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Haggerty: Bruins lagging offensively with 'best players' struggling
It’s getting to the time of year when the best players for the Boston Bruins need to step it up if they’re going to crash the Stanley Cup playoff party. The B’s could only scratch for a pair of goals in the third period in a 4-2 loss to the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night where they outshot the Sharks, but couldn’t finish off enough plays against a San Jose goalie in Alex Nedeljkovic that admittedly played very well while making 39 saves for the Sharks. “We were just looking for that one goal, and it just didn’t happen for maybe too long,” said Marco Sturm. “We know once we get one going, we get the crowd going and we can change the game. But for some reason it was a little off today and we weren’t sharp. We had early chances and couldn’t score, and that was the hockey game.”
Haggerty: We get the US/Canada matchup we've been waiting for
The United States and Canada did their parts and now hockey fans everywhere get their dream matchup for the Gold Medal with Team USA and Team Canada set to tangle on Sunday morning as the final big event at the 2026 Winter Games in Milan Cortina. For Bruins fans, they get to watch Charlie McAvoy and Jeremy Swayman (from the bench as the backup, anyway) line up against old friend Brad Marchand and a Canada crew that always seems to pull it out in the end against the Americans. They will have to do it this time without captain Sidney Crosby, though, as he has been ruled out for the rest of the tournament with a lower body injury suffered in the quarterfinals against Czechia.
Haggerty: B's second line continues to bring bit of everything
The Bruins scored their third goal of Thursday night’s game in the closing minutes of the second period on a scramble by the second line with each of the three forwards crashing the net and attacking the puck. It was very unclear after the puck popped up in the air and bounced off a Winnipeg defender’s glove as to which player actually scored the goal. It was eventually credited to Viktor Arvidsson, but Arvidsson, Pavel Zacha and Casey Mittelstadt all stood there in comic bewilderment not sure as to which player should lead the fist bump honors as the goal scorer. “Yeah, it took a long time for us to figure it out…we still haven’t figured it out,” said a smiling Arvidsson. “It’s fine. It went in and that’s the most important thing.” The three forwards had a good laugh about it after the game while helping power the Bruins to a 6-1 thrashing of the Winnipeg Jets at TD Garden on Thursday night. The victory keeps the Bruins implanted in the No. 1 wild card playoff spot, but it is going to be a wild finish with three playoff spots essentially for four teams in Boston, Detroit, Columbus and the New York Islanders that have just a single point separating them in the Eastern Conference standings.
NHL Notes: Did the B's dodge bullet missing out on Rasmus Andersson?
It really feels like perhaps the Boston Bruins dodged a bit of a bullet in the Rasmus Andersson trade situation, doesn’t it? The B’s finished very publicly as the runner up in trade talks for the Calgary Flames defensemen as he ultimately went to his preferred destination with the Vegas Golden Knights after his agent declined contract extension overtures from the Black and Gold. This all was happening amidst a trade offer from Don Sweeney that reportedly included Mason Lohrei, Matt Poitras and a first round pick going to Calgary in exchange for a top-4 defender that would have given Boston a formidable top four of Charlie McAvoy, Hampus Lindholm, Nikita Zadorov and Andersson.
NHL Notes: Bruins players appreciate 'trust' in current group
The Bruins players went out and played arguably their best game since the Olympic break after the NHL trade deadline had come and done, and perhaps that wasn’t a coincidence for the Black and Gold. There was no big additions to a group that’s already played their way into a wild card playoff spot this season, but there were also no subtractions to a group of players that have shown character, resilience and toughness that wasn’t there a year ago. It didn't mean that the Bruins didn't try to make moves, of course, as they finished as the runner-ups for the services of Rasmus Andersson prior to the Olympic break, and they were definitely in the running for forward Connor Garland before he ended up getting moved to a Columbus Blue Jackets team chasing them in the standings.
Haggerty: No easy answers when it comes to NHL's Olympic challenges
With the Winter Olympics now underway, the NHL population has scattered to the four corners of the world aside from the lucky ones representing each for their respective countries in Milan Cortina this month. The Bruins players were officially underway on Wednesday with Henri Jokiharju part of a Team Finland group that struggled big time I losing to Team Slovakia, even as Joonas Korpisalo didn’t see any action playing backup to Nashville netminder Juuse Saros. Still not exactly sure what Jokiharju was doing backing off Juraj Slafkovsky on Slovakia’s first goal and essentially covering the backdoor while allowing Slafkovsky an easy, open lane to the front of the net.
Haggerty: Sending Hagens to the AHL is right B's move
The Boston Bruins announced in the wee hours of Monday evening that James Hagens has signed an ATO (amateur tryout agreement) with the Providence Bruins and will start his pro career in Providence this week. There has, of course, been the usual second-guessing from the corners of the internet and social media that don’t really have a clue about hockey player development. But this was the plan that B’s management wanted to follow through with when it comes to the 19-year-old Hagens joining a loaded Providence roster full of good, veteran pros that presumably have a long Calder Cup playoff run in front of them.
Haggerty: Recent B's play making it difficult for Sweeney
The read on the Bruins situation entering Friday’s NHL trade deadline is not an easy one for Don Sweeney and the rest of the B’s decision makers. The B’s definitely aren’t a perfect team as is the case with pretty much every team in the running for wild card playoffs spots, and the struggles on the road are a very real issue for the Black and Gold. The Bruins dropped their sixth road game in a row in a 6-3 loss to the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena where the hockey club was pretty much dead-on arrival in the second period and have now sunk to an 11-14-4 record away from TD Garden this season. If that continues the Bruins will not be a playoff team while playing six of their final nine games on the road this season, including a pair of games in Columbus against a Blue Jackets team that’s just a point behind them in the Eastern Conference standings.
Haggerty: Bruins showing they've got right playoff stuff
It really shouldn’t come as a major surprise at this point, but the Boston Bruins continue to clearly demonstrate they have “the stuff” to be a playoff team this spring. It remains to be seen how it’s going to play out for them and Tuesday night’s home loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs was as unimpressive as it gets for the Black and Gold, but it was more than offset by the B’s shaking off some third period troubles to knock off the Sabres in overtime in a 4-3 comeback road victory at the KeyBank Center on Wednesday night. The win allowed the B’s to open up a three-point cushion on the top wild card playoff spot and pulled them into a tie with the Montreal Canadiens for the third playoff spot in the Atlantic Division, though the Habs hold two games in hand on the Black and Gold entering Thursday.
NHL Notes: Swayman hitting high notes at the right time for B's
When the Boston Bruins signed Jeremy Swayman to an eight-year, big money contract they envisioned the exact goaltender that they received in a dominating, clutch performance during a huge weekend road tilt against the Red Wings in Detroit. With massive points for a playoff push on the line, Swayman was dynamite making 41 saves in a 4-2 win for the Black and Gold over the Red Wings where the Bruins had a very clear advantage in net as Detroit’s John Gibson faltered badly in the third period. Swayman has been solid for the balance of the regular season, but he’s been excellent since the Olympic break coming off a gold medal experience and giving his B’s teammates all kinds of confidence when he’s between the pipes right now.
NHL Notes: Bruins finding their road game just in time
It was Boston’s first road win since January, arriving against a quality Capitals team also hungry for points, and it was exactly the start they needed on a key three-game road trip through Washington, New Jersey, and Montreal that could and should make a major imprint on their postseason hopes.
Haggerty: Bruins must make tough decision on Arvidsson
The Viktor Arvidsson situation is going to become a really interesting one for the Bruins ahead of the March 6 trade deadline around the NHL. The 32-year-old officially surpassed all of his season totals for last season by notching a pair of goals in Boston’s 4-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets at TD Garden on Thursday night in the first game back from the Winter Olympics break. Arvidsson now has 16 goals and 30 points on the season, looks like a lock to be a 20-goal scorer for this group and is on pace for 23 goals and 42 points that would be decent production for the second line winger. The first goal was Arvidsson simply throwing a puck on the net from long distance that caught a deflected Columbus stick on its way to the back of the net, and the second score was the empty netter that clinched the game for Boston in the final minutes.