Connor Clifton is back in the lineup tonight for the Boston Bruins, who have 60 challenging minutes in front of them in the form of the Minnesota Wild, as they attempt to put Thursday’s brutal loss to Montreal behind them.
“Back in Black” played as usual, and the Bruins skated onto TD Garden ice in their brown “hometown” uniform. The song didn’t change, but the them will for sure.
Jeremy Swayman back in net. Mason Lohrei gets the night off.
FIRST PERIOD
Energy from the Bruins off the hop, and some close calls around Minnesota starter Jesper Wallstedt.
Mikey Eyssimont great look 2-on-1, but Wallstedt makes the save.
Charlie McVoy to the penalty box for crosschecking, and after Swayman makes a big stop on Maxim Shabanov, the Wild reorganize, go to work and seven seconds after the expiration of McAvoy’s penalty get the game’s first goal from Ryan Hartman.
McAvoy hits Danila Turov in the Zamboni corner, which the TD Garden crowd appreciates but, more importantly, indicates that No. 73 isn’t going to lose his aggression over the penalty.
The Wild have an 11-4 shots advantage through 15:16 of the first period, and the fans are trying to get the Bruins going. After David Pastrnak spilled at the feet of Nick Foligno, Marcus Foligno was isolated with a lane to the net. Bodies were prone as Marcus Foligno took the puck around the net, but he could not complete a shot-creating play.
Mittelstadt shakes Kirill Kaprizov with a pullup move at the RW halfwall, but Kaprizov goes down. Officials confer, and Mittelstadt gets a minor for roughing with 3:17 left in the period. The fans are loudly jeering the call.
This is Mittelstadt’s second straight game with a non-matching, roughing penalty. Will it be his second straight game with two goals? Bruins get the kill and almost a breakaway, but Brock Faber intercepts Fraser Minten’s attempt to make the key pass.
Hartman to the box with 45.5 seconds in the period.
Elias Lindholm to the box with 14.9 seconds left, and it’ll be a minute and a half of 4v4, 1:15 of which will carry into the second period.
Joel Eriksson-Ek finishes a bang-bang play, but no one inside the rink reacts as time was clearly expired before he made the shot.
First period ends 1-0 Minnesota. The Wild outshot the Bruins 13-6.
The Bruins are clearly pressing but look out of synch trying to get to their game. They’re playing like they took a month off and did nothing but practice.
SECOND PERIOD
Quinn Hughes and Kaprizov combine on the 4v4 to make it a 2-0 game less than a minute into the second period.
Blake Coleman’s shot from the point takes an unfunny bounce and winds up in the net 1:07 later (3-0).
Marco Sturm is not about to pull Swayman in consecutive games, but this one is getting ugly fast. The difference is the Bruins are engaged, they’re just hitting a very bad patch and it’s happening against measuring-stick teams so it’s getting into their heads.
Mark Kastelic doesn’t like high contact from Jared Spurgeon and goes after the Minnesota captain in the corner, drawing four Wild teammates. The Bruins follow. The only penalty is on Spurgeon for crosschecking Kastelic at 5:23. Bruins to the powerplay…
Zach Bogosian shoots the puck over the side glass with one second remaining on Spurgeon’s crosschecking penalty, so a faceoff win would give the Bruins a very brief 5-on-3.
Elias Lindholm wins the draw off Eriksson Ek cleanly, but Pastrnak’s shot deflects wide of the net.
5-on-4: Pavel Zacha is open in the left circle with Wallstedt down, but the goalie recovers in time to make the save.
Finally, Minten connects from low in the left circle, and the frustrated crowd lets out one of the season’s bigger cheers. 3-1 at 8:45 of the second. Plenty of hockey to go, and a big PPG for Minten, who’s been slumping offensively, along with the powerplay.
Former Bruin Nick Foligno obliges Tanner Jeannot, and Jeannot switches from righty to lefty, knocking Foligno’s helmet ajar and getting the takedown. The building is alive. Let’s see what the Bruins do with it in the 5v5 game about to resume.
Hartman pots his second of the night at the 10-minute mark, making it 4-1.
Marat Khusnutdinov, as Bob Beers noted, is all around it but cannot get the puck through Wallstedt, who then makes saves on Pastrnak and Khusnutdinov from the high slot.
The Bruins have gained some rhythm with a dump-and-chase game, but the Wild are much more deadly on the finishing end of plays.
Swayman is calm under siege, but also looks behind the play as Minnesota moves the puck around the Boston net.
Nikita Zadorov makes a beautiful pass along the blue line, eluding a reach and transferring to Pastrnak, who walks closer, then closer, then misses the net. A groan from the crowd.
