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The Florida Panthers are on a back to back “Hallo-weekend” home stand here in Sunrise, where last night they played host to the Boston Bruins. It was a hard fought battle which saw the Bruins take the coveted 2 points in a 3-1 victory, giving the Panthers their second loss at home. The Panthers are suffering from the loss of two of their top players, with both Aleksander Barkov and Jaromir Jagr out with injuries.

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The first period was all about Tuukka Rask. Both teams notched only 7 shots on goal apiece, but those that the Boston net-minder faced were denied in spectacular fashion, including 2 rapid stops on Quinton Howden who attempted to stuff in his own rebound, and a kick save on a Jonathan Huberdeau slap shot. Brad Marchand opened the scoring midway through the first on a Boston power play with his third goal of the season, after former Bruin Reilly Smith got the gate for hooking. Jimmy Hayes then committed hooking against his former team, giving Florida their first power play of the game. The Panthers were unable to convert, however, and the Bruins went to the locker room with a 1-0 lead after 1.

Most of the action occurred in the second period. Boston looked to blow the scoring open, with another goal from Marchand at 7:07 to double the lead to 2-0; and one from Zdeno Chara at 9:13, his first of the season on the power play, to extend it to 3-0. The Panthers were finally able to staunch Boston’s momentum as the Bruins got in some penalty trouble of their own. Nick Bjugstad’s slap shot got the Panthers on the board with a 5-on-3 power play goal while Colin Miller and Joe Morrow were in the box for hooking and tripping, respectively. While the goal was enough to halt the Bruins’ momentum, the Panthers’ failure to convert on another 2-man advantage shortly afterward quickly stifled their own energy. The teams left the ice after the second, with Florida trailing 3-1.

If the first period was marked by impressive goaltending from Rask, the same could be said of Roberto Luongo in the third period. Luongo kept the puck on the right side of the goal line, stopping all 14 shots in the third, including one memorable save in the blue paint. Rask kept his team in the win column, with 18 saves of his own in the final frame. Gerard Gallant used his timeout with 2:21 left to play to try and rally his team to overcome the 2 goal deficit. Marchand, who would eventually be named first star of the game for his two goals, got 5 minutes and a game misconduct for boarding Dmitry Kulikov just 15 seconds later. Kulikov was shoved into the Boston bench and came away bleeding. Even with the extended power play, the Panthers could not come back, and the Bruins winning streak was extended to 3 games.

Reilly Smith weighed in on the agony of failing to finish chances and the Panthers’ recent penalty trouble

“It’s tough because your frustration builds when you keep getting good chances and they don’t go in the back of the net. We’ve got to do a better job of staying out of the box and getting to the net.”

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Andrea Ocampo, Stanley C. Panther, and Erik Gubranson

After the game, the Florida Panthers hosted a trick-or-treating event on the ice where fans got to meet Panthers players and personalities. Vincent Trocheck, Erik Gubranson, Stanley C. Panther, and arena host Andrea Ocampo greeted trick-or-treaters with candy and took the time to sign autographs and pose for pictures. Families were able to participate in this event with a $2.00 donation to the Florida Panthers Foundation, which aims to support children and families of South Florida through partnerships, grants, and community programs that facilitate enhanced fitness, health and education. This was the first year the Panthers have hosted this event, and they expect it to be even more successful than the huge hit it was last night in years to come.

The Florida Panthers are back in action tonight against the Washington Capitals, where they will look to scare up a Halloween victory.

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(photo: Dinur Blum)

The well-rested Los Angeles Kings traveled north to play their California rival, the San Jose Sharks, Thursday night. Currently on a losing streak after dropping two on the East Coast, the Sharks hoped to win one at home in their second matchup against the Kings so far this season. In their first meeting, which was the season opener, the Sharks were victorious, 5-1. In this one, the tables have turned. Even though the Sharks had 40 shots on goal, it was Kings’ goalie Jhonas Enroth who kept the score at one. Another standout for the southern California team was Jeff Carter. He scored his first two goals of the season and tallied two assists, to make it a final score of 4-1.

Logan Couture wasn’t on the ice, still injured from the controversial head hit from Dustin Brown in the first game. Due to another, separate incident involving his leg, Couture was put on IR for the next four to six weeks. With Couture out, Matt Nieto was promoted to the line with the Joes: Thornton and Pavelski. The Sharks called up defenseman Mirco Mueller, who was assigned to their affiliate team, the San Jose Barracuda, on October 5 during training camp. Also, as part of their 25th anniversary, the Sharks will be playing host to their alumni throughout the season on select dates. For this matchup, they welcomed Scott Thornton back; his first cousin, Joe Thornton, was in on the ceremonial puck drop.

As expected with these two teams, the energy was high and the hits and scrums were abundant right from the get-go. An example of the hard-hitting happened late in the first, when Thornton was slammed into the boards by Jake Muzzin, and appeared to hit his head, which caused him to leave the game and not return until the second.

Over halfway into the first, Tyler Toffoli scored his fourth goal of the season in a sort of reverse wrap-around, where he had to really reach for the puck behind the net to sneak it by Martin Jones. The Kings ended the first period with a power play goal from Milan Lucic with only 27 seconds left in the period. The Sharks headed to intermission two in the hole.

The Kings continued their scoring drive into the second. Carter notched his first of the season and of the night just a few minutes into the final frame. Finally, the Sharks were able to get past Enroth with a nice sweep from Pavelski from behind the net to Joel Ward, who one-timed it in.

It was apparent at this point that the Sharks would once again be playing make-up hockey in third, something struggled to do all last season. Desperate hockey mode was kicked into full gear after that, with the Sharks getting good looks but not able to beat Enroth. He had been solid the whole night, especially on rebounds. Midway into the final period, Carter scored his second goal and fourth point on the night, to make it 4-1.

Although the Sharks are on a three-game losing streak and wanted nothing more than to beat the Kings on home ice, this game showed that the constant battle and intensity that exists between these two teams will make this season interesting. The two teams are on an even keel for now, but it is sure to be some exciting hockey for the rest of the season.

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(Photo: Alan Sullivan)

Wednesday night’s tilt against the Philadelphia Flyers should have been the triumphant return of a team that found their game on a short road trip that produced two wins and four points for the Boston Bruins. During the morning’s pre-game skate, the absences of both Patrice Bergeron and Matt Beleskey were noticed. Beleskey, it was disclosed, was out with an upper body injury, while Bergeron’s absence was explained as personal reasons.

Later in the day it was announced that Bergeron and his wife Stephanie Bertrand had welcomed their first child, a son, earlier in the day. The boy, named Zach, already has his first game puck. Bergeron, playing on only one hour of sleep, scored the second goal for the Bruins and kept the puck to give to his new baby. And Zach, because of his October birthday, will not be draft eligible until 2034.

“There’s no word that can really describe [becoming a father]. It’s an amazing feeling and it’s still kind of surreal,” Bergeron shared after the game. “I’m trying to soak everything in and spend some time with my son. So it’s been a great day I guess.”

Watching Bergeron winning face offs, battling for pucks and somehow appearing all over the ice makes his eventful night, early morning and lack of sleep even more astounding. Of all of the Bruins it would have been completely understandable had he been sluggish skating end-to-end or less than his usual high percentage winning on the draw. Instead it was many of his teammates who seemed to be struggling to harness some energy—energy necessary to play a team like the Flyers.

Perhaps with their light approach to the first period, it was not surprising that the Flyers got on the board first just shy of halfway through that first frame. Unlike at other times though, the Bruins did not crumble and instead, exactly four minutes later, Brett Connolly tied the game with his first goal as a Bruin (assisted by Bergeron and Brad Marchand). The Flyers would again go up one when Sam Gagner responded less than two minutes later.

If there is one thing that can be looked at positively with the disappointing start the Bruins have had, it would be their impressive, and league-leading, power play. So it should not have been a surprise that when Flyers captain Claude Giroux got whistled for a double minor for high-sticking Connolly that Bergeron was able to capitalize on the man advantage and once again tie the game. It was this puck that Bergeron saved to give to his newborn son.

Despite this positive momentum, the end of the first period would be marred by a check by Zac Rinaldo that the on-ice officials deemed as charging, giving him a 5-minute major and a game misconduct. Speculation was that Rinaldo would see a lengthy suspension, but as it was announced Thursday afternoon, the Department of Player Safety concluded that no additional punishment was warranted for the check.

In addition to the major penalty, Zdeno Chara would receive a slashing penalty on Giroux and Giroux would get an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against Chara. Of course, when it all got added up, it would put the Bruins down a man for the first five minutes of the second period with one of their main penalty killers in the box.

Having done an excellent job of keeping the Flyers from getting any chances during the major penalty, with just 29 seconds remaining on the kill, Chris Kelly would find an opportunity to garner a shorthanded goal. About four minutes later Boston native Jimmy Hayes got his second as a Bruin and Boston was up by two goals just short of the halfway mark in the game. It seemed that the team had found their legs and were the team that had taken the two road wins.

Unfortunately, as the third period got underway it became clear that something had changed with the Bruins. The sense of urgency was missing. There was a time when being up by two goals would have all but assured those in black in gold the win, but that was a time when they were stingy in goals against. Such has not been the case since the end of the 2013-14 season. And with 9:36 remaining in the third frame, scoring twice in the space of 2:36 of play, the Flyers had tied it back up, and it would remain knotted until the horn blew to signal the end of regulation.

Ryan Spooner took a hooking penalty 1:36 into the three-on-three overtime and Giroux would give his team a happy win just 33 seconds later on the power play.

It was interesting that it was a hooking penalty that was the Bruins’ undoing. Coach Jim Madigan, head coach of the Northeastern University Huskies had strong words about hooking penalties when his team was whistled for them last Friday night.

“We take three hooking penalties, reaching penalties, because we’re lazy on one-on-two situations,” he said. “Just not smart hockey and they capitalize.”

That sums up what happened to the Bruins in the extra frame, leaving them with a 4-game home record of 0-3-1.

Perhaps the best thing that can be taken away from a disappointing game is that it was the Boston Bruins home game for Hockey Fights Cancer, an important NHL initiative to help in the raising of funds for cancer research.

The Bruins head again again on the road, this time to Brooklyn where they will take on the New York Islanders on Friday night. It will be interesting to see which team appears on the ice dressed in the Spoked-B. So far this season it has been a question mark not just from game to game but also from period to period.

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The Minnesota Wild will take on the Columbus Blue Jackets Thursday night after returning home from a three-game road trip.

The Wild went 1-1-1 on the road trip, bringing their overall record to 3-1-1. After a 4-3 victory against the Arizona Coyotes last Thursday, the Wild were not able to continue their undefeated record; dropping the next two games against the Los Angeles Kings and the Anaheim Ducks.

The Blue Jackets have yet to win a game, and the hiring of John Tortorella was announced on Wednesday, October 21, as the new head coach, after firing Todd Richards.

Tortorella has a long history as a coach in the NHL and has found success along the way, so he could change the Blue Jackets’ performance for the better.

Despite the Blue Jackets’ poor record, the Wild should not expect to have an easy win cut out for them, as Columbus will most likely bring their best game to the Xcel Energy Center in a desperate attempt to find their first victory of the season.

Wild fans can expect continued contributions from Zach Parise, as he recorded three points on Minnesota’s road trip.

Defenseman Ryan Suter has also been playing well, assisting on many of the team’s goals this season–five assists in the first four of their five games.

As usual, the team’s young guns such as Charlie Coyle, Jason Zucker, Mikael Granlund and Nino Niederreiter are expected to produce points.

Ryan Johansen, captain Nick Foligno and Brandon Saad have started the season off strongly for the Blue Jackets, despite their team’s poor record. Fans should watch these players, as it would not be surprising to see them on the score sheet.

Thursday’s game should be a close one, as both the Wild and the Blue Jackets hope to start a winning streak.

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