1/10: Bruins 10, vs. New York Rangers 2

Well what a great weekend for the Bruins! Anytime I can write and say the Bs scored 11 goals in a two goal span that is sure to lead to a couple wins, regardless of how/when they come. The Bruins rolled the struggling New York Rangers in a Saturday matinee contest at the Garden. After giving up the first goal from Mika Zibenejad, the Bruins responded with Marat Khustidinov scoring his first on a breakaway rush, followed by Pavel Zacha getting his first and second goals, the latter creating an odd situation in which the team’s entered the first intermission and were called back to the ice after video review provided clear evidence Zacha’s “shot” clearly crossed the line. Fraser Minten added to his production as of late getting the 2nd period started, followed by another from Khustidinov on a great cross crease feed from Pastrnak and Zacha getting his first career hat trick with a snap shot that beat poor Jonathan Quick to the short side. Rangers captain J.T. Miller beat future USA Olympic teammate Jeremy Swayman with a quick tuck on the power-play to round out the scoring for a dejected Rangers team. They have not played up to expectations all year long especially at home (though this rout was at TD). Ugly performance full of poor d-zone turnovers, and lazy defense left Quick and eventually Spencer Martin out to dry. Pastrnak finds McAvoy backdoor off the rush with a sauce pass that found snuck just inside the post to round out the second period scoring. The Bruins weren’t finished embarrassing the Rangers and continued to add on in the 3rd. Khustidinov joined Zacha in the hat trick club, tipping home a shot from Pastrnak at the point. Minten added his second to the game sheet on a slot one-timer on yet another feed from Pastrnak. And lastly, just because everything that found his stick went in, Khustidinov added a fourth goal late in the 3rd, another tip-in.

My favorite quote of the day came from Mark Kastelic who ribbed Pavel Zacha when he entered the locker room after the game, “imagine getting a hat-trick, and only being the third star (of the game).” Marat Khustidinov rightfully took home the first star for his 4 goal, 5 point performance, while Pastrnak took second star with an incredible 6 assists.

1/11: Bruins 1, vs. Pittsburgh Penguins 0

I will happily eat some of my words from my previous mid season rankings regarding the performance on backup goalie Joonas Korpisalo. Though I was not wrong in serving harsh criticism of his play, Korpisalo has put together back-to-back strong efforts in which he not only gave the Bruins a chance to win, but was a, if not the, reason for them picking up victories. Korpisalo stopped 28 in route to a win against the Flames on Thursday night, and damn near had a shutout in that one allowing one goal late in the 3rd. He responded with an even better shut down performance agains the Penguins making 27 saves in route to the Bruins first shutout win of the year. I feel it typical that a team struggles to score following a double digit performance a day prior, but this was a grind it out win that the Bruins truly needed. The power-play had six opportunities, but simply couldn’t get it going, where it was borderline detrimental to the momentum they had 5-on-5. Viktor Arvidsson was able to out work Erik Karlsson in front of the net in the 1st period to get the Bruins on the board, and it was all they needed. The Bruins were strong defensively in coverage and off the rush, kept most shots to the outside, and Korpisalo cleaned up all the high danger scoring chances the Penguins were able to create, earning a second consecutive 1st star of the game.

Notes:

• Morgan Geekie left the game on Saturday after the 1st period to attend to a “family matter.” All reports since have mentioned that things are “okay,” but he was out for the game Sunday against the Penguins as well. Wishing the best to the Geekie family.
• Jonathan Aspirot signed a two year/$887,500 extension with the Bruins that locks him up through the 2027/28 season. Aspirot, 26, who only made his NHL debut this season with the Bruins has impressed during his time with the big club. He seems to be a great fit for Marco Sturm’s system and his solid play has earned him some contract stability for the next couple seasons. The Bruins have a reputation of finding nice bottom pair players over the last several years, two of which they played against on Sunday in Parker Wotherspoon and Connor Clifton.
• Elias Lindholm left the blowout game on Saturday prematurely, but was back in the lineup for Sunday’s game. Battling a lingering injury, but clearly nothing too major.
• Hampus Lindholm was placed on injured reserve after suffering a lower body injury against the Vancouver Canucks on their North West roadtrip. Henri Jokiharju was activated from his own injury as replacement.
• Week ahead: National broadcast game on TNT for the Bruins on Tuesday 1/13 at 7:30pm against the Detroit Red Wings. An important division game for playoff hopes. The Bruins will have another try against the Seattle Kraken on Thursday at 8pm after giving up 7 goals on the road to them last week. Saturday the Bruins hit the road to play the Blackhawks in Chicago at 8pm.