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NHL: Boston Bruins Bounce Flyers

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Boston 2, Philadelphia 1
When: 1:00 PM ET, Saturday, March 11, 2017
Where: TD Garden, Boston, Mass
Attendance: 17,565

BOSTON — The adage is as old as the game itself.”Throw the puck at the net and anything can happen.”

“Ninety-nine out of 100 it’s not going to go in,” Drew Stafford said after his seemingly harmless shot from the right boards deflected off Philadelphia defenseman Brandon Manning and past Steve Mason with 5.6 seconds left, giving the Boston Bruins a dramatic 2-1 victory over the fading Flyers on Saturday.

“Those kind of breaks, we’ll take those.”

Drew Stafford

Stafford, the newest Bruin, took a pass from Kevan Miller, carried the puck down the right side, stopped, spun and threw the puck toward the net. The puck hit Manning and became Stafford’s second goal in four games with his new team.

“It’s a bounce of the puck. That’s the way it goes,” said Manning, whose team played a strong game, faded some in the third and should have grabbed at least one point as their games are dwindling and they are on the outside looking in at the Eastern Conference playoff picture.

“We’ve still got 16, 16 games left,” Manning said. “There’s a long way to go.”

The win the Boston’s 10th in 13 games under interim coach Bruce Cassidy, who is 7-1 at home since replacing the fired Claude Julien.

“You never know, throwing it at the net,” Cassidy said. “It’s lucky. We all know that. A heartbreaker for Philly and a benefit for us.”

David Pastrnak, extending his points streak to eight straight games, also scored (and had seven shots on goal) for the Bruins, who picked up a big win in their bid to remain in third place in the Atlantic Division.

Jordan Weal had the goal for the Flyers, who got 25 saves from Mason. Mason was the game’s third star, but the Flyers fell to 6-9-2 in their last 15 games.

Tuukka Rask, winning his 32nd game of the season, stopped 26 shots for the Bruins, who are 9-1-2 in their last 12 games against Philadelphia and 7-0-1 in their last eight home games against the Flyers.

“That was one of those overtime type goals,” Rask said of the winner. “He made a nice move. Drew realized he had some time there, made a spin-a-rama and threw it at the net.”

The Bruins challenged the Weal goal, his third in the last six games, claiming Wayne Simmonds had gone offside on the right wing. Despite some video evidence that indicated he had gone in before the puck, it was apparently not conclusive enough to wave off the goal.

The Bruins killed a 1:43 5-on-3 in the first period, the Flyers getting five shots on Rask, while defenseman Adam McQuaid helped out by blocking a pair of Claude Giroux one-timers..

“A few nice blocks and we kept them on the perimeter the best we could,” said Rask, 12-2-3 against the Flyers. “It’s all about being smart and limiting any scoring chance they get, and I think we did that.”

Late in the period, with the Bruins on the power play, Brad Marchand, whose high-sticking penalty put his team down the two men, did the heavy lifting on the Pastrnak goal and didn’t get an assist. He separated defenseman Andrew MacDonald from the puck behind the net after Torey Krug cleared the puck in. Patrice Bergeron got it and relayed it to Pastrnak, the assists giving Bergeron 23 points in the last 18 games.

Brayden Schenn thought he had stuffed one past Rask on a rebound earlier in the period, but the call was no goal. Schenn said he was told the referee intended to blow the whistle before it went over the line.

Wayne Simmonds (eight) and Jakub Voracek (seven) combined for 15 of Philadelphia’s 27 shots, Simmonds earning an assist on the goal.

“It’s a tough loss,” Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said. “We played a pretty darn good road game. It’s tough to go away without any points.

“I thought we had the better of the play in the second and the better of the opportunities. I think that was the case for them in the third.”

NOTES: A large contingent of Flyers fans brought plenty of orange and noise for the visitors. … LW Brad Marchand has 70 points, making him the first Bruin since Marc Savard (88 points) in 2008-09 to reach the 70-point plateau. Marchand also came in leading the NHL in goals (22) and points (39) since Jan. 1. He is also the first Bruin with back-to-back 30-goal seasons since Glen Murray did it in three straight seasons (2001-04). … The Flyers ended a four-game road trip with a 1-2-1 record and host the Columbus Blue Jackets and Pittsburgh Penguins Monday and Wednesday. … The Bruins open a four-game trip in Vancouver on Monday night. … Boston improved to 8-2 in matinees.

NHL Game Scout: Flyers at Bruins

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Philadelphia at Boston
When: 1:00 PM ET, Saturday, March 11, 2017
Where: TD Garden, Boston

Brad Marchand is in the midst of a career year, with the 28-year-old seeing his name bandied about among the NHL’s elite in addition to premature discussions involving the Hart Trophy. With 25 points (15 goals, 10 assists) in his last 17 games, Marchand looks to keep the Bruins on the winning track on Saturday afternoon as they vie for a season series victory over the visiting Philadelphia Flyers.

“I guess the goal every year is to get better and better, but it was always just to be here and be part of the team,” said Marchand, who scored twice to pad his team-leading totals of 32 goals and 70 points in Boston’s 6-1 rout of Detroit on Wednesday. Marchand has collected six points this season against Philadelphia, scoring in a 3-2 shootout loss on Nov. 29 before celebrating his 500th career NHL game by erupting for two goals and three assists in a 6-3 triumph on Jan. 14. While the Bruins occupy third place in the Atlantic Division on the heels of a 9-3-0 surge since Bruce Cassidy replaced the fired Claude Julien on Feb. 7, Philadelphia has dropped nine of 14 (5-7-2) to fall five points behind the New York Islanders for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. Captain Claude Giroux notched an assist in Thursday’s 4-2 setback to Toronto and set up a goal and scored two others in two meetings with Boston this season.

TV: 1 p.m. ET, NHL Network, CSN Philadelphia, SN360, NESN (Boston), NHL.TV

ABOUT THE FLYERS (31-27-8): Wayne Simmonds (team-leading 28 goals) snapped the team’s pronounced power-play drought on Thursday, netting his 14th goal with the man advantage to tie teammate Brayden Schenn for the NHL lead. The 28-year-old Simmonds, who resides one tally shy of 200 for his career, has joined Schenn in scoring and setting up a goal in the two meetings with Boston this season. The 25-year-old Schenn, however, has been held off the scoresheet in each of the last three games and saw his plus/minus rating drop to minus-23, matching second-year defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere for the team worst in that regard.

ABOUT THE BRUINS (35-26-6): Like Marchand, David Krejci also scored twice versus the Red Wings and added an assist to increase his point total to 15 (seven goals, eight assists) over the past 15 games. The 30-year-old, who netted a goal in each game against Philadelphia this season, has been pleased with the addition of Drew Stafford as the newly formed line with David Pastrnak recorded seven points on Wednesday. “I thought he was great,” Krejci said of Stafford, who had a goal, an assist and a plus-3 rating. “He was making plays, good on the puck, strong on the forecheck.”

OVERTIME

1. Philadelphia RW Jakub Voracek (team-leading 37 assists, 54 points) has collected one point in nine of his last 12 games.

2. Pastrnak has two goals and seven assists during his seven-game point streak.

3. The Flyers are just 1-for-16 with the man advantage in the last four games and have yielded four goals on six short-handed situations in the last two.

NHL: Bruins Jump On Red Wings

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Boston 6, Detroit 1
When: 8:00 PM ET, Wednesday, March 8, 2017
Where: TD Garden, Boston, Mass
Attendance: 17,565

BOSTON – (Special to Digital Sports Desk by The Sports Xchange) – – After losing an important game in Ottawa on Monday, the Bruins needed to come out strong and get the jump on the fading and tired Detroit Red Wings.

They did just that.

“It was a tough game in Ottawa. We wanted to respond well. We did that,” David Krejci said after his first two-goal and three-point game of the season helped the Bruins to a 6-1 blowout of the Wings, Boston’s ninth win in 12 games under interim coach Bruce Cassidy.

Krejci, Brad Marchand and Drew Stafford scored in a 2:25 span of the first period to chase goaltender Jared Coreau, Krejci capped a four-goal first period and Marchand scored again in the second for the Bruins as the Red Wings offered token resistance.

“We played the right way and didn’t let off,” said Stafford, who scored his first goal in his three games with his new team and also added an assist. “The type of season that Detroit’s having it’s a little bit different than Ottawa. There’s a little bit more room out there, a little bit more time to make some plays.”

Boston moved four points ahead of the idle Toronto Maple Leafs for the third spot in the Atlantic Division and three points ahead of the idle New York Islanders in the race for the second wild card. The Leafs and Islanders have two games in hand on the Bruins.

Marchand notched his 31st and 32nd goals of the season. He has seven goals in the last seven games, 15 in the last 17 and 22 in the last 26.

David Pastrnak, who has a seven-game point streak, had a goal in the third period and an assist, and Zdeno Chara notched two assists in front of Tuukka Rask.

“I want this team to feel they can win every night,” said Cassidy, who is 6-1 at home and has yet to suffer two straight losses since replacing the fired Claude Julien. “I don’t want them to be cocky, but they should be confident. They have to be.”

Rask stopped 26 shots for his 31st win of the season and had a shutout until Niklas Kronwall scored his first 2016-17 goal with 2:25 left in the second period.

The Red Wings, in last place in the Eastern Conference, suffered their fourth straight loss and fell to 3-8-2 in their last 13 games as they fade from playoff contention, likely ending a run of 25 straight playoff seasons. This was the end of a five-game trip after losing at Toronto on Tuesday night.

“I don’t think they were working hard to get chances against us,” said Detroit’s Henrik Zetterberg, held of the scoresheet after coming in with 22 points in the last 22 games. “We were way too easy to play against. They were just skating by us in the neutral zone and we weren’t winning the battles in our own end. You can’t play like that.”

The Bruins, who matched their season high for goals in a game, are 10-1-1 in their last 12 games against Detroit, going 3-0-1 this season.

Bruins winger Tim Schaller left the game with a lower-body injury after falling skates first into the end boards. He will be evaluated Thursday.

The Red Wings held a 6-2 shots advantage before the Bruins struck. First, Krejci went around Danny DeKeyser to score at 11:07, with Stafford collecting an assist. Then Pastrnak lobbed the puck into the Detroit zone and Marchand slipped between two defensemen to score at 12:08.

Pastrnak then carried the puck into the slot and lost it before Stafford picked it up and beat Coreau on the glove side to end the goalie’s night at 13:32 — in his first start since Feb. 12.

Enter Petr Mrazek, who had been resting after eight straight starts. In the final minute of the period, Dylan Larkin coughed the puck up in front of his net and Krejci picked it up and scored, his first two-goal game since April 1.

Mrazek and Rask made big saves before Marchand scored on a breakaway to make it 5-0. But 40 seconds later, Kronwall one-timed his first of the season from the right point.

NOTES: The Red Wings recalled G Jimmy Howard from his minor league rehab and he will join the team for Friday’s home game against the Chicago Blackhawks. … With C Ryan Spooner out indefinitely with a concussion suffered Monday night, the Bruins recalled RW Austin Czarnik and put RW Jimmy Hayes back in the lineup, with LW Peter Cehlarik a healthy scratch and RW Drew Stafford taking his place on the team’s second line with David Krejci and David Pastrnak. … G Petr Mrazek went 3-4-1 playing the previous eight games for Detroit. … The Bruins host the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday and head west on a four-game road trip that actually ends in Toronto. … Wednesday was Irish Heritage Night at TD Garden.

NHL Game Scout: Bs Visit Ottawa

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Boston at Ottawa
When: 7:30 PM ET, Monday, March 6, 2017
Where: Canadian Tire Centre, Ottawa, Ontario

OTTAWA – (Special Preview for Digital Sports Desk by The Sports Xchange) – Two Atlantic Division rivals look to continue their surge toward securing a playoff spot when the Ottawa Senators host the Boston Bruins on Monday. The Senators have won two in a row and eight of 12 to take over second place in the Atlantic – two points ahead with two games in hand on the Bruins, who are 8-2-0 since Bruce Cassidy replaced Claude Julien as coach.

Ottawa defeated playoff-bound Columbus 3-2 on Saturday – its fourth straight one-goal victory – as captain Erik Karlsson notched a goal in his franchise-record 312th consecutive game. “This is going to be one of the greats,” Senators coach Guy Boucher told reporters of Karlsson, who leads the team with 56 points. “I’m behind the bench, so I don’t have to pay for a ticket, but trust me, I’d pay for my ticket every game.” The Bruins have won four of their last five contests after edging New Jersey 3-2 on Saturday. Boston is averaging 3.7 goals since Cassidy took over – with big contributions coming from Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak, who have combined for 14 points in the last five games.

Drew Stafford (19)

TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NESN (Boston), TSN5, RDS (Ottawa)

ABOUT THE BRUINS (34-25-6): Marchand, who leads Boston in goals (29) and points (67), also owns a team-best plus-17 rating and has scored four times in his last five contests. Pastrnak (26 goals, 28 assists) is riding a five-game point streak and veteran Patrice Bergeron continues to raise his production level with a pair of tallies and eight points over his last five contests. Drew Stafford, who was acquired from Winnipeg at the trade deadline, had a goal overturned but notched an assist in his debut with the team on Saturday while primarily skating with Ryan Spooner and Frank Vatrano.

ABOUT THE SENATORS (35-22-6): Karlsson, who passed fellow defenseman Chris Phillips for the franchise’s consecutive games record, has recorded a goal and three assists over his last four games to increase his lead on Mark Stone (48 points). Alex Burrows scored twice against Colorado on Thursday and fellow trade-deadline pickup Viktor Stalberg registered one goal in Saturday’s victory as Boucher rolled four lines consistently. Craig Anderson is 6-2-0 with a .946 save percentage in eight games after missing two months to be with his wife while she went through cancer treatments.

OVERTIME

1. The Senators have won the last three meetings and five of six, including a 3-1 triumph on Nov. 24, and play at Boston twice in the final 10 games of the season.

2. Bruins D Adam McQuaid, who received 25 stitches on his neck after being cut by teammate David Backes’ skate blade in Saturday’s contest, should be able to play Monday.

3. Ottawa C Kyle Turris has scored a pair of goals over his last four games to tie Stone for the team lead with 22.

B’s McQuaid Escapes Serious Injury

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BOSTON – (Wire Service Report by The Sports Xchange) – Boston Bruins defenseman Adam McQuaid expects to be in the lineup on Monday, two days removed from receiving 25 stitches to close a wound in his neck after being cut by the skate of teammate David Backes. McQuaid, who was cleared to play Sunday, did not reveal if he plans to wear equipment to protect the right side of his neck in Monday’s game against the Ottawa Senators.

“Initially, when I didn’t see any blood, I figured that I was OK,” the 30-year-old McQuaid said of the incident. “They didn’t blow the whistle, and (play) was still going on in an obviously important part of the game. I was pretty helpless without my stick, but I was just trying to be a body getting in the way.”

“I don’t think many guys saw it on the ice. Once I got to the bench, Colin Miller at first was like, ‘Oh, you’re OK.’ Then, ‘No, actually, you’re cut. You might want to have it looked at.’ ”

McQuaid did precisely that, retreating to the locker room in the Bruins’ eventual 3-2 victory over the New Jersey Devils.

“He’s a tough customer,” Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said of McQuaid, who has collected two goals, six assists and 62 penalty minutes in 60 games this season.
McQuaid has 12 career goals, 48 assists and 581 penalty minutes in 407 contests — all with the Bruins.

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