Coming off a 10-4-1 month of October to begin the 2026-27 season, the Boston Bruins began a pivotal month of November at home on Monday night against the Vegas Golden Knights, where nine of their 11 games this month will be at the TD Garden.
If the Black and Gold are going to be hanging around in the Eastern Conference at the end of the season for a postseason berth, then banking points in November is a must. After grabbing a 2-0 lead early in the second period, the Bruins allowed a second-period power-play goal and then a third-period goal to Trevor Connelly that forced overtime. In the end, the Bruins prevailed in a shootout, 3-2, to improve to 11-4-1 on the season. Here are three takeaways from Boston's sixth straight home win.
James Hagens continues to score goals around the net
It's one thing for a rookie to find the back of the net six times in teh first 16 games of the season like James Hagens has for the Bruins. He has had a knack for doing that, and he did it again in the first period against the Golden Knights,
Vegas goalie Carter Hart made an incredible save with his stick, denying Boston defenseman Nikita Zadorov an open net, but the play continued in the offensive zone, and the puck eventually made its way to Hagens in front of the net, and he chipped a shot over Hart's shoulder for a 1-0 lead. It's impressive how he has no fear of going to the net and finishing.
Bruins hit with Matthew Poitras injury
Early in the second period, Matthew Poitras was skating through center ice when he got Braeden Bowman's elbow directly in the face. He immediately went down and was bleeding. Initially, there was no penalty called on the play, but the officials stopped play. They got together and assessed a five-minute major to Bowman. After reviewing it, the call stood, and they added a game misconduct.
Boston ended up scoring a power-play goal by Morgan Geekie, who now has goals in two straight games, for a 2-0 lead. The Bruins were not able to find the back of the net again with the man advantage as, believe it or not, they struggled at times and overpassed. That ended up being a key moment in the game, but the good news was that Poitras returned later in the period, but didn't play again in the game.
David Pastrnak clinches win with shootout goal
It was another game where the Bruins' best player, David Pastrnak, came up big. He picked up a secondary assist on Geekie's second-period goal; then, after Connelly, Jack Eichel, and Mitch Marner failed to score on Vegas' attempts and Casey Mittlestadt and Fraser Minten missed on Boston's first two attempts, Pastrnak made a nice move on Hart to bury the game-winner.
If we're being honest, this was a great game and an early-season test for both clubs. For the Black and Gold, getting the second point is big. Now there are 16 points remaining this month at home. The first test was passed.
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