Bruins Beat: Bruins Deals and New Personnel

Following a tight schedule on their recent road trip that had them playing three games in four nights, the Bruins arrived in Montreal on Monday, to take on their cellar-dwelling Atlantic Division rivals – the Canadiens. With the smoke still clearing, following the many moves by all the teams making attempts to strengthen their roster, clearly not all the heads in the locals’ room had cleared, as they surrendered one giveaway after another, as they were unable to maintain puck possession. They ran into a Canadian buzz-saw, as the Habs, though being outshot by a wide margin, managed to keep things tight and stay in the game, being deadlocked twice, first at 1-1, and then 2-2, before going into overtime. A determined Brad Marchand provided the overtime game-winner early in the overtime, providing the win for Boston. Marchand’s goal had special meaning, since it was his errant pass during a power play that was picked up at the blue line by Joel Armia, who went in alone on Jeremy Swayman to score a shorthanded goal, and give Montreal the lead. Captain Patrice Bergeron was out of the Boston lineup for the third consecutive game on Monday, as he continues to recover from an arm injury.

Tonight’s (Thursday at 7:00pm) game it is expected, will feature the debut of highly touted defenseman Hampus Lindholm, whom the Bruins recently acquired via trade with the Anaheim Ducks, and signed him to an eight-year contract. Boston in return sent the Ducks defensemen Urho Vaakanainen, John Moore, along with a 2022 first-round pick; and second round picks in 2023 and 2024. Along with Lindholm the Bs will also receive defenseman Kodie Curran. It will be interesting to see how Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy decides to pair Lindholm, with either Charlie McAvoy or Brandon Carlo. The two-year contract Bruins winger Jake DeBrusk signed was a surprise for sure as the Bs stepped up and gave him a deal that pays four million dollars per year. It was a contract extension that DeBrusk earned, after a paltry eight points in three months to begin the season, he celebrated by beginning the New Year and contributing 18 points (10 goals/8 assists). A busy Don Sweeney made moves to shore up the back end, not only with Lindholm, but also making a trade with the Ottawa Senators to make defenseman Josh Brown a Bruin. 2015 draft pick Zach Senshyn was delivered to the Senators for the 6’ 5” 217-pound defenseman.

Currently the Bruins have been on a roll that has provided a solid record of 12-2-1 over the last 15 games – 7-2-1 in last ten. Their stamina will be tested as they begin a five-game home stand tonight (Thursday), in which they will face opposition from Zdeno Chara and the New York Islanders on Saturday (10/26 at 12:30pm) – erroneously listed date as 3-22 in last weeks Bruins Beat column), the Islanders have been playing well of late, with a 7-2-1 record for their last ten; the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday (10/29 at 7:00pm), the Leafs at press time (Wednesday) were tied with Boston for third place in the Atlantic Division with 83 points – with Toronto holding one game in hand, the Leafs are 5-4-1 for their last ten; the struggling New Jersey Devils arrive on Thursday (10/31 at 7:00pm), and the Bruins finish up their lengthy home stand on April Fools Day when they host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday (4/1 at 7:00pm).

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