Shootout, Bruins 2-1: Chris Bourque can’t score, but Tuukka Rask is able to stop Bryan Little and the Bruins win in a shootout.
Shootout, Bruins 2-1: Patrice Bergeron scores and Olli Jokinen is stopped.
Shootout, 1-1: Tyler Seguin scores with some nifty stickhandling.
Tuukka Rask can’t stop Blake Wheeler.
End overtime, 1-1: You can’t say enough about the Bruins’ penalty kill so far this season.
The B’s PK comes up huge late in overtime after a horrible holding call that went against Zdeno Chara. Without one of their best penalty killers, the B’s were able to kill it off, thanks in large part to some hustle from Chris Kelly, as well as a lucky break when Blake Wheeler broke his stick in the final seconds.
Needless to say, we’re all tied up and heading to a shootout.
Overtime, 3:32, 1-1: Frantic pace so far in overtime.
David Krejci had a dandy of a chance on a 2-on-1 with Johnny Boychuk coming out of the box following his penalty. However, Ondrej Pavelec made a post-to-post save.
However, things are still dicey for the Bruins after Zdeno Chara is called for a highly questionable holding call on a Jets breakout.
End third period, 1-1: We’re on our way to overtime.
The Bruins kill off the first half of the Boychuk penalty, despite a couple of close calls. Tuukka Rask did a nice job of moving post to post to close the hole on a wraparound bid from Olli Jokinen with just a few seconds to play.
This is the first overtime appearance for both clubs this year.
Third period, 18:49, 1-1: The Bruins are going to have to kill of a penalty for the rest of regulation and into a potential overtime if they’re going to want to win this one.
Johnny Boychuk just caught Bryan Little with a high stick as the two fought for the puck behind the Bruins’ net.
Winnipeg takes its timeout to try and draw something up with just over a minute to play.
Third period, 17:52, 1-1: Rich Peverley looked like he might have had a chance for a 1-on-none breakaway, but a Winnipeg defenseman caught the B’s forward as he was chasing down the puck, ensuring we remain tied at 1.
Third period, 14:47, 1-1: The Bruins are going to have nightmares after this game, and those nightmares will just consists of red piping and nothing else.
They continue to clang the iron, the latest hit post keeping them from cashing in on the power play following the Kane penalty.
While the results aren’t there yet, the B’s have picked up the pressure and are starting to enforce their will a little bit more.
Third period, 12:31, 1-1: Evander Kane gets called for goaltender interference, and the Bruins go on the power play.
In their first possession on the power play, Chris Bourque rings the iron with a blast from the point, continuing the misery for Boston.
Third period, 10:06, 1-1: Now it’s starting to get a little chippy at the Garden.
Tyler Seguin was able to get a shot in on Ondrej Pavelec, but it hit the goaltender in the chest, and he covered up. After the play, though, Brad Marchand got into it with Dustin Byfuglien, who only outweighs Marchand by about 80 pounds.
Then it was Evander Kane dropping Marchand with a body check a few shifts later, only for Marchand to get up and chirp him after the whistle.
Third period, 6:00, 1-1: Things are starting to open up a little bit here in the third period, with some chances on both ends of the ice.
The Jets almost took the lead with a pair of close calls for the Bruins. First, it was Paul Postma living up to his surname, ringing the iron behind Tuukka Rask with a shot from the left point. Then, Chris Thorburn, who has the one Winnipeg goal, was robbed by Rask’s catching glove on a shot from the left faceoff circle.
The Bruins also appeared to have a scoring chance developing with Tyler Seguin streaking down the right side, but Ron Hainsey came across the ice to slow Seguin before he could even get a shot off.
Third period, 3:44, 1-1: The Bruins have upped the physical ante in the third period so far. That was highlighted by a booming check from Zdeno Chara on old friend Blake Wheeler coming through the neutral zone.
Seconds later, the youngster Dougie Hamilton got in on the action, throwing his weight around behind the Bruins net.
Third period, 1:17, 1-1: Another post.
Patrice Bergeron finds a loose puck in front of the Winnipeg net, tries to jam it home and naturally, he hits the post. I’m not sure of what part of the post it hit, but you could definitely hear the unmistakable sound of the rubber-on-iron clang.
Start of third period: We’re under way from the Garden in the third period, with the two teams tied 1-1.
The Bruins look to start with some energy from the David Krejci, their best line through two periods.
Second intermission notes: It was an up-and-down period for the Bruins in the second. The Jets came out pretty fired up and controlled the puck early on, but there’s no doubting that the B’s had their share of chances later in the frame.
Boston rang the iron on more than one occasion, and it was surprising to see both Brad Marchand and Tyler Seguin struggle to score around the net on separate opportunities.
The Boston penalty kill looked strong again, killing off a pair of penalties in the second period. Of course, the other side of the special teams situation is that Boston’s power play once again looks anemic. They will have 20 seconds to try and remedy that once the third period begins.
If you believe the Garden score sheet — something that varies from arena to arena — Milan Lucic is once again throwing his weight around. The bruising forward picked up right where he left on Saturday night, and he’s delivered a game-high seven hits in two periods.
End of second period, 1-1: The good news is that the Bruins will start the third period with 20 seconds of a power play on clean ice. Of course that means the bad news is that they couldn’t score in the final 1:40 of the second period.
The Bruins had a tough time getting any sort of possession in the Winnipeg zone, and when they finally did, Dougie Hamilton fired an errant pass across the ice that ended up scooting out of the zone, killing any sort of momentum.
Second period, 18:20, 1-1: It really should be 2-1 Bruins by now.
Tyler Seguin just had a dandy of a chance, but the young forward couldn’t make a clean transition from the backhand to the forehand on a rebound in front of the net and the puck went wide of the goal.
On the bright side, Mark Stuart was just whistled for interference, and he’s on his way to the box.
Second period, 15:44, 1-1: Ondrej Pavelec has been good so far, but he’s also been pretty lucky. In the last couple of minutes, he’s been really lucky.
First, it was Brad Marchand who scooped up a loose puck to Pavelec’s left, waited and then let go of a backhand attempt, only to hit the side of the post.
A couple of shifts later, a shot from the point got through traffic in front only to hit the post to the goalie’s right. Pavelec had Shawn Thornton falling into him on that play just for good measure.
Second period, 14:31, 1-1: Chris Bourque is back on his normal line with Rich Peverley and Chris Kelly, while Brad Marchand skated his last shift alongside his good pals Patrice Bergeron and Tyler Seguin.
Second period, 12:54, 1-1: The ice has been pretty slanted here in the second period with the Jets turning the pressure up a little bit, pinning the Bruins back on their heels some.
The evolving storyline appears to be the play of the goaltenders. While Rask has been the busier of the two in the second period, Ondrej Pavelec has made a couple of impressive saves, the most recent coming on Nathan Horton on the doorstep.
We’ll keep an eye on this, but it looked like Chris Bourque bumped up a line to skate with Patrice Bergeron and Tyler Seguin, while Brad Marchand was skating with Chris Kelly’s line.
Second period, 10:03, 1-1: You could just hear someone in what sounded like Loge 20 scream “Come on, Bruins! Wake up!”
Not sure if that’s more of an indictment on the crowd, the team or both at this point. Either way, the B’s do look a little listless in the second period thus far.
Second period, 9:12, 1-1: The Bruins’ penalty kill was in midseason form on Saturday night, and they’ve followed that up again in this one.
Boston just killed off the Ference penalty with the help of a nice save from Tuukka Rask and some excellent defensive play from Patrice Bergeron, which is kind of what he does.
Second period, 5:44, 1-1: Just like that, the Bruins go back on the penalty kill.
This time it’s for a suspect tripping penalty on Andrew Ference. He definitely got his stick near the skates of Olli Jokinen behind the Boston net, but Jokinen definitely helped things along by selling the play.
Either way, it’s another power play for the Jets.
Second period, 4:34, 1-1: The Bruins kill off the Krejci penalty, but Winnipeg is still playing with some considerable jump in the second period.
However, the Bruins just got an effective shift out of the Krejci line, with Nathan Horton getting a couple of shots on goal, one of them coming in front of the net, but Pavelec turned it away.
Second period, 1:27, 1-1: David Krejci gets his stick tangled up with that of Evander Kane’s and the Bruins center ends up catching Kane in the face. Thus, he earns himself a two-minute trip to the penalty box for high sticking.
Second period, 1:00, 1-1: The second period is under way, with Tuukka Rask turning away a shot.
By the way, the Garden crowd has been pretty lackluster thus far, aside from multiple “Let’s go Bruins” chants from the balcony. That part, a boisterous balcony, is par for the course, though.
First intermission notes: All in all, not a bad first period for the Bruins. These afternoon games are always tough to get going, and the B’s did a good job of overcoming the slow start that was made more difficult by the early Jets goal.
You have to think that we’ll have plenty of discussions about Tyler Seguin this season, but it’s tough not to marvel at what he continues to do. He just continues to add layers to the game, most importantly in his own end as we saw in the first period, playing a defensive brand of hockey.
Seguin was able to create a turnover in the neutral zone and put his vision on display by finding Brad Marchand streaking down the slot for the equalizer.
Tuukka Rask was also impressive in the first period, that early goal aside. He probably could have done a better job corralling the rebound on Chris Thorburn’s goal, but Rask himself rebounded and had a nice first. The obvious high point was the save he made on Kyle Wellwood who walked in all alone, only to be turned away by a Rask glove save.
End of first period, 1-1: The first period ends with not much more from either club.
The Bruins take a 12-11 shot advantage to the room for the first intermission. We’ll be back in just a few moments to break down the first period.
First period, 14:12 1-1: Well that was the first of what likely proves to be a handful of goals from Brad Marchand.
The Bruins did an excellent job of forechecking and winning the puck in the neutral zone and it led to Marchand’s first goal of the season. Seguin carried the puck in from the right side and found Marchand who skated down the slot for the one-timer that Pavelec appeared to get a piece of, but not enough.
It was really a pretty impressive combination of hustle and skill from Seguin to gain control of the puck at the Winnipeg blue line, as well as some good footwork from both him and Marchand to stay onside before entering the zone.
As you might expect, that goal has lifted the spirits some here in the Garden.
First period, 10:14, Jets 1-0: This game could easily be 2-0, but luckily for the Bruins, Tuukka Rask looks to have gotten things out of his system following the early goal.
Jets center Kyle Wellwood was just sprung on a breakaway after a favorable Winnipeg bounce on a shot blocked in front of the Jets net, but Rask was there to make a glove save on Wellwood who walked in uncontested.
That came just seconds after the Bruins had arguably their best chance of the game. Nathan Horton unloaded a one-timer from the left wing, but it appeared to either hit the post or the side of the net.
First period, 7:22, Jets 1-0: The Bruins haven’t found the back of the net yet, but it’s not like they haven’t had the chances. The best chance came shortly after the Winnipeg goal when a loose puck went straight to Tyler Seguin in the slot. The Boston forward jumped into it, firing a one-timer, but Ondrej Pavelec was there to turn it aside.
The B’s have an early 7-4 lead in shots, and they are a good bounce away from tying things up. On a couple of occasions there have been pucks that have gotten on Pavelec in a hurry that have bounced up in the air, but each time the Bruins just aren’t in the right place to slam home the rebound.
First period, 1:58, Jets 1-0: The Jets waste no time getting on the board early here.
Tuukka Rask couldn’t corral a Paul Postma shot from right point, with the rebound bouncing to his left where Chris Thorburn was able to put home the rebound, beating Rask five-hole from the right dot.
Some of the blame has to go to Zdeno Chara who couldn’t control and clear the rebound.
1:10 p.m.: Go time, we’re under way here at the Garden between the Jets and Bruins.
1:04 p.m.: The Bruins will start their third line, the Chris Kelly line.
12:46 p.m.: According to the Bruins, Seidenberg is day-to-day with the aforementioned lower-body injury.
Here are the Bruins’ altered defensive pairings, according to the pregame warmups:
Zdeno Chara/Dougie Hamilton
Aaron Johnson/Johnny Boychuk
Adam McQuaid/Andrew Ference
Hamilton skated with Seidenberg on Saturday night, and Boychuk, but it will be interesting to see him with Chara, which could allow him to get a little more creative offensively. Or maybe not. Only time will tell, you know?
12:34 p.m.: Speaking of pregame skate, Aaron Johnson is out there for the Bruins, while Dennis Seidenberg is not.
The Bruins just announced via Twitter that Seidenberg is out with a lower body injury.
12:30 p.m.: Pregame warmups are under way. Tuukka Rask leads the Bruins out, and Ondrej Pavelec heads the Jets’ charge out of the room.
Those will be your starters.
12:22 p.m.: As promised, we’ve got some notes (feel the excitement!) for this matchup.
First of all, congrats to Johnny Boychuk. This will mark his 200th career game with the Bruins. I’m not sure if it feels like he’s played in more than that or if it seems like that number is high. Either way, this is No. 200 for No. 55.
The Bruins are playing the Winnipeg Jets (also known as the artists formerly known as the Atlanta Thrashers). You knew this already, and you probably knew that this is likely a good thing for the Bruins.
The B’s are 28-14-2-4 all time against the Thrashers/Jets, with a 16-4-2-2 home record in those games. As we mentioned already, the two teams split last season with the home team winning each time.
By the way, if you’re not watching Bruins pregame coverage on NESN, you are missing out, Jack.
12:10 p.m.: Good afternoon from a quiet TD Garden. That’s sure to change in a few moments, though, as the crowd files in for the rare afternoon weekday game.
Until then, these nuggets from Claude Julien’s pregame meeting with the media will have to suffice.
First of all, Julien confirmed that Tuukka Rask will be back in net for the B’s. The head coach had some interesting things to say regarding the goaltending situation, which will be a delicate balance this season considering the condensed schedule.
Basically, Julien said that it will be on backup Anton Khudobin to make sure he’s ready whenever he’s called on. Julien said that he looks at the goaltender on a week-to-week (or two week-to-two week) basis. He’s not too concerned about Khudobin getting rusty because, like we mentioned, Julien sees it as the backup’s responsibility to do all he can between appearances to remain ready.
Julien also spoke about the ongoing adjustment for players who played in Europe. While no one will deny that it was advantagious for those players to be playing some sort of competitive hockey during the lockout, there are also adjustments that need to be made. Obviously the NHL is the best league in the world, so it’s important to adjust to the higher level of play. But players who return from Europe are also dealing with playing on a smaller sheet of ice, which in turn, makes for a different type of play. The larger ice breeds a more open style of play (see: less physical), so that must also be taken into account.
I’m about to take a look through the game notes, and I’ll be back with another update soon.
9:30 a.m.: For starters, the B’s will be wearing their alternate third jerseys for this afternoon clash against the Jets.
Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s look back at one of last year’s matchups between these two teams. Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask got the start against Winnipeg on Jan. 10 last year, picking up a 5-3 win for Boston. The Jets actually took a 3-2 lead into the third period, but the Bruins scored eight seconds into the third as part of a three-goal third.
Rask made 29 saves in that one, and Bruins enforcer Shawn Thornton not only dropped the gloves with Mark Stuart, but the big forward also scored this gorgeous goal on a penalty shot.
8 a.m. ET: The Bruins opened their season in successful fashion on Saturday with a convincing win over the Rangers. Their opponents on Monday, the Winnipeg Jets, can’t say the same.
The Jets come to Boston for a very rare weekday matinee showdown with the Bruins, coming off a season-opening 4-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night. Dustin Bfyuglien got the scoring going for the Jets with the game’s first goal, but it was all downhill from there. The Sens scored four unanswered goals to ruin the home opener for Winnipeg.
It won’t get any easier on Monday for a Jets team that felt the brunt of a rough travel schedule last year. One of the best home teams in the league, they were just 14-22-5 away from MTS Centre last year.
The Bruins, on the other hand, are looking to sustain some early momentum after turning in a very complete effort against New York on Saturday night. The B’s got a balanced attack from just about everybody in black and gold as well as a nice game from Tuukka Rask to open the season on the right foot.
The two teams split their season series last year, with the home team winning each game.
Puck drop is slated for 1 p.m., so be sure to check back throughout the morning for updates from the Garden.
