Final, Bruins 4-2: That does it from the Garden. The Bruins don’t get the empty-netter, but they’ll live with the result.
An impressive third period and another impressive game from Dougie Hamilton keys this win.
Third period, 13:33, Bruins 4-2: That was gorgeous hockey on the part of your Boston Bruins.
Patrice Bergeron gives the B’s a much-needed insurance goal on what was arguably the prettiest play of the season.
Dougie Hamilton continues to wow, this time with a beautiful breakout pass to Brad Marchand. While this was going on, Bergeron streaked down the middle of the ice. Marchand had the easy pass up to Bergeron and then the reigning Selke winner finished with some beautiful stickhandling before putting it by Rick DiPietro.
Third period, 13:08, Bruins 3-2: You could complain about some of the Boston offensive execution in this one, but the defense — aside from the two lapses that led to Keith Aucoin’s goals — has been its usual stellar self.
The B’s have limited the Islanders to only three shots in the third so far.
Third period, 11:16, Bruins 3-2: The Bruins have turned it on in the third period after that ugly second.
They already have the Zdeno Chara goal, and they could have even more. The post is once again a demon for the B’s, as both Andrew Ference and Rich Peverley have hit iron in the third period.
Between this period and pretty much all of Monday night’s game, the B’s are probably pretty sick of the color red by now.
Third period, 7:07, Bruins 3-2: Zdeno Chara comes up big in the third period for the Bruins, and he gives them the lead back with his first goal of the year.
Chara came from the Boston bench with the play already in the New York zone and camped out at the left point. Milan Lucic made a gorgeous pass through the zone from below the red line to find Chara who beat Rick DiPietro with a wrist shot over his left shoulder.
Third period, 5:30, 2-2: Johnny Boychuk is a hockey player. He doesn’t miss a shift after blocking a shot in the leg. He’s back out on the ice.
Third period, 3:30, 2-2: The Bruins killed off the penalty yet again, but it came at a price, for now at least.
Johnny Boychuk blocked a shot late in the kill, and it got him pretty good in the lower body. He was somehow able to finish the shift, and skated gingerly off the ice. He stopped in the tunnel leading back to the locker room for a few seconds, before finishing the trip all the way down the tunnel.
Third period, 0:28, 2-2: The third period is under way, and the Bruins are already a man down.
David Krejci gets called for holding. The Boston penalty kill goes back to work.
Second period reaction: The Bruins, candidly speaking, are pretty lucky to be tied with the Islanders through two periods.
Boston has looked uncharacteristically sloppy through 40 minutes, with turnovers in just about every zone. A Daniel Paille turnover in the defensive zone gave the Islanders a 2-1 lead, while turnovers and sloppy play in the offensive zone have done the power play in. The neutral zone isn’t immune to the B’s issues, either, with some poor puck movement there as well.
Obviously the power play is a pretty large point of contention. Nothing looks crisp. They continue to change things up — they put Patrice Bergeron in the high slot on that final power play, for instance — but nothing seems to be working. The B’s fans in attendance would like to see them shoot more as evidenced by the “Shooooot” yells for the entirety of the power play, but it’s tough to tee one up when the puck is so stagnant.
The lone bright spot on the power play has been Dougie Hamilton, who just continues to impress with stellar offensive play. It really comes through on the power play when he gets a little bit more room to work with. If only the rest of the B’s could follow his lead.
Keith Aucoin, a Waltham native, has his first career two-goal game after scoring again in the second.
End of second period, 2-2: The Bruins’ power play looks like, well, the Bruins’ power play on that final chance of the period.
It was once again a lot of sloppy puck movement, and when the B’s tried to shoot, hilarity ensued. Nathan Horton whiffed on a shot in the slot. Tyler Seguin did the same from the left wing. Seguin also drilled Milan Lucic in the midsection with another shot.
Needless to say, Boston was held without a goal on that power play.
We’ll be right back with some analysis of that second period.
Second period, 15:14, 2-2: The Bruins will get yet another chance on the power play.
This time it’s because Mark Streit is whistled for interference. The power play looked pretty awful in its last chance, with some sloppy passing that eventually led to a scoring chance for Casey Cizikas as he came out of the penalty box.
Boston needs to tighten that up, and this would be a good time to do so and try to get a lead heading to the third.
Second period, 13:42, 2-2: It’s been a busy night for the fourth line, and that night just took a turn for the better.
Gregory Campbell gets his first goal of the season when he pushes a rebound opportunity by Rick DiPietro to tie the game.
Give the assists to David Krejci and Chris Kelly there.
Second period, 9:50, Islanders 2-1: The Bruins look pretty sloppy in the second period, and it just cost them in a big way.
Daniel Paille turned it over in his own end with a sloppy attempt to move the puck, backhanding it out of the corner to no one in particular.
Well, actually, it was to someone, as Keith Aucoin jumped on the puck in the high slot and pounded a slap shot by Tuukka Rask for his second goal of the game, giving the Islanders a 2-1 lead.
Second period, 6:55, 1-1: Despite the fact that one of the Bruins’ best penalty killers, Zdeno Chara, has spent a bunch of time in the penalty box this season (five minors), the B’s PK keeps on ticking.
They just killed off the captain’s interference penalty, and they’re now 16-for-16 on the kill this season.
Shawn Thornton has served his 10-minute misconduct, and he received a nice welcome from the B’s bench upon leaving the penalty box.
Second period, 4:1o, 1-1: The Boston penalty kill must go back to work after Zdeno Chara is called for an interference penalty.
Early in the kill, Dennis Seidenberg delivers a big body check on Frans Nielsen. It doesn’t look like that lower-body injury is giving Seidenberg any issues so far.
Second period, 1:40, 1-1: The Bruins kill off the Chris Kelly penalty, but not without a scare.
The Islanders had what was ruled a goal, but under further review, it looked like Tuukka Rask smothered the puck before it crossed the goal line.
Second period, 0;01, 1-1: Play is back on in the second period at TD Garden.
There was a scoring change in the Bruins’ first goal, too. Daniel Paille gets an assist.
First period reaction: The Bruins started quickly in the first period, with the early Shawn Thornton goal and the Milan Lucic fight, but give the Islanders credit for fighting back.
Keith Aucoin was the beneficiary of a rare defensive breakdown from Zdeno Chara and Johnny Boychuk in front of the net, and it’s got to feel good for him to get a goal just a few miles away from where he grew up.
Things got testy when Daniel Paille decided to throw his weight around on a good, clean check on Brian Strait. For whatever reason, maybe just standing up for a teammate, Matt Martin took exception. Martin is not afraid to fight, as evidenced by his 15 fights last season, and Paille isn’t exactly the B’s top fighter. But Thornton is, and he did his best to stand up for his teammate by stepping in and challenging Martin himself. It earned No. 22 a 10-minute misconduct, but it also sends the message that he’s going to stand up for his teammate.
Rick DiPietro actually looked pretty good in net for the Islanders in the first period. He had a couple of nice saves, taking potential goals away from Tyler Seguin and Patrice Bergeron on the power play, and he’s kept New York in it. Of course, it will be interesting to see if the veteran goalie can hold up in the next 40 minutes.
Tuukka Rask has been good at the other end. He made a couple of key saves when the Islanders gained some steam in the second half of the period after the Aucoin goal.
Dennis Seidenberg has seen 6:03 of ice time in his return to the Bruins lineup, and he was on the ice for the Thornton goal. He also delivered a game-high four hits.
End first period, 1-1: Nothing comes of the Bruins’ power play, but it wasn’t for a lack of chances.
Rick DiPietro made a pretty nice save on Tyler Seguin, diving to his right. The play was actually reviewed, but it was confirmed no goal was scored. The B’s got a chance later in the power play when Zdeno Chara went intentionally wide with a shot. The ricochet went right back to the slot where Patrice Bergeron was waiting by himself, but DiPietro made another stellar save.
The Bruins will open the second period on the penalty kill, too, after Chris Kelly earned himself a tripping penalty with 21 seconds to play.
We’ll be back in a bit with some analysis of a pretty busy first period.
First period, 16:33, 1-1: Things are getting a little physical now, thanks in large part to Daniel Paille.
The B’s forward planted Brian Strait with a hard, clean check in the corner.
Matt Martin decided that wasn’t cool, and he waited for Paille at the New York blue line. The two dropped their gloves, which is when Shawn Thornton decided he wanted a piece of Martin instead of Paille. Thornton jumped in the middle, dropped the gloves and looked ready to go, but the referees wouldn’t let them go.
The end result is a power play for the B’s, but Thornton earns himself a 10-minute misconduct penalty.
First period, 15:47, 1-1: The Islanders, one night after playing in Toronto, are starting to find their skating legs.
Luckily for the Bruins, Tuukka Rask has been sharp aside from the Aucoin goal, and he just came up big on David Ullstrom, turning away a scoring chance with a leg save.
First period, 11:13, 1-1: The Bruins have dominated most of the first period, but the Islanders have (literally) withstood the Boston punches, and they’ve tied things up.
Keith Aucoin gets New York on the board when he takes a gorgeous pass from Colin McDonald in the slot and beats Tuukka Rask five-hole for the equalizer.
That’s got to feel extra special for Aucoin, who is a Waltham, Mass., native.
First period, 5:54, Bruins 1-0: Milan Lucic continues his early-season assault of the NHL, and this time he does it with his fists.
Lucic answered the bell in throwing down with New York’s Matt Carkner in the New York zone. It was a pretty even fight until Lucic caught Carkner flush with a solid right hand.
First period, 4:52, Bruins 1-0: Shawn Thornton proves that good things really do happen when you go to the net.
The B’s enforcer shows off his scoring touch, as he just slammed home a rebound off of a Dougie Hamilton shot from the right point. Thornton scooped it up, scoring on the backhand for his first goal of the season.
First period, 3:15, 0-0: Not much doing in the game’s first few minutes, with just one shot (from New York) to show for either clubs.
Dennis Seidenberg got welcomed back by a big hit from Matt Martin. It looked like Shawn Thornton took exception to that hit and had a few words with Martin after the play. That might be something to keep an eye on.
First period, 0:01, 0-0: It’s time for hockey. Thanks for joining us. Let’s go.
6:55 p.m.: Dennis Seidenberg is going to give it a go, he’s in the lineup for this one. Judging by pregame warmups, he’ll be paired up with the rookie Dougie Hamilton.
6:42 p.m.: We won’t know for sure until gametime whether or not Dennis Seidenberg will play, but he was taking pregame rushes with rookie Dougie Hamilton. That was the pairing the Bruins used last Saturday night in the opener. Seidenberg hasn’t played since, missing the last two games with a lower-body injury.
6:30 p.m.: The two teams take the ice for pregame warm-ups.
Tuukka Rask leads the Bruins out, and Rick DiPietro is the first Islander on the ice. That will be your (potentially lopsided) goalie matchup.
6:22 p.m.: Garden organist Ron Poster just wrapped up a version of some Katy Perry song. These are the updates you can’t live without.
6 p.m.: We’ve moved upstairs from the media work area to high above the ice with an hour until things get under way here at the Garden.
The in-game presentation crew is currently testing the spotlight and the other cool lights; they’re all working.
Now seems like a perfect time for a skate around the NHL, looking at some story lines from the past few days.
- The Edmonton Oilers are becoming the team that I plan my Center Ice/Gamecenter Live viewing habits around. We saw earlier this week that they’re still hashing some things out defensively — like finding a goaltender better than Devan Dubnyk — but boy are they a fun bunch to watch. Nail Yakupov is probably going to get under some people’s skin for the way he plays the game, er celebrates, but there’s no denying the skill. Taylor Hall just continues to get better and better. He always know where he is on the ice and more importantly, he knows where everyone else. Justin Schultz is a stud. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins as well. It goes on and on. Their win last night, against the defending Stanley Cup champs, could play a big role in catapulting them forward. If they can play any defense and get some adequate goaltending, they have the chance to steal a playoff spot.
- The Ottawa Senators snuck up on some people last season, and they won’t be afforded the same opportunity this season. That being said, they’ve come out like a house of fire thus far, starting 3-0-0. They’re bludgeoning the opposition, too, having scored 11 goals to just two so far. But here’s the thing: they’ve played Florida twice and Winnipeg. They haven’t been tested just yet, but they’ve been impressive nonetheless.
- Speaking of impressive, the Chicago Blackhawks look a lot like the team that won the Stanley Cup a few years ago. They’ve been a wagon, and unlike Ottawa, they’ve beaten some teams. They’ve defeated three playoff teams — the Kings, Coyotes and Blues — as well as the Stars this season. Three of those wins have come on the road, too. It’s a loaded club who can beat you in so many ways, but their top-six forwards may not be matched by anyone. Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa and Jonathan Toews were all very impressive Thursday against Dallas.
- The Adam Oates era in Washington is off to a very shaky start. The Caps are 0-3-0 so far, and they’ve given up 14 goals. To put that in perspective, the Capitals only allowed 15 goals in their playoff series with the Bruins last year, a series that went seven games. You think Braden Holtby misses Dale Hunter’s system yet?
5:10 p.m.: Good afternoon/early evening/or whatever right now is from TD Garden.
The Bruins and Islanders are a little less than two hours from tangling in the B’s barn, where Tuukka Rask is expected to get his fourth start of the season.
Anton Khudobin is going to need to get some action at some point, and that will likely come next week, but it makes sense to stick with Rask for at least one more night.
Boston is off for the weekend, so everyone — Rask included — will get some rest. Just as importantly is the fact that Rask has obviously played very well thus far.
He’s yet to suffer a regulation loss, with his record sitting at 2-0-1. He’s got a 1.95 goals against average to go along with a .926 save percentage. He’ll likely be tested in this one against an Islanders team that torched the Maple Leafs. But, if you saw any of the highlights from that one, you’ll know that the B’s will likely be a tad better in their own end than Toronto was Thursday night.
” Tuukka’s Tuukka,” Claude Julien following morning skate. “A lot of pressure on him to replace the guy that left us, but he’s doing the job and so far, he’s been really good for us.”
12:10 p.m.: It sounds like Tuukka Rask will make his fourth consecutive start after he was the first goalie off the ice at the Bruins’ morning skate.
There were some, myself included, who thought Anton Khudobin might have gotten his first start against the Islanders, but it appears it will be Rask. Maybe the B’s are pulling a fast one, but all signs point to Rask in the cage against the Islanders.
Dennis Seidenberg is expected to be a game-time decision once again.
At the other end of the ice, it looks like Rick DiPietro will make his season debut against the B’s. Evgeni Nabokov saw 43 saves Thursday night against the Maple Leafs, so it makes sense to give him the night off one night after playing and undertaking a large workload.
8 a.m.: The Bruins will wrap up their crazy first week on Friday night at the Garden, but before they can get a couple of days off for the weekend, they have a date with the New York Islanders.
The Isles come to Boston for the second half of a back-to-back after starting their road trip in Toronto on Thursday night. New York took it to the Maple Leafs on Thursday night, pasting them 7-4 in Toronto. Michael Grabner and Matt Moulson scored two goals apiece and former Bruins forward Brad Boyes added a goal and two assists.
The Islanders now find themselves tied for the lead in the Atlantic Division, thanks in large part to their offense, which has now tallied 12 goals in just three games.
The B’s, meanwhile, return to Boston after their first road game of the season Wednesday in New York. It was a tough loss to swallow with the Bruins losing in overtime to the Rangers, but the B’s did come away with a point and some positives.
Friday may also mark the 2013 debut of Anton Khudobin, who has yet to see any action this season. Tuukka Rask has made all three starts for the B’s, and while he looked fantastic in the third period Wednesday, it might be time for Claude Julien to give his No. 1 netminder a break.
The Bruins took three of four from the Islanders last season, with their only loss coming on the Island. The B’s lit up New York for 16 goals in those four games, including a 5-2 win at the Garden on Dec. 9.
Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. from the Garden.
