Shootout, Bruins 1-0: Wow. Somehow, the Bruins escape with two points thanks to an incredible effort from Tuukka Rask.
We’ll have much more on this in a bit.
Here’s how the shootout went down.
Round 1
Tyler Seguin scores. Ilya Kovalchuk scores.
Round 2
Patrice Bergeron stopped by Johan Hedberg. Patrik Elias stopped by Tuukka Rask, with help from the crossbar.
Round 3
Nathan Horton stopped by Johan Hedberg on an aggressive move from the goalie. Travis Zacjac stopped by Tuukka Rask on a similarly aggressive move.
Round 4
David Krejci stopped by Johan Hedberg. David Clarkson stopped by Tuukka Rask.
Round 5
Chris Bourque stopped by Johan Hedberg. Jacob Josefson stopped by Tuukka Rask.
Round 6
Brad Marchand beats Johan Hedberg five-hole. Marek Zidlicky stopped by Tuukka Rask.
End of overtime, 1-1: It looks like 65 minutes won’t be enough for these two teams.
Tyler Seguin had a chance late in the overtime, but he missed high and wide with a wrist shot. Neither team converts, and we’re headed to a shootout. The Bruins are 1-1 in the shootout this season, with that one win coming on Jan. 21 against Winnipeg.
Claude Julien used Tyler Seguin, Patrice Bergeron and Chris Bourque as his three shooters in that one.
Overtime, 3:00, 1-1: The Bruins get a good chance early in the overtime period when an odd-man rush sends David Krejci into the crease, but he can’t corral the puck in time.
The Devils returned fire, but a big Tuukka Rask blocker save ensure it stays tied for now.
End third period, 1-1: Wow, the Bruins somehow get a point out of this.
Nathan Horton’s late goal gives the B’s at least a point. Now they continue to battle fatigue as they head into the overtime period looking to improbably pick up the second point.
Third period, 15:55, 1-1: This team is something else, I tell you.
The first line steps up in a big way yet again, this time it’s Nathan Horton with the game-tying goal.
Milan Lucic carried the puck through the neutral zone, before shoveling it across to David Krejci who carried into the New Jersey zone. Krejci then passed to his right to Horton who carried the puck toward the middle of the ice before unloading a wrist shot from just outside the right circle.
Horton beats Hedberg five-hole, and just like that, it’s all tied up.
As you could imagine, the goal has awoken the Garden crowd in a big way.
Third period, 14:26, Devils 1-0: The power play presented Boston with arguably its best attempt of the night, but 39-year-old Johan Hedberg turned that away with his best save of the night.
Patrice Bergeron came screaming down the slot and he attempted to tip home the game-tying goal, but Hedberg made a beautiful pad save to keep the score 1-0. Hedberg also made a solid save on Chris Bourque, who tried to score with the wrist shot.
Third period, 11:45, Devils 1-0: If the Bruins are going to come back, now would be a good time to do it.
Dainus Zubrus gets called for holding behind the Jersey net, and the Bruins have to hope the power play can spark their otherwise lethargic offense.
Third period, 8:08, Devils 1-0: Still worth noting the Bruins’ offense, despite a couple more shots.
Johan Hedberg has been good enough to win in this one, but it’s not like he’s had to make any highlight-reel saves, which speaks to the offensive inefficiency the B’s have been operating under.
Third period, 6:08, Devils 1-0: The Bruins killed off the penalty to Krejci, but now they need to start finding some rhythm offensively.
They’ve controlled the puck a little better and they’ve already put four shots on goal in the second, but it’s tough to recall many solid scoring chances in the last 25 minutes or so.
Third period, 1:32, Devils 1-0: The Bruins are going back to the penalty box, and once again, it’s a suspect call.
David Krejci is checked into Devils goalie Johan Hedberg, and Krejci ends up getting hit with a goaltender interference call. There didn’t look to be much Krejci could do on that play, but he gets sent off anyway.
Second period reaction, Devils 1-0: The Bruins are starting to look like a team that ‘s playing in its second game in as many days.
The B’s were pretty flat in the second period, and they struggled to get much of anything going offensively. They’ve been somewhat sloppy with the puck in getting it out of their own zone, and offensively, they’ve struggled to get any sort of forecheck going.
Milan Lucic did a nice job a couple of times of getting to the front of the net and making things a little bit more difficult for Johan Hedberg, but that’s been few and far between. It’s not like the Bruins have had much time to do anything like that, though. They’ve already had four shorthanded situations, and when they’re at even strength or on the power play, they’ve struggled to set anything up offensively.
The Devils aren’t doing much better, as the defensive-minded approaches of both teams continue to shine through, but New Jersey gets on the board in the second with the power-play tally. David Clarkson showed off his hand-eye coordination by tipping a Marek Zidlicky shot by Tuukka Rask. Clarkson was able to deflect the puck from the middle of the slot and got helped along by some traffic in front of Rask.
The Bruins are going to have to do something — anything — to get themselves going heading into the third. The fatigue looks like it’s definitely starting to set in, and they’ve got to dig deep to salvage something of this. That obviously sounds pretty cliche-y, but given what we saw in the second period, it’s what Boston needs most right now.
Second period, 18:29, Devils 1-0: The Bruins kill off the penalty to Horton.
Milan Lucic came close to getting the team on the board thereafter when he deflected a David Krejci shot in front of the net, but Johan Hedberg comes up big to make the save.
Second period, 14:55, Devils 1-0: It doesn’t take long for Boston to go back on the penalty kill.
Nathan Horton was trying to get position in front of the New Jersey net, and he ended up getting his stick tangled up high on a Devils player and the result was, of course, a high sticking call.
Second period, 14:40, Devils 1-0: OK, so it’s safe to say that was a horrible call on Daniel Paille, who got the goaltender interference call.
The B’s didn’t let it get to them, though, as they killed off the penalty easily.
Maybe that will give them some sort of spark. It’s been a pretty listless second period so far, as you start to wonder whether or not the quick turnaround is starting to catch up to them.
Second period, 11:53, Devils 1-0: The Bruins can’t get anything going on the power play and go scoreless once again.
They’re going back on the penalty kill, after Daniel Paille gets called for interference. It looked to be behind the play, and we haven’t seen a replay yet, so I’m not quite sure what he did to earn the trip to the box.
Regardless, the Bruins now have to start a new streak after giving up the power-play goal a few minutes ago.
Second period, 8:30, Devils 1-0: Well, the Bruins’ perfect penalty kill couldn’t last forever, and this is where their perfect start comes to an end.
David Clarkson is able to tip a shot from the left point by Tuukka Rask to give the Devils the early lead. The goal snaps the 24-for-24 streak the Boston penalty kill had built to start the season.
Just a few seconds later, though, the B’s go on the power play, and they look to return the favor.
Second period, 7:22, 0-0: The Bruins’ penalty kill will go back to work, after Johnny Boychuk is called for tripping.
Like Andrew Ference’s penalty in the first period, Jersey almost scored during the delayed penalty as Patrik Elias put one on net as he was falling down. The shot beat Rask, but it hit the crossbar.
Second period, 6:49, 0-0: Not much going on in the second period, with just a pair of shots for either team and no real scoring chances.
The Bruins almost had a chance a few minutes ago when Brad Marchand came down the left wing looking for a pass from Tyler Seguin, but Seguin led Marchand just a little too much. If the pass was on point, we’d be looking at a 1-0 Bruins lead, but it didn’t, so we aren’t.
Second period, 3:44, 0-0: The Bruins, fresh off scoring two power-play goals on Monday night, revert to their old ways with an unimpressive power play here in the second period.
Second period, 0:49, 0-0: Anton Volchenkov is called for a high stick, and the Bruins get to put their power play to work for the first time in this one.
Second period, 0:26, 0-0: The second period is under way.
First period reaction: All in all, not a horrible first period for the Bruins. It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t horrible, either.
The Bruins are playing the second half of their first back-to-back of the season, and they looked the part in the game’s first few minutes. Shawn Thornton tried to fix that by going at it with frequent dance partner Krys Barch, and he seemed to inject some energy into the club with the fight.
The Bruins’ first line has been the best line yet again, with a couple of scoring chances and overall solid (not to mention physical) play. Milan Lucic had a pretty good chance midway through the first, but he missed high and wide while trying to pick the top-right corner
Tuukka Rask, who hasn’t played since all the way back on Friday, looks well-rested after a few nights off. He’s been very sharp, making a couple of important saves, including a handful in which he had to go post-to-post to stop one-timer or deflection chances.
Johan Hedberg, who is making his first appearance since April, has been solid for New Jersey. He hasn’t been tested too much, but when he has been, he has responded.
End first period, 0-0: The first period comes to an end, but not without a scoring opportunity from both teams.
First, it was Ryan Carter who was fed a pass in the slot for a chance at a one-time tip in front, but Tuukka Rask slides from left to right to make the save.
A couple of minutes later, Johan Hedberg makes arguably his best save of the night stopping Brad Marchand on a one-timer from Tyler Seguin.
The two teams are even in shots, tied at nine through one period.
We’ll have some analysis in a few minutes.
First period, 17:50, 0-0: The Bruins kill off yet another penalty. But you probably could’ve guessed that.
They’re now 24-for-24 in that department.
First period, 12:00, 0-0: Shawn Thornton gets a nice ovation from the fans and his teammates after leaving the penalty box. In his first shift after the fighting major he gets left alone in the slot and fires a shot on Johan Hedberg, but he puts it right in the middle of the logo on the goalie’s sweater.
First period, 5:39, 0-0: If the Bruins aren’t ready to go now, they probably won’t be all night.
Shawn Thornton tries to get them going with a lengthy bout against Krys Barch. That’s the sixth time those two combatants have squared off in their career. This one was a doozy, too, in what was the longest fight we’ve seen all year.
According to the Bruins’ official Twitter feed, the scrap lasted 1:17. Check out more on the Barch-Thornton bout by clicking here.
First period, 4:55, 0-0: The Bruins came out with a couple of lackluster shifts that produced a couple of chances for the Devils’ first line, but the B’s survive the early onslaught.
A good shift from the fourth line got them going a little bit, as they look to rebound after playing 24 hours ago.
Chris Kelly had what looked like a scoring chance when he grabbed the puck in the neutral zone on a bad change, but Marek Zidlicky recovered to make a solid play defensively.
First period, 0:01, 0-0: We’re under way here from the Garden. Thanks for joining us, and get ready for what should be a good one.
6:40 p.m.: It looks like it might be Aaron Johnson, not Adam McQuaid in this one for the Bruins. Johnson was in on the pregame line rushes, which would seem to indicate that he’ll stay in the lineup after McQuaid missed Monday’s game for personal reasons.
6:33 p.m.: Johan Hedberg will, indeed, be the starting goaltender for the Devils, as he leads New Jersey out. Tuukka Rask will go for the Bruins. No surprises there.
5:54 p.m.: It’s time for our nightly skate around the league, where we take a look at the top stories across the NHL.
- Let’s start with the Montreal Canadiens, who made news be re-signing restricted free agent P.K. Subban to a two-year deal. It seems to be a decent enough deal for both sides. For the Canadiens, who have looked pretty good to start the season, it gets Subban back on the ice. That’s the most important thing in the short term. They also do so a pretty reasonable rate. The two-year contract is believed to be worth $5.75 million over its duration, which means a cap hit of $2.875 million. That’s not bad for one of the league’s best young d-men. For Subban, it’s not the five- or six-year deal he was reported to be looking for, but it is a nice raise from his entry-level contract. We knew that was coming. The two-year deal also allows Subban to come out and get a huge deal in two years when he’s up. If he continues to play well, he’s going to get paid, with burdensome contracts like Scott Gomez, Tomas Kaberle and Andrei Markov set to come off the books. The Habs will have a lot of money to play with, and Subban will be looking for that, for sure.
- Phoenix finally got some good goaltending, and they got it from an unlikely source on Monday. Twenty-six-year-old Chad Johnson made just his seventh career appearance, and he was spectacular for the Coyotes. He pitched a 21-save shutout giving Phoenix a much-needed win. Only four teams have scored more goals than Phoenix this year, but they only have two wins to show for it, and that falls on the defense and goaltending.
- The Blackhawks are getting a ton of pub and ink for their fast start, but don’t forget about the San Jose Sharks. They’re out to a 5-0-0 start themselves, thanks to what’s been an incredible offensive attack. Much of that can be attributed to Patrick Marleau, who is the early front-runner for the Hart, Ross and Richard trophies through his team’s first six games. He leads the league in goals with nine and points with 13. In fact, there are four Sharks in the top 30 in points, with Joe Thornton tied atop that list with Marleau with 13 points. Antti Niemi has been soilid in goal, as well, giving up just two goals per start. Of course, we’ve all seen this movie before. The Sharks are no strangers to starting fast before falling apart when it matters most. So until they can prove they’ve bucked that trend, we’re a little skeptical, even if their record says we should feel otherwise.
5:34 p.m.: Before we take a look around the league, let’s get to a few links brought to you for your reading enjoyment.
It looks like it was a borderline slew-foot that from Jeff Skinner that sent Patrice Bergeron off the deep end Monday night.
Brad Marchand wasn’t impressed by that move from Skinner, and he voiced his displeasure Tuesday morning.
There was a goalie fight this weekend in the WHL. It was fantastic.
Alex Burrows tried this move in a shootout against the Kings, and it didn’t work out for the Canucks forward.
Wayne Gretzky, whose life is better than yours, says he’s not returning to hockey — in Toronto or anywhere else — any time soon.
5:27 p.m.: Welcome to TD Garden folks, where we’re still a good hour and a half from puck drop between the Devils and Bruins.
The Devils, in a bit of a surprise move, look like they’re going to start backup Johan Hedberg for this one. It would be his first start of the young season, giving Marty Brodeur a bit of rest.
Hedberg is just 4-9-2 in 16 career games against the Bruins. He’s got a 3.01 goals against average to go along with a .902 save percentage in those games.
Tuukka Rask is expected to get the start for the Bruins. He’s 1-1-2 in his career against the Devils with a 1.29 GAA and .954 save percentage. His last start against the Devils came on April 10, 2011. He stopped 29 of 32 shots he faced in a 3-2 loss to Jersey.
3 p.m.: Adam McQuaid will likely return to the Bruins’ lineup on Tuesday night against the Devils after missing Monday night’s game due to personal reasons.
The Boston defenseman revealed that his grandmother passed away, which explains his absence over the last couple of days. He’s back with the club, though, and he skated Tuesday morning in advance of this game with the Devils.
On a happier note, Matt Anderson will make his NHL debut for the Devils on Tuesday night. He’s a 30-year-old journeyman who made a couple of different stops in the AHL. He’s got some local ties, too. Anderson spent years in Amherst at UMass where he totaled 91 points for his career, including 31 as a freshman.
8 a.m. ET: The Bruins used a lot of energy and hard work to get the win Monday in Carolina, but they better have something left over for Tuesday night as well.
Things won’t get any easier for the B’s as they return home to host the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night. The Devils, who had Monday off, will be rested and waiting for the Bruins in a matchup of two first-place teams.
The Devils, the reigning Eastern Conference champions, have picked up right where they left off last year. Like the Bruins, their only loss came in overtime, being edged by Andrei Markov and the Canadiens on Sunday night in Montreal. The Devils are getting contributions from all over, with Patrik Elias and David Clarkson leading the way with six points. Ilya Kovalchuk returned to the NHL after some debate about whether he’d stay in Russia. It’s a good thing for the Devils they got him back, too, as he’s got two goals and three assists already this year.
In net, it’s the same old story for the Devils. Martin Brodeur may be 40, but his stat line doesn’t do much to prove that. Brodeur has started all four games for the Devils, allowing just seven goals for a 1.69 goals against average to go along with a .932 save percentage.
In short, it won’t be easy for a Bruins team that will be playing the second game of its first back-to-back of the season after traveling from North Carolina. Boston will have to dig deep if the B’s want to keep their streak of recording at least a point in each of their games this season alive.
Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. from TD Garden.
