The abbreviated season is beginning to approach its climax, with every team except Calgary having played at least 30 games. Pittsburgh is starting to open up a bit of a lead in the East, but both races at the bottoms of the brackets are still very heated. For that matter, precious few teams have been able to get any sort of separation. With the playoff race so close, including several surprise teams staying in good spots, let’s look at what would happen if the playoffs started as of Sunday, March 24, before the day’s games: Continue reading If the Playoffs Started Today – NHL Week 9 »

We’re two months into the season now, and plenty is still going on. Both #3 seeds are different from last week. The races for both #8 seeds are still quite crowded. Even the race for the East’s #1 has become a three-team showdown. Just about everything is in play like it was before the season began, so let’s look at what would happen if the playoffs started as of Sunday, March 17, at 1:40: Continue reading If the Playoffs Started Today – NHL Week 8 »

Brandon Sutter scored two goals in the final seven minutes of the third period, and the Pittsburgh Penguins stunned the Boston Bruins, 3-2. The Bruins jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first period until Penguins’ leading goal scorer Chris Kunitz scored his 18th goal of the season to spark the rally. Sutter scored his seventh and eight goals of the year under four minutes apart, with the latter coming with 2:03 left in the game. Anton Khudobin made 31 saves and was stellar in net until the Bruins ran out of gas in front of him. The game was Boston’s third in four nights. Continue reading Bruins Blow Third Period Lead, Lose 3-2 to Penguins »

The Boston Bruins never led in the game, but came back to beat the Ottawa Senators 3-2 in a shootout after trailing 2-0. David Krejci scored the game winning goal in the fourth round of the shootout and also had an assist to cap off his 400th career NHL game. Bruins net minder Tuukka Rask made 30 saves to improve to 13-2-3 on the year. The Bruins beat the Senators last on Feb. 28th in OT.

Unfortunately it was not all good news for the Bruins in the win. Chris Kelly collided knees with Senators forward and former teammate Chris Neil early in the opening moments of the second period. Kelly was visibly in pain and was helped off the ice and down the tunnel to the locker room and did not return. The hit did not look malicious. Continue reading Bruins Defeat Senators In Shootout 3-2 »

The season is half over for many teams, and almost everyone is still as close as ever. Boston and Montreal are fighting over the East, while the Rangers and Devils are still trying to hold off the Jets and Islanders. Out West, #3 and #11 are separated by just four points, so just about everyone still has a decent chance of doing something good. With the entire brackets set to shake up completely at a moment’s notice, let’s look at what would happen if the playoffs started as of Saturday, March 9 at 8:00pm: Continue reading If the Playoffs Started Today – NHL Week 7 »

The Washington Capitals rallied back from an early three goal deficit to beat the Boston Bruins, 4-3 in overtime in front of a sold out crowd at the Verizon Center. Eric Fehr capped off four unanswered goals for the Capitals with a spectacular goal while falling down and beating two Bruins defensemen. The goal, his fifth of the season, came 37 seconds into the extra period. He also added two assists in the rematch of last year’s first round playoff bout.

The loss is the Bruins’ second straight, dropping Boston’s record to 14-3-3 on the year. Tuukka Rask made 22 saves in net but couldn’t protect the B’s 3-0 first period lead. Continue reading Bruins Squander Early Lead Against Capitals, Lose 4-3 in OT »

Bruins Head Coach Claude Julien called out P.K. Subban and the Montreal Canadiens for their flopping after the game (video here).

Here’s what he said:

“The frustrating part is that you end up with 17 minutes in the penalty box when you should have been on the power play. It’s as simple as that,” Julien said. “It’s frustrating because tonight, as everybody saw, there was a lot of embellishment and this is embarrassing for our game, embellishing. Right now, they’ve got over 100 power plays so far and it’s pretty obvious why. We’re trying to clean that out of our game and it’s got to be done soon.”

Continue reading Claude Julien Calls Out P.K. Subban »