Bruins deliver statement win in shutout over first-place Canucks
The Boston Bruins have their signature win of the season.
On the strength of two shorthanded tallies and two goals in a span of 15 seconds in the second period, the Bruins shut out the first-place Vancouver Canucks 4-0 at TD Garden on Thursday night. Bruins goaltender Linus Ullmark locked things down to secure his seventh career shutout, stopping all 17 Canucks shots.
MORE: Bruins shut down Canucks with defensive layers
The Bruins got off to a hot start, and in the unlikeliest of ways. Faced with a penalty kill just 17 seconds into the game, Marchand and Charlie Coyle combined to make them pay. Coyle won a puck battle along the boards then found an open Marchand at the net-front, and Marchand did the rest to make it 1-0 Bruins
Marchand now has 35 career shorthanded goals, jumping him to a tie for ninth all-time with Theo Fleury and Dirk Graham.
Shorty King checkin' in 👑 pic.twitter.com/6suffOV74u
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) February 9, 2024
The Bruins really upped their PK scoring rate later in the period, when they scored for the second time in three Canucks power plays. Coyle sparked the play with another puck battle win along the boards, as he found a streaking Danton Heinen, who roofed it for the finish and his 10th goal of the season.
Keeping it short. pic.twitter.com/y05iXhikso
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) February 9, 2024
Early in the second period, the Bruins blew the game wide open with two goals in 15 seconds. David Pastrnak was initially credited with his 34th goal of the season, just 34 seconds into the period, after his shot bounced around then the puck off the skate of Canucks defenseman Tyler Myers and in. The goal was later credited to Morgan Geekie, who apparently got a piece of it before it went off Myers and in.
We don't know how or why.
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) February 9, 2024
We just know it went in.#NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/ATUZQnKpt2
Then, just 15 seconds later, Pavel Zacha scored his 12th off a great saucer pass from James van Riemsdyk.
That's some spicy sauce, @JVReemer21 🔥 pic.twitter.com/OFJ4tjilQb
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) February 9, 2024
The Canucks ultimately held a 9-7 advantage in high-danger chances at 5-on-5 (via Natural Stat Trick). But the Bruins’ defensive layers made it hard for them to generate enough quality second or third chances, and Ullmark was there every time as the last line of defense.
With the win, the Bruins are now 32-10-9 and 73 points, maintaining their lead atop the Eastern Conference.
Up Next: It’s a Saturday afternoon game next for the Bruins, who will take on the Washington Capitals at TD Garden at 3:30 p.m. ET.
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Matt Dolloff is a writer and podcaster for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Check out all of Matt’s content.
Bruins issue disappointing update on Matt Poitras
Dec 2, 2023; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Boston Bruins forward Mathew Poitras (51) pursues the play against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the second period at Scotiabank Arena. (Dan Hamilton/USA TODAY Sports)
In what was a ‘call his shot’ type of summer and training camp for the 2022 second-round pick, Poitras repeatedly said that he wanted to make it difficult for the Bruins to send him back to juniors. And he did exactly that from rookie camp through training camp, as Poitras became the first B’s forward to make the NHL roster out of training camp in an NHL-or-CHL situation since Tyler Seguin in 2010.
Poitras started off hot, too, and ensured that he was not going back to Guelph after nine games, with five goals and 11 points through 22 games.
Oct 30, 2023; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins center Matthew Poitras (51) skates with the puck against the Florida Panthers during the first period at the TD Garden. (Brian Fluharty/USA TODAY Sports)
But as the physical toll and grind began to take its toll on Poitras, the Bruins began to implement more “load management” techniques. It started with the occasional healthy scratch here and there, and even graduated to the Bruins loaning Poitras to Team Canada for the 2024 World Juniors.
It also didn’t help that Poitras’ hot start put him on notice whenever teams saw the Bruins on their schedule. And Poitras took an absolute beating as his notoriety began to grow.
Whether it was an elbow, a stick, a forearm, or a glove, it seemed like Poitras took shot after shot after shot.
Of course, part of that is and was simply a result of Poitras’ DNA. A player who wanted to model his game after players like the Lightning’s Anthony Cirelli, Poitras continued to “stick his nose in there.” Even when he was taking an absolute pounding, Poitras remained smiling and told you he ‘loved’ that part of hockey.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 21: Matthew Poitras #51 of the Boston Bruins during warmups at Crypto.com Arena on October 21, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
Still, it all began to add up.
In fact, Poitras absorbed 5.84 hits per 60 minutes of all-situation hockey in 2023-24. That was tops among all Bruins (minimum 400 minutes), and ranked 27th out of 348 forwards. Given his size, as well as the simple fact that Poitras was a teenager going against men, that rate was almost always bound to lead to some trouble.
But oddly enough, it appears that Poitras’ season-ender came on an attempted hit of his own, with Poitras bouncing off the Coyotes’ Sean Durzi and landing awkwardly on his shoulder in a Jan. 9 game in Arizona.
Matt Poitras went down the tunnel after this big collision with Sean Durzi#NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/w4o4Hc2mXE
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) January 10, 2024Poitras would exit that contest, and missed the four games that followed, but ultimately made his return to the lineup in the Black and Gold’s blowout victory over the Canadiens on Jan. 20.
It would be one of just three Poitras made before undergoing surgery on Wednesday.
Oct 30, 2023; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins center Matthew Poitras (51) takes a shot against the Florida Panthers during the first period at the TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY Sports
As for the surgery itself, a ‘shoulder stabilization’ procedure is something somewhat familiar to the Bruins, as both Matt Grzelcyk and Charlie McAvoy underwent a form of it in 2022. (The same surgeon who operated on Poitras also operated on both Grzelcyk and McAvoy in 2022.)
And as noted, the five-month recovery timeline almost guarantees that Poitras will miss the remainder of the 2023-24 season. Even if Poitras were to jump the timeline by a month, that would be right in the thick of the Stanley Cup Playoffs (maybe even the Final itself), and the Bruins definitely wouldn’t want to throw him into that kind of environment after such an invasive procedure.
In action for 33 games this year, Poitras will finish his regular season with five goals and 15 points, and if there’s any good news about his absence, it’s that the 33-game sample will not count as a full year of service for Poitras, meaning that Poitras is not closer to ‘UFA’ status.
