Recap: Bruins head into All-Star break with win over Kraken

In the first ever meeting between the two franchises, the Boston Bruins came out on top against the Seattle Kraken 3-2 on Tuesday.

David Pastrnak had two goals and an assist, Taylor Hall notched a goal and an assist and Linus Ullmark made 25 saves to grab the Bruins a win right before the All-Star break.

The Bruins end the first “half” of the season with a record of 26-14-3.

1st period

Nothing doing in the first period on either side. Some excellent chances on both ends but both Ullmark and Chris Driedger made the necessary saves.

2nd period

Early in the second, Yanni Gourde laid a brutal hit on Urho Vaakanainen that forced the Bruins defender to leave the game.

Gourde was assessed only a minor for boarding despite the officials going to review.

Boston didn’t take too kindly to that. With Gourde out of the box, Curtis Lazar went after him, as well as Derek Forbort getting into a fight with Jeremy Lauzon.

The Bruins were able to strike first thanks to a power play goal by Pastrnak.

One-timer from his signature spot on the left side. 1-0 Bruins.

The Bruins were able to extend their lead to 2-0 before the end of the middle period thanks to a Riley Sheahan turnover right in front of Driedger.

Sheahn mishandles the puck and Hall whacks it home. 2-0 Bruins after two.

3rd period

The Kraken wasted no time scoring in the third with Joonas Donskoi potting his first of the game.

You can see Ullmark never saw it coming. Didn’t even reacted until a good two seconds after the puck was in the net.

A couple of lucky bounces then went Seattle’s way. A shot from Adam Larsson was deflected by Mason Appleton. The puck then went off Charlie McAvoy’s shin and into the net to tie the game.

Luckily for the Bruins, the power play came to play and once again, it was Pastrnak from his patented location on a one-timer to give the Bruins the lead.

Driedger nearly had it, but couldn’t squeeze the glove fast enough.

And that’s how the game would end, 3-2 Bruins the final.

Notes

• Not pretty really at all. The Bruins have now twice in the last three games played down to an inferior opponent and barely got the win. Not a good trend
• The team really limped into this All-Star break. They somehow managed to grab five of a possible eight points between the road trip and this game, but it wasn’t impressive at all
• Really hope Vaakanainen is okay. Has dealt with concussion issue in the past and looked like the head again. Really bad hit by Gourde
• If Vaak is out for a while, a trade for a defenseman has to be made. With Jakub Zboril already done for the season, the troops are running low. Between COVID and another possible injury, the Bruins could be looking at relying on a Jack Ahcan, which wouldn’t be horrible, but he’s not an everyday NHLer
• 14 goals in the last 15 games for Pasta. He’s third-degree burn hot right now
• Ullmark again played great. Neither goal was on him, he’s been a big reason why the wins have come as of late
• Would’ve been nice to see Steven Fogarty get his first NHL goal. He’s an older guy that likely will be a career AHLer with an NHL appearance here or there. Nearly had one tonight but couldn’t get it
• Brandon Carlo doesn’t look the same and I wonder if it’s the injury that is still lingering. Hopefully he heels up and gets some rest from the All-Star break

The Bruins find themselves in a decent position heading into this break. They sit fourth in the division, eighth in the conference, but there is a significant gap between them and the Detroit Red Wings for both.

Use this break to rest, get healthy and gear up for a crucial second half of the season.