Tag: Boston Bruins

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Panthers D Radko Gudas isn’t scared of the Bruins!

AOL

The Florida Panthers won their very first President’s Trophy last season as the National Hockey League’s best team, and even won their first postseason series since their magical run to the Stanley Cup Final in 1996. It wasn’t long afterward that their season would end with a whimper with a sweep loss against their Sunshine State rival Tampa Bay Lightning. 

Their regular season this year was anything but dominating, but they still managed to clinch a postseason berth for the 4th straight year. And their reward this year is facing the President’s Trophy winners of this season in the Boston Bruins, who re-wrote the NHL record books with an astound 65 victory campaign. 

Needless to say, the oddsmakers aren’t exactly being kind right now to the Panthers. But don’t tell that to hard-nosed Panthers defenseman Radko Gudas, who knows that once you’re in the playoffs, anything can happen. 

”This is the moment that we have been fighting for the whole year,” Gudas said. “It does not matter what happened in the first 82. This is a whole new season. Anything can happen.”

Fans may remember the 62 victory Tampa Bay Lightning being stunned in four games in Round 1 in 2019 by the upstart Columbus Blue Jackets, the four game sweep the defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings suffered at the hands of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 20 years ago in 2003, and other similar 1st round upsets proving that a lower seed taking down the top dog isn’t a once in a generation fluke.

“Hey man, we’re in the playoffs,” Gudas continued. “Let’s F-ing go.”

The Panthers were one of the few teams this year to deal Boston a rare regulation loss, and Gudas knows that based on how his team matched up against the Bruins in their season series, it isn’t impossible. 

“I think we are a confident group who believes we can play with anyone,” Gudas added. “The way we played Boston all season, it gave us confidence. They are the team they are for a reason, but we are in the playoffs for a reason as well. I am excited for the challenge. If you want to win it all, you have to get through the biggest hurdle and that’s right from the start for us.”

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Full schedule announced for Bruins vs. Panthers in Round 1.

AP

The Boston Bruins and the Florida Panthers are set to clash in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs and now we have a better idea of how the series will play out.

On Saturday, the National Hockey League released the full schedule for the upcoming series with the notable exception of the exact start time for games 5, 6, and 7 likely due to the fact that they might not be needed should one team or the other dominate the series.

The Bruins and their impressive record this season have earned home ice advantage and that means that the first two games will take place in Boston on Monday and Wednesday. Following the conclusion of Game 2 on Wednesday, the Bruins will then travel to Florida for a pair of games, the first of which will be on Friday and the second of which will be on Sunday.

Should the series require more than 4 games, the series will head back to Boston the following Wednesday for Game 5, back to Florida on the following Friday for Game 6, and finally back to Boston on the following Sunday should Game 7 be required.

Here’s a full look at the schedule, including the start times for the first four matchups:

Monday, April 17 – 7:30pm EST – TD Garden
Wednesday, April 19 – 7:30pm EST – TD Garden
Friday, April 21 – 7:30pm EST – FLA Live Arena
Sunday, April 23 – 3:30pm EST – FLA Live Arena
Wednesday, April 26 – TBD – TD Garden
Friday, April 28 – TBD – FLA Live Arena
Sunday, April 30 – TBD – TD Garden

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Patrice Bergeron sounds off on his future

Boston.com

The Bruins certainly are fortunate to have longtime forward Patrice Bergeron still with them, as he played a big role in Boston having rewritten the NHL record book with their 65 victory campaign in the 2022-23 season. 

He reportedly mulled retirement during the summer, only to pivot and sign a one year contract, which many speculate could be his final deal in the NHL. At the age of 37, Bergeron certainly isn’t getting any younger, and should Boston do what is expected by nearly all fans and pundits and earn their first Stanley Cup victory since 2011, he could elect to ride off into the sunset along with fellow veteran David Krejci. 

It certainly sounded as though Bergeron was contemplating calling it a career earlier this week when his Bruins were taking on his hometown Montreal Canadiens in his home province of Quebec.

“As you get older, you realize there’s less games ahead of you than behind and you want to enjoy and appreciate every moment and every situation,” he said. “Being back in my home province, I have some family members here tonight. It’s very special.”

Bergeron tallied 58 points (27 goals, 31 assists) over the 78 games that he appeared in this year. He and the rest of his Bruins teammates are gearing up to face the Florida Panthers in the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs that begin next week. 

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Andrew Raycroft has bold prediction for Linus Ullmark

BarDown

Boston Bruins goaltender Linus Ullmark his having himself a career year amidst the rest of his team running away with the best record in the National Hockey League. In fact, Ullmark has helped the Bruins establish the new record for most wins by a team in a single regular season campaign with 63. 

As of right now, Ullmark boasts a sparkling record of 40-6-1 with a 1.89 goals against average, .938 save percentage along with two shutouts. Oh, and there was also the matter of his having become the first goalie in the near century-long history of the Bruins to score a goal.

Ullmark almost assuredly will be a finalist for the Vezina Trophy as the League’s top goaltender. And his campaign has certainly caught the attention of a former Bruins goaltender who picked up some hardware of his own. Andrew Raycroft, who won the Calder Trophy in 2004 as the NHL’s best rookie, believes that the season Ullmark is enjoying will never be repeated. 

“Linus Ullmark winning 40 games in 48 starts will never be matched again,” Raycroft wrote on Twitter following Boston’s 5-2 win last night over the Washington Capitals. “Nuts.” 

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Bruins forced to take precautionary measures ahead of postseason

Spectrum Local News

The Boston Bruins have already set the modern NHL record for most wins in a regular season campaign with 63, and goaltender Linus Ullmark has played a huge role in his team’s incredible success. A surefire nominee for the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s top goaltender, he’s enjoyed a career best 40 wins combined with a sparkling 1.89 goals against average, .938 save percentage and two shutouts. 

However, there was a bit of concern during last night’s game, a 5-2 victory over the visiting Washington Capitals at TD Garden. Ullmark was removed from the game midway through the third period and replaced with Jeremy Swayman; Ullmark appeared to have tweaked something while making a save. 

The good news is that according to head coach Jim Montgomery, Ullmark is “fine” and that removing him from the game was simply a precautionary move. 

“Just precautionary,” Montgomery said. “He’s going to be fine. Just some muscle-tightening. That’s all.”

Even so, the team has made a roster move, calling up goaltender Brandon Bussi from the American Hockey League affiliate Providence Bruins. Meanwhile, Ullmark will not be traveling with the team for their final game against the rival Montreal Canadiens tomorrow night. 

“Linus is good today. But we’re going to be precautionary with him,” Montgomery said.

Bussi has amassed a record of 21-5-4 with a 2.38 goals against average and .925 save percentage in 31 games played with Providence this season. 

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Bruins reveal David Krejci’s status for Game 1 of postseason

NBC Sports

Boston Bruins veteran forward David Krejci has missed the last six games with what is being described as a lower body injury, and he also won’t be in the lineup for his team’s regular season finale tomorrow night against the Original 6 and Atlantic Division rival Montreal Canadiens. 

The good news is that Boston, who has already set the new National Hockey League record for wins in a single season with 63, can afford to have him sitting out. And the even better news is that he will in fact be in the lineup soon. According to head coach Jim Montgomery, Krejci will be good to go when his team hits the ice for Game 1 of their opening round postseason series. 

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David Pastrnak reaches 60 goals with a hat trick on Sunday!

The Boston Bruins are playing what would normally be a relatively meaningless game with their spot in the Stanley Cup playoffs already secured, but this is turning into a memorable night for the Bruins nonetheless.

Bruins forward David Pastrnak has hit a major milestone with his 60th goal of the regular season and has done so in epic fashion, recording a hat trick against the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday night.

Here’s Pasta’s first goal of the night:

And the second:

And the hat trick, his 60th goal of the season:

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Puck to the back of the head forces Garnet Hathaway out of the game.

The Boston Bruins may have lost one of their forwards at an inopportune point in the season.

On Sunday night, during a game between the Bruins and the Philadelphia Flyers, Bruins forward Garnet Hathaway was knocked out of the game when he was struck in the back of the head by a shot courtesy of teammate Connor Carrick.

It is unclear if the shot from Carrick deflected off of a Flyers stick or not before it struck Hathaway, but the force of the blow to the back of Hathaway’s helmet was enough to send him racing back to the locker room. What is clear is that Carrick did not intend to hit his teammate, and this has been an unfortunate accident in what is a relatively meaningless game for the Bruins at this point in the season as far as the standings are concerned.

Hopefully the injury to Hathaway won’t prove to be serious, we will keep you posted as updates on his status become available.

Update: Hathaway has made his way back to the bench and even took a shift before the end of the second period. It would seem the National Hockey League’s concussion spotters have cleared him, a great sign for the Bruins.

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Jeremy Swayman tears up and reveals why he pointed to the sky last night.

Gary A. Vasquez/USA TODAY Sports

The Boston Bruins picked up a historic win on Sunday night when they toppled a Philadelphia Flyers team that made it interesting throughout the game, becoming the winningest team in National Hockey League regular season history with their 63rd win of the season.

All of the focus was on the monumental win for the Bruins, and rightfully so, but for one of the players in the Bruins locker room the win had an even more specifical significance. That player was Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman, who following the victory was seen pointing to the sky as if to honor those who had passed on.

Following the game Swayman was asked about the gesture and he revealed that he was paying tribute to his former coach Dennis Gendron, better known to many as “Red.” Swayman spoke of one of his mentors during the post game interview but was overcome with emotion when he spoke of Gendron’s passing.

“Tonight was a really special one, two years ago today my all time mentor Red Gendron passed away,” revealed Swayman.

If it happened two years ago, why was Swayman thinking of Gendron last night? Well when Gendron passed away Swayman was in Philadelphia, and the young Bruins goaltender felt like his mentor was looking down on him on the anniversary of his passing.

“I was actually in Philly when it happened, and I think it was pretty scripted today how it worked out,” said Swayman, choking through tears. “It was pretty special for that.”

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Bruins set a single-season NHL record on Sunday night.

Eric Canha/CSM/Zuma

The 2022-23 Boston Bruins can legitimately make a case that they are the greatest regular season team in the history of the National Hockey League.

On Sunday night, the Bruins entered a game against the Philadelphia Flyers in a 3-way tie for the most wins in regular season history with 62. That record was shared with the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings and the 2018-19 Tampa Bay Lightning, but with a win over the Flyers on Sunday the Bruins earned their 63rd win of the season and claimed the record for themselves.

The Bruins now stand alone atop the mountain having achieved a feat that no other team in the history of the NHL has managed to do and doing so while playing in the Atlantic Division, considered by many to be among the toughest divisions in the league.

Perhaps even more impressive than the record itself though is the fact that the Bruins still have room to extend it. With two more games this week, Tuesday against the Washington Capitals and Thursday against the Montreal Canadiens, the Bruins could eclipse the record previously established by the Red Wings and Lightning.