Bruins-Avalanche Live: Matt Duchene’s Empty-Net Goal Clinches Game, Avs Win 2-0 in Boston

Final, Avalanche 2-0: That’s the game. The Avs win it 2-0.

Third period, 19:35, Avalanche 2-0: And that should do it.

The puck gets loose in the Boston end and bounces into the neutral zone where Matt Duchene was able to beat Patrice Bergeron to the puck and flip home the empty-net goal.

Third period, 19:02, Avalanche 1-0: The Bruins’ net is empty, and they are taking their timeout.

Third period, 17:50, Avalanche 1-0: Matt Duchene came this close to giving the Avalanche a 2-0 lead. Twice.

Duchene carried the puck into the Boston zone, and his shot deflected off of David Krejci and then it the post to Tuukka Rask’s left. The rebound went right back to Duchene who then backhanded it toward the goal, but it hit the post to Rask’s right.

Third period, 14:18, Avalanche 1-0: The Bruins just did everything but score on that 4-on-3 power play that eventually became a 5-on-4 man-advantage.

The B’s peppered shots toward the net, and I’m not sure how many actually got through, but there was plenty of running around going on in the Colorado end. A couple of key clears did the trick for the Avs, who are looking to hold on for their fourth win of the year.

Third period, 11:56, Avalanche 1-0: With the teams already skating at 4-on-4, the Bruins will get a power play.

Gabriel Landeskog was called for tripping David Krejci, and the B’s get a 4-on-3.

Third period, 11:30, Avalanche 1-0: The Bruins were able to kill off the Patrice Bergeron penalty, and the Bruins were back to even strength.

I stand corrected on the earlier update, as Milan Lucic had not left the penalty box for his misconduct penalty. Couldn’t see him in the penalty box at the time, but he’s still there.

Third period, 8:17, Avalanche 1-0: The Bruins’ comeback attempt isn’t getting any easier, thanks in large part to another Boston penalty.

Patrice Bergeron was just called for tripping, and the B’s will have to kill off a penalty as they trail by a goal.

The good news, I suppose, is that Milan Lucic has served his 10-minute misconduct penalty and is back. Daniel Paille got some time on the first line in Lucic’s absence, and Paille whiffed on a one-timer opportunity in the process. You have to wonder if Lucic would have had a better chance to put that home had he been on the ice and not serving the somewhat foolish penalty.

Third period, 7:27, Avalanche 1-0: The Bruins got a dandy of a scoring chance early in the period, thanks in large part to some more fine work from the third line.

Jordan Caron took a shot from just inside the blue line that Jean-Sebastien Giguere made a pad save on, but Reilly Smith came flying into the zone.

He grabbed the rebound in the slot and put a shot on goal, but Giguere came up with another huge save as he robbed Smith with a glove save.

Third period, Avalanche 1-0: The third period is underway, with the Bruins looking to climb out of this 1-0 hole.

End second period, Avalanche 1-0: Another exciting period just came to an end with the Bruins trailing 1-0.

Second period, 19:10, Avalanche 1-0: Things are getting really, really testy here at the Garden, and Milan Lucic is in the middle of things.

Milan Lucic tried to rip Gabriel Landeskog’s head off, but the Colorado captain obviously wasn’t going to go with the Bruins power forward. The two eventually squared off in a shouting match until Lucic finally had enough. He shoved Landeskog down, and that got him not only a penalty, but a 10-minute misconduct penalty.

Second period, 15:30, Avalanche 1-0: The Bruins were able to kill off the penalty, despite a pretty hairy moment toward the end of the kill.

Dennis Seidenberg was left without a stick, but Tuukka Rask made a save and covered up.

Second period, 13:11, Avalanche 1-0: Jordan Caron has done just about everything right so far this season, up until this point.

He was just called for holding, which means Colorado gets its second power play of the period and third of the evening.

Second period, 8:15, Avalanche 1-0: Shawn Thornton is trying to get the Bruins going even more by doing what he does best and dropping the gloves.

He just fought Patrick Bordeleau in what was kind of a “meh” fight, which is easy for me to say as I sit up here and type away and drink Diet Coke. Either way, the Garden is fired up.

Second period, 7:05, Avalanche 1–0: The Avalanche were not (was not?) able to score on the power play, and the Bruins actually got the best chance of the two-minute stretch.

Daniel Paille used his speed to get something of a breakaway, but he couldn’t quite gain the needed separation.

After the penalty expired, the Bruins’ first line turned in another fine shift with some relentless pressure from Milan Lucic. He won a puck battle behind the net and tossed a blind pass back toward the slot where Dougie Hamilton jumped into the play and blasted a slap shot that Jean-Sebastien Giguere knocked down with his glove.

The puck eventually got back to Dennis Seidenberg who put it at the net, and Jarome Iginla got a hellacious tip attempt,on it, but Giguere stopped that, too.

Second period, 4:12, Avalanche 1-0: Colorado is now going to try and add to its lead on the power play after scoring on the man-advantage in the first period.

Johnny Boychuk flipped the puck over the glass in his own end, which got him a delay of game penalty, and the Avs look to add to the lead.

Second period, 0:01, 0-0: The second period is underway.

End first period, Avalanche 1-0: The first period comes to an end with Colorado leading 1-0.

The Avalanche held a 14-10 shot advantage in the first as well.

First period, 19:21, Avalanche-0: There will be no historic penalty killing streak to open the season for the Bruins this season.

Shortly after the David Krejci hooking penalty, the Avs got on the board with an impressive redirection from Ryan O’Reilly. The Colorado forward was camped out in the high slot when he tipped home an Andre Benoit shot from the point.

FIrst period, 18:54, 0-0: Now Colorado gets its chance on the power play.

David Krejci is in the box for hooking.

First period, 15:30, 0-0: Nothing came of the Bruins’ second power play, but they did look much better this time around.

The best chance came on a Johnny Boychuk bomb from the right point that had Jean-Sebastien Giguere beat, but the puck rattled the post to the goalie’s right.

It’s not the first post the Bruins have hit in this one, either. Prior to the power play, Chris Kelly also hit the post, although his shot appeared to ding the side of the post.

First period, 13:22, 0-0: The Bruins are getting another power play, and they’re looking to improve after a pretty poor showing the first time around.

Tyson Barrie was just called for holding, and the B’s man-advantage goes back to work.

First period, 11:13, 0-0: The Bruins’ best scoring chance of the game so far came from the third line, which shouldn’t come as much surprise given how good they have been so far this season.

This time it was Jordan Caron and Chris Kelly who hooked up for a beautiful passing exhibition through the neutral zone and into the Colorado end. The puck eventually ended up on Kelly’s stick, but he was denied by Jean-Sebastien Giguere who made the save and didn’t allow any rebound opportunity.

Colorado continues to push the puck and they have the Bruins back on their heels at times. These are the types of games that usually give the B’s trouble as evidenced by the Toronto series last spring.

First period, 6:50, 0-0: The Avalanche are playing with the swagger of a team that’s 3-0 right now, that’s for sure.

They don’t appear intimidated by the Bruins at all right now, and they’re doing a good job of keeping the pressure on. The Avs already have five shots on goal through the first almost seven minutes of the first period.

Scary moment for Colorado just now, though. Steve Downie just took a slap shot up high as he was laying on the ice, so we’ll keep an eye on that.

First period, 4:35, 0-0: Nothing came of the Bruins’ first power play, but the Avalanche almost scored a shorthanded goal.

David Krejci got caught up ice, as Ryan O’Reilly and Nathan MacKinnon took off on a 2-on-1 that led to a scoring chance for MacKinnon, but Tuukka Rask was able to go post to post to make the save.

First period, 1:56, 0-0: The Bruins will get the game’s first power play.

Jamie McGinn appeared to get shoved into Tuukka Rask by Adam McQuaid, but McGinn is still called for goaltender interference, and the B’s are on the power play.

First period, 0:01, 0-0: The game is under way.

7 p.m.: Just saw Joe Sakic, as he’s in the house as the Avalanche’s executive vice president of hockey operations.

Between him, Patrick Roy and Cam Neely, we’ve got some hockey royalty in the building.

6:40 p.m.: There don’t appear to be any lineup changes for the Bruins, which means Matt Bartkowski will be the healthy scratch yet again.

He’s sat for the first two games of the season, and it looks like he’ll be up here in the press box yet again.

See the entire lineups for both clubs by clicking here.

6:30 p.m.: The two teams have hit the ice, and the goaltending matchup will indeed be Tuukka Rask for the Bruins going up against Jean-Sebastien Giguere in net for the Avs.

The Bruins, coincidentally, haven’t defeated Colorado at home in their last seven tries. The B’s are 0-5-1-1 in their last seven games against the Avalanche here at the Garden.

This is also the first time these two teams have met in exactly two years. They last tangled Oct. 10, 2011, and the Avalanche took a 1-0 win here at the Garden.

6:15 p.m.: Welcome in to TD Garden, where we’re just about an hour away from dropping the puck on Bruins-Avalanche.

Jean-Sebastien Giguere is expected to get the start for the Avalanche, which may come as a bit of a surprise given the way Semyon Varlamov has played this season. The latter had started all three games, winning all of them and posting a 1.00 goals against average.

4 p.m.: There were plenty of nice things said following the teams’ morning skates, as these two head coaches have some history together.

Claude Julien, who has been in a rather chipper mood to start the season, was a man of jokes this morning following the morning skate. He even went as far as to joke that he spent his time during the layoff making sure the glass stanchions between the benches was sturdy, an obvious riff at Patrick Roy’s outburst last week against Anaheim. Read more about that here.

Roy had some really, really nice things to say about Patrice Bergeron — doesn’t everyone? — following the Colorado morning skate. The head coach said Bergeron practiced with his Quebec team when he was still coaching there and Bergeron was in the midst of the NHL lockout. Read more about that here.

2:30 p.m.: Tuukka Rask was the first goalie off the ice for the Bruins, which was probably to be expected given the long layoff. It will be his third start in as many games, as the Bruins’ schedule has allowed him to get all three starts.

We’ll see Chad Johnson soon enough, though, as the Bruins have five games in the next 10 days with three of those coming on the road, including the team’s first road game Saturday in Columbus.

2 p.m.: Carl Soderberg isn’t quite ready to return, but he did skate at the optional morning skate on Thursday, which means he is progressing well.

Head coach Claude Julien confirmed as much after the skate.

“Yeah I think it’s a start,” Julien said.  “He’s skated enough the last couple of days I guess, or since Monday I should say, he’s been skating on his own. It was good to see him out there and doing at least some line rushes and stuff like that. So he’s progressing well but obviously not ready to play.”

It’s expected that Soderberg will practice with the team Saturday.

8 a.m. ET: If the Bruins were looking to ease into the 2013-14 schedule after a frantic run to the Stanley Cup Final last year, the NHL schedule maker definitely threw the B’s a bone.

The Bruins opened the season last Thursday and then played the following Saturday night before getting a four-day break in between games. That relatively lengthy hiatus will come to a close Thursday night when the Colorado Avalanche storm TD Garden.

Originally, the schedule may have looked even more inviting with a return to action featuring the Avs, but that hasn’t necessarily been the case this season. Colorado is one of the surprise teams right now, even if it’s just a few games. Only the Florida Panthers won fewer games last season than the Avalanche, but they have won their first three games of the season. Some of the credit to the turnaround — admittedly just a few games in —  belongs to new head coach Patrick Roy. The legendary goaltender took over during the offseason, and he’s already brought his signature fire to the club in an attempt to change the culture.

The Bruins don’t have any issues when it comes to chemistry, of course. Boston will prove a tremendous measuring stick for the Avalanche who have beaten Anaheim, Nashville and Toronto so far this season. The Bruins come in having won their first two games of the season and will look for the trifecta as they close out a three-game “homestand.”

Bruins forward Carl Soderberg has skated at practice the last few days, but it’s unclear whether he’ll return to the lineup on Thursday. Jordan Caron has been very good in Soderberg’s place, which may extend his rehabilitation from an ankle injury in order to keep Caron in the lineup as the third-line left winger.

Puck drop from the Garden is slated for 7 p.m.