Articles
24 results
Haggerty: McAvoy stepping up as tough leader Bruins need
This season has not been fun for Charlie McAvoy in a lot of respects, and it has undoubtedly come at a personal cost given the hits he has taken to his mouth and chin. But those moments of discomfort and painful adversity have also come amidst some tremendous high points in perhaps the biggest season of personal growth in McAvoy’s NHL career. There was another high point, and low moment, for McAvoy on Tuesday night as he scored the overtime game-winner in a 2-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings at TD Garden and lost more teeth after taking another puck to the mouth.
Haggerty: Bruins make the right call passing at deadline
The Bruins promised to be uncharacteristically cautious headed into the NHL trade deadline, and they lived up to that with an eerily quiet Friday as most of the rest of the league was conducting a flurry of business. The B’s were obviously heavy into the trade talks for defenseman Rasmus Andersson prior to the Olympic break only to watch the Vegas Golden Knights complete the deal, but that willingness to wheel and deal changed coming out of the Olympic break. Some if it was perhaps the way the Bruins have not been able to generate the same high level of play that they did prior to the Olympics, but another major aspect of the inactive trade deadline was the seller’s market where prices were exceedingly high to make a trade.
Haggerty: B's finding moral victories at end of the road
One of the characters from one of the greatest sports movies of all time, “White Men Can’t Jump”, has a signature, purposely somewhat nonsensical philosophy about winning and losing in sports. “Sometimes when you win, you really lose, and sometimes when you lose, you really win, and sometimes when you win or lose, you actually tie, and sometimes when you tie, you actually win or lose. Winning or losing is all one organic mechanism, from which one extracts what one needs.” The Boston Bruins lost Tuesday night’s road trip finale, 3-2, to the Habs in overtime at the Bell Centre in Montreal and actually lost two of the three games on the road swing through Washington, New Jersey and Montreal. But in many ways, they took wins out of pushing Tuesday’s game in Montreal to the overtime, and of taking four out of a possible six points in three challenging spots while playing three games in four days on the road.
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: 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: 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: 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: 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: Repeated flaws come back to bite B's in road defeat
The Boston Bruins set out on this current, pivotal three game road swing hoping to bank at least three points out of an available six points while fighting to hold onto their current wild card playoff spot in the East. The Black and Gold accomplished that reasonable goal while ultimately falling in a 4-3 overtime decision to the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center on Monday night after blowing a 2-0 lead after the first period of play. Truthfully, David Pastrnak turned in a superstar performance to earn the B’s a point by scoring a pair of goals, including a toe drag beauty weaving through Devils defenders before beating Jakob Markstrom five hole with a backhanded bid.
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.