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The Lightning's Tyler Johnson and Bruins' Danton Heinen battling for the puck on Thursday night. Elise Amendola, Associated Press
The Bruins fell short of their third straight win on Thursday night, falling to the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 in a four-round shootout.
David Pastrnak scored two power play goals for the second straight game, adding an assist as well. Patrice Bergeron notched a goal and an assist, while Brad Marchand and Torey Krug recorded two helpers apiece.
Tuukka Rask stopped 33 shots in the first three periods plus another three in overtime. He's now 3-0-1 with a 1.72 GAA and .946 save %. Through seven games into the season, Pastrnak leads the Bruins with eight goals and 13 points. Marchand leads in assists with seven, while Bergeron and Krug have five apiece. Boston's next two games are against the Toronto Maple Leafs, starting Saturday in Toronto and ending Tuesday in Boston. After that, the Blues will be in town on Saturday for the team' first meeting since last season's Stanley Cup Final.
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 Brad Mills, USA TODAY Sports/Reuters After completing their sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLCS on Tuesday, all the Washington Nationals can do now is wait to see who their opponent will be in this year's World Series.
For the Nationals, this is the first time in franchise history that they've reached the World Series. From 1969-2004, they were the Montreal Expos before relocating to the nation's capital in 2005. Washington becomes the last National League team to reach a World Series, and the second-to-last in MLB (Seattle Mariners). Either the Houston Astros or New York Yankees will face the Nationals. In the ALCS, the series is currently 2-1 Houston, with Game 4 tonight in New York following yesterday's (Wednesday) rainout. The stars of the Nationals have not disappointed this month. Between Max Scherzer and Steven Strasburg, the two have a combined 5-0 record over eight games (six starts) with a 1.71 ERA, while Howie Kendrick (NLCS MVP), Anthony Rendon, Juan Soto, and Ryan Zimmerman have combined for 28 of the team's 43 RBIs. Regardless of who the Nationals face, it promises to be a very exciting World Series. Go Washington. Adam Silver Says There's "No Chance" That Rockets GM Daryl Morey Will Be Fired For Hong Kong Tweet10/17/2019 
Kiyoshi Ota, Bloomberg.com
NBA commissioner Adam Silver cleared the air on Thursday at the Time 100 Health Summit, saying there's "no chance" that Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey will be fired—or even disciplined—for his since-deleted tweet expressing support for the protesters in Hong Kong.
This is exactly how it should be. Democrats and Republicans alike condemned the NBA for bending over backwards to the Chinese government in the aftermath of Morey's tweet, so it's nice to know that basic human rights over large profits is a non-partisan issue.
Silver said the league has already begun to experience "substantial" losses in revenue, as well as the games not currently been shown on the air in China. "We'll see what happens next," Silver said. 
John Tlumacki, The Boston Globe
The Bruins kept on rollin' Monday afternoon at TD Garden, beating the Anaheim Ducks 4-2 to improve to 5-1-0 on the season.
David Pastrnak scored all four Bruins goals (on five shots), setting a career-high and tying a Bruins single-game record with 18 others, the last being Patrice Bergeron almost two years ago.
Two of Pastrnak's four goals (Boston's first and last) were scored on the power-play, his first such ones of the season. The 23-year-old scored a goal apiece in the first two periods before notching two in the final one, the third one being of the unassisted variety.
Torey Krug and Brad Marchand notched two assists each, while Patrice Bergeron recorded one of his own.
Nothing like a great start to the season as the Bruins are showing no signs of a Stanley Cup hangover. Their offense is starting to click, and the goaltending has been great. Exactly what you want if you're a fan. Boston will look to win their third straight game on Thursday night at home against the Lightning. 
Scott Kane, Associated Press
After losing to the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday for their first loss of the season, the Bruins returned home on Saturday for their home opener, shutting out the New Jersey Devils, 3-0.
Tuukka Rask made 31 saves in his first shutout of the season, and 46th of his career. Rask has won all three of his starts so far, registering a 1.33 GAA and .957 save %.
Brad Marchand got the scoring started with his fourth goal of the season just 3:33 into the game. Just about eight minutes later, Joakim Nordstrom scored for his first. Patrice Bergeron ended the scoring with his first of the season with 46 seconds remaining in the second period, a power-play goal. Jake DeBrusk (team-leading four shots on goal), Sean Kuraly, Marchand, David Pastrnak, and Chris Wagner all recorded one assist on the night. With the win, the Bruins improved to 4-1-0 on the season. And for the last three times the Bruins have started with that record, they've reached the Stanley Cup Final. Just sayin'. 
Tom Brady, 10/9/19 against the Redskins. Patrick Semansky, Associated Press
Entering last night's game against the Giants, Tom Brady needed just 18 passing yards to pass Peyton Manning for second on the all-time list.
Manning sat at 71,940, with Brady right behind him at 71,923. As expected, it didn't take Brady very long to pass Manning, as he did so in the first minute on his very first pass attempt:
Brady finished the night with 334 passing yards (31-for-41) to put him at 72,257 in his career, which is 2,588 behind Drew Brees for most on the all-time list; Brees has missed the last three games for the Saints with a thumb injury.
Kyle Van Noy (#53) rushes in for a 22-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter off a fumble in New England's 35-14 victory over the Giants on Thursday night. Elise Amendola, Associated Press/Shutterstock
The Patriots opened 2019 with their sixth win in as many games, handling the New York Giants 35-14 at Gillette Stadium on Thursday night.
This marks the fourth time in team history that the Patriots have started off 6-0, the last such occurrence being in 2015. Tom Brady threw for 334 yards on the evening, completing 31 of 41 pass attempts with an interception. In the process, he passed Peyton Manning for the second-most passing yards of all-time. Brady came into the game needing just 18 to pass Manning, who was at 71,940. Despite not throwing a touchdown on the night, Brady rushed in for two of his own on quarterback sneaks. Julian Edelman notched 113 receiving yards on nine receptions for his second straight game of at least 100 such yards. After the game, Edelman said what everybody already knows:
The Patriots have allowed just 48 points through their first six games of the season. That puts them on a pace to allow 128, which would set the NFL record for fewest points allowed in a 16-game season; the 2000 Baltimore Ravens hold the current record with 165.
Through New England's six games, their opponents have a combined record of 7-22, with number seven to come next Monday night against the 0-4 Jets (who the Patriots already beat this season). Following that game, however, the next six games are against teams with a current combined record of 18-12, which includes the Chiefs, Cowboys, and Ravens. New England's 190 points on the season are the most in the NFL, 29 more than the Ravens (who've played one less game). Overall, the Patriots have won 19 straight games at Gillette Stadium, including three in the postseason. They have five home games left before the playoffs, and if they win each one, they'll set a new team record with 21 straight regular season home wins. If they do indeed win the next four, they'll have a chance to set that record in the final week against the Dolphins. 
John Mocher/Associated Press
Bruins Nation suffered a scare last night, as Tuukka Rask needed help getting off the ice following the team's 4-3 win over the Vegas Golden Knights.
Fortunately for the Bruins and their fans, the situation was extremely minor.
"Just cramping...I'm good," Rask said following the game, noting the Vegas heat likely playing a factor. Rask made 31 saves on 34 shots in the win. In two games this season, the 32-year-old is 2-0 with a 2.00 GAA and .937 save %. 
Michael Dwyer/Associated Press
The Red Sox will have a new pitching coach in 2020, as Dana LeVangie has been relieved of the job's duties, several outlets reported on Tuesday.
LeVangie, who spent the last two seasons as the team's pitching coach, will return for his 30th season with the organization as a pro scout. LeVangie was a pro scout for the Red Sox in 2005 before becoming an advance scout from 2006-12. In addition to LeVangie's reassignment, Brian Bannister and Steve Langone will have new positions in the organization as well:
The parting ways with Andy Barkett was the first move the Red Sox announced following their disappointing 84-78 season; Barkett was the team's assistant hitting coach for the last two years.
For fans, the reassignment of LeVangie doesn't come as much of a surprise. After overlooking a pitching staff that posted a 3.75 ERA in 2018—which ranked eighth in the majors—that number went up this past season to 4.70, 19th in the majors. In addition, Boston's 4.95 ERA from starting pitchers in 2019 ranked 20th, a season after finishing eighth with a 3.77 clip. While the struggles of Boston's pitching staff can't fall entirely on LeVangie due to injury-plagued and flat-out underachieving seasons from key members of the team, somebody has to pay the price.  John Locher/Associated Press For the first time since the 2001-02 season, the Bruins are off to a 3-0 start, after their 4-3 win over the Las Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday night.
Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak led the Bruins with three points apiece, combining for three of the team's four goals, while Tuukka Rask made 31 saves on 34 shots for his second win of the season. As of Wednesday, the Bruins are one of just four teams in the NHL to have a perfect record after at least three games (Carolina 4-0, Anaheim and Edmonton both 3-0). Boston began the season with a 2-1 win over the Dallas Stars on Thursday night, before Jaroslav Halak shut out the Arizona Coyotes 1-0 on Saturday night. The Bruins take on the Colorado Avalanche tomorrow night (Thursday), before returning home to TD Garden on Saturday night to take on the New Jersey Devils for their home opener. After three games, Marchand leads the Bruins with three goals and four points. Pastrnak, Danton Heinen, Torey Krug, and Brett Ritchie have one goal each, while Pastrnak and Patrice Bergeron both have two assists. In all, 11 skaters have registered at least one point. |
AuthorAn independent journalist and lifelong resident of Massachusetts who's bled Boston sports from an early age. Archives
June 2019
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