Boston, MA – It is time to finally do away with those ridiculous mustaches.
With one game left to play in the month of November, the Boston Bruins are still trying to figure out what kind of team they are this year. Unfortunately, they have played the fewest games of any team in the National Hockey League, so things are still in limbo. With B’s head coach Bruce Cassidy now in the COVID-19 protocol and Jake DeBrusk officially requesting a trade out of Boston, it is sure going to be an interesting week.
“People ask for trades, but things don’t change,” said Patrice Bergeron prior to the game. “We expect Jake to be accountable like the rest of the guys. The approach we have on the ice is play together and play for the crest, and that’s what we expect out of Jake.”
Strong words from the Bruins captain. All they can do is just play the schedule.
Speaking of which, the Black and Gold took the TD Garden ice on Tuesday night against the Detroit Red Wings. Both teams were coming off victories heading into this one, and with only one point separating Boston and Detroit in the Atlantic Division standings, this was a sneaky big game that could play a role in seeding down the road.
Linus Ullmark (5-3-0, 2.76 GAA, .914 SV%) opposed Alex Nedeljkovic (6-3-3, 2.70 GAA, .918 SV%) in the goaltending matchup for this pivotal tilt.
Neither team was able to find a whole lot of momentum early on. There were several stoppages and long stretches of play in the neutral zone, so both goaltenders had to make a few key stops. Nothing crucial. The scoring finally opened in the second period when Filip Zadina of Detroit lifted a back-hand shot past Ullmark. The Bruins completely dominated the second frame, as they out-shot the Red Wings 25-10 through 40 minutes. They did everything but score.
Boston also failed to capitalize on a golden opportunity to begin the third period when they could not net the tying tally with the man advantage. As the period went on, Boston eventually tied the game when David Pastrnak ripped a one timer home off a nifty pass from Taylor Hall. However, Detroit proved to be too much on this night. The Red Wings regained the lead late in the third period and held on to defeat the Bruins by a final score of 2-1.
“We have higher expectations for everyone,” said Bruins general manager Don Sweeney. “But we are still in a good place with our goaltending and our depth overall.”
The Bruins will play their next game this coming Thursday night when they hit the road to take on the Nashville Predators.
Lineup for 11/30 vs. DET
Forwards: Patrice Bergeron, Charlie Coyle, Jake DeBrusk, Nick Foligno, Trent Frederic, Taylor Hall, Erik Haula, Karson Kuhlman, Curtis Lazar, Tomas Nosek, David Pastrnak, Craig Smith
Defense: Brandon Carlo, Derek Forbort, Matt Grzelcyk, Charlie McAvoy, Mike Reilly, Jakub Zboril
Goaltenders: Jeremy Swayman, Linus Ullmark
Side Notes: Taylor Hall entered this game just two shy of skating in 700 career NHL games…Tuukka Rask continues to skate at Warrior Ice Arena as he is still recovering from offseason hip surgery…Charlie McAvoy leads the team with an average time on ice total of 23:48, which is over four minutes more than any other player on the Bruins…Brad Marchand has been suspended three games by the NHL for a slew-footing incident that took place this past Sunday night against the Vancouver Canucks.
