10/13 Bruins 8 – Red Wings 2
The Bruins finishing up a quick home stand before heading on the road absolutely stuck it to the Detroit Red Wings. If you want to make the playoffs, you have to beat the teams in the bottom tier of the league, and that’s what the B’s did in this one. It was a very impressive win with the top line doing much of the heavy lifting once again.
David Pastrnak continues to show that he is a young standout player with a very bright future. He netted his 100th career goal as well as having a hat trick to lead the way. Patrice Bergeron (3 assists) and Brad Marchand (2 assists) continue racking up the points on assists to level out that incredible first line. This top line has been a part of the score sheet for every game since the opener against Washington.
While the first line has been one of if not the best line in hockey to start the season, the rest of the team was producing in this game as Jake DeBrusk who was exceptional last year as a rookie, put 2 in the net for his first 2 goals of the season. Anders Bjork got his first goal since early last year when he went down with a season ending injury, and he is another important guy that needs to consistently score like DeBrusk. Sean Kuraly and Charlie McAvoy both got their first goals of the season in the win as well.
With the win in this game the B’s have now won 4 straight to make their record 4-1-0. They look for their fifth straight win when they head to Calgary to take on the Flames on Wednesday night.
10/17 Bruins 2 – Flames 5
I was very excited for this game with two great young teams matching up. These teams have gotten to know each other quite a bit so far this year as they played a few times in China during the preseason. Normally these teams only see each other a few times a year being in opposite conferences, but I think that these teams may start a small rivalry and could eventually meet in the Stanley Cup Finals one day.
This was a tough game for the Bruins as the Flames came ready to play. They were able to score 3 goals in the first period and never looked back. There wasn’t much offense for the Bruins in this game, but the top line was once again leading the way for the B’s. Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand scored the two goals for the Bruins while Bergeron, David Krejci, and David Pastrnak all had assists.
Tuukka Rask got the start in this one and had another shaky game in net. While he has been giving up more goals this year than what he normally does, he made the same stellar saves that he is known for making and kept the Bruins in this game. It seems like the last few year Tuukka has started the year struggling and has gotten it together around Thanksgiving. Hopefully this year he is able to find his game sooner rather than later.
10/18 Bruins 2 – Oilers 3 (OT)
David Krejci opened the scoring for the Bruins in this one coming off nice fore-checking pressure from Danton Heinen. Matt Grzelcyk was able to pick up the puck and fire it across the front of the goal where David Krejci snuck it right through the 5-hole of Cam Talbot.
The Oilers quickly tied the game up and scored again early in the third to take a 2-1 lead. David Pastrnak changed that halfway through the third when he tied the game. Patrice Bergeron gathered his own rebound in the corner behind the net and was able to get it over to Marchand behind the goal who slid it to Pastrnak inside the right circle and wristed it high glove side past Talbot.
After battling for the rest of the third period the game went to overtime where the Oilers, fairly quickly won the game on a 3-on-1 led by Connor McDavid. He picked off a pass from Marchand intended for Bergeron who was streaking up ice. McDavid passed it over to Leon Draisaitl for the one timer by Halak to end it.
All in all it was a pretty good game, Halak played well in goal yet again, the B’s just need to finish more scoring opportunities. On to next week.
The Week Ahead
The Bruins next play on Saturday the 20th in Vancouver to against a young Canucks team that is playing much better than people expected this season so far, and the Bruins have lost 2 in a row, they need a bounce back win.
They then head across Canada to Ottawa to take on the Senators to end their first small road trip of the season. After that they head home on Thursday night to take on the Philadelphia Flyers in what should be a great matchup of two playoff worthy teams. This game should be a thrill to watch.
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