Before the puck was dropped at Madison Square Garden on Monday night, one thing was clear: there was no excuse for the Boston Bruins not come away with two points against the shorthanded New York Rangers. They were missing players due to injuries and held out Carson Soucy for trade purposes.
Soucy was traded during the game to the New York Islanders in a rare trade between the two rivals. However, Boston took a 3-2 lead into the third period, and they were 24-0-1 when leading after 40 minutes. They allowed the game-tying goal with just over six minutes left before losing in overtime, 4-3. Sure, they left New York with one point, but at this point in the season, two is what they needed. It left head coach Marco Sturm a little disappointed.
“I just hate not coming home with two points. But we take that one point. I think it was up for grabs, and we just didn’t take that opportunity to do it, unfortunately,” Sturm said before hosting the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night. “But we still feel good. I think we’ve done a pretty good job as of late, and we want to continue to do that, especially at home.”
After the 3-2 Bruins overtime win over the Predators, the Black and Gold have three more games before the Olympic Break. They'll host the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night.
Nikita Zadorov returns to lineup
When Nikita Zadorov left the TD Garden ice on Saturday night after falling awkwardly late in the second period against the Montreal Canadiens, it didn't look good. He didn't put any pressure on his right leg as he was being helped off.
Incredibly, he returned for the third period and finished out the game. He traveled with his teammates to New York, but didn't play in the game against the Rangers. He returned to the lineup against Nashville, replacing Henri Jokiharju.
Marco Sturm happy for Hampus Lindholm making Team Sweden
When Team Sweden announced its roster for the Olympics in February, Bruins forward Elias Lindholm made the roster, but defenseman Hampus Lindholm was not part of it. However, you knew that he would get a call should an injury occur. That happened on Tuesday afternoon when it was announced that he was heading to Milan. Sturm was happy for his left-shot defenseman.
"It's a great honor. I know he was a little bummed there when he didn't get the call at first. But, he also knew anything can happen, and it did happen with injuries,'' said Strum. "We're all very excited that he made the team."