Bruins Beat
by Bob Morello
Bruins look to ride Classic win
With the satisfaction of having pinned a 4-2
loss on the Chicago Blackhawks at the 2019 NHL Winter Classic at Notre Dame
Stadium, the Bruins will take the two points and look forward to continuing the
New Year’s festivities during their four-game homestand. At the end of the game
Tuukka Rask took off his specially designed for the Classic goalie mask,
knowing that he had delivered an impressive effort, and could take pleasure in
having one-upped the Rask-haters. His effort was solid from beginning to end,
as he allowed an early goal to Chicago’s Brendan Perlini in the first period,
and then put up the barricade, stopping all but one of the Blackhawks’
remaining shots.
Rask came up big twice on Chicago’s
All-Star, Patrick Kane, stopping him first on a breakaway close to the end of
the first period, and again with a spectacular stop on Kane’s shot from the
slot with less than 40 seconds remaining in the game and the Bruins up by one
goal. With a jam-packed stadium of 79.126 in attendance, Rask disappointed the
majority of them, as the crowd was heavily weighted with Blackhawks fans from
nearby (90 miles) Chicago. Rask earned high praise from his teammates who
appreciated his efforts that once again put the Bs into a playoff spot, but
Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy summed it up best with: “You get two points, but
it’s more than just an average game. You’re playing in front of what, 80,000
people on national TV, two historical franchises. Everyone wants to see a good
hockey game, and we just want to be on top. It worked out well for everybody,
specifically for us.”
David Pastrnak tied things up (1-1) for
Boston, scoring his 24th goal on a nice feed from Patrice Bergeron.
Pastrnak returned the favor, feeding Bergeron who scored (#13) in the second
period to tie the game at 2-2. The solid performance throughout the game by the
fourth-line, saw Chris Wagner setting up the game-winner, as Matt Grzelcyk’s
shot bounced off Kane’s body, landing in the perfect spot on the ice for Sean
Kuraly to cash in with the go-ahead goal (#4). Putting the cherry on the tasty
win was Brad Marchand’s empty-netter (#13) with 33 seconds remaining.
The Bruins return
to Garden ice for a four-game homestand, beginning with tonight’s game
(Thursday 7:00pm) as they take on the Calgary Flames. The Flames are currently
battling the Vegas Golden Knights and the San Jose Sharks for the top spot in
the Pacific Division. Saturday (1/5 at 7:00pm), the Buffalo Sabres, who at
press time were tied with Boston (48 points), will provide the opposition. The
Sabres, despite their red-hot start to the season have cooled off a bit,
posting a record of 4-4-2 of for their last ten games. The Minnesota Wild are
battling to get into a playoff spot, and will be hosted by the Bruins on
Tuesday (1/8 at 7:00pm). The Wild have been struggling of late, with a
lackluster 3-6-1 record in their last ten games. The Bruins’ homestand will end
Thursday (1/10 7:00pm), when the streaking Washington Capitals invade the Garden,
looking to add to their impressive record, as they ride on the strength of
eight wins in their previous ten games.
More here –
Sports 01-03-2019