 2 minutes gone in the second period. Less than five minutes later, Brad Marchand adds his 29th goal of the season, a tip-in shot from David Krecji, 2-1 Bruins. Before the start of the third period, it is announced that Kase would not be returning to the game. Matt Barzal re-ties the game a little less than 2 minutes later at 2, roofing a wrist shot over Rask's head. The two teams extend the game to the extra frame. Taylor Hall grabs a pass from Krecji at the redline and powers his way into the zone from the left hash marks, skating through the Islanders defense, putting one past stick-side for the game-winning goal! With that win, the Bruins secured the third seed in the Atlantic division and are set to face the Washington Capitals in the first round of the playoffs.

In the final game of the season, a makeshift Bruins lineup squared off against the foe they are set to meet in the first round of the playoffs, the Washington capitals. The Bruins put out a lineup, resting most all of their regular starters, putting a lineup on the ice of fourth-liners, call-ups, and prospects of the future. Both teams played a heavy game with lots of promise of the future. The game remained a scoreless affair until a little past Midway point of the second period, when Jarred Tinordi skates to the back of the net and finds Curtis Lazar for the goal in front, 1-0 Bruins. About 6 minutes later, Washington answers back with the only way they know how to beat Jeremy Swayman, and that's with a dirty, grimy goal. This young inexperienced Bruins squad shows that they can hang with the everyday mainstays of the Caps, all the way down to the last 2 seconds of regulation. Washington's Raffl fires in a terrible angled shot that manages to go in and out high bar. Bruins lose a heartbreaker of a regular-season finale 2-1. The two teams are set to start their playoff series on Saturday, 5/15. The Bruins finish the regular season at 33-16-7 with 73 points, good for 3rd in the Mass Mutual Atlantic Division.

Bruins Dip in the Standings and a Rookie Shines!

After a slide in the standings due to their recent play, the Bruins find themselves 4th in the East. Thursday night, March 11th, the Bruins travel to the Big Apple to take on the Rangers at Madison Square Garden. The boys come out of the gate buzzing, aggressive play, good forechecking, leading to a Pastrnak goal from a Marchand feed to take the early 1-0 lead. Later on in the period, while on a Rangers power play, Bergeron scores his 19th career shorthanded goal on a lazer from Marchand. Goals in the second period by Krecji, his 1st of the season, and Debrusk, his 2nd, finish off the Rangers to complete Halak's 52nd career shutout. Marchand had 3 assists on the night, and the Bruins win 4-0.

The following Saturday, the Bruins embarked on a matinee rematch with the Rangers, which saw New York return the favor, handing the Bruins a frustrating 4-0 shutout loss. An uninspired, lackluster effort. The most concerning instance occurred when Branden Lemieux took liberties on Trent Frederic as he left the ice. Frederic, a player always standing up for his fellow teammates, Freddy not being shown the same courtesies by the team at this moment is glaring and makes me question certain compositions of this team.

Bruins next traveled a bit west to Pittsburgh, where they started a 2-game set with the Penguins at PPG Paints Arena. The game started well; we saw the team come out with good energy with smart decision making leading to Matt Gryzclyk's first goal of the season on the power play. After that, it became pretty evident Halak didn't have it tonight, giving up 4 unanswered goals, including 2 leaky, very savable goals, in my opinion. The Bruins lose 4-1.

The Bruins next looked for a bounce-back effort when they squared off against the Penguins again, in the second of back-to-back games. Rookie goaltender call-up Dan Vladar gets his first career regular-season start. In the first period, we see an aggressive forecheck to start, and the two teams trade goals by Pastrnak and Tanev, respectively. Tied at 1-1 in the 2nd period Tanev delivers a devastating neutral zone hit on the boards to Jarred Tinordi, resulting in a 5-minute major penalty that the Bruins promptly do nothing with. not letting missed opportunities slip through their fingers, the Bruins come through in the third period with an absolute snipe by Frederic for the game-winning goal 2-1, set up by Bergeron and Zorbil. Dan Vladar earned his first career victory in his first career regular-season start, where he was stellar, giving up only one goal on 35 shots.

Beautiful Lake Tahoe & The First Slump of the Season

Before they left for the sun-filled paradise known as Lake Tahoe in Stateline, Nevada. The Bruins found themselves on a 2-game skid. A previously mentioned 4-2 loss to the Islanders and a 3-2 loss to New Jersey. Maybe a team bonding getaway was precisely what was in order.

The Bruins arrived in Lake Tahoe rockin' retro-90's garb and the debit of their Adidas retro reverse jerseys. An NHL hockey game has never seen such a serene setting of snow, mountain rang,e and water. The Bruins came to Tahoe to play after a 7-3shellackingg of the Philadelphia Flyers, thanks in part to David Pastrnak's second hat trick of the season and the 10th of his career. Not to mention the 1st career goal of Trent Frederic's career.

The soaring highs of Tahoe were soon erased when the Bruins found themselves right back in the middle of their first slump of the season, losing 3 of 4 and then 4 of 5 to the Islanders and Rangers. With Bruin's goaltending giving up a season-high 13 goals in 2 games.

The Bruins arrived in Madison Square Garden for a matinee rematch against the Rangers, a much different team. The story of the game was Nick Ritchie falling on to Rangers goaltender Alexandar Georgiev's head on some incidental contact inside the crease, setting up the first goal of the game by Charlie Coyle. The Rangers end up pulling Georgiev in favor of Igor Shestyorkin. The Bruins go on to a comfortable 4-1 victory but not before Nick Richie has to answer a bell with Brendan Lemieux with only 2 seconds left in the game. The first of Ritchie's Bruins career and a real lousy look by Lemieux, in my opinion.

Team Resiliency: Winning Formula

At 10-2-2, the Boston Bruins presently look like one of the best teams in the NHL. Their record aside, the team resiliency is what impresses me the most. This team is never out of a game; in the most desperate and needed times, the Bruins produce and find ways to win, time after time. 

On February 3rd, the Bruins found themselves at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia for 2-games against the Flyers. 12 seconds in, David Pastrnak, fresh off a 2-goal performance against Washington, opens up the scoring by sneaking one past Carter Hart's five-hole. We saw a lackluster performance at times by the young Bruins defensive core, resulting in Tuukka Rask allowing 3 goals on the night. Bruins overcome a 2 goal deficit to force overtime, including Pastrnak in a hat trick performance with only 15 seconds remaining in regulation. Patrice Bergeron did quick work in the overtime, tipping one past Carter Hart for the game-winner 30 seconds in. Philadelphia never had possession in the OT.

Two days later, the two squads once again squared off in a back and forth effort that remained scoreless into the 3rd when the Flyers finally broke one past Rask. Once again, we saw the Bruins victorious in a comeback effort with goals by Marchand and Kurally. Their 4th consecutive come-from-behind win in the 3rd period.

On February 10th, the Bruins, at 7-0-1 in their last 8 games, rolled into Madison Square Garden to take on the Rangers for a 2-game set. At 15:08 of the 3rd, with New York leading 1-0, Jake Debrusk skated through the crease roofing one past the netminder

Alexandar Georgiev, after review, it was determined the puck didn't completely cross the goal line. Minutes later, Sean Kurally made sure it counted with a shorthanded wrist shot to tie the score at 1-1. The two teams then traded goals to force overtime. With the Bruins even surviving a Tuukka Rask brain fart when he attempted to come off the ice for an extra attacker, thinking the club was down 2-1. Brad Marchand scored 36 seconds into OT on a breakaway wrist shot.

In the second game of the series, the Bruins found themselves as the beneficiaries of a 1-0 Halak shutout courtesy of a Nick Ritchie goal at 9:27 of the second. The real story is how the young Bruins responded to their teammates on ice treatment by the Rangers. At 9:27 of the 2nd, we saw Trent Frederic drop the gloves with Brandon Lemieux, where the young muscle held his own in a spirited bout. Shortly after that, in a lopsided tilt, Jeremy Lauzon unloads uppercuts on Pavel Buchnevich. A statement game that this Bruins team is not going to take any shit.

On February 13th, Boston shuttled down to Long Island, where they saw their 10-game point streak snapped at the hands of the New York Islanders. Marchand and Bergeron both added goals in a 4-2 losing effort, with both regulation losses this season happening at Nassau Coliseum. The Bruins next play Thursday against the Devils.