The Bruins juggernaut rolls on.
Boston won its 10th straight game with a 4-2 win Saturday afternoon against the New York Rangers. The Bruins got goals from Charlie Coyle in the 1st, Tomas Nosek in the 2nd, and two more in the 3rd period from Patrice Bergeron David Pastrnak to put the game away.
Pastrnak’s goal was his 44th on the season and his second straight game with a goal since agreeing to an 8 year 90 million extension.
Bruins Goalie Linus Ullmark held off the strong Rangers offense in a game where they outshot the Bruins, saving 24 shots along the way. The win improved the Bruins record to a preposterous 49-8-5, with a league high 103 points. The Bruins are still on pace to record the most regular season points in NHL history, but as Ullmark said after the game, they have their sights set on far loftier goals.
“For us, it’s the Stanley Cup. That’s the only thing,” Ullmark said via NESN.com. “Records are meant to be broken, but once you have the hardware, they can never be taken away from you.”
The Rangers got both goals from Alexis Lafreniere. Patrick Kane, who was acquired in a trade from the Chicago Blackhawks was kept off the scoresheet. The Rangers are 0-2 since acquiring the superstar forward. Kane is a scoreless and a -4 in his two games as a Ranger.
Bertuzzi Debut
Like the Rangers, the Bruins also bolstered their roster ahead of the trade deadline. Tyler Bertuzzi, acquired in a trade with Detroit on Thursday made his Bruins debut on Saturday. Bertuzzi made an instant impact collecting an assist on the Bruins first goal scored by Charlie Coyle.
“He’s a hockey player, and he made a lot of plays,” said coach Jim Montgomery. “He’s really smart with his game management, too. He didn’t force plays at all.”
Bertuzzi saw action on the Bruins 2md, 3rd and 4th lines on Saturday getting most of his action on the 3rd line with Charlie Coyle and Trent Frederic.
In addition to Bertuzzi the Bruins also added Dmitry Orlov and forward Garnet Hathaway from Washington while the Rangers reeled in Kane and former St Louis Blues sniper Vladimir Tarasenko.
Loose Pucks
- The game marked the return of Brad Marchand who left Thursday’s game early with a lower body injury.
- The Bruins power play continues to struggle Boston went 0-3 on the PP on Saturday including a big time squander on a two man-advantages early in the third period, Overall the Bruins power play is just 5-for-47 in the last 15 games.
- Defenseman musical chairs continued on Saturday with Matt Grzelcyk drawing the healthy scratch. Since acquiring Dmitry Orlov, Connor Clifton, Derek Forbort, Brandon Carlo and now Grzelcyk have all been scratched once. Seems like this could be the way it goes for the rest of the regular season to keep fresh legs heading into the playoffs.
- The Rangers are reeling of late having lost 6 of 8 after ripping of a 7 game win streak.
- The Bruins now have 4 days off before they host the Oilers on Thursday.
