For Bruins fans, their 2023 New Year celebration went into overtime, as the Bruins’ 2-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins carried into January 2nd and the Winter Classic at Fenway Park. With their record thus far of not having lost a regulation game on home ice in jeopardy, the locals once again found a way to win late in the game. Ironically the victory was on the strength (and stick) of Jake DeBrusk, the young man whose request to be traded from the Bruins a while back, fortunately fell on the deaf ears of general manager Don Sweeney. DeBrusk made the most of his often, not expected appearance on the 2022-23 roster, by leaving his mark on the score sheet by netting goals number 15 and 16 of the season, to give the Bruins the 2-1 Winter Classic victory.
Much like the Bruins’ comeback at Fenway Park in 2010, they roared back to tie the game in the third period, in Classic style, with the first goal coming from DeBrusk at 7:46, on a nice feed from Brad Marchand to tie the game at 1-1, and then was then able to re-write the finish, and not go into overtime, as DeBrusk, picked up a rebound of a Taylor Hall shot off a rush with 2:24 left to play in the game, and found the back of the net to boost the score to 2-1 Boston, and avoid the extra time. Kasperi Kapenen, who deposited a nice pass from former Bruin Danton Heinen, to give the visitors a temporary 1-0 lead, scored Pittsburgh’s goal. Linus Ullmark continued his stellar play in net, using 26 saves to crank his impressive credentials to 21-0-1, including a 1.86 goals-against-average, to go along with a save percentage of .938. Raising the speculation that maybe the league could save time now, by starting to engrave Ullmark’s name on the Vezina trophy.
The Bruins decided that the theme for this year’s classic they would be honor their baseball brothers, by dressing in Red Sox uniforms from the 1930s. It was an impressive sight, as they dressed head to toe, regaled in the hats, spikes, etc. from head to toe with era authenticity. The Red Sox throwback uniforms had shortened sleeves and the stripe-styled socks, also common with the era. Utilizing some time in the pre-game session to play catch with one another, and at times carrying baseball bats. The Penguins went back a bit further, dressed in Pittsburgh Pirates uniforms from the 1920s.
Currently boasting a record of 29-4-4 and leading the entire NHL with 62 points, the Bruins will play their next three games on the road, beginning with Thursday’s (tonight) contest in Los Angeles, taking on the Kings at 10:30; on Saturday, the Shark’s will provide the competition with another 10:30 start in San Jose; and the second half of the back-to-back schedule will have the Anaheim Ducks facing the Bs in an 8:30pm game. Following the brief road trip, the Bruins return to Garden ice as they will attempt to maintain their zero-loss home ice record when they face the league’s newest team, the Seattle Kraken on Thursday (7:00pm) on TD Garden ice.
Bruins Unveil Commemorative Logo Ahead of 2023–24 Centennial Season
Boston Bruins announced that a Centennial celebration will be held in 2023-24. For the Centennial celebration, the Bruins have unveiled this new commemorative logo that pays homage to the franchises storied past. The logo was designed to reflect the club’s brand identity from the early 1920s, incorporating the familiar arc and rectangle shape that was first seen on the team’s inaugural season sweater, and later reappeared as an alternate in the 2000s. To commemorate the start of the Centennial, the Bruins will host a black-tie gala benefitting the Boston Bruins Foundation on the floor of TD Garden during the opening week of the season. Follow Bruins Beat to get more information in the coming weeks.