Tag Archives: Winter Classic

Game Preview: Boston Bruins vs Calgary Flames

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Boston Bruins
Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports

NEW YEAR

The Boston Bruins return home after starting the New Year with a win over the Chicago Blackhawks 4-2 at the NHL Winter Classic. Tonight the B’s host the Calgary Flames, who are playing the back to back games after winning 5-3 over the Detroit Red Wings. The Flames have now moved to first in the Western Conference, while the Bruins have moved into 3rd position in the Atlantic Division. Calgary’s recent record has been 3-0-1 in the past few games, and 10-3 in the past 16 games.  With the win over the ‘Hawks, Boston has now won their second straight game and fifth in their past seven games.

BRUINS UPDATES

Boston Bruins Nordstrom
(photo credit: NHL.com)

Earlier today, the Bruins announced that forward Joakim Nordstrom sustained a non-displaced fibula fracture and will remain out of the lineup until further evaluation in three weeks. Nordstom’s injury occurred during the Winter Classic. The Swedish native has played 39 games for the Black and Gold, posting five goals with two assists while being slotted up between the first few lines. Right-winger David Pastrnak, who was recently named to the NHL All-Star team, leads the team with 24 goals with 26 assists for 50 points so far this season. He is currently tied for fourth in the league for goals and tied for first in powerplay goals. Brad Marchand leads the team in assists (26) and is tied in second with Patrice Bergeron with 13 goals.

Coach Bruce Cassidy issued an update on Charlie McAvoy with a possible return on Tuesday or Thursday. David Krejci and wife Naomi welcomed a baby boy this morning; he will be in the lineup tonight. This morning’s rushes for the Bruins:

Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak

Donato-Krejci-DeBrusk

Kualy-Acciari-Wagner

Heninen-Cave-JFK

Chara-Carlo

Grzelcyk-Miller

Krug-Moore

Halak

Rask

Possible start in net: Halak, although at the timing of this writing, no official announcement from the Bruins Camp.

CALGARY NOTES

Boston Bruins face Calgary Flames
(Photo Credits: NHL.com)

Calgary Flames forward Johhny “Hockey” Gaudreau has accumulated eight points in his past two games with three goals and five assists. He has 14 points in his past six games. He is tied with Center Sean Monahan for goals at 22. Gaudreau has 59 points, with Monahan not far behind with 50 points this season. He is now fifth in the league behind Connor Mcdavid and Nikita Kucherov. Gaudreau also has the most point by a Calgary Flame player in team history over the first half year. That feat tied the franchise record set by forward Bob MacMillam (then-called Atlanta Flames) in the 1978-79 season.

Projected lineup for Calgary

Gaudreau-Monahan-Lindholm

Tkachuk-Backlund-Frolik

Bennett-Jankowski-Neal

Dube-Ryan-Hathaway

Giodano-Brodie

Hanifin-Hamonic

Kylington-Andersson

Smith

Gillers

WHEN TO WATCH:  TD Garden, tonight with puck drop 7:00 pm

WHERE TO WATCH: NESN, ESPN+

NEXT GAME:  Boston vs. Buffalo

Boston Bruins Face Chicago Blackhawks In 2019 Winter Classic

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Get ready Boston. For the third time in the past nine years, the Bruins are taking hockey fans back to their roots. It was announced earlier on Twitter, by Barstool Sports, the Boston Bruins are set to face the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2019 Winter Classic. This will mark the first time the Bruins have participated in the Winter Classic as the visiting team. The matchup is set to take place at Notre Dame Stadium. Multiple reports have stated that an official announcement will be made later this month.

Previous Winter Classic Appearances

Boston Bruins

The Bruins will be participating in their third Winter Classic. Their first appearance was a 2-1 overtime victory against the Philadelphia Flyers, at Fenway park. Marco Sturm tipped in a pass from Patrice Bergeron to seal the victory, making the Bruins the first home team to ever win a Winter Classic game.

The Bruins other appearance was their more recent matchup against the Montreal Canadians, at Gillette Stadium. A matchup between two original six teams, and one of the most historic rivalry’s in sports led to a lot of hype. Unfortunately, the Bruins failed to show up, and embarrassed themselves in a 5-1 loss. It was worse than the score indicates.

Chicago Blackhawks

The Blackhawks have appeared in three previous Winter Classic games, and have an 0-3 record in those contests. They dropped their only home game out of the three, at Wrigley Field, to the Detroit Red Wings in 2009, by a score of 6-4. The other two games were on the road. The first was a 3-2 loss to the Washington Capitals. Then a 4-1 loss to the Blues, after taking an early 1-0 lead.

Head to Head History

The Bruins currently hold a 265-238-4 all time record against the Blackhawks. However, the Blackhawks beat the Bruins, in six games, in the 2013 Stanley Cup finals at TD Garden. The past three seasons, the teams have had an even split, each going 3-3-0.

Key Matchups

Most of the rosters have turned over since the two teams collided in the Stanley Cup finals. A few key members have kept the rivalry alive–namely, Patrice Bergeron vs. Jonathan Toews. This is one of the best matchups to watch in hockey. While neither player will make you jump out of your seat with a dazzling deke or a giant hit, they are the most balanced, valuable centers in the NHL. Another matchup to watch is Rask handling the Blackhawks on the big stage, after the devastating ending last time.

Of course it’s to early to be breaking down the matchup, but for hockey fans, nothing is better than the Winter Classic. It takes everyone back to their pond hockey roots, and is one of the greatest events in hockey.