Boston Bruins

BRIGHTON, MA – While it feels doubtful that Boston Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy will be able to return for Tuesday night's Game 5, it appears that ...

McAvoy will need two back-to-back negative COVID tests before he’d be allowed to play amidst a five-day quarantine period for NHL players in the updated NHL/NHLPA agreement on COVID rules. But the fact that he’s out there skating is always a positive sign.” If he’s not, then we’ll list him [as] probable for the next game.

The Bruins have found new life in their playoff series against Carolina, TFP's Shawn Hutcheon reports.

The Bruins are 6-0 in those games with two of those games coming in this series. There will be a lot more emotion and a lot more on the line. Not to mention, all three have recorded multiple points in the same playoff game a total of six times. It makes you feel the puck better and you feel like you can see the ice a little bit better when things bounce your way but it doesn’t matter how we get it done as long as we get it done.” “I think we got it a bit more now but we just have to focus on the way we’ve been playing, what kind of gets us going, what’s been driving us the last couple of games, and try to bring that to the next one (game). It will be a lot tougher. It’s a very, very difficult building to play in and they’re going to be ready to play. They always bounce back and we’re going to expect their best so it’s going to be a tough game for us. The Bruins evened the series at two games apiece with a 5-2 victory in Game 4. If you have no points and you win, you’re just as happy so it doesn’t matter in our room who scores or puts up points, it’s win or loss and it’s a team win or loss. Marchand had himself a day by lighting the lamp twice and helping with three others for a five-point game. To make matters worse, defenseman Hampus Lindholm did not finish Game 2 due to an upper-body injury that was the result of a thunderous body check delivered to the elite blueliner by Hurricanes’ forward Andrei Svechnikov. To sum it up, Carolina’s speed and textbook defensive hockey saw them allow the fewest goals during the regular season.

The Bruins coach has made all the right moves against the Hurricanes, who once again seem to be struggling to make in-series adjustments.

Even when the Bruins were leading in Game 4, Cassidy saw room for improvement. The ones that are obvious, the discipline kind of penalties — the extra ones, the shot to the face — we can cut those out. The difference is that the Bruins have killed 20 of 22. He promoted DeBrusk to the No. 1 power-play unit. This initiated the pileup that produced DeBrusk’s goal and the failed challenge. You can’t play the puck when it’s in between his legs from the side, knock the goalie sideways, turn it to squirt it out.” The year before, the Bruins swept the Hurricanes. Instead of sealing the strong-side post, Raanta leaned the wrong way when Pastrnak went behind the net. The Bruins scored the winning goal on the following five-on-three power play. Raanta took over the crease in Game 4. In 2020, the Hurricanes lost three straight in the opening round. He rolled a rare five-forward unit for a five-on-three power play that produced the Game 4 winner.

One of the best named lines in hockey, the Perfection Line – Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak – was reunited by coach Bruce Cassidy prior to ...

Reilly can skate; Brown has a long reach and can put you into the second row of the stands with his physical play. Former QMJHL head coach Jon Goyens has 28 years of coaching experience, from the lowest levels of minor hockey all the way to serving as a special consultant for an NHL team during the Stanley Cup playoffs. There was a ton of skill out there with the Perfection Line, plus Charlie Coyle and Jake DeBrusk, with their ability to interchange spots on the ice. He has underrated skating mobility, can move the puck well and plays physical. One of the best named lines in hockey, the Perfection Line – Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak – was reunited by coach Bruce Cassidy prior to Game 3 at TD Garden. They’ve combined for 16 points over the last two games. At home, when they have the last change, Cassidy has worked to find them favorable matchups.

Heading into Game 5 of their series versus the Carolina Hurricanes, there are plenty of stories surrounding the Boston Bruins.

The frustrations boiled over for the Bruins in Game 2. While playing on the road is never easy, there is some positive news for the Bruins, as it is believed Hurricanes starting netminder Frederik Andersen will remain out of the lineup with a lower-body injury. The good news is that Lindholm is expected in the lineup, which would slightly soften the blow. He has since missed Games 3 and 4 with what the team is calling an upper-body injury, though there is hope that he will be back for Game 5 on Tuesday. The Bruins acquired Lindholm on Mar. 20 from the Anaheim Ducks. At the time of the deal, he was a pending unrestricted free agent, but that is no longer the case as he has since inked a massive eight-year, $52 million deal. In this edition of Boston Bruins News & Rumors, Hampus Lindholm practiced with the team on Monday morning after missing Games 3 and 4 with an upper-body injury.

Even with some hiccups, Connor Clifton, Derek Forbort, and Boston's D managed to hold a speedy and heavy Hurricanes bunch in check.

In Game 4, the Bruins trotted out Clifton in crunch time to stave any potential Carolina comeback. But a defensive performance akin to Games 3 and 4 in Boston could put Cassidy’s bunch within striking distance of another second-round appearance. The Bruins managed to distribute the D’s minutes rather evenly. So collectively, we all picked up a couple of minutes here and there and played the best game we can with the six D that were in.” The energetic Clifton picked up where Forbort left off from his nine blocked shots in Game 3. But collectively, Brandon Carlo, Matt Grzelcyk, Derek Forbort, Josh Brown, Connor Clifton and Mike Reilly, filled in admirably in the next-man-up scenario without McAvoy and Lindholm to even the series.

Canes defenseman Tony DeAngelo had a real weird media scrum Monday. And it came with some critiques of Boston fans at TD Garden.

“No,” DeAngelo said about the Hurricanes going over and the line. It’s just that ‘Caniacs’ are the loudest fans in the world, of course. So I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing, and I’m not very concerned what anybody thinks.” “There’s no panic in our locker room,” DeAngelo said in what was a pretty testy Monday meeting with the Carolina media. “They’ll make a big difference for us tomorrow night.” DeAngelo isn’t at all bothered by the fact that Marchand and the Bruins were able to worm their way inside his head, and he definitely wasn’t bothered by the entire Garden booing him whenever he touched the puck in Game 4.

BOSTON — The lasting image of Brad Marchand in the Bruins' Game 2 loss at Carolina was him first resisting the temptation to hit Pyotr Kochetkov and then, ...

“We love the challenge of being in the playoffs and tough situations,” Marchand said. It’s the whole team’s. The organization’s. The whole city. There’s a ton of reasons to play and want to help the team win. He was part of the Bruins championship in 2011, his first full season, and has been chasing that feeling ever since. When he’s not on the edge, he’s not effective. Boston was in a two-game hole and Marchand was -3 with just one assist and the Bruins were in real danger of ending their season with a whimper.

The Bruins got an encouraging update on defenseman Hampus Lindholm, while things aren't looking as good for Charlie McAvoy's status entering Game 5 in...

Lindholm is Boston's top defenseman behind Charlie McAvoy and was acquired from the Anaheim Ducks at the NHL trade deadline to bolster the Bruins' blue line for a Stanley Cup run. But the fact that he's out there skating is always a positive sign." "I have to hear from the doctors that he's cleared.

Swayman was at the center of back-to-back wins on home ice in Games 3-4, and will try to give his team to its first series lead.

“He’s also been through it a few times,” Cassidy said. DeAngelo, on the other hand, seemed to spiral after getting into a verbal exchange with Marchand at the end of the first period. I just know they’ll let me know when he’s out. “I didn’t see him lose his composure [Sunday] at all. “Doctors will let me know when he’s out of protocol,” Cassidy said. But right now I think he’s fine.” “So right now he does not look like he’s fatigued in there. If he’s not, we’ll list him as probable for the next game. “I’d be worried more if it was seven in a row, something like that. The other was in April. “I’m not that worried about three games,” Cassidy said. No moment has been too big — from starting the regular-season opener to going down to AHL Providence when Bruins mainstay Tuukka Rask attempted a comeback midseason, to splitting duties with veteran Linus Ullmark once Swayman returned in January.

Lindholm, who suffered a head injury in Game 2 missed Games 3 and 4. Prior to Sunday's game, Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said Lindholm was a possibility to ...

Lindholm, who the Bruins acquired at the trade deadline, suffered a head injury late in the second period of Game 2. Somebody would have to play on their off hand side to for Reilly to stay in the lineup. Lindholm, who suffered a head injury in Game 2 missed Games 3 and 4.