Trade Deadline Deals
With the trade deadline passing on Monday afternoon at 3pm. The Bruins had already made a trade for Charlie Coyle as I had mentioned last week. There were many questions to whether the Bruins would try to make any more trades at the deadline, which was pretty necessary if you ask me. After the rumors that the Bruins were in on guys like Mark Stone and Wayne Simmonds, both slipped away to other teams offering more than the Bruins were comfortable with for rental players. In the end, the Bruins were able to pull off a last second trade when they got Marcus Johansson from the New Jersey Devils for a 2019 second-round pick and a 2020 4th-round pick. This was a very interesting trade as Brad Marchand and Johansson have a bit of history after Marchand blatantly elbowed him in the head in January of 2018 resulting in a 5 game suspension for Marchy and a concussion for Johansson. Apparently after the trade was announced, Marchand gave Johansson a call to apologize and welcome him to Boston. Bruins GM Don Sweeney came out and said that Johansson had informed him that he would much rather play on a team with Marchand than play against him any day.
2/23 Bruins 1 – Blues 2 (SO)
In the last game of the 5 game road trip the Bruins were up against maybe the only team hotter in the NHL in the St. Louis Blues. While they did not win the game, they did force overtime meaning that they took 9 out of a possible 10 points on the road trip, absolutely incredible. With the 9 points on the road trip, the Bruins now find themselves one point above Toronto for second place in the Atlantic Division.
Let’s get down to this game though. The Blues would get off to the early lead in this one as Alexander Steen would score just over seven minutes into the game. In the second period the Bruins would fight back to tie the game as Chris Wagner would find himself alone in front of the net where he would beat Jordan Binnington. As the game went on, neither team could get any offense going as both Binnington and Tuukka Rask had great games. The game would eventually end up going to a shootout, where it went six rounds, but the Blues would get the better of Rask.
2/26 Bruins 4 – Sharks 1
In a matchup of teams that I have been saying will both be in the Stanley Cup Finals, it was the Bruins who came out on top yet again over the San Jose Sharks. The B’s put forth an all-around team effort in this win as there was never a doubt they’d snag two points. However the Sharks would get on the board first in this game when Logan Couture was able to sneak the puck past Jaroslav Halak in a way you just never really see. Less than two minutes after the Sharks would score, Jake DeBrusk would take a high stick to the teeth and lose some chiclets, resulting in a four minute, double-minor. Almost immediately into the first two minutes of the power play, David Krejci would tie the game as he placed himself in the spot usually occupied by David Pastrnak, where he slammed a one-time slap shot into the back of the net.
With less than 11 minutes to play in the second period, the Bruins would start their goal scoring explosion as Charlie McAvoy scored on a feed from Brad Marchand to give the Bruins the lead, which they would hold for the remainder of the game. Less than a minute later, Jake DeBrusk would get revenge for losing some teeth as he would score to extend the lead for the Bruins. The final goal of the game, came shorthanded as Brad Marchand made Erik Karlsson look silly as he deked past him and went 5-hole on Martin Jones. This was the 25th career shorthanded goal for Marchy, tying him with Bruins legend Rick Middleton for most in Bruins history.
With the win in this game, the Bruins have not lost in regulation in the last 14 games, going 10-0-4 in that span. With a tough test against division leader, Tampa Bay next up on the schedule, the Bruins have not been hotter this season as they continue to control the second spot in the Atlantic and have jumped into 2nd place in the NHL power rankings.
2-28 Bruins 4 – Lightning 1
In a matchup that could potentially be the Eastern Conference Finals in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Bruins were all over the Tampa Bay Lightning in this game. However, the Lightning goalie Louis Domingue, was having himself quite the game. Jake DeBrusk would finally get past Domingue as he scored a power play goal midway through the second period to open the scoring in this game as he now has scored 7 goals in his last 8 games.
In the third period the Bruins would erupt once again as they would score three goals in 88 seconds to open it up to a 4-0 game. Noel Acciari started it when he scored just after the Bruins power play had ended. Acciari came into this game questionable to even play as he had extensive dental work done yesterday after taking a puck to the face against the Sharks. Patrice Bergeron would score 45 seconds later to make it 3-0, followed by a breakaway goal by Brad Marchand very shortly after.
The Bruins have not lost a game in regulation in the month of February going 10-0-2 in that span and going 11-0-4 in their last 15 games. Even though the Lightning have played 3 games in the last 4 days, it doesn’t take away from what the Bruins are doing. The NHL is definitely starting to take notice, the Bruins are not to be messed with.
The Week Ahead
The Bruins will continue their home stand this week as they play host to the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night at 7pm. On Tuesday night at 7, those “Bunch of Jerks” from Carolina will come to town. The week will end on Thursday night when the Florida Panthers leave the warmth to come to Boston.
Videos courtesy of NHL.com