Less than two weeks ago, Jim Montgomery tore into his Bruins’ players, bag-skated them and then sent another message when talking to reporters after the session. “We’re not playoff-ready yet,” declared the B’s coach. Now? Well, they’re getting there. The B’s could have made life easier on themselves a little easier if they had taken … Read more
Playoff-style hockey agreed with the Bruins on Tuesday in Nashville. Locked in a scoreless game late in the third period, the B’s got three late goals to beat the Predators, 3-0, on the strength of Linus Ullmark’s 32-save shutout. The win allowed the B’s to open a four-point lead over the Florida Panthers for the … Read more
The Bruins were reminded on Wednesday in Tampa Bay that chasing the game is not a good nightly strategy. The B’s had scored their best win of the season on Tuesday against the Florida Panthers when they came back from three separate deficits to win. But on Wednesday, the B’s never led and the Lightning … Read more
In their biggest game of the year, for their psyche as much as for the standings, the Bruins did what their coach told them to do. To paraphrase Jim Montgomery’s Monday morning admonishments, they woke the bleep up. The B’s shook off three one-goal deficits and took their first lead of the game with 2:31 … Read more
The problems of closing out games is not just a Bruin-centric issue but rather a league-wide problem that has affected a lot of teams. On a night when the B’s nearly lost a three-goal third period lead – but didn’t – the Toronto Maple Leafs blew a three-goal advantage and lost to the Carolina Hurricanes … Read more
The Bruins might have been looking for a more convincing win after getting drubbed by St. Louis on Tuesday, but they’ll take a rare overtime road victory, head home with the two points in their back pocket and move on. Jake DeBrusk scored 25 seconds into overtime to the lift the Bruins to a 2-1 … Read more
The Bruins-Canadiens rivalry is a tad dormant at the moment due to the Habs’ long-term rebuild. But if a player was going to make his debut with either team, then Thursday’s tilt at the Bell Centre will be as good a place to start as any. Coach Jim Montgomery confirmed that Andrew Peeke, acquired from … Read more
Jake DeBrusk still has plenty of uncertainty in his life right now. He is is scheduled to hit unrestricted free agency the first time in his career this summer and, as far as he knows, there hasn’t been much progress on a contract extension. But last Friday’s trade deadline came and went and he remained … Read more
The NHL trade deadline arrives on Friday and it’s clear the Bruins need some help. But their performance on Long Island on Saturday night must have GM Don Sweeney wondering just how much of it this team deserves. The B’s were thoroughly outplayed by the New York Islanders at UBS Arena and were rightly routed, … Read more
If there’s anything we learned about the Bruins on their just completed four-game road trip, it is this. They’ve got issues. They can’t hold a lead in the third period, which they’ve begun to approach timidly. They take bad stick penalties. They can’t come up with timely defensive zone faceoff wins. They can’t close the … Read more
