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Final Buzzer: Stone OT goal powers Sens in 2-1 victory

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The game was theirs had things been a little different for the Boston Bruins Saturday night in Canada’s capital city.

After young guns Mika Zibanejad and David Pastrnak traded goals in the first two periods of play, not another puck got past either one of Craig Anderson or Tuukka Rask until the 3-on-3 overtime period. Loui Eriksson had two glittering chances to give his B’s the extra point but could not cash in. Denied on a breakaway early in sudden death, he rang a shot off the post during a 2-on-1 break, and Ottawa took it the other way, finishing off the play to secure the home victory.

The winning goal came off the stick of Mark Stone, who had previously scored a pair of goals when Ottawa beat the B’s in the same building a few weeks earlier. Give the Senators forward credit- after Erik Karlsson’s shot hit off of Rask’s crest and bounced away from him, Stone gathered it up and attempted a wrap around goal. Rask somehow reached back in time from the left post to get his goal stick up against the far post to deny Stone’s initial bid. Unfortunately, with Eriksson behind Stone and out of the play, along with Colin Miller slow to react and put the body on the Senator player, Stone was able to corral the puck after it bounced off Rask’s stick paddle and flipped it up and over the goalie to end it.

Zibanejad’s first period tally, his eighth, was scored on a jailbreak rush after C. Miller’s shot attempt was blocked and Ottawa worked it back the other way. Karlsson slipped a pass to Zibanejad in the B’s zone after he broke in all alone and the Swede made a nifty deke before lifting the puck into the open side.

Pastrnak’s goal came on a deflection in the second frame, when he worked the puck around to Patrice Bergeron, who gathered it on the left half-wall and then passed back to Zdeno Chara at the point. Pastrnak rotated over to the slot in front of the net so that when Chara’s shot came in, Pastrnak was able to get a piece of it with his stick, making sure he made contact below the crossbar to make it a 1-1 game with his third marker of the year (in 12 NHL games).

That left it to the two teams to trade chances, with both Rask and Anderson holding down the fort until Stone finished off the B’s. Ryan Spooner and Senators forward Shane Prince (acquired with the 2nd-round pick in 2011 that Boston sent to Ottawa for Chris Kelly, btw) had particularly effective chances but neither player could find the back of the net.

 

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Final Buzzer: B’s exorcise Devils for 3,000th win

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The Boston Bruins ended their two-game losing streak with a convincing 4-1 win on the road against the New Jersey Devils Friday, getting goals from Frank Vatrano, Ryan Spooner,  Jimmy Hayes, Colin Miller. For Boston, it was the 3,000th win in franchise history- second all-time in the NHL behind the Montreal Canadiens (3,283).

The Devils got another valiant effort in net from Massachusetts sons (sins?) Cory Schneider (Marblehead) with xx saves and a second period goal from North Andover’s Bobby Farnham, but once again- the lack of offense sank the Devils,as his sixth tally was all she wrote. Jonas Gustavsson got the start for the visitors and made 19 saves for the victory as the B’s started out their five-game road trip on a positive note.

Vatrano scored early, converting a rebound from C. Miller that Schneider kicked out in front of the net. The Boston rookie swooped in and gathered the puck, lifting it over Schneider’s right pad for his sixth goal of the year.

Spooner added to the lead in the second period, making a pair of his patented 10-2 skating moves after Zach Trotman sealed off the play along the right boards to prevent a Devils defender from getting to the puck and clearing. With Spooner moving across the blue line and his hips open, he was able to wrist a shot on net. Matt Beleskey screened Schneider, allowing the puck to slip past him inside the post for what would be the eventual game-winner.

Hayes got a late-period power play goal when he tipped Zdeno Chara’s point shot  into the net for his ninth goal of the year.

C. Miller closed out the scoring in the third period when he blistered a smoking slap shot through Schneider’s five-hole. Dennis Seidenberg made a perfect pass into the wheelhouse that allowed Chiller to get all of it, and it looked every bit like the power drive that won Miller the hardest shot competition at the 2015 AHL All-Star Game.

For the B’s it was a strong performance overall- they were burned just once off the rush when Chara got caught up the ice and C. Miller allowed too much of a gap for Farnham. It was a shot Gustavsson should have had, but in Miller’s case, he was too passive on the play- allowing the former Brown standout nothing but time and space to make the play. Miller more than made up for it with his 1-1-2 night- scoring his third goal of the season in the final frame.

Gustavsson was effective for the most part, but was nearly caught out of the crease several times, causing NESN analysts Billy Jaffe and Gord Kluzak to dedicate a 1st intermission segment to “hugging the post” to him.

The game also marked David Pastrnak’s return to the NHL for the first time since he was lost to a fractured foot just before Halloween. Just back from the World Jr. Championship, Pastrnak played with energy and made some skill plays around the net, but was clearly still feeling his way back into game shape. He reportedly had a finger injury at the WJC, but his stick handling did not appear to be hampered much in this one.

The Boston defense and penalty killing played well for the most part. Trotman was back into the Boston lineup after Adam McQuaid was taken out on a hit from behind by Washington Capital Zach Sill on Tuesday. Sill was suspended two games by the NHL’s Department of Player Safety for the play, and with McQuaid on the IR, Trotman will have a chance to skate with Chara going forward. Trotman is most effective when he keeps things simple and the play in front of him. He even drew a late penalty when he jumped in from the blue line and beat Dmitri Kalinin to a loose puck, getting pulled down from behind for his efforts.

Ryan Spooner continues to play well while filling in for the injured David Krejci. He stretched his points streak to four games with a goal and five assists over that span. He’s also playing more effectively in all zones and earning the coaching staff’s trust with bigger minutes and expanded situations. He’s on pace for around 20 goals and 60 points this year if he can keep finding ways to contribute offensively when Krejci returns to reclaim his top-two line role. 59 points would have led the B’s in scoring last season, so give the soon-to-be 24-YO credit for his commitment to making things work this season when his 5-on-5 play was wanting and points were harder to come by earlier in the season.

With points at a premium for Boston, they needed to have a game like this one and got it. The Devils were without top scorer Mike Cammalleri and had a depleted roster overall, but there’s no crying in hockey- Boston took New Jersey to the woodshed, allowing some of the lower-line players to get some extended looks as the B’s cruised late.

They’ll take on their division rival Ottawa Senators tomorrow night in Kanata.

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Bruins putrid in Winter Classic

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Putrid. Lousy. Pitiful.

The negative descriptors for the annual outdoor NHL spectacle Winter Classic played at Gillette Stadium on New Year’s Day are endless. The Boston Bruins were run out of the joint by the Montreal Canadiens with nearly 70,000 fans on hand to witness it.

The weather and ice conditions- at times factors in the past- did not have a major influence on yesterday’s contest, but after all of the buildup, it took just 74 seconds for Montreal to set the tone for what was to come.

David Desharnais continued his scoring ways against this team, pouncing on a loose puck to Tuukka Rask’s left and jamming it into the net inside the post before Rask or defenseman Joe Morrow could pick it up.

By the time Paul Byron scored Montreal’s second goal, it was painfully evident that the B’s were just not in gear. The first period was a disaster for Boston, as they were unable to generate any kind of sustained offensive pressure, getting outshot 14-3 overall.

Boston was undermanned- the team lost David Krejci to injury against Ottawa last Sunday and then Brad Marchand found himself on the wrong end of the NHL discipline process for a low-bridge hit on Mark Borowiecki that cost him three-game suspension at the worst possible time. The forwards Boston dressed in their place- Alex Khokhlachev and Seth Griffith– barely played and when they did, weren’t effective. Max Talbot played what was probably his worst game as a Bruin. The list goes on and on.

The B’s looked unprepared for a game that had so much anticipation and fanfare, and the Canadiens took it to them from the drop of the puck. It’s hard to square the team that was on the receiving end of a 5-1 loss to their most hated rival with the one that has put together some impressive winning streaks during the season and played one of their most spirited games of the year this week against Ottawa at home.

If the B’s looked like their alarms hadn’t awakened them, the Habs provided a stark contrast. They got a lift from the return of Brendan Gallagher to the lineup for the first time since November 22 yesterday. He was flying around the ice and then extended Montreal’s lead to three goals when he batted a puck out of mid-air to make it 3-o.

There was’t much to be pleased about from a Boston perspective yesterday: Matt Beleskey tallied the lone goal with a deflection of Adam McQuaid’s point shot to give the B’s life in the third period with a 3-1 score and chance to come back. A bad Zdeno Chara pinch resulted in a 2-on-1 break with Gallagher and Max Pacioretty. Gallagher fed the captain and he buried a shot to put the game effectively out of reach.

There were two key opportunities for Boston in the second period that might have altered the complexion of the game. Jimmy Hayes had a goal taken off the board after the officials lost sight of the puck under goaltender Mike Condon and blew the whistle. Hayes poked at Condon, in a snow angel position, and the puck went in, but the play had clearly been blown dead. Then, with less than a second left, Condon rose to the occasion to deny Ryan Spooner a shot with a fine glove save. Spooner was alone to Condon’s left with an open side to hit, but when the pass came to him, he took an extra second to settle the puck, allowing Condon to get over and make the stop.

In the end, it isn’t the loss itself that represents such a big setback for Boston- it’s the way it went on such a big stage. Veterans like Talbot and Zac Rinaldo were on the ice collectively for a -7 against and weren’t effective as the Canadiens seemed to fly around them and make play after play. It wasn’t just Talbot and Rinaldo, either- Loui Eriksson was particularly ineffective yesterday, and while Rask didn’t cost his team the game, his career record now stands at 4-15-3 against the Canadiens.

Give the Canadiens credit- they attacked the Boston net, cycled the puck effectively and kept their feet moving throughout. When the Bruins tried to seize on shifting momentum, Condon was there to keep the game in control.

It does no good to belabor the point- there isn’t much more to be said about what happened at Gillette Stadium. With the Washington Capitals and Bruins killer Braden Holtby next on the docket, Boston’s depth will be sorely tested. It’s easy to kill Koko and Griffith for not bringing more to the table, but they didn’t play enough to be responsible for the loss- they simply didn’t play well enough to inspire more of a role the coaches can be confident in. With Marchand out two more games and Krejci gone on a longer timeline, the B’s must get better play from the guys they have.

The team may or may not win more games than they lose in the coming stretch, but how they play is what most will be watching and observing. They can afford any repeat performances of what they brought on Jan. 1.

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5 big Boston Bruins storylines from 2015

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As we say farewell to 2015, we’ll take a look back at a turbulent year for the Boston Bruins franchise, one that saw the team miss the postseason for the first time in eight years.

With a solid 20-12-4 record and third place in the Atlantic Division heading into Friday’s Winter Classic against Montreal (just one spot and point above the B’s in the standings) Boston has a chance to start 2016 on a brighter note.

Here are five stories and an honorable mention that highlight the year the was for Boston Bruins hockey:

1.  Bruins miss playoffs, fire GM Peter Chiarelli

Just two years prior, the Boston GM’s team nearly captured a second Stanley Cup since 2011 before falling to the Chicago Blackhawks (winners in 2010, 2013 and 2015) in six games. He followed that up a year later with the top team in the 2013-14 regular season before a second-round seven-game flameout to the Montreal Canadiens. However, with his team in a salary cap mess and missing the playoffs to a tie-breaker on the final night of the 2014-15 campaign, team president Cam Neely relieved Chiarelli of his duties.

It’s an indicator of just how fickle and results-driven the professional sports business is, but personalities and power consolidation might have played a bigger role than Neely and ownership want to admit. Regardless, Chiarelli soon resigned his position in the organization and the Edmonton Oilers went all-in on him building another success story in Alberta, naming him president and general manager just a few weeks later. Chiarelli then had the benefit of watching a generational talent in Connor McDavid fall into his lap at the 2015 draft (he inherited Phil Kessel, Milan Lucic, Brad Marchand and Tuukka Rask at the 2006 draft- technically before he officially assumed GM duties in Boston).

Chiarelli’s Oilers teams won both games against his old organization this year, but it took a shootout and overtime respectively to do it. This sets up a fun East-West grudge rivalry between the two teams for years as he attempts to change the Oilers’ ways from perennial doormats to legitimate hockey power.

2. Boston names Don Sweeney new GM

Neely’s old teammate and close friend was named to step into Chiarelli’s old position on May 20, 2015 after being his assistant for several years and starting out as a player development consultant from day one of the post-Mike O’Connell (and interim GM Jeff Gorton) era. To think that Sweeney got the job solely because of his connection to the team president is wholly unfair to a man who not only played more than 1,000 NHL games on the Boston blue line, but who also spent countless hours in rinks around the world scouting future talent and working to develop B’s prospects into successful pros.

Sweeney has been active and aggressive since taking the helm. His first (and perhaps most astute) move was to keep Claude Julien in the fold. Make no mistake- had Boston dismissed him behind Chiarelli, another team (Edmonton?) would have pounced quickly. Since then, Sweeney made a series of bold moves that so far, most of which, have worked out (see No. 3 below). One longtime (and very respected) NHL director of scouting I ran into Sunday night in Fort Lauderdale told me point blank that Sweeney had “balls” and that you had to give him credit from making what was sure to be (at least initially) two unpopular and risky trades without a whole lot of proven assets coming back in return. “He’s doing what he thinks is right,” the scouting director said outside a local watering hole. “We’ll see if the heat he’s getting is even warranted by the time we’re halfway through next season.”

With a hot take like that, you might be right to look up a list of chief scouts to see if anyone’s last name is Nostradamus.

There’s plenty of hockey left before we get too carried away, but if most were told the B’s would be 8 games over .500 heading into the Winter Classic, they’d have taken it.

3. 2015 draft day trades: Milan Lucic and Dougie Hamilton go West

“Trader Don” did not waste much time in making several aggressive, even shocking moves to shed salary and re-work the Bruins roster to fit his vision.

Initial reaction to the decision to trade Dougie Hamilton, with news breaking in the early Friday afternoon before the draft’s first round, was not positive. Beyond the shock of finding out that the new GM had just dealt a 22-year-old and the last piece of the Phil Kessel trade return from Toronto was one thing, but that the B’s got three draft picks from Calgary- their first and two (of three) second-rounders all in 2015- was even more stunning. The team had just opened up a sizable hole on its blue line, which had been exposed in the spring when Boston failed to earn a playoff berth, and in return- the team was placing its hopes on future assets, none of whom had a chance to fill the void of Hamilton’s departure.

Before fans could come out of the daze, more rumors swirled, this time less surprising but nevertheless polarizing when it looked like Sweeney was on the verge of trading fan favorite Milan Lucic to Los Angeles.  On its face- it made sense. Sweeney was trying to rework Boston’s dire cap situation- created by his former boss- and with Lucic entering the last year of a contract that already paid him $6 million, the writing was on the wall that the B’s couldn’t afford to extend him, nor did many feel his play warranted it. This time, Sweeney landed more immediate assets from the Kings- backup goaltender Martin Jones and prized defense prospect Colin Miller, coming off a 19-goal season in the AHL which culminated in a championship. These two players were topped with LA’s first pick- one spot before Boston’s own 14th overall position, giving them picks 13-15. The rest is, as they say, history.

However- there are reports that the Bruins acquired the many assets as currency to move up in the draft to the top-five in order to grab Boston College star and Norwood, Mass. native Noah Hanifin. It didn’t work out, but if in fact that was Sweeney’s vision, the decision to trade Hamilton for what he received in return makes perfect sense. In dealing Hamilton but drafting Hanifin (say that three times- real fast), Sweeney could have spun moving his young defender to the Flames as an eventual upgrade with a marketable asset like Hanifin, viewed by most scouts (including this one) as a future franchise cornerstone and legitimate 2-way defenseman. Hamilton has proven he can generate offense, but his defensive zone play has always been and continues to be an adventure with his new team. Hanifin, who is already in the NHL at 18 with Carolina, is breaking in slowly, but you can see that he’s growing and maturing. It won’t be long until he and Justin Faulk are forming as formidable a 1-2 punch at the position as any in the league.

Sweeney didn’t just stop wheeling and dealing at the draft, though.

He then traded Jones, who was unsigned and not going to be happy sitting behind Tuukka Rask after previously backing up Jonathan Quick, to San Jose for their first-rounder in 2016 plus defensive center prospect Sean Kuraly, captain of the Miami University RedHawks (a 2011 fifth-round pick of the Sharks).

Sweeney added Zac Rinaldo from Philly for a 2017 third-rounder, then made another move by sending Reilly Smith and Marc Savard’s contract to South Florida for Jimmy Hayes.

Those transactions didn’t match the surprise or impact that dealing Hamilton and Lucic did, but so far, they haven’t blown up in Sweeney’s face, either.

Signing veteran farmhand D Matt Irwin was a poor move, but picking up Landon Ferraro off of waivers from Detroit was another solid add for Sweeney and his pro scouts. When you add pieces like Frank Vatrano and Austin Czarnik, signed as undrafted college free agents under the Chiarelli regime, there is hope for the future.

The question that dogs Sweeney now is- how can he find a way to add that heir apparent and future No. 1 to replace Zdeno Chara? When at first you don’t succeed as was the case with Hanifin, then try, try again. It’s much easier said than done, however, and might take a bit of luck.

4. Claude Julien enters ninth season behind B’s bench, in range of coaching record

Boston’s longest-tenured coach since Art Ross stands to break the hockey icon’s franchise record, which has stood since the end of World War II. ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun has an excellent article on Julien and the idea (I agree with it) that he’s a legitimate Jack Adams Award candidate because of what he’s doing with Boston’s roster amidst all the off-season turmoil and expectations. Go here and read it.  It’s a detailed piece replete with sources and I think it effectively captures the essence of Julien’s legacy in Boston and why an active movement to oust him without a clear solution in place borders on the absurd. Here’s an excerpt from LeBrun’s article:

The Bruins’ season ended in April, Don Sweeney was named general manager on May 20, and Julien had to wait until June 5 for an announcement that he would return as coach.

Bruins star Patrice Bergeron remembers chatting with Sweeney last summer, but the head coach wasn’t a topic of conversation.

“I think he knew what I thought of Claude anyway, that I love playing for him and I’ve learned so much from him,” Bergeron said Tuesday night. “So he didn’t need to ask me the question. I think he just needed time to figure out things is all.”

Julien is the best Bruins coach in my lifetime, and although doesn’t have the longevity of Ross because the NHL played far fewer games when he coached as opposed to now, will deserve his spot on top of the franchise’s coaching list. Not convinced? More from Bergeron:

“He always finds a way to get the best out of each player, it’s really his strong suit to recognize if the team lacks confidence, or has too much confidence, up and down, he has a good pulse for the feeling out of the dressing room,” said Bergeron. “And he’s really fair. It’s easy to play for a coach like that. You want to give him all you’ve got.”

Julien gets criticism for his personnel decisions, and no amount of success is going to bring everyone completely on board because of that. In the minds of some- even if he wins with certain veterans, the fact that he’s not icing a more skilled group will keep the critics supplied with fresh gripes. Having said that, he’s 17 career wins from passing Ross and has managed to keep his players loyal and playing hard for him. With a club that had major questions surrounding it entering the season, you’d need a pretty enticing option in place to supplant Julien for such a move to make sense.

5. Bruins host 2016 Winter Classic at Gillette Stadium vs. Canadiens

In 2010, the B’s needed overtime to beat the Philadelphia Flyers at frozen Fenway Park in a memorable first foray in the NHL’s annual New Year’s Day outdoor game tradition. This time, they host their hated rival from the north- the Montreal Canadiens- and go south to Foxboro and the home of the New England Patriots to do it.

There’s plenty of information out there on the game, which has become quite the spectacle since the NHL introduced it more than a decade ago, so I won’t rehash it all here. Three of my friends and colleagues- ESPN’s Joe McDonald, DJ Bean of WEEI and Joe Haggerty of CSNNE are a trio to follow for fine coverage. Be sure to hook on with Brian “Rear Admiral” McGonagle of Barstool Sports, too- he’s a good egg with a large following who blends hockey and pop culture like no one else I know. Finally, the writers at the Boston dailies are all fine people who will give you the ins and outs, starting with the alumni and women’s pro hockey games tomorrow.

 HM: 10 picks re-stock the organizational cupboard

The team entered draft weekend in Fort Lauderdale, Florida with two picks in the first two rounds, and by the time Sweeney & Co. walked into the BB&T Center for Friday’s primetime event, those selections had swelled to six in exchange for Lucic and Hamilton.

Boston was high on Czech defender Jakub Zboril, so when their reported attempts to move up for top-rated D Hanifin proved unsuccessful, he was in that second tier of defenders and made sense at 13th overall. On the plus side, Zboril has size and is highly talented with skating, passing and shooting skills galore. He’s also got some real nasty to his game and he plays with a physical edge. He is inconsistent with his effort and intensity, however- that is something the Bruins will watch closely.

Jake DeBrusk was the team’s second pick at 14th overall and began to raise eyebrows when the B’s did not opt for either of smallish but uber-skilled and fast playmaking center Mathew Barzal or USHL leading scorer Kyle Connor. DeBrusk, who scored 42 goals for the Swift Current Broncos a year ago and was just traded to the Red Deer Rebels as they gear up for the 2016 Memorial Cup, has a natural nose for the net and can score goals by the bushel. The left wing is not a dynamic game-breaker like Barzal, but the B’s wanted a finisher and they got one. The son of former NHL enforcer Louie DeBrusk is a completely different player than his dad was, but is a keeper.

The sharp criticism Boston drew in taking Soo Greyhounds right wing Zach Senyshyn has been much more muted this season, as he has scored 22 goals in his first 33 games of the OHL season. With his impressive NHL tools- a 6-2 frame, fast wheels, superb puck skills and finishing ability, there is much to like about this fledgling power forward. He’s still raw and addressing consistency in his game (more on that in a future blog post), but after getting ridiculed in trading Hamilton for the pick that became Senyshyn, you’re not hearing that as much in pundit circles these days, especially with how shaky Hamilton’s start in Calgary was. This is a trade that in time analysts will say both teams won, but the Flames are getting the more immediate returns.

Big shutdown defender Brandon Carlo came next at 37, acquired with Philadelphia’s pick (obtained from the Islanders in the much-criticized Johnny Boychuk deal on the eve of the 2014-15 campaign). At 6-5, he’s massive, but his long arms give him an even bigger reach than other guys his size. He’s a fluid, mobile skater for one so big, and we’ve seen it in the WJC, as he pretty much shuts down players who try to get to the net on his side of the ice either by using his long stick and strength to block a straight net drive or his quickness to deny opponents room on the outside. He’s as good a shutdown player as you will find in the prospect ranks, but his offensive potential at the NHL level is a question mark at this stage. He scored his first goal of the tourney today against Switzerland in USA’s 10-1 drubbing, so there’s much to like about this player.

Swedish center Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson, acquired with the second of three Flames picks for Hamilton at 45 overall (the same draft spot that the B’s got Bergeron at in 2003, btw) is surging up the prospect rankings with a superb freshman season at Boston University. ‘JFK’ is smooth, poised and intelligent- he doesn’t push the pace a lot, but is creative and slick- he uses his vision and deft stick to set up quality scoring chances and can find the back of the net, too. He’s very good at the faceoff dot and has surprised many with his poise and maturity for one so young. He’s playing well for Sweden at the WJC.

The B’s also grabbed Quebec defender Jeremy Lauzon with the last of Calgary’s picks at 52nd overall in the second round. The big, rugged and skilled two-way guy was one of Canada’s last WJC cuts and has impressed with a career offensive season while logging upwards of about 30 minutes for Rouyn-Noranda.He doesn’t quite have the flash and polish of higher-regarded blue line prospects, nor does he possess the early draft pedigree of  others, but he’s a perfect blend between the offensive skill of Zboril and defensive prowess Carlo.

With six picks in the books, the B’s could have called it a successful two days, but they landed two more particularly intriguing players with some boom potential down the road.

Huge Czech goalie Daniel Vladar went off the board to them in the mid-third round. At 6-5, he has outstanding size and quickness, and looks like someone who could one day evolve into a legitimate NHL goalie. On the downside, he’s raw and seems to guess at where shots are coming from rather than effectively tracking the puck or reading the unfolding play. There’s no pressure on him to succeed right away, so like Zane McIntyre, the B’s can afford to put him on the long track and take their time.

WHL agitator Jesse Gabrielle looks like fantastic value in the fourth round. A Bruins fan growing up in his native Saskatchewan, he played some Minnesota high school hockey before major junior and likens his playing style to idol Brad Marchand. He’s not quite as blazing fast, but is plenty quick enough. Gabrielle is bigger, stronger and perhaps meaner than Marchand is. He’s well on pace to shattering his previous career bests with his third Dub team- Prince George- after Regina traded him over the summer. He needs to stay focused and make sure the hockey comes first, but this is certainly a player with legitimate NHL potential if he keeps maturing and growing.

Boston rounded out the draft (after trading their 5th-round selection to Minnesota for the Wild’s 5th in 2016) with Wisconsin center Cameron Hughes- a smallish but offensively talented pivot who toils on a struggling club. They took raw but developing Minnesota forward Jack Becker with their final pick in the seventh round.

While none of the ten picks immediately jump out on paper as having elite high-end potential, the initial returns look promising with more than a few who have a chance to one day make the Boston roster and contribute. There’s much work left, but in a deep draft, the B’s appear to have added some quality depth with a few players like Senyshyn, Lauzon, JFK and Gabrielle in particular- who might one day far exceed their draft positions and perform better than players drafted ahead of them.

Only time will tell.

 

 

 

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Final buzzer: Bruins lay smackdown on Sens

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Where to begin?

The modern NHL is different from the league I grew up with. In some ways it is better and others not so much. But tonight, when the Boston Bruins took on the Ottawa Senators in the second of a home-and-home series (Sens prevailed 3-1 on home ice Sunday), the home team set the tone for Friday’s Winter Classic against an even bigger rival.

The old NHL I grew up with- the one with the Prince of Wales and Campbell Conferences and the Adams, “Black and Blue” Norris Divisions and all the others- gave the league a character and toughness that simply doesn’t exist any more to a large extent. There were no Ottawa Senators in the old days of the Adams Division, but tonight’s Boston opponent might as well have been wearing the blue and white of the old Quebec Nordiques…or the green, white and (later) blue of the Hartford Whalers…because as the game wound down, the fireworks began in a manner reminiscent of some memorable fracas at the Boston Garden.

If you take nothing else with you tonight, remember this- these two teams don’t like each other. That’s how it should be. And that’s how it all went down in Boston’s decisive, grind-your-face-into-the-ice victory in a 7-3 final score punctuated by local kid Jimmy Hayes’ hat trick with just .02 ticks left on the clock.

The three-goal game for Hayes, done in front of the hometown fans, was undoubtedly a dream come true moment for the Dorchester native, who grew up skating in nearby rinks pretending to score goals for the Bruins. It’s been an at-times frustrating season undoubtedly for the former BC star, who came home in a late June trade. All at once, it had to be a thrill, but also brought enormous pressure to perform, too. It is therefore no small irony tonight that when skating on Boston’s bottom line, he brought the hats raining down at the TD Garden to put an exclamation point on a win the Bruins had to have.

Hayes got the first goal of the contest at 8:01 of the opening frame when a Kevan Miller drive into the end boards took a fortuitous bounce out in front of the net and the right winger punched it in. Longtime Boston nemesis (but oh how B’s fans would’ve loved this guy if he wore the Black and Gold) Chris Neil scored the equalizer at 12:31, converting a second rebound after the Bruins got caught running around in their own end. Patrice Bergeron restored the lead with the first of four Boston power play goals on the night when he took a Torey Krug pass and made a nifty little deke to put the puck past Craig Anderson, hero of the Sunday game for a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes.

The final score does not accurately reflect how close this one was, as the B’s clung to a 3-2 lead that looked anything but safe going into the final stanza. Fans no doubt recalled the collapse Saturday night against the Bruins and when Matt Beleskey tallied a power play goal to put Boston up 3-1 only to see Mika Zibanejad score a late second period goal (his second in as many games after getting the game-winner Sunday night against the B’s) to cut the lead to one, you’d forgive the good folks for not being as optimistic going into the third.

The rollercoaster game continued into the last 20 minutes, as Bergeron got his second power play goal of the night (Boston’s third of the game) at 2:38 when Krug faked a big windup for a shot then sent a slap past to Bergeron, who was occupying his customary “bumper” position between the two circles. He deftly redirected the puck into the net before Anderson could track and reset. Seth Griffith, recalled as David Krejci was officially put on IR today, registered the second assist on the play, his first NHL point of the season in his first big league game this year.

However, less than two minutes later, Mike Hoffman reduced the deficit to just one goal again when he threw the puck towards the middle of the ice from the left side. It hit Dennis Seidenberg’s skate and caromed into the net to make it 4-3 with about 15:30 remaining in the game.

That set the stage for a wild finish, as Boston scored three goals in the final 4:11, with two Hayes tallies sandwiched with one Beleskey strike to put the Sens away for good.

After the B’s made it 6-3 on Beleskey’s second of the night, a chippy night got even more spirited. In the final minutes, Ottawa coach Dave Cameron sent Neil, Max McCormick and Mark Borowiecki (who tangled earlier in the game with Zdeno Chara and was promptly rag-dolled for his efforts) on the ice perhaps to send a message to Boston for their next contest in a few weeks. McCormick and Landon Ferraro dropped the gloves in a spirited but nasty bout that began with McCormick firing some vicious punches into Ferraro before the Boston center scored a punch and take down.

Things blew up at 19:33 when action around theBoston net that began with a David Dziurzynski hit on Miller on the end boards flared into a near line brawl. Zac Rinaldo  squared off and pounded Dziurzynski, while a hesitant Adam McQuaid battled Neil (and appeared to get an eye gouge in the process). The referees- Frederick L’Ecuyer and Kyle Rehman, wanting no more shenanigans, then issued 10-minute misconduct penalties to Miller, Beleskey, and Zack Smith. But with Boston on the power play after Neil took an extra penalty in his donnybrook with McQuaid, Hayes finished off the hat trick with a bullet into the net on a feed from Max Talbot (who played his finest game since being acquired from Colorado at last year’s trade deadline.)

As we have seen in the past, games like this one brings teams together. The fans in Boston certainly loved it, and more important- it allowed the Bruins to enter the three-day buildup to the 2016 Winter Classic on a high note, without the negativity of a four-game losing streak. Better yet, Montreal lost to the upstart Atlantic Division-leading Florida Panthers tonight, spoiling the debut of goaltender Ben Scrivens.

For Boston to go from a nasty game and key moral victory to now facing their bitterest rival of all- this is the stuff that used to make the NHL what it was.

I’m not saying the new NHL is bad, but for one night at least, we were all reminded of the toughness, emotion…the pure electricity that a game like this one generates. Those nights- which once came with far more regularity- are a product of a by-gone era, but I’ll be damned if it didn’t give us something to get excited about.

UP

Patrice Bergeron- He scored two very important power play goals at critical times in this game and got the game-winnerr, once again providing the leadership by example he has been known for throughout his entire Boston career. At this point, his excellence has just come to be expected, but the humility and character with which he carries himself only adds to his body of work. With 14 goals in 36 games, he might just establish a career best in that category at age 30, and he’s certainly cruising for a fourth Selke Trophy and could garner Hart Trophy consideration as league MVP as well. Regardless of what happens, Bergeron is the heart and soul of this team and continues to raise the bar as he climbs the ladder of franchise historical feats.

Jimmy Hayes- It hasn’t been the easiest of years, but he hung in there and had the best night of his NHL career in front of a fired up crowd. The former prep star at Nobles isn’t ever going to be a bruising, in-your-face power winger the way B’s fans wish a 6-5, 215 pounder should be, but as long as he’s working hard and finding ways to contribute, he’ll be value added to a team that is counting on him to provide secondary scoring, especially with Krejci now out for an undetermined length of time. Hayes wants to be here, and this game will do wonders for his confidence. Perhaps he’ll quit gripping the stick tight and take the chances as they come…he’s probably finding out that playing for your hometown team comes with a whole different set of expectations and pressures, but on this night, he was the man of the hour.

Matt Beleskey- His first two-goal game as a Bruin came in what is a typical contest that plays to the former Belleville Bull’s strengths. He was a force on the forecheck all night and both of his goals showed off his excellent shot. Pucks hadn’t been going in for him over the first half of the year, but he was working hard and generating chances. Playing the law of averages, you knew things were bound to change at some point.

Ryan Spooner- This was a big boy game for the center who moved up to the second line with Beleskey and Loui Eriksson with Krejci out. He set the tone early with solid defensive play in his own end and an underrated blind pass to Beleskey that sprang a breakout and key scoring chance. He assisted on Bergeron’s goal, then later set up Beleskey’s second tally with some superb work along the wall to shake a defender and get the puck to his linemate. Spooner does not get enough credit for his genuine desire to improve and be a part of his team’s success. Tonight, he sent a key message to Claude Julien and the Boston coaching staff- he wants to be a top-two line center in this league and against his hometown team, he looked like one in his season-best 17:02 (in regulation games) of ice time.

Max Talbot- I have long enjoyed covering him when he was on other teams, and he was an easy whipping boy for fans as his best years are behind him. Tonight, Talbot played like he did when he was in his prime with the Penguins and a major piece to their 2009 Stanley Cup championship squad. He’s limited, but no one will ever question his heart or effort. Tonight, he was the yin to Hayes’ yang and made that fourth line one effective unit. Credit where it is due, folks.

Tuukka Rask- He was victimized on the Hoffman goal, but Rask came up big numerous times to keep his team ahead before they gave him the offensive support to make it a laugher.He’s in the zone- Rask deserved a better fate Sunday, but he got his 14th win of the season by maintaining his focus, tracking the puck well, and making some controlled saves at crunch time. With Rask playing like this, the B’s are in every game.

Torey Krug- You could see how much the B’s missed Krug in the final period of the Buffalo loss and the entire Sunday Ottawa game just by the way he was motoring up and down the ice and pushing the pace. You could also tell how fired up he was to be back in the lineup. This was vintage Krug- making things happen with a pair of assists to reach the 100-point milestone in his young NHL career, while also playing a strong all-around game to help stabilize the defense. The team desperately needs him to keep up the two-way contributions going forward.

Zdeno Chara- Even at 38, he’s still an effective defenseman and tonight he showed it, playing with some snarl and a heaviness to his game that made it tough for Ottawa to get much going in the Boston end. He’s still making some dangerous passes, especially when on the power play, but he played a smart, focused game tonight. He imposed his will physically on Borowiecki, who wanted no part of Chara once the captain started slinging him around like a sack of potatoes. Chara could have punched him in the face when he had him down but didn’t. That not only showed respect for an opponent who probably didn’t deserve a whole lot given how Borowiecki took advantage of Hayes the other night after steamrolling Frank Vatrano, but also demonstrated restraint by not taking an extra penalty in a close game.

DOWN

Brad Marchand- There aren’t many downs to this game, but his low-bridge on Borowiecki could draw supplemental discipline. If the NHL suspends him for the Winter Classic (and they could given his past transgressions), that will put the Bruins behind the eight-ball for sure. On a night he was wearing the ‘A’ for the first time in his big league career, he also took an undisciplined slashing (it was more like spearing) penalty on Kyle Turris in front of the Boston net when the game was still 4-3. He’s been such a good player this season, but Marchand has to know where the edge is and not skate over it.

It’s onto Foxboro and the Winter Classic against the Montreal Canadiens. You can bet these Bruins will be ready to go.

 

 

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Bruins’ skid reaches three games with Buffalo, Ottawa losses

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After entering last week on a high note, the B’s were blanked by the St. Louis Blues right before the Christmas holiday and then got slapped with a pair of losses to Atlantic Division foes Buffalo and Ottawa on back-to-back nights this weekend to miss out on a chance to take a lead in the division standings.

The Buffalo loss at home, which saw a two-goal lead evaporate on the strength of five unanswered goals and Jack Eichel’s first career four-point game in his homecoming, was particularly troublesome. One night later, they traveled to Canada’s capital and played a better game, but dropped a 3-1 decision to the Senators, thwarted by a very strong game in net from Craig Anderson (38 saves), so would have posted a shutout had not video replay awarded a goal to David Krejci that was originally not called a score by the on-ice officials.

Speaking of Krejci- he took a pass in the corner from Loui Eriksson, walked to the front of the net when Sens captain Erik Karlsson failed to seal off the far post and just watched him cut between the Norris Trophy defenseman and the net, and then put the puck into the far side. It ended up underneath Anderson’s left pad and skate, but replay, which was not absolutely conclusive, appeared to show that the puck (and skate) was behind the line. A call to Toronto and review awarded Krejci his 11th goal of the season (and 33rd point in 35 games).

Much of the goodwill that had built up with the team during their strong recent stretch from late-November up until last Tuesday’s loss to the Blues, is evaporating, as the B’s can’t seem to get out of their own way. Unforced errors and mistake-prone play opened the door for the Sabres, a rising young team but still an inferior one and below Boston in the standings, to mount a spirited comeback.

Injuries to a couple of key players- namely Torey Krug (who pulled up lame in the Buffalo game on a race for an icing call and is considered day-to-day with a lower body injury) and Krejci, who appeared to hurt his arm/shoulder and left last night’s contest in the second period- aren’t going to help Boston’s cause.

B’s coach Claude Julien, who was staunchly defended on this blog last week, has opened himself up to criticism with some of his personnel moves, especially on defense. Kevan Miller had a particularly bad outing against Buffalo, but Colin Miller paid the price instead, getting scratched in Ottawa. In fairness to Julien, “Chiller” had some miscues against the Sabres in what was not one of his better outings in a pretty good season for the NHL rookie. However, with Krug ailing and out of the lineup, it was strange for the younger Miller to get taken out of the lineup in favor of Kevan Miller and Zach Trotman, who returned to action after missing the previous seven contests as a healthy scratch. Trotman looked rusty at times and even tentative at others in a game where he played a pretty robust 21:32 worth of minutes- that’s what happens when you’re rotating in and out of a lineup the way the former last pick in 2010 is doing. K. Miller, who was a -2 in the Buffalo game (he was on ice for three goals against in the third, but assisted on the Boston tally to make it 3-1), played just 17:43 against Ottawa, which could be a sign that Julien’s patience with him is wearing thin. I guess we’ll see, but the B’s sure could have used Miller’s foot speed and puck-moving ability against the Senators last night.

Tuukka Rask played well against the Sens, but was victimized on a bank shot by Mark Stone off Dennis Seidenberg’s skate on one goal, and a net-drive rebound laser from Mika Zibanejad on the winner. Stone added an empty-netter for his second of the night and 10th of the season. His performance provided a solid contrast to that of Jonas Gustavsson, who was below average against Buffalo, doing very little to stop the bleeding in the third period Saturday. The Bruins need much better play from their veteran backup in a situation like that one, even if the defense didn’t give him much help.

Zdeno Chara’s play is failing the eye test. At 38, a decline was expected, but at times- he looks like’s he’s fallen off a cliff. He’s lost several steps and continues to turn the puck over in bad situations when pressured. You figured that opponents would exploit a loss in mobility- and let’s face it- he was never an agile skater to begin with- but he’s a step behind the play and making poor decisions with the puck that lead to odd-man rushes and quality scoring chances at the other end. Simply put, his minutes should probably be scaled back, not increased. However, with Krug leaving the game Saturday, Chara topped the 26-minute mark and he played another 25+ against his old club one night later. He was a -3 in the pair of games combined and has just four assists in his last  10 contests.

With Krejci out last night for the final period and facing uncertain status heading into tomorrow’s rematch at the TD Garden, Ryan Spooner moved up to the second line. The 23-year-old has stepped up his production (though he’s gone scoreless in the last four games- shootout winner against New Jersey aside) over the past month and will need to shoulder even more of the load if Boston loses it’s veteran scoring pivot for any length of time.

Here’s a modest proposal, but instead of recalling Alex Khokhlachev, why not try rookie pro and buzzsaw Austin Czarnik? The undrafted free agent showed off terrific chemistry with Frank Vatrano in the rookie tourney, Boston preseason and then in the first seven games of the AHL campaign in Providence. With his speed and energy/ability to push the pace, he might make perfect sense on the third line, and with Vatrano back on his wing, anything is possible. Depending on the severity of Krejci’s injury, Czarnik might make sense as an emergency recall, as the modern salary cap system and associated constraints do make personnel moves a little more challenging than simply dialing up Jay Pandolfo and Bruce Cassidy in Providence.

Brett Connolly probably needs to take another seat. A healthy scratch after ineffective play early, he returned to the Boston lineup with a burr under his saddle and played well with a four-goal streak, but with just five tallies all year, he’s not getting the job done. Nothing was more egregious last night than his weak flyby of the puck at center ice that allowed the odd-man break and Bobby Ryan shot/rebound that Zibanejad converted late in the second period for the eventual winner. Seth Griffith has been outstanding in Providence over the past month and deserves a recall to see what he can do. Griffith doesn’t bring much in the way of speed, but he might bring the energy and hunger that has been so lacking in Connolly’s game of late. To see this from such a high draft pick illustrates the challenges of scouting and projecting teenage players: the explosiveness, creativity and killer instinct that Connolly showed in his WHL career with Prince George has been nowhere to be found in Boston.

B’s have a small window to get their game back on track this week before facing Montreal in the Winter Classic Friday at Gillette Stadium. It’s gut-check time.

 

2015-16 NHL season, Boston Bruins, Claude Julien 4 Comments

Why Claude Julien is a top NHL coach

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Claude Julien (and family) riding the Boston Duck Boats at the 2011 Stanley Cup victory parade (Photo courtesy of Alison M. Foley)

Claude Julien (and family) riding the Boston Duck Boats at the 2011 Stanley Cup victory parade (Photo courtesy of Alison M. Foley)

With 370 wins as head coach of the Boston Bruins, Claude Julien is just 18 victories away from bumping Hockey Hall of Fame resident Arthur “Art” Ross from his perch as the franchise’s all-time leader (earned in three different coaching stints), a distinction Ross has held since 1945.

You would think that Julien’s success as the Boston pro hockey team’s coach (1 Stanley Cup victory, 1 SCF appearance, only one season without making the playoffs) would have him a near-unanimous for favorite son status among Bruins fans, but there is a vocal minority that never seems pleased with the job he’s doing. This post will attempt to make an effective argument in favor of Julien and explain why he’s a candidate for the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s top head coach this season.

Background

Julien was born in Blind River, Ontario (near Sudbury) and hails from Navan near Ottawa (across the river from Gatineau, Quebec) played major junior hockey with the Oshawa Generals and Windsor Spitfires in the late 1970s. Undrafted by the NHL, he worked his way up as a free agent in the Quebec Nordiques system after turning pro in 1981, playing a combined 14 NHL games in 1984-85 and 1985-86. He was a solid minor league puck-moving defenseman who finished out his playing career with stops in Kansas City (IHL) and the AHL’s New Haven Nighthawks in 1992.

His first major head coaching job was with the QMJHL’s Hull (now Gatineau) Olympiques, where as a rookie coach, he led that team to the 1997 Memorial Cup championship. His next stop on the coaching rung was coaching Montreal Canadiens’ AHL farm team in Hamilton, Ontario. He coached that club for two full seasons and parts of a third, promoted to the NHL after helping the Bulldogs to an impressive 33-6-3-3 record (.800 winning percentage) in 45 games before replacing the fired Michel Therrien behind the Montreal bench. Julien’s Habs went 12-16-4-4, missing the ’03 playoffs.

In his first full year as NHL coach, the Habs bounced back under Julien, making the 2004 postseason and bouncing the Bruins in a seven-game battle in the opening round before falling to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning in their next series. It was during the Bruins-Canadiens matchup that he coined the popular term “700-pound line” to describe the unit of Mike Knuble-Joe Thornton-Glen Murray for the Bruins. The Habs fired Julien halfway through the 2005-06 post-lockout season with a record of 19-16-6 in 41 games (Bob Gainey fired Julien to be interim HC, then named Guy Carbonneau to the post)- [thanks to a Eagle-eyed reader who pointed out this error in fact- sloppy on part- KL].

Julien’s next stop was with the New Jersey Devils, hired before the 2006-07 season. In one of the more curious developments of that year, Julien was pink-slipped by Lou Lamoriello after 79 games- just three games short of completing the regular season and with an impressive mark of 47-24-8.  Julien was fired as rumors swirled of a dressing room uprising in New Jersey, though Lamoriello would never go into detail as to why he made the controversial move. In a 2013 New Jersey Star-Ledger piece penned by veteran Devils beat reporter Rich Chere, Lamoriello was asked if he had any regrets about firing Julien and said:

“No, because I made the decision at that time with the information I had in front of me,” Lamoriello told The Star-Ledger. “If you could go back and make decisions again, knowing what you know now, things would be different.

“You can’t look back. You’ve got to trust the position you’re in and the information you have. Nobody else has that information.”

Lamoriello went on to say in the article that he did not feel the Devils were mentally or physically ready for the 2007 playoffs. With the current Maple Leafs GM behind the bench that year, New Jersey was ousted by the eventual Stanley Cup runner-up Ottawa Senators.

That opened the door for Peter Chiarelli to give Julien his next and current opportunity, replacing Dave Lewis after a disastrous single season in Boston, the B’s GM’s first at the helm. Julien’s departure from New Jersey created plenty of discussion points when he was introduced as the new head coach, with the news greeted for the most part with skepticism.

The early years: 2007-10

Under Julien’s watch, the Bruins returned to the 2008 NHL playoffs for the first time since 2004 (with rookie coach Mike Sullivan), making the dance thanks to strong play from veterans Zdeno Chara, Marc Savard, Tim Thomas, Marco Sturm and others, minus Patrice Bergeron, who was hit from behind by Flyers defenseman Randy Jones 10 games into the season and lost for the balance of the regular campaign and playoffs with a severe concussion. Rookie Milan Lucic became an instant fan favorite, and the well-traveled Glen Metropolit provided tangible contributions from the lower lines.

Julien and company pushed the far superior Montreal Canadiens to a seventh game after wining games 5 and 6 with rousing performances that saw Phil Kessel begin to emerge as an offensive force after he was benched by the coach early on. Although the Bruins were no match for the Canadiens at the Bell Centre in a sound Game 7 defeat, better things were ahead for the team.

In 2008-09, Julien and his team finished with the second-best regular season record, earning Julien the Jack Adams Award for that one, and even better- wreaking havoc on the hated Canadiens in a four-game sweep in the 2009 playoffs’ opening round. However, the B’s were unprepared for a grittier, opportunistic Carolina Hurricanes bunch that prevailed in another seven-game series. This one hurt not only because Carolina beat the B’s at home in overtime in that final game, but because series villain Scott Walker scored the winning tally. It was a crushing setback, and the first real sign that a segment of fans questioned whether Julien was the right coach of this team.

If the end of the 2009 season was a tremendous disappointment, the 2009-10 campaign raised the bar on setbacks with a crushing end that was even more profound than the unexpected loss to Carolina the year before. After limping through a regular season marred with at times brutal play by Thomas which ultimately gave way to Tuukka Rask becoming the starter in January 2010, the B’s squeaked into the playoffs and then upset the higher-seeded rival Buffalo Sabres. Injuries that had devastated them (starting with the beginning of the end blindside hit by Pittsburgh forward Matt Cooke on Savard earlier in the spring) finally caught up to them in the second round against the Philadelphia Flyers, as the Bruins became just the third NHL team ever to blow a 3-0 series lead, losing another decisive Game 7 on home ice after taking a 3-0 lead in the first period only to watch a spirited comeback that left a Boston fanbase beyond befuddled, as the outcry for Julien’s ouster reached a new high.

Chiarelli doubled down with his guy and tied his own fortunes to Julien in 2010-11.

Turning Point- 2011 Playoffs

And so it came down to one goal.

The Bruins had looked done after losing both home games to fall in a 0-2 hole to none other than the Canadiens in the 2011 postseason. But here they were- back at the TD Garden in a Game 7 after clawing back to even the series and taking a 3-2 lead before Montreal won Game 6 to return the series to Boston for what would likely be the end for both of Chiarelli’s and Julien’s tenure with the Bruins if they were sent packing for a third straight year on home ice.

A regular season of highs and lows had ultimately ended well for Boston, and the club entered the playoffs with a new-look roster bolstered by the addition of veterans Chris Kelly and Tomas Kaberle to go with the previous summer acquisition of Nathan Horton, rookie second overall pick Tyler Seguin and an upstart young scoring winger in Brad Marchand who posted his first career 20+-goal campaign. A repaired hip and second Vezina Trophy for Tim Thomas was a huge part of the team’s success as well, and as fans would discover, the best was yet to come for the quirky, yet ferociously competitive Michigander.

As the teams battled in what was literal sudden death (in sporting parlance at least) for Boston’s GM and coach, it looked like it might be curtains when a Montreal shot hit a player in traffic and skittered towards the B’s net before ultimately just going wide and being cleared out of danger. The tension was beyond description- the home team had held a one-goal lead well into the third period before Boston nemesis P.K. Subban scored the equalizer. The old salts who had seen the “too many men on the ice game” against Montreal 1979 swore that the ghosts of Guy Lafleur and Yvon Lambert were about to descend on the TD Garden ice, but then, Horton’s deflected shot goal sent the home crowd and club into euphoria. Julien earned a stay of execution, and his team rode it all the way to the first Stanley Cup championship for Boston in 39 years later that spring with series wins over Philadelphia, Tampa Bay and Vancouver.

With that, the “Fire Julien” crowd disappeared overnight. He pushed all the right buttons, got great play from his team and never seemed to push the panic button even when the club had their backs against the wall. To this day, the calm cool with which he handled falling into an 0-2 hole in the Stanley Cup Final, is worth remembering. The B’s battled back to make it 2-2 and 3-3 before earning one final decisive win on the road, and through it all, Julien’s steady hand played an important role, overcoming the loss of Horton in the finals, while benefiting from the best hockey of Thomas and Marchand’s career.

2012-15: Highs and Lows

In the years since the championship season, the Bruins have come close to winning a second Stanley Cup, but have also largely underachieved in the postseason, losing to the Washington Capitals in the opening round of 2012 and the Canadiens in 2014 (both going seven games). When Boston failed to make the 2015 postseason one year after Julien’s club had earned the B’s a President’s Trophy for top regular season record (the team’s first since 1989-90), the “Fire Julien” crowd came back with a vengeance.

When Chiarelli was relieved of his duties shortly after the end of the 2015 regular season (and subsequently hired as President and GM of the Edmonton Oilers) it was natural to think that Julien might follow him out the door (and very likely right to Edmonton). It didn’t happen, but if Julien was expecting a firm vote of confidence from Bruins President Cam Neely, he didn’t get it. Instead, reports surfaced that Neely had proposed a coaching change back in January. Having said all of that, no one from management ever spoke out against Julien, and Neely addressed his relationship with the coach shortly before the start of the 2015-16 season. Countering speculation that Julien was entering the year on the coaching hot seat after the disappointment of the previous season, Neely was quoted by ESPN’s Joe McDonald, saying:

“It’s unfair to say that,” Neely said. “Claude’s a very good coach in this league. [New Bruins GM] Don [Sweeney] came to us with a plan of how he would like to see the team play, and he’s had many conversations with Claude about that, but a lot of things happen throughout the course of the year that’s not necessarily just on the coach. It’s unfair. I know why certain things are said at times, but it’s really unfair to start the season where it’s out there that the coach could be on the hot seat. It’s unfair to Claude.”

McDonald closed out the piece with Julien’s own take on the situation, which was not unexpected given the timing:

Julien has said many times since the spring that he’s not concerned or burdened by his job security. He understands it’s a business and his job is to get the most from the players he’s given.

“I’m good where I am right now,” he said. “I’m not even thinking about that. The only time I have to is when [media] asks me. Other than that I just go ahead and I do my job, and I enjoy doing my job.

“I’m happy to be here. This is a place I’ve felt really comfortable with the people around me, the organization, the city and the fan base. I love working for this organization. I just keep coming in every day, trying to do my best and try to last as long as I can.”

As the old adage goes, watch what a person does more than what he says. And as we’ve seen in 2015-16, Julien has let his actions behind the bench do the talking en route to the team’s 19-9-4 record in the early going.

Changing on the Fly

Spend enough time on message board and social media sites long enough, and the common theme you’ll see and hear from Julien’s most vocal critics is that he employs an unimaginative, smothering defensive system that his players are unable to execute properly. What’s more, Julien is rigid, inflexible and refuses to change his ways by employing more effective personnel packages. That’s certainly an opinion, but those who believe that will have a harder time proving it other than blowing a lot of hot air and getting indignant with those with whom they disagree.

To debunk the idea that Julien slavishly employs his defense regardless of his roster makeup, we’ll turn it over to the Boston Globe’s Fluto Shinzawa. The veteran hockey scribe chronicled the coach and his staff’s attempt to better tailor the team’s breakout to better take advantage of his rosters abilities and limitations, back in mid-September as training camp was just about to get underway.

Now, there is a legitimate debate to be had as to the effectiveness of this change and if, in fact, the B’s players are actually executing this proposed change to a real degree of consistency. However, if you point to the boost in offensive production and the ability the Bruins have shown to score goals off the rush this season when compared to a year ago, there’s enough anecdotal evidence to say that Julien and company were onto something, at least.

When it comes to personnel, Julien has shown a willingness this year to try new things. He’s given different players at every position except goaltender the opportunity to demonstrate their worth, and with waiver claim Landon Ferraro and rookie recall Frankie Vatrano striking gold in key games over the past month-plus, he’s not shied away from sitting more veteran players like Jimmy Hayes for example, in favor of keeping players with skill, speed and the ability to push the pace in the lineup. It hasn’t been perfect, and he’s shown more of an inclination to stick with the struggling Kevan Miller longer than fans and analysts might like, but that is more a reflection of trust that Julien has in that player to execute the gameplan versus other players who might look better on paper, but who the rest of us don’t really have all that much of a handle on outside of limited sample sizes of game action. That’s not to say Julien is right or wrong here, but he’s moving pieces around and hitting on winning combinations. Some of us might not like those combos or agree with the reasoning behind them, but with the team on a roll, the coach will stick with what is working.

Julien deserves consideration for a second Jack Adams Award this season because he’s finding ways to keep his team on a winning track despite a lot of star power on a young, rather untested club. Beyond that, with the way the Bruins were almost universally mocked for the moves made at the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, some of those snickering pundits are already coming out of the woodwork to express respect (and astonishment) at how Julien and his fine staff- Doug Houda, Doug Jarvis and Joe Sacco– have put together a team that is not only scoring (104 goals and counting) at a much better clip, but showing the verve and drive to gut out some tough wins. They’re far from perfect, but there aren’t many who were lining up to bet on the B’s this year, and they’re making it fun for the fans at the very least.

The intangibles and why Julien is a great NHL coach

What makes a great or even decent/successful NHL coach?

In hockey, just like any other major team (or individual) sport, it comes down to preparation, focus, intensity and execution.

A friend of mine named Ian Wilson, as passionate and knowledgeable a fan of the Bruins as anyone I know, used to quote the old saw that said- “You need an awfully long stick to score from the bench,” and that’s true. The modern NHL coach can’t do a great deal to directly influence the outcome of games on a regular basis other than giving the players focus, direction, discipline and at times that extra shot of experience and motivation needed to go out and get two points on any given nights.

This blog post doesn’t need go down the road of what makes a truly great NHL coach just that, but in Julien’s case, his demeanor and personality has a lot to do with it. He’s not a taskmaster who employs fear and intimidation in the mold of a Mike Keenan, but he is demanding in terms of what he wants from his players and will not tolerate if they make certain transgressions. If you’re a fan of one of those guys who just doesn’t or won’t get it, then there’s a good chance you don’t care a whit for one Claude Julien, but he’s nothing if consistent in terms of how he levies his expectations and treats the players like adults.

You got a sense of that in the recent first episode of the EPIX-produced hockey show Road to the Winter Classic, where scenes inside the Boston dressing room between periods demonstrated his business-like demeanor, pulling no punches in telling the team where they were falling short, but not screaming at them. Not that Michel Therrien did any of that either from his perch with the Montreal team, but compare and contrast the way both coaches talk to the players and then tell me honestly which guy you’d rather have behind your bench. More than one player has told me in the years since Julien arrived in Boston that they appreciate the way he conducts himself, and the word ‘fair’ has come up repeatedly with them. You know where you stand with Julien- there aren’t any mind games and if you’re one of his guys, his trust and faith in you is rewarded with ample ice time and a chance to contribute, perhaps sometimes to a fault. However, if you’re not one of those guys, then…well, not so much. Finding the balance is important, but lest we forget- hockey is a sport played AND coached by humans. The players don’t always get it right, and neither, for that matter, do the coaches. But a willingness to change and adapt one’s approach is the real secret to sustained success.

As a military officer with nearly 22 years of service, I’ve seen the personality dynamic of how a coach is perceived in a room play out in similar fashion by commanders and staff of general officers. What I’ve learned is pretty simple- no matter how well (or poorly) a particular general or senior leader is perceived by the rank and file and those on their staff who know them best, no one is ever completely loved 100 percent or completely free from criticism. There’s always an inner circle of some kind- it’s human nature. And if you’re inside it- you love your patron. If you’re not inside that circle, then you’ll begin to hear the criticisms. It’s no different with NHL coaches and I would submit to you- any coaches in any sport or profession which requires an abundance of teamwork. When you’re in a business that requires people to achieve an ultimate end state, whether it’s accomplishing a military objective or winning the Stanley Cup, you need most of everyone on board, but if you’re being honest with yourself, you’ll never truly find complete consensus support of your leadership, no matter how effective and approachable those leaders or coaches are.

Successful NHL coaches win the same way military leaders get credit for missions their charges accomplish: because they inspire those players (and troops) to give their absolute best for the common cause. Players want to play for guys they respect. Tyrants will have some level success when they lead with fear, but that success can only be fleeting, because eventually, players will rise up and resist that tyranny. Those who impose their will with an iron fist cannot expect to sustain their hold over those they rely on most. If the reports out of New Jersey are true and Julien had lost the room right before the playoffs (and after a superb regular season), then perhaps that important lesson was learned by Julien before he arrived to Boston and he became a better man and coach for it.

When it comes to Julien, I’ve never had a single player vent in negative fashion about the way he is or handles his duties as Boston’s head coachDoes that mean such players do not exist? Absolutely not. But when guys who play or previously played for him go out of their way to talk about the respect they have for the way he coaches or coached them, you know that you’re onto something good. Don’t change it. Don’t go looking for that next big thing or sexy name out there, because the right person might be exactly where you want him to be.

And that’s  a wrap, but before I go…

Last point about Julien is his personal and professional humility.

He had just a cup of coffee in the NHL, so he spent a playing career trying to work his way to the very top and got there for only the briefest of moments. Without much if anything being handed to him, he’s one who can relate to those younger players trying to establish themselves in the NHL with the Bruins. Imagine, if you will- some of the discussions he had with a young Brad Marchand, who looked like anything but a sure thing when he got his first taste of NHL action late in the 2009-10 season. The way Marchand has evolved in his career since is all the food for thought you probably need to know there. He did some head-shaking stuff, both on and off the ice, but his coach gave him a chance to work through it and didn’t try to change him, while at the same time, forcing him to be accountable. Julien has coached superstars and grinders along with those players in between, but through it all, he’s not let an ego come between his room and the final desired result that only one of 30 teams and coaches can achieve in a single season.

The personal humility comes from a story I was told by a junior hockey coach in Ontario who was part of Julien’s billet family when he played for Windsor and was a surrogate little brother to the Boston coach. The family owned a chicken farm, and between school and hockey, Julien found time to pitch in with the chores. Julien happened to be walking past me at the 2011 draft in St. Paul, and after exchanging a quick hello, I mentioned the coach’s name to him. Julien stopped in his tracks and immediately lit up with a wide smile and immediately began regaling me with stories about early mornings on that chicken farm and how much the family patriarch had taught him about responsibility, discipline, and the importance of being able to get a lot of things done when people are depending on you.

Think about that for a second- the coach who had just 10 days earlier risen to the very summit of professional hockey when he hoisted the Stanley Cup over his head on the Rogers Arena ice, was more interested and energetic about talking about a farm in Ontario.  He had time to dish on just one of the many waypoints in a potential Hall of Fame coaching career,but he seemed to enjoy that more than he does holding court with reporters and supporters. He could have simply acknowledged the name, made a perfunctory comment and continued his path to the Bruins draft table. Instead, he stayed a good several minutes to talk about that family and their farm. It didn’t take much to connect the dots on how much his time there taught him and how much he values the experience. And watching the twinkle in his eye as he spoke about those days taught me more about who Claude Julien the man is…much more than any brilliant game plan or sketched out play on a rinkside wipe board ever could.

Julien’s time as Bruins coach won’t last forever, and regardless of what happens this year and beyond, he’s given the Boston fans a lifetime of good memories to draw from.  But if his departure comes sooner than later, I’ll leave you with one more old adage:

Be careful what you wish for.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Final Buzzer: Bruins edge Devils in goalie duel

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Jonas Gustavsson and Cory Schneider came to play yesterday, which isn’t to say that their teams didn’t, but the men between the pipes shined in a 2-1 shootout contest that went the Boston Bruins’ way.

Ryan Spooner tallied the lone goal out of six attempts Sunday between the Bruins and New Jersey Devils to secure the extra point for the home team, putting them just one point behind idle Atlantic Division leader Montreal with two games in hand.

Goals from Loui Eriksson and defenseman Andy Greene were the only pucks that got past the masked men, who were more like thieving bandits all game long, stealing quality scoring chances away in a game that had at times some impressive tempo and pace despite the low score. The tension came to a head in overtime, when Boston and New Jersey traded glittering opportunities during the B’s 4-on-3 power play and in the 3-on-3 setting, with neither goaltender yielding an inch.

Boston overcame at times ragged play in the first 40 minutes, getting the first goal of the game quickly from Eriksson, then going stretches of not being able to get much going in the way of sustained offensive pressure. Gustavsson was there to bail them out when they faltered however, giving up the one Devils goal on a deflected shot when exciting rookie Frank Vatrano lost his check in the defensive zone and Greene was able to exploit the extra time and space.

Eriksson continued his outstanding play, netting his 13th goal and 28th point of the season (he had 22 markers a year ago and just 10 goals in 61 games his first full campaign in Boston 2013-14) in 32 games. The 30-year-old is on pace for the best offensive season of his career and has been a consistent presence alongside David Krejci all year.

But the story of the game for Boston was Gustavsson, who made 29 saves to earn his first win of December and post his best game since signing with the Bruins in early October. The veteran Swede has six wins in 10 games, to go with a 2.42 goals against average and .912 save percentage. No save was better than the one he made on Travis Zajac in OT while the Devils were killing a John Moore penalty. Captain Zdeno Chara’s attempted pass near the point was intercepted by superb two-way forward Adam Henrique, and as was the case against Calgary, the former Norris Trophy winner got caught flat-footed as the Devils broke out and took a 2-on-1 rush the other way with Colin Miller back to defend. Henrique sent a perfect saucer pass to Zajac who did not miss, but Gustavsson got an excellent push and extension of his left pad to deny the low shot. ‘Gus’ would later be tested again during 3-on-3 play, and made a late routine-looking stop (that was anything but) to prevent the Devils from stealing one in Boston. Gustavsson’s heroics (Schneider faced a higher volume of chances, especially in OT) set the stage for Spooner to win the game.

As Boston’s first shooter, Spooner attacked the New Jersey net with speed, did a quick hesitation fake to freeze Schneider before beating the Marblehead native with a bullet shot to the blocker side. Max Talbot, whose usage as second shooter was heavily criticized more for the way his attempt looked than anything else, was denied after he came in slowly and then managed a weak shot from outside the hashmarks that Schneider stopped easily. Patrice Bergeron beat a sprawling Schneider, but hit the post, forcing Gustavsson to deny all three Devils shooters to seal the win, Boston’s 20th of the season.

UP

Jonas Gustavsson- The game’s 1st star played an ideal game for a backup, giving his team confidence during a run in which Tuukka Rask has looked like the all-world goalie he has the talent to be. Being a backup goalie is tough at any level- you have to work just as hard in practice, but you aren’t afforded the benefit of knowing you’ll play most of the games. When your number is called, you must be ready to go, and a poor performance could mean an even longer break in between starts. What’s bigger is the way a team will play in front of the backup. If you do well, the club’s trust translates into a more effective, aggressive mindset. If the team lacks confidence in the backup, it’s human nature to be more conservative, playing a tighter, more defensive game that often just leads to more goals and losses. Contrast the way the B’s played in front of Niklas Svedberg last year compared to Gustavsson this time around, and you start to catch the drift.

Ryan Spooner- The soon-to-be 24-year-old is playing the best hockey of his career. Coming off a four-assist night against Pittsburgh, he has 10 points in his last seven games. Although yesterday’s contest goes down in the ledger as no points for the third-liner, his nifty little move in the shootout stood up as the decisive tally to secure the extra point for Boston. In typical New England fashion, too many fans focus on Spooner’s shortcomings defensively to see the forest for the trees. He’s currently fifth on the team in scoring with 22 points in 32 games, and has really come on over the last month. It would be one thing if he wasn’t producing, but he’s pulling his weight in that regard and is only getting better and more confident as the season goes on. There is always room for improvement for any player, and he could stand to improve on his draws and overall consistency in all three zones, but for the most part, he puts in the effort. If you focus on one player enough, you’ll see them make mistakes, and there are plays Spooner makes where a lack of effort hurts the team, but those are fewer and far between and not because he doesn’t care, but because he’s human. For years, Bostonians have wanted skill and excitement at the center position, and Spooner brings that. A year ago, he looked d-o-n-e in the organization, but to his credit, he was ready to do something with that last chance they gave him in late February and he’s still finding ways to contribute.

Loui Eriksson- He so smooth and effective. Sure, he doesn’t have the blazing wheels, but you can appreciate how he’s managed to be such a consistent 20+ goal scorer over the course of his entire NHL career. It’s hard to praise Eriksson and recognize his contributions to Boston’s success this season on the one hand, and then talk about trading him because of his impending unrestricted free agency on the other. However, that’s part of the business of hockey, and Don Sweeney will have to weigh the pros and cons of either signing him to what will likely be a higher cap hit and AAV than the public will be happy with given he’s on the wrong side of 30, or moving a key piece out of town for future assets. We’ll just have to see where the Bruins are in late February as we hit the trade deadline, but if they’re still sitting near the top of the division, it’s hard to square with sending him away from the team. It’s easy to sit at home when you don’t have a job on the line and talk about how it’s better to get a return rather than risk losing a player in free agency, but the teams themselves have a different outlook given their skin in the game and the fact that they’re trying to win hockey games. Only a select few clubs can be considered “legitimate contenders” every year, but that doesn’t mean that everyone else in the mix is just going to give up and pack it in. That’s what trading Eriksson would signal, and right, wrong or indifferent- dealing him just to get something is more akin to what you do in EA Sports NHL 2016 video game than what happens in real life.

Cory Schneider- The former Phillips Andover and Boston College star (he was the best prep goalie I have ever seen in 2003-04- better even than Jonathan Quick and that’s saying a hell of a lot) kept the Devils in it and by most accounts, they should have won. He’s been everything Lou Lamoniello traded for at the 2013 NHL draft (in Newark, btw) and more, and as long as he’s healthy and between the pipes for New Jersey, they’re in every game. He should enjoy a better fate on most nights, but as long as Ray Shero can build around him, this team is headed upwards under new coach John Hynes. Schneider was like an Octopus in the OT, especially when the B’s were on the power play and getting pucks to the net, but they could not solve him.

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Final Buzzer: Vatrano’s 1st NHL hat trick caps wild night of scoring

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The Boston Bruins cruised into the Consol Energy Arena in Pittsburgh after winning the first of the home-and-home twofer against the Penguins on Wednesday and hung six goals on beleaguered goalie Jeff Zatkoff and company in a 6-2 victory.

It was a memorable night for a pair of former UMass Minutemen, however, as Bruin Frank Vatrano (first NHL hat trick) and Penguins forward Conor Sheary (first NHL goal plus an assist) shined for the Amherst faithful.

Patrice Bergeron also tallied a pair of goals including one shorthanded marker early in the second frame. Loui Eriksson’s power play goal (12th goal of the season) to make it 3-2  after Pittsburgh tied it on Trevor Daley’s first goal with his new team after the Pens’ power play expired stood up as the game-winner. Vatrano, who scored the first goal of the game for Boston on a nice pass from Ryan Spooner (four assists- a career best for him), scored Boston’s last two markers. Landon Ferraro continues to play well for the B’s and had a third period goal erased on a questionable goalie interference on Max Talbot.

Once again, Tuukka Rask was very good in net for Boston. He was beaten on two excellent shots, but settled in and denied Pittsburgh in the last 38 minutes or so. In his last 10 appearances, he’s posted a .959 save percentage (8-0-2)- (h/t DJ Bean), so it’s pretty safe to say that the B’s are getting their money’s worth from him after a brutal start. I broke it down on Wednesday night’s post, so I won’t give Rask too much more attention in this one other than to say that on his talent alone, he gives his team a chance to win each and every game. When he’s on top of his game, they’ll win more than they lose, and since mid-November, Rask has righted the ship and is playing some of the most consistently good hockey of his career.

What more can you say about Vatrano, who now has five goals in his young career since the Bruins brought him up to Boston after a scintillating start in Providence? His potent shot is well documented, but it’s the aggressiveness and his willing to shoot from anywhere that is so impressive.

The first goal he tallied tonight happened when he quickly wired Spooner’s pass over Zatkoff’s glove hand. It was a laser, and it hit a very small space in the net while using a defender as a screen that caused the goaltender to be a little late in picking it up. His second goal was pure hustle and refusal to quit- Zatkoff made an initial save, but flopped down on his back and was hoping the puck was underneath him. It somehow squirted out and Vatrano was able to locate it down around his feet, with a defender also battling for it, and then fire it into the net before either Pittsburgh player could locate it. The one-time Minuteman was able to complete the trick when he broke in on an odd-man rush with Spooner (who earned his fourth helper on the night), showed no shyness in shooting on Zatkoff on the break, then gathered his own rebound and put it in.

In so doing, Vatrano became the first Boston rookie since Blake Wheeler in 2008-09 to post a three-goal game. He’s feeling it, and even though there will be ups and downs, I’m revising my earlier statement that said we might see him returned to Providence when David Pastrnak returns to the lineup. Now, it looks like Vatrano may be here to stay. A lot can still happen over the course of the season, but with the speed, energy, and…oh yeah…the natural scoring abilities he brings, the Bruins should keep him in the NHL until further notice.

Dennis Seidenberg played a pretty good defensive game in shutting down Evgeni Malkin tonight. The Pittsburgh star didn’t have much room to operate, and Seidenberg gave him little time and space to create. He’s not been the defenseman he was before the grotesque knee injury in early 2014, but Seidenberg is playing some capable hockey right now. It’s probably not up to snuff with what a contending team would need from a guy with his minutes, but you never have to worry about the effort with him. He’s helping to stabilize the blue line group, which was the team’s Achilles heel in the first month and into mid-November.

The Boston defense on the whole has been better in the two wins against Pittsburgh and last weekend’s matinee over Florida. Torey Krug isn’t getting the goals but its not for a lack of trying and he’s using his mobility to good effect. We’re still seeing turnovers from Zdeno Chara and Kevan Miller, but they haven’t been killing the team of late with those. Colin Miller has a wealth of talent and promise, so long as you resign yourself to being okay with some bad reads, pinches and risky plays that will culminate with the puck in his own net or at the very least- a quality scoring chance against. He more than makes up for it with his skating and pure ability to generate something at the other end. Adam McQuaid is what he is. Trying to justify his cap hit won’t get much traction with those who are opposed to the contract extension he got in June, but I’m more than happy with him in the lineup because of the sheer effort and toughness he brings. McQuaid is one of those guys where, if you lose him and you start to see things going south here and there, you might not realize it at first, but eventually it hits you that he means more to the team than most want to give him credit for. Super guy and tough as nails- let’s hope he can stay healthy.

Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand continue to make magic together. They’ve tallied 26 goals between the two of them, which is pretty darn impressive in a 31-game stretch. Both plays started with Marchand, using his quickness and evolving high-end hockey sense to beat Pittsburgh defenders individually to open up space for his linemate. The second goal was especially a thing of beauty, as Marchand beat his man off the wall to find Chara in the high slot. Chara’s shot went high and wide, but it bounced back down in front of the net, and Bergeron was able to bunt it back into the open net before Zatkoff could locate it.

And speaking of magic, it is all coming together for Spooner who had his first career four-point night and has seen his hard work pay dividends of late. There will be peaks and valleys with him because of the style of hockey he plays, but Claude Julien’s postgame remarks on Spooner were telling. Four helpers aside, Spooner went after Patric Hornqvist when he decked Seidenberg with a hard (but clean) hit and Spooner got the lone two minute foul, but Julien said that he didn’t mind seeing his young forward take that kind of penalty because it showed his mates he’s there for them. Claude translation: We’ve been trying to instill character, grit and all-for-one/one-for-all in Spooner’s play and tonight he showed it, even if his timing might have been a little off. Spooner gets an ‘A’ for effort- guys like McQuaid saw that and will have his back the next time he finds himself in a situation he’s not ideally suited for.

For the Penguins, it was more frustration, as not one of Sidney Crosby, Phil Kessel, Chris Kunitz or Malkin was able to get much of anything going. With all the money the team has invested in those guys alone, this is a complete disaster for the fans in the Steel City, and Mike Sullivan has the same look he wore behind the Boston bench in 2005-06 when he had a pretty talented group of players on paper, but didn’t seem to get much in the way of consistent and even passionate performances from them aside from a couple of guys. It’s an easy joke to make right now, but this team is the total pits.

And that’s all for this recap. The Bruins are back in action at home this Sunday agains the New Jersey Devils.

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The Bruins had a wild night of scoring outside of the NHL team.

Vatrano’s linemate and AHL roommate, Austin Czarnik, tallied a hat trick tonight, as did Soo Greyhounds right wing Zach Senyshyn, his third hat trick over a two-week period (one of those was a four-goal game).

To have three players in the same organization tally three-goal games on the same night is pretty rare and gave Boston fans something to get excited about.

Czarnik is like Vatrano- an undrafted free agent who came into Boston during the rookie camp and opened a lot of eyes, making an extended run at making the team during training camp. Watch for the former Miami University standout and former Hobey Baker finalist to get his turn in Boston soon…it’s coming earlier than a lot of people think. With his speed, craftiness and energy/pace- I’m betting he’ll get a reward recall at some point this season.

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Rask rolls as B’s whitewash moribund Penguins

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Spooner3

Ryan Spooner is coming into his own as a solid middle-tier contributor in Boston with room for growth into more.  (Photo courtesy of Alison M. Foley)

The Boston Bruins got to .500 at home with a 3-0 victory over the sinking Pittsburgh Penguins at the TD Garden Wednesday in the first of a home-and-home series with the Steel City’s team.

The match featured several interesting subplots: new Penguins coach Mike Sullivan was behind the bench against the B’s for the first time since former Portland Winterhawks bench boss Mike Johnston was fired last week. Starting netminder Marc-Andre Fleury is out of the lineup for a week or more with an upper body (concussion) injury, and the team is also without Kris Letang for a couple of weeks as well, prompting them to trade with Chicago for Trevor Daley, who was in the lineup last night. And of course, with Phil Kessel making his first return to Boston of the season after his offseason change of address, ‘the Thrill’ is always a topic of conversation, especially given that he’s not given his new team much bang for the buck as anticipated.

In short, even with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, this is simply not a very good Penguins team right now, so it wasn’t a huge surprise that they were blanked and never really mounted much of a serious challenge with Tuukka Rask dialed in and continuing his best stretch of the season.

The B’s got goals from Max Talbot (his first as a Bruin dating back to last season when he was acquired from Colorado at the deadline), Jimmy Hayes (his fifth of the season) and a late empty-netter from Ryan Spooner to seal it (his pass to Hayes gave him another multi-point effort).

Sullivan is an interesting hire for Pittsburgh. A Marshfield guy and BU star, he played one year for the Bruins in the late Pat Burns’ first (and Jack Adams Trophy-winning) season before finishing his playing career with the Phoenix Coyotes in 2002. Sullivan jumped straight to an AHL head coaching gig, landing the Providence Bruins job in 2002-03, and when the B’s fired Robbie Ftorek during the same season, Sullivan moved up to be an assistant under Mike O’Connell who then made him Boston’s head coach for the 2003-04 campaign.

Sullivan is most known for giving a relatively unknown 18-year-old kid a shot at the NHL right out of his first training camp. That kid’s name? Patrice Bergeron. Sullivan first year behind his home team’s bench was a Cinderella story, as the B’s compiled a 42-19-15 record, and was primed to do damage in the postseason after trading for a pair of skilled veterans in Sergei Gonchar and Michael Nylander to bolster a core group that included Joe Thornton, Glen Murray, Sergei Samsonov and rookie of the year Andrew Raycroft. Alas, the B’s crashed and burned in the first round, losing in seven games to the hated Montreal Canadiens (including a 2-0 home loss to close it out after the B’s blew a 3-1 series lead). The Habs just so happened to be coached that year by some guy named Claude Julien. Go figure.

A disastrous post-lockout 2005-06 season saw Sullivan scapegoated for a putrid (and that’s being charitable) lineup and 29-37-16 record. He was out and although spent time as an NHL assistant with the Lightning, Rangers and Canucks between 2007 and 2014, he did not darken the doorstep to an NHL bench until Pens GM Jim Rutherford (himself on the hotseat for the hot mess of a Pittsburgh lineup) brought him in to try and reverse the team’s skid. Sully’s a good guy- at one time believed to be one of the NHL’s young up-and-comers as a coach, much like Peter Laviolette was when Boston and O’Connell made a fatal mistake of choosing Ftorek over Laviolette and letting him take the NY Islanders head job in 2001. It hasn’t worked out for Sully the way it did with Lavy, but it’s nice to see him get another shot as a big league coach.

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Ryan Spooner has been playing pretty well of late. He’s got as many points right now as Kessel does at the 30-game mark. That probably speaks more to the lousy year Kessel is having given expectations than it does Spooner’s success, but he’s on the same pace he had a year ago when he posted 8 goals and 18 points in 29 games. That’s a little skewed because those 29 goals included an early five-game stretch where he didn’t put up points and hardly played. Even so- Spooner has been criticized for his 5-on-5 play this year, but while there’s some validity to that, it glosses over the fact that he’s continuing to find ways to produce offense and make plays, which is what the Bruins have him on the roster for. Sometimes, there is a “death by overanalysis” where observers make the mistake of trying to force players to be like Bergeron, Jonathan Toews or insert any top two-way recognizable star here. Spooner isn’t Bergeron or Toews for that matter, but what he brings is valuable to the team. He’s a good kid- often misunderstood as someone who doesn’t try. Not true, but let’s face it- he’s not going to be a defensive stalwart or top minute-munching forward who is out in all key situations because there are better options. However, he has proven he belongs in the NHL, and for a team like Boston, a roster that doesn’t have an abundance of breakaway speed at the center position, he’s doing just fine on the third line, thank you.

Kessel continues to be an enigma. Five 30+ goal seasons (one of those in Boston) with the Maple Leafs seemed to be fait accompli that he would tear it up with the likes of Crosby and Malkin. Hasn’t happened. May not happen. But the Bruins did the right thing in trading Kessel, even if after the fact they don’t have a lot to show for it. That’s a legitimate gripe.

Tuukka Rask is on a roll, and it could not have come at a better time. For the Bruins to have a shot at the playoffs, he’s got to be in Vezina-caliber form, and since late November, he’s been right there. What’s impressive to me is the economy of motion in Rask’s game right now. He’s tracking pucks and not overexerting himself, but keeping his movements crisp and composed. What’s more- he’s back to having fun out there. Whatever seemed to be bothering him earlier in the season seems to have dissipated for now. I chalk it up to what Zac Rinaldo alluded to in the first episode of the Road to the Winter Classic last night when he said that players are just now “showing their true colors” and comfortable with each other. That chemistry that Rinaldo was talking about isn’t something that just happens, and when you take several significant players away from the mix and add new faces, especially younger ones who won’t be as confident or gregarious as veterans like Mark Recchi or Nathan Horton were when they arrived to the room, it takes longer. I’d like to think that Rask has gotten to know his new teammates and realizes that these guys are willing to work and scrap and play hard in front of him. I’d like to think that even though he knows deep down that this defense isn’t good enough to put the Bruins in real contention for the big prize, they’re a plucky bunch that won’t mail it in and will do their level best.

It might not be enough, but Rask is the big-ticket contract and player who is probably the biggest cog in a machine that can and should at least make the playoffs. As he goes, so go Boston’s postseason hopes. That might not be welcome news for some fans out there, but nobody plays in the NHL to lose, and as we saw in 2008, that bunch was the start of something special that culminated with a Stanley Cup three years later. With Rask getting his swagger back, his team will work their tails off in front of him and pay the price to set him up for success. That’s how this stuff works- everyone rowing hard in the same direction. The NHL is still about who has more talent and can put it together the most consistently, but Rask being in top form is a very good start. On the flip side, his excellence disguises flaws elsewhere on the roster, but GM Don Sweeney’s job is to assess and manage that. He’s going to have some tough decisions with asset management that he would not have faced if the B’s just imploded as they did at the beginning of the season. To Rask’s credit, he’s picked it up and is playing like an All-Star.

That’s all the Bruins can ask for right now.

***

Hey, hey, hey- how about that Jimmy Hayes? It’s just one game and one goal, but Hayes went hard to the net with his stick on the ice and was able to deflect an on-target Spooner pass in behind Jeff Zatkoff. That’s exactly what he needs to do, and it was nice to see him make that play as the scrutiny he’s faced of late ratcheted up.

Give credit to Max Talbot, too. That was a beauty of a short side snipe to get his first goal as a Bruin. I’ve always admired him from afar as I covered him with the Penguins and Flyers in the past and enjoyed his easy manner and clear leadership qualities. He would have been a fan favorite in Boston five years ago, so he came to the team too late, but he’s an underrated presence in the room.

Alex Khokhlachev played last night after being recalled and while it wasn’t a poor performance, it’s more of the same from him. Sure- he wasn’t playing with top liners, but he doesn’t have Landon Ferraro or Frank Vatrano’s speed to grab your eye, so given that he was drafted to provide much more in the way of offense, it’s hard to see where he fits in Boston right now. The team would have to sit someone else who has earned their spot on the top lines just to get Koko in there. That’s not how it looks, so giving a shake of the ol’ Magic 8-Ball, it looks like we’ll have to ask again later.

That’s about it- we’ll see how the Pens perform in front of their home crowd tomorrow night, but for now- the B’s are in a good spot and you can see the confidence growing with the younger guys with each shift.