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Pastrnak Leads Bruins Past Sabres

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BUFFALO – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – David Pastrnak logged a goal and two assists while four teammates each scored their first goal of the season as the visiting Boston Bruins beat the Buffalo Sabres 5-2 on Tuesday night.

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Danton Heinen, Brandon Carlo, Oskar Steen and Hampus Lindholm also scored for Boston, which extended its unbeaten streak to four games (3-0-1).

The Bruins never looked back after scoring twice in the first 4:09 and had 3-0 and 5-1 leads at the intermissions. Pavel Zacha and Charlie McAvoy each contributed two assists to Boston’s attack while Bruins goalkeeper Linus Ullmark made 32 saves, improving to 6-1-1.

Victor Olofsson scored both goals for Buffalo, which finished with a 34-32 shots advantage.

Devon Levi made 13 saves on 18 shots before Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen entered in relief late in the second period. Luukkonen stopped all 14 shots he faced.

Boston netted its second and third shots on Levi within a span of 1:08 early in the opening period. At 3:01, Heinen got the scoring started outside the crease, burying the rebound of McAvoy’s shot from above the right circle.

Pastrnak caught Zacha’s cross-ice pass for a one-time goal from the left circle, doubling the Bruins’ lead at the 4:09 marker.

It was 3-0 after the opening frame. At 15:14, after Ullmark scurried out of his net to break up an odd-man rush, Carlo finished a great passing sequence with Pastrnak and Zacha as the trailer coming down the slot at the other end.

 

 

The Boston lead ballooned to 4-0 at 4:07 of the second. Buffalo defenseman Owen Power turned a puck over right to Steen, who was left wide open in the left circle for a finish through a screen.

The Bruins continued the scoring on the power play when Pastrnak set up Lindholm’s shot from the center point at 12:23.

Olofsson got the Sabres on the board with 4:53 left in the middle frame, collecting the carom of Power’s shot off the end wall.

Olofsson spun in the slot and buried JJ Peterka’s feed with 4:48 remaining, but the Sabres could not find another goal on a late 6-on-4 with Luukkonen pulled.

Sabres forward Tage Thompson suffered separate lower-body and upper-body injuries during the game. After being initially listed as questionable to return in the first period, he took four shifts in the second period and was forced out after taking McAvoy’s shot off the hand.

Buffalo captain Kyle Okposo became the 381st skater in NHL history to reach 1,000 games played and the 12th to do so as a Sabre.

–Field Level Media

NHL: Bruins All About Execution

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BUFFALO – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Eastern Conference-leading Boston Bruins play another Atlantic Division rival for the first time this season when they conclude a two-game road trip against the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night.

Even after being bolstered by defenseman Charlie McAvoy’s return from his four-game, NHL-issued suspension and Pavel Zacha scoring 36 seconds in, the Bruins suffered their second straight blemish against a divisional foe with Saturday’s 3-2 overtime loss at Montreal.

Although the loss was only Boston’s second in seven games (5-1-1), the effort led to a hard skate at Monday’s practice.

“Energy, focus, we made mental and physical mistakes,” Boston coach Jim Montgomery said when asked what was lacking against the Canadiens. “Our execution was not what we’ve become accustomed to.”

Brad Marchand led the Bruins with a goal and an assist, and Jeremy Swayman made several key stops among his 24 despite ultimately taking his first loss (6-0-1).

“I think we’re a team that needs to get two points almost every night,” Swayman said. “So, a lot of learning (from Saturday). Going to the third with a lead, you want to close that out. So, I want to have a couple more saves there and it’s just not good enough.”

As Boston continues a true goalie rotation, Linus Ullmark is in line to take the net on Tuesday.

The Bruins will need to give it a better 60-minute effort going forward, especially as a stretch of seven games in 13 days begins when Montreal makes a return visit to Boston on Saturday. The points will soon be coming faster.

“Our schedule has been a little unorthodox (with) a lot of spacing between games,” Montgomery said. “Last year, the spacing was time to rest. This year, we haven’t had as many 3-in-4s so far. … After this week, we’ll start to ramp it up.”

Tuesday will be a milestone night for Sabres captain Kyle Okposo, who is set to become the 46th active player to reach 1,000 career games.

“It’s a special day for everybody that helped me get to this point, for sure,” Okposo said. “For my family and the people behind the scenes that supported me throughout the whole way.”

The Sabres were shut out for the first time this season in Saturday’s 4-0 loss at Pittsburgh, playing without a key forward in Alex Tuch (upper-body), who head coach Don Granato said looks to be on target to return Friday at Winnipeg.

With Tuch’s injury and Matt Savoie being returned to juniors prior to Saturday’s game, Mattias Samuelsson played as a seventh defenseman after being activated from injured reserve.

No matter who’s in and who’s out, Granato is hoping to see a simpler game from the Sabres as they face one of the NHL’s top teams.

“Simplifying. It’s easy to say, a little more challenging to execute that,” Granato said on Saturday. “I thought we could have executed things a little bit more simple, more direct and when a puck is getting to the net, get there, get more traffic there. … There were moments we did, but not consistently enough. You don’t score, you don’t win.”

Goalies Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Devon Levi have alternated starts over Buffalo’s last five games.

If that trend holds, Levi would play his first career game against Boston, the team he shared a city with while playing at Northeastern University. Levi won the last two Mike Richter Awards as the top goalie in college hockey.

–Field Level Media

Oh, What a Knight

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LAS VEGAS – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The City that Never Sleeps has another reason to stay up late.

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The Vegas Golden Knights won the first Stanley Cup Final in team history on Tuesday night on their home rink in Las Vegas, getting three goals from team captain Mark Stone en route to a 9-3 victory against the Florida Panthers in the deciding Game 5.

Stone produced the first hat trick in the finals since Peter Forsberg accomplished the feat for the Colorado Avalanche in 1996 and raised the NHL Stanley Cup in celebration in the post-game ceremonies.

The Golden Knights lifted the Cup in just their sixth season of existence to become the fastest expansion team in NHL history to claim a title.

“I can’t even describe the feelings in my stomach right now,” Stone said while still celebrating on the ice. “Everything you can imagine. The grind of an 82-game season, four playoff rounds. …. You grind and you grind and you grind. At the end of the day, the last team standing, it’s incredible.”

Six other players scored goals for Vegas, Jack Eichel and Shea Theodore each contributed three assists and Adin Hill made 32 saves in another steady performance for Vegas, which outscored the Panthers 26-12 in the best-of-seven series.

The Knights’ Jonathan Marchessault won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. He tallied an assist in Game 5, giving him 12 for the playoffs to go with 13 goals. He tied for the league lead in postseason goals this year and finished one point behind Eichel’s league-leading playoff point total.

“One night it’s one guy, one night it’s another guy,” Marchessault said. “That’s the mentality we have this year, just next man in has to do the job. We’re a bunch of good teammates in that locker room and we’re always happy for each other and everybody stepped up at different times. That’s why, today, we’re winners.”

Sam Bennett and Sam Reinhart each had a goal and an assist, Aaron Ekblad also scored and Sergei Bobrovsky made 23 saves for Florida, which was outscored 21-7 in the three games at Las Vegas.

“Appropriate congratulations to Vegas,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “They earned it. They were outstanding. We didn’t have an answer for them.”

The Panthers played without leading scorer Matthew Tkachuk in Game 5 because of a broken bone in his sternum/clavicle area. The injury occurred in Game 3, but he played through the pain in Game 4 at Sunrise, Fla., a 3-2 loss that put Florida on the brink of elimination.

Maurice said after Game 5 that three others were playing with broken bones, including Ekblad, who competed with a broken foot since the opening-round series against the Boston Bruins.

Maurice said some of the injuries could take four to six months to heal.

“We’re going to have a hell of a time making the playoffs next year,” he said.

Stone scored short-handed off a two-on-one breakaway to give the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead at 11:52 of the first period.

Bobrovsky made a save on Eichel’s backhand try and then tried to lay on the puck in the crease, but it was poked out to Nicolas Hague, and Hague shot it into the net for a 2-0 lead at 13:41 of the first.

Ekblad cut it to 2-1 with a wrist shot from just inside the blue line at 2:15 of the second, but the Golden Knights answered with four straight goals before the end of the period.

Alec Martinez scored off the rush to make it 3-1 at 10:28, and Smith put away a between-the-legs pass from William Karlsson for a 4-1 lead at 12:13.

Stone scored his 10th goal of the postseason to extend the lead to 5-1 at 17:15, and Michael Amadio capped the barrage by scoring with two seconds left in the period to make it 6-1.

Ivan Barbashev scored at 8:22 of the third period before Reinhart scored 25 seconds later to trim Florida’s deficit to 7-2.

Bennett gave Florida three goals in regulation for the first time in the series when he scored at 11:39 to pull the visitors within 7-3.

Stone secured the hat trick when he scored into an empty net with 5:54 left to make it 8-3.

Nicolas Roy finished off the scoring with 1:02 remaining.

“I couldn’t be more proud of our team, our organization,” Marchessault said. “We’ve grinded for a few years, and it’s just unbelievable getting here.”

Florida finished 0-for-14 on the power play in the series to become the first team without a power-play goal in the finals since the Detroit Red Wings in 1948.

–Field Level Media

Stanley Cup: Panthers Alive and Well

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SUNRISE – The Florida Panthers are right back in their chase for the Stanley Cup Final after a come from behind, 3-2, overtime victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday. However, as much as the Panthers have to celebrate with their comeback win, they still trail the best-of-seven series 2-1 and are aware of the importance of following it up with another victory when they host Game 4 on Saturday.

“That’s a big momentum game for us,” Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk, whose late third-period goal forced overtime, told Sportsnet. “Now we’ve just got to win one more game.”

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unloaded a long shot from just inside the blue line that found the mark at 4:27 of overtime to cap a back-and-forth affair. It was his seventh of the playoffs and his fourth career overtime winner.

“We had to find a way,” said Verhaeghe, who added an assist.

With his team on the verge of falling behind 3-0 in the series, Tkachuk — who missed most of the first period because the concussion spotter pulled him from the game after the forward was on the receiving end of a hard check — scored yet another clutch goal.

Tkachuk buried a loose puck with 2:13 remaining in regulation while goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky was pulled for an extra attacker.

“Probably the gutsiest win I’ve ever been a part of,” said Tkachuk, who notched a franchise-record 11th goal of the playoffs and added an assist. “Proud of the team. We’re not done yet.”

Brandon Montour also scored for the Panthers and Bobrovsky made 25 shots in a strong performance. Bobrovsky’s biggest stop came on a third-period attempt from Michael Amadio while Vegas held a 2-1 lead.

The Panthers recorded their first ever Stanley Cup Final win. They were swept in their only other appearance, 1996 against the Colorado Avalanche.

Stanley Cup Finals: Florida at Vegas

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LAS VEGAS – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – During a gathering of about 5,000 fans to reveal his new team’s nickname and logo outside T-Mobile Arena in November of 2016, Vegas Golden Knights owner Bill Foley made a rather bold prediction.

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When asked by the emcee how long it would take his expansion franchise to lift the Stanley Cup, Foley replied, “I did say seven years, but it should be six years now. Six years.”

Vegas, which made a storybook run to the Stanley Cup Final in its inaugural season in 2018 before losing in five games to the Washington Capitals, has one last chance to make Foley look like a prophet.

The Golden Knights face this year’s Cinderella team of the playoffs, the Eastern Conference winning Florida Panthers, in the best-of-seven Stanley Cup Final beginning tonight in Las Vegas.

Vegas, which missed making the playoffs for the first time in franchise history a year ago, rebounded to post a Western Conference-best 111 points while winning the Pacific Division title. The Golden Knights then disposed of the Winnipeg Jets in five games in Round 1, took down Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers in six games in Round 2 and defeated the Dallas Stars in six games in the Western Conference finals.

Florida, which finished tied for just 17th overall in the NHL in points with 92, has won 11 of its last 12 games, including seven in a row by one goal, behind the play of Conn Smythe Trophy frontrunners Matthew Tkachuk (21 points, nine goals, four game-winners) and Sergei Bobrovsky (11-2, .935 save percentage).

The Panthers — back in the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1996 when they were swept in four games by the Joe Sakic-led Colorado Avalanche — rebounded from a 3-1 deficit to stun the record-setting and top-seeded Boston Bruins in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. Florida followed that up with a 4-1 series win over Toronto in Round 2 and swept the Carolina Hurricanes in four games in the Eastern final.

Florida will have had nine days off since their series-clinching 4-3 win over Carolina on May 24 while Vegas has had just a four-day break since their 6-0 clincher at Dallas on Monday. Could the long break cause the Panthers to lose their momentum and be a little rusty heading into Game 1?

“None of the things that you would have normally wanted to have happen has happened to us and they all turned out good, so be careful what you wish for,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “So we’ve just decided not to wish for anything, just take what it is. … It’s a big block of time off and how do you stay sharp, but I would take the rest over worrying about how sharp we’re going to be in Game 1.”

Vegas has relied on a strong defense led by past Stanley Cup winners Alex Pietrangelo (St. Louis) and Alec Martinez (two with Los Angeles). It also has a solid group of veteran forwards that includes William Karlsson (team-high 10 goals), ex-Panther Jonathan Marchessault (nine goals in the last 10 games) and Jack Eichel (18 points, six goals).

Eichel, the No. 2 overall pick of the 2015 NHL Draft, is taking part in the playoffs for the first time in eight seasons. He brings a seven-game goal drought into the Final but has impressed with his all-around play.

“It’s a great opportunity for our group,” Eichel said. “Everybody wants a chance to play in a Stanley Cup Final and to compete for the ultimate goal.”

The Golden Knights, who used five different goaltenders because of injuries during the season, have also gotten surprisingly good play from Adin Hill in net. Hill, who took over for injured Laurent Brossoit in Game 3 of the second round against Edmonton, is 7-3 with a .937 save percentage and two shutouts.

“He’s been great,” Marchessault said. “He’s given us a chance to win every night. At (this) time of the year, if you don’t have a good goalie, I don’t think you go through.”

Marchessault was asked about Foley’s prediction of winning a Stanley Cup in six years.

“Bill’s a smart man, right?” Marchessault said with a smile. “He’s done a lot of good things in his life. We’ll see how it turns out.”

–Field Level Media

Panthers Extend Series vs. Bruins

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Florida’s Matthew Tkachuk scored at 6:05 of overtime to lift the visiting Panthers to a season-saving, 4-3 win over the NHL Presidents’ Trophy-winning Boston Bruins in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series. The Panthers cut their deficit in the best-of-seven series to 3-2 heading to Game 6 tonight in Sunrise.

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After Carter Verhaeghe picked off Boston goaltender Linus Ullmark’s attempt to clear from behind the net, the puck bounced off Ullmark’s pads and onto the stick of Tkachuk for a backhanded, game-winning tally.

Tkachuk finished with a goal and an assist, and Anthony Duclair, Sam Bennett and Sam Reinhart scored in regulation for Florida. Verhaeghe logged three assists. Bennett has recorded points in all four of his games in the series, scoring a goal in three of them.

Panthers goal-keeper Sergei Bobrovsky made 44 saves in his second consecutive start.

Boston forward Brad Marchand had a goal and an assist while returning centerman Patrice Bergeron and Taylor Hall each scored for the Bruins, who had a 47-25 shot advantage and finished 2-for-5 on the power play.

Boston’s Charlie McAvoy had two assists, and Ullmark made 21 saves.

Florida led 2-1 through two periods before the teams traded power-play goals in the first 5:14 of the third.

Hall scored his fifth goal in as many playoff games at 9:16, pulling a rebound out of traffic in the slot and ripping it off the crossbar to tie the game 3-3.

The Panthers also killed a too-many-men penalty in the last four minutes of regulation. Bobrovsky denied a Marchand breakaway attempt before the third-period buzzer.

Florida’s strong start included holding Boston without a shot on its first power play and taking the lead at 8:26 of the opening period. Off a Tyler Bertuzzi turnover, Duclair batted Verhaeghe’s pass to score out of the air.

The Bruins tied the game with a man advantage 2:27 into the second. McAvoy made an incredible feed from the right point to Marchand, who corralled his own initial shot that sat loose.

Boston had a dominant 18-8 shots edge in the second, but a late lapse allowed the visitors to take a 2-1 lead with 1:08 left. Bennett whipped home a shot from the slot after Verhaeghe won a puck battle and slipped the puck out of the corner.

The home team’s onslaught continued with seven shots to begin the third, and Bergeron needed just six seconds of a power play to make it 2-2. At 4:33, the Boston captain deflected home Marchand’s shot from above the left dot for his 50th career postseason goal.

Florida’s power-play unit went to work and got the lead back when Reinhart buried a wrister in the slot off Tkachuk’s feed at 5:14.

–Field Level Media

NHL Says “Games On” for Sweden

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NEW YORK – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The National Hockey League announced its NHL Global Series will feature four teams playing four games in Stockholm, Sweden, from Nov. 16-19, 2023 The Toronto Maple Leafs will play regular season games outside of North America for the first time.

It will be the second trip overseas for both the Detroit Red Wings and Minnesota Wild and the third for the Ottawa Senators.

There have been 38 NHL regular season games played outside of North America to date, including 13 in Sweden.

The full schedule with all games played at Avicii Arena, and the local starting times:
–Nov. 16: Red Wings vs. Senators, 8pm
–Nov. 17: Maple Leafs vs. Red Wings, 8pm
–Nov. 18: Wild vs. Senators, 5pm
–Nov. 19: Maple Leafs vs. Wild, 2pm

–Field Level Media

Bruins Sign Controversial Free Agent

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BOSTON – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – Boston Bruins General Manager Don Sweeney signed controversial defenseman Mitchell Miller to an entry-level contract. He is scheduled to report to the Providence Bruins minor league franchise.

“When I was in eighth grade, I made extremely poor decisions and acted very immaturely,” said Miller. “I bullied one of my classmates. I deeply regret the incident and have apologized to the individual. Since the incident, I have come to better understand the far-reaching consequences of my actions that I failed to recognize and understand nearly seven years ago. I strive to be a better person and positively contribute to society.

“As a member of the Bruins organization, I will continue to participate in community programs to both educate myself and share my mistakes with others to show what a negative impact those actions can have on others. To be clear, what I did when I was 14 years old was wrong and unacceptable. There is no place in this world for being disrespectful to others and I pledge to use this opportunity to speak out against mistreating others.”

“Representing the Boston Bruins is a privilege we take seriously as an organization,” said Bruins President Cam Neely.

“Respect and integrity are foundational character traits we expect of our players and staff. Prior to signing Mitchell, our hockey operations and community relations groups spent time with him over the last few weeks to better understand who he is as an individual and learn more about a significant mistakes he made when he was in middle school. During this evaluation period, Mitchell was accountable for his unacceptable behavior and demonstrated his commitment to work with multiple organizations and professionals to further his education and use his mistake as a teachable moment for others. The expectation is that he will continue this important educational work with personal development and community programs as a member of the Bruins organization.”

Miller, 20, skated in 60 games with the Tri-City Storm of the USHL in 2021-22, recording 39 goals and 44 assists for 83 points with a plus-43 rating. The 5-foot-10, 189-pound blueliner was named the USHL’s Player of the Year and Defenseman of the Year after the season in which he set league records for goals and points by a defenseman. Miller has appeared in 154 career USHL games with Tri-City and Cedar Rapids from 2017-22, totaling 51 goals and 82 assists for 133 points with a plus-54 rating. The Sylvania, Ohio native was originally selected by the Arizona Coyotes in the fourth round (111th overall) of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft but was released after public pressure.

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | October 16th

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While We’re Young (Ideas) Examines the Upcoming 2022-23 NHL Season

By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – The weekly notebook has listed sports franchise valuations, underrated rock bands, NFL Power Rankings, and NCAA College Football Playoff possibilities week-by-week.

Next Up?

The TL Sunday Sports Notes a.k.a. “While We’re Young (Ideas)” will take a crack at the brand new National Hockey League season and list the best of the best and as the list goes, the bottom-feeder “hosers” will be left to the age-old chore (before the great Zamboni was invented) to hose down the ice for the next period.

For the ultimate face-off, “While We’re Young (Ideas)” is picking the Colorado Avalanche to play the New York Rangers in the 2023 Stanley Cup Finals. The Avs dominated the Edmonton Oilers in the 2022 Western Conference Finals, winning the series in four straight. There is nothing on the radar screen to spark another western winner, although Edmonton, St. Louis, Las Vegas, Nashville and Calgary remain as contenders for a Cup Finals appearance.

In the East, the New York Rangers behind goalkeeper Igor Shesterkin have stepped-up as the team to beat. To advance to the Stanley Cup Finals, the Rangers will have to reverse the outcome of last season’s Eastern Finals when the Tampa Bay Lightning eliminated New York, 4-games-to-2.

Last season’s contenders in the East – Carolina, Florida, Pittsburgh, Toronto and Boston – can all challenge the NYR and TB with a combination of goaltending, luck, avoiding injury and playoff positioning determining who might face the West (Colorado) in the final.

While Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews, Nikita Kucherov and Shesterkin are top-rated players and most frequently listed as favorites for NHL Most Valuable Player (Hart Trophy) winners, the player who led the Avs to their third Stanley Cup title, Nathan MacKinnon, is the player to watch. He will determine the success of the Avs and can will the club to a championship, just as he did a year ago. In recent memory, only Mark Messier’s efforts for the 1994 New York Rangers can compare.

Jack Eichel, the local Boston favorite out of BU, left Buffalo and landed in Vegas where he finished the 2022-23 season strong. Orlando-born and Toronto-bred Jack Hughes of the New Jersey Devils, the No. 1 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, is another player to watch this season.

NHL POWER RANKINGS – (As of start of the 2022-23 NHL regular season)

  1. Colorado Avalanche
  2. New York Rangers
  3. Tampa Bay Lightning
  4. Carolina Hurricanes
  5. Edmonton Oilers
  6. Toronto Maple Leafs
  7. Calgary Flames
  8. Florida Panthers
  9. St. Louis Blues
  10. Pittsburgh Penguins
  11. Nashville Predators
  12. Minnesota Wild
  13. Boston Bruins
  14. Los Angeles Kings
  15. Las Vegas Knights
  16. Washington Capitals
  17. Dallas Stars
  18. Winnipeg Jets
  19. New York Islanders
  20. Vancouver Canucks
  21. New Jersey Devils
  22. Ottawa Senators
  23. Columbus Blue Jackets
  24. Philadelphia Flyers
  25. Buffalo Sabres
  26. Detroit Red Wings
  27. Anaheim Ducks
  28. San Jose Sharks
  29. Seattle Kraken
  30. Montreal Canadiens
  31. Chicago Blackhawks
  32. Arizona Coyotes

East: New York Rangers over Tampa Bay Lightning, 4-games-to-3

West: Colorado Avalanche over Edmonton Oilers, 4-games-to-1

Cup: Colorado Avalanche over New York Rangers, 4-games-to-2

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: In the world of sports, you learn something new everyday. A Premier League peep whispered to drop everything and tune-in to the USA Network at about 2:45pm (ET) Friday for the Brentford v. Brighton match.

The pre-game commentators for USA Net were touting their Soccer Showcase at Dilworth Park on Saturday and Sunday in Philadelphia by comparing the “biggest weekend” they’ve ever televised,’ with all the “big” games in the Philly. This weekend, MLB’s Philadelphia Phillies host, and defeated the Atlanta Braves at Citizen Bank Park a couple hours ahead of the Philadelphia Flyers facing the Vancouver Canucks at the Wells Fargo Center, right across the soft pretzel-packed street. Of course, the “biggest game” of the weekend will feature the Philadelphia Eagles playing host to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football at Lincoln Financial Field, a 9-iron from the basketball/hockey arena and an easy wedge away from the baseball field. By the way, the Sixers open the NBA regular season on Tuesday here in Boston and then return to the “City of Brotherly Love” to host the Milwaukee Bucks this Thursday.

Working backwards to what was learned this week, my surprise was teed-up by Rebecca Lowe, host of NBC’s English Premier League coverage, as her Philly-based introduction to the game in London was done just as the Brentford players took to the pitch:

BRENTFORD has a great tradition, far better than the tired, old Red Sox playing of “Sweet Caroline” in the middle of the 8th inning. During pregame introductions, seemingly every one of the 18,000+ Brentford fans raises their red & white team scarf and belts out The Beatles’ “Hey Jude.” … If the team wins, the song is sung – once again – in the postgame.

The good times came to a halt postgame, however, as sadly, after the 2-nil Brentford victory and the postgame “Hey Jude II.” Striker Ivan Toney, who notched the two Brentford goals, was “subjected to disgusting, racist abuse via a direct message received on social media,” according to the club statement issued after the game.

“We condemn this discriminatory behaviour in the strongest possible terms. An attack on one of our players is an attack on all of us. Ivan will receive the full backing from the Club and from the Brentford fans who we have already seen condemning the abuse.

“We expect strong support from the police, legal authorities and from Instagram’s parent company, Meta, to ensure that the individual involved faces the full force of the law for this despicable hate crime.”

[Read more…] about TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | October 16th

Bruins Sign Krejci; Await Pastrnak

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BOSTON – The Boston Bruins signed forward David Krejci to a one-year contract through the 2022-23 season worth $1 million, plus an additional $2 million in performance-based incentives. The announcement was made by Bruins GM Don Sweeney on the same day the club re-signed forward Patrice Bergeron.

Sweeney has one other key free agent that remains unsigned in David Pastrnak. On his conversations with Pastrnak, Sweeney would not elaborate but indicated talks were on-going through-out the off-season.

“Ongoing would probably be the best way to describe it,” said Sweeney.  “We’ve been in regular communication. Obviously, David’s still over in Europe and the likelihood is he’ll come back and we’ll talk between now and then. When he gets back, we’ll maybe have a better idea of a deal timeline. But I don’t have one today and you guys know me well enough, I’m not going to comment publicly on ongoing negotiations, but we’ve been in regular contact with JP.”

Krejci, 36, played the 2021-22 season in the Czechia league for HC Olomouc. In 51 games, Krejci led his team in goals (20), assists (26) and points (46). The Sternberk, Czech Republic native also represented his country at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, China and at the IIHF World Championship in Finland. In four Olympic Games, Krejci recorded one goal and three assists. At the World Championships, he finished second on his team in scoring with three goals and nine assists for 12 points to help his team win a bronze medal.

Prior to his season with HC Olomouc, Krejci played 15 seasons in the NHL, all with the Bruins. In 2020-21, the 6-foot, 188-pound forward appeared in 51 games, tallying eight goals and 36 assists for 44 points and plus-16 rating. In 11 playoff games, he recorded two goals and seven assists for nine points.

Krejci has appeared in 962 career NHL games with Boston, totaling 215 goals and 515 assists for 730 points. In 156 career playoff games with the Bruins, he’s totaled 42 goals and 82 assists for 124 points. He led Boston in postseason scoring in 2011 en route to winning the Stanley Cup. Krejci ranks seventh in Bruins history in games played (962), assists (515), eighth in points (730) and 10th in game-winning goals (41).

Krejci was originally selected by Boston in the second round (63rd overall) of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.