Final, Bruins 4-2: That does it here from the Garden where the B’s get back to their winning ways with a 4-2 win over the Maple Leafs.
Third period, 19:45, Bruins 4-2: Tyler Seguin adds the empty-net goal, and that should do it.
Third period, 14:52, Bruins 3-2: The Maple Leafs aren’t going to go away with out a fight apparently.
They have the Bruins back on their heels, and they just made things a lot more interesting with a late goal here in the third period.
Mikhail Grabovski makes the sensible play throwing the puck to the front of the net with a lot of traffic in front, and it works out. The puck somehow gets by Anton Khudobin and all of a sudden it’s a one-goal game.
Third period, 12:15, Bruins 3-1: So far, so good here in the third period for the Bruins.
Anton Khudobin has been sharp all night, and he continues to make saves when he has to, although he hasn’t been tested too badly here in the third period.
Interestingly, the Bruins are being outshot 25-19 for the game, but the Maple Leafs haven’t had a ton of scoring chances and the few real good ones they’ve had aside from the lone goal, Khudobin has been there to make the save.
Third period, 6:42, Bruins 3-1: Once again, the power play comes up short. There was one good chance, though, when Zdeno Chara put a low, hard shot into a mess of people in front of the Toronto net. However, the Bruins couldn’t do anything in the ensuing scramble.
One of the B’s up front in front of Ben Scrivens was Gregory Campbell. Known primarily for his penalty-killing abilities, Campbell has seen a good bit of power-play time in this one in place of Chris Bourque.
Third period, 3:28, Bruins 3-1: The Bruins didn’t get anything on that power play, but they’re going right back on the man-advantage.
This time it’s Colton Orr who’s going to the penalty box. The big forward drilled Gregory Campbell into the boards, and he then dropped the gloves and tried to fight Adam McQuaid when the Bruins defenseman came over to investigate. McQuaid didn’t drop his mitts, and it’s Orr who gets the only penalty.
Third period, 0:32, Bruins 3-1: The Bruins will get some help in protecting and perhaps adding to their lead early in the period.
Dion Phaneuf was just given a cross-checking penalty after spilling Patrice Bergeron in the corner.
Third period, 0:01, Bruins 3-1: The third period is under way, and the Bruins are looking to hold off a likely Toronto push.
Second period reaction: The Bruins continue to some good things on offense, and it pays off with a couple more goals in the second period.
Sometimes it’s as simple as just going to the net, which is exactly what they have done for the first and third goal of the evening. In the first period, it was Patrice Bergeron going to the net to bang home the rebound on a Tyler Seguin shot, and then David Krejci was able to backhand home a second-chance opportunity on a Andrew Ference wrist shot from the slot.
The second goal (the first of the period for the B’s) was just a lot of Seguin being a good hockey player. He got some help, though, especially in the neutral zone where Bergeron kept the play alive. Brad Marchand then passed it across to Seguin, and he took care of the rest. The play was also helped along by Dion Phaneuf who left two thirds of the ice exposed and the Bruins made him and the Leafs pay dearly.
Now the Bruins need to hold the lead in the third period. That’s usually an automatic in years past, but as we mentioned earlier, they’ve coughed up third-period leads in their last two games, so that will certainly be something to watch.
Quickly, some news to pass along. TSN’s Darren Dreger is reporting that Swedish forward Carl Sondeberg is hoping to join the B’s after the conclusion of his Swiss league playoffs.
End second period, Bruins 3-1: The Bruins will have to kill off the rest of a Tyler Seguin slashing penalty to open the third period. He’ll have 12 seconds of penalty time left to serve in the final period.
Second period, 1:57, Bruins 3-1: The Bruins’ second line figured it would get in on the fun, and the Bruins now have a two-goal lead here late in the second period.
Milan Lucic took the body along the Bruins’ bench, and he shoveled it to Andrew Ference who was streaking down the middle of the ice. Ference carried the puck into the slot and put it on net. David Krejci skated his lane, went to the net and he was able to score an easy second-chance goal.
Second period, 15:19, Bruins 2-1: There aren’t many worse things than having a gassed fourth line on the ice, which is exactly what just happened to the Bruins there. They’re going to live to tell about it, though.
That’s thanks in large part to Anton Khudobin who made a big save, as well as Dennis Seidenberg who had a combination of a kick save and a blocked shot in the middle of the slot to break up the Toronto possession.
Second period, 11:06, Bruins 2-1: As you might imagine, the Bruins fans here at the Garden aren’t going to let the Maple Leafs, their fans, Phil Kessel or Brian Burke forget the Phil Kessel trade anytime soon.
The “Thank you, Kessel” cheers started raining down from the balcony here in the second period, in what’s becoming a pretty regular thing when the Leafs visit Boston.
Second period, 7:11, Bruins 2-1: Tyler Seguin just kills, and I mean kills the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The young forward has his second point of the evening, and he’s the one doing the goal scoring this time. Patrice Bergeron makes a brilliant play in the middle of the ice to take the body and move the puck along to Brad Marchand who took it down the left wing. Seguin’s closing speed down the right wing turned it into a 2-on-1 and Seguin snipes it by Ben Scrivens.
Second period, 5:16, 1-1: The Bruins were able to set up the power play in the Toronto zone, but it didn’t produce any real good chances, and another man-advantage ends with no success.
Second period, 3:16, 1-1: The 4-on-4 play ends up aiding the Maple Leafs, and we have a tie game.
Clarke MacArthur and Nazem Kadri worked the 2-on-1 breakout to perfection, and it’s Kadri’s 12th goal that ties the game.
A minute later, though, Patrice Bergeron was plowed into heading to the net, and Nikolai Kumelin is called for interference.
Second period, 1:22, Bruins 1-0: Brad Marchand is doing Brad Marchand things in the second period. That’s not scoring (yet), but it’s getting under the skin of the opposition.
Marchand gets a little physical with Dion Phaneuf with some pushing and shoving behind the play and after the whistle, and they were both just given matching minor penalties for roughing.
Second period, 0:01, Bruins 1-0: The second period is under way here in Boston.
First period reaction: The Bruins come away with the lead after the first 20 minutes, but they certainly didn’t dominate the first period or anything like that.
In fact, you could say that aside from the late goal, the Maple Leafs outplayed Boston in the first period — at least in the first 10 minutes or so. The momentum seemed to swing on, what else, a penalty kill from the B’s. Give a ton of credit to Anton Khudobin who made a couple of big saves on the Toronto power play to keep it scoreless at that point, and that’s a big reason the Bruins are in the lead right now.
The new (and maybe improved; time will tell) third line looked OK in the first. They did get one dandy of a scoring chance, however, when Jay Pandolfo did a great job of fore-checking in the Toronto zone. That led to a turnover, which eventually found Pandolfo in the slot. He put a shot on net that Ben Scrivens stopped, but Chris Kelly went to the net and almost scored, but his backhander hit the post and trickled out of the crease on the other wing.
End first period, Bruins 1-0: The first period comes to a close with the Bruins in the lead 1-0, despite being outplayed a little bit in the first period.
We’ll break it all down in a couple of minutes.
First period, 19:08, Bruins 1-0: The Bruins had looked pretty lethargic offensively for much of the first period, but once again it’s Patrice Bergeron’s line that gets the club going.
Bergeron is the one who’s able to beat Ben Scrivens for the game’s first goal, but it was thanks in large part to both Brad Marchand and Tyler Seguin. The Bruins gained possession when Marchand was able to win a puck battle along the Toronto bench, and he kicked it to Seguin. The forward flew into the attacking zone and his shot was turned back by Scrivens, but Bergeron followed the play and beat the Toronto goalie five-hole for the game’s first goal.
First period, 14:10, 0-0: The Bruins’ penalty kill was up to the challenge, and they have killed off both penalties.
That’s thanks in large part to Anton Khudobin who came up with a pair of big saves, the first on Phil Kessel on a redirect in the slot and the second came late in the kill when he stoned Tyler Bozak on a rebound attempt.
Nazem Kadri had a rough shift a little later, as he was planted into the boards in front of the Bruins bench by Andrew Ference. The Toronto forward then got up and appeared to be mouthing off to just about any Bruin that would give him the time of day.
First period, 12:03, 0-0: The Bruins’ penalty kill will have to work twice as hard for the next 23 seconds, as Daniel Paille just headed to the penalty box.
He caught Dion Phaneuf with an errant high stick.
First period, 10:25, 0-0: The Maple Leafs will get the first power play of the evening, thanks to a little bad luck on the Bruins’ part.
Chris Kelly went to slow down Phil Kessel immediately after a faceoff in the Boston zone, and he chopped down on Kessel’s stick. He did so a little too hard, though, as Kessel’s stick broke in half and Kelly is sent to the penalty box.
First period, 5:42, 0-0: It’s been a pretty decent pace thus far, with the fight stealing the show early on. It’s been a physical one, too. Just ask James Van Riemsdyk. The former UNH Wildcat was just walloped by Bruins defenseman Johnny Boychuk in the left dot, and the winger went crashing into the boards for his trouble.
No real good scoring chances yet for either team, though.
First period, 3:23, 0-0: Mark Fraser had a questionable hit from behind on Jay Pandolfo, and Adam McQuaid was not going to stand for that.
The Bruins defenseman wasted no time dropping the gloves at center ice, and Fraser indulged. The two had a spirited scrap with a ton of punches thrown. If we’re scoring it, we’re probably going to give it Fraser, but good on McQuaid for backing up his teammate.
First period, 0:01, 0-0: The game is under way, and the Bruins look to get back on track here at the Garden.
7 p.m.: Nice tribute from the Bruins in pregame, as they play “The Hockey Song” by Stompin’ Tom Connors who recently passed away.
It’s also rumored that Milt Schmidt is in the house for the ceremonial puck drop, so it’s an old school kind of night, especially with the Original Six rival in the house.
6:38 p.m.: Unsurprisingly, it looks like it’s going to be Jay Pandolfo skating on the third line with Chris Kelly and Rich Peverley after Chris Bourque was waived earlier in the day.
The fourth line looks to be the same as it was Tuesday, a game in which Claude Julien called the line’s best in a year and a half.
6:30 p.m.: Anton Khudobin and Ben Scrivens lead their respective teams out of the tunnel for pregame skate, and that will be your goaltending matchup for this one.
Scrivens has one career appearance against the Bruins. He started the Nov. 3 matchup between the two teams last season, and he got lit up like a Christmas tree. He gave up five goals and was yanked in the second period of a 7-0 Bruins win.
6:10 p.m.: Oh, hello there. Welcome to TD Garden where the Bruins are about one hour from facing off with the Toronto Maple Leafs in another big game for both clubs.
The Bruins are hoping to rebound after a couple of disheartening losses their last two times out, with the first coming Sunday against Montreal and the second being Tuesday in Washington. Both of those games saw the Bruins cough up third-period leads, which is something this club just does not do. Boston is now 0-1-2 in games they have taken a lead into the third period this season. To put that in perspective, they were 62-2-2 in such situations the two seasons prior.
3:25 p.m.: The Toronto Maple Leafs, as we have already mentioned, have been one of the bigger surprises this season in the NHL.
Brian Burke’s work is starting to pay off (although the general manager is no longer around to see it happen), and Toronto is right back in the playoff mix. Don’t think the Bruins aren’t paying attention, either.
“They’ve done a good job with that team,” Bruins head coach Claude Julien said Thursday morning. “They’ve definitely tightened up their game. I’m one of those guys who believe they are a legit contender.”
Of course, for the Leafs to really prove they are a contender, they’re going to have to go through teams like the Bruins to do it. Boston comes in riding a seven-game winning streak against Toronto, so that’s obviously something that needs to be changed before we can really start taking the Maple Leafs seriously.
2:35 p.m.: The Bruins have started to drop the gloves a little bit more as of late, with at least one fighting major in each of their last three games. That was obviously highlighted by Zdeno Chara’s controversial fight with Alexei Emelin on Sunday followed by Shawn Thornton’s knockdown of John Erskine on Tuesday night.
That trend could continue Thursday night against the Maple Leafs who have taken a liking to the art of pugilism. The Leafs come into this one with a league-leading 23 fighting majors (according to HockeyFights.com), and they have some big and bad dudes on their roster.
“They’ve obviously got a big lineup and guys who can definitely take care of business,” Milan Lucic said, according to NHL.com. “With saying that, regardless of that fact, they’ve also been playing a good team game and been able to put pucks in the back of the net as well. So I think there’s confidence up and down their lineup, from top to bottom, and you can see that in their play of late.”
Frazer McLaren knocked a man out Wednesday against the Senators, and Colton Orr is among the league leaders in fights this season. You can see all of their best work (as well as Mark Fraser) right here in this gallery.
2 p.m.: It has already been a busy day in the world of the Bruins, and the team you see take the ice against Toronto in a few hours will look a little differently than the one you saw two nights ago.
The biggest news of the day is that the Bruins have put forward Chris Bourque on waivers. The 27-year-old can now be claimed by any of the other 29 teams in the league and if he passes through waivers, he will be assigned to Providence of the AHL.
According to the morning skate line rushes and such, it looks like Jay Pandolfo will be on the third line for the B’s against Toronto in place of Bourque.
The other bit of news is that Anton Khudobin was the first goalie off the ice at morning skate, indicating he’ll make his second start in four games. He was the goalie the last time the Bruins won a game all the way back on Saturday against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
8 a.m. ET: The Northeast Division is arguably the best in the league, and a lot of that has to do with the Toronto Maple Leafs’ resurgence.
While former general manager Brian Burke was fired before the start of the season, his plan is still in place, and it’s finally starting to see success. The Leafs come into Boston on Thursday, and they are coming in hot. Toronto sits just four points behind first-place Montreal and just three points behind the second-place Bruins.
They have used one of the league’s best offenses to become one of the conference’s most dangerous teams, and it starts with a couple of players. The Leafs decided to part ways with Luke Schenn in June, and they were able to bring in James van Riemsdyk. He’s been the Leafs’ best offensive player this season, scoring his 13th goal of the season Wednesday in a wild 5-4 win over the Ottawa Senators.
Thursday night will mark the second meeting of the year between the two Original Six rivals. The Bruins took the the first meeting on Feb. 2 with a 1-0 win over the Leafs on Hockey Night in Canada.
The B’s will be hoping to replicate that success on Thursday, especially given the fact that they’re coming off two of their most disappointing losses of the season. Boston saw third-period leads disappear on Sunday and Monday against the Canadiens and Capitals, respectively, and they will try to clean things up on Thursday night. With that win, the Bruins are now riding a seven-game winning streak against Toronto after sweeping the season series last year.
Puck drop from the Garden is scheduled for 7 p.m.
