The Boston Bruins play Game 4 tomorrow afternoon. They will hit Warrior Ice Arena for a practice this morning.
Marco Sturm said he was looking for more consistency from his third line, which is made up of Fraser Minten, Marat Khusnutdinov, and James Hagens. He did not commit to any lineup changes, but the morning practice should provide more clarity.
Elsewhere around the league, the Devils beat out the Maple Leafs for their next GM. There were reports of the Leafs’ interest, but the Devils front office made sure that did not happen. We knew the site of the 2027 Winter Classic, but now we know the date and even a ballpark of what time the game will be at.
Three teams took series leads last night, and two teams have an opportunity to close out their first rounds tonight.
Happy Saturday, catch up on Bruins and league news in today’s Daily Bean:
THIRD LINE CONSISTENCY: Marco Sturm said consistency is one of the “hardest parts for those young kids.” None of the third line has scored this series, and James Hagens played only 9:53 in Game 3.
DIPIETRO: Michael DiPietro was the ninth goaltender to be named the AHL MVP. He went 34-8-1 with a 1.91 goals against average and a .930 save percentage, all of which led the league this season.
ON TOP OF THE AHL‼️Michael DiPietro has won the Les Cunningham Award as the AHL’s Most Valuable Player👏 pic.twitter.com/jMeJuioKYt
Montreal Hockey Now: In the early window, the Canadiens took a 2-1 series lead over the Tampa Bay Lightning. Alexandre Texier scored not even five minutes into the game, and Kirby Dach scored in the second period to tie the game. This game, like they all have in this series, needed overtime.
Sportsnet (video via YouTube): Lane Hutson scored the game-winner just 2:09 into the extra period.
NHL.com: The Utah Mammoth have the series lead over the Vegas Golden Knights, and picked up a 4-2 win in their first home playoff game in franchise history. Lawson Crouse scored twice, MacKenzie Weegar had a goal and an assist, and Karel Vejmelka made 29 saves.
NHL.com: The Ducks took a 2-1 series lead over the Oilers with a 7-4 win last night. Mikael Granlund had four points, finishing with a goal and three assists, and the Ducks poured 38 shots onto Connor Ingram.
B/R Open Ice (video via 𝕏): Jeffrey Viel scored the goal to give the Ducks a 6-4 lead over the Oilers late in the third period. The Bruins acquired a fourth-round pick for Viel earlier this season.
VIEL ON THE BACKHAND, MIGHT BE THE DAGGER IN GAME 3 🚨 pic.twitter.com/cMqip9rZbQ
New Jersey Hockey Now: The New Jersey Devils hired Sunny Mehta as their GM last week, but just before they did, there was a very real interest from Toronto. The Devils were not going to let that happen, and beat the Maple Leafs to the Wyckoff, NJ native. James Nichols has more on the Devils beating out the Leafs.
Philly Hockey Now: The Flyers are up 3-0 on the Pittsburgh Penguins with a chance to close out the series tonight. When up 3-0, the Flyers have gone 10-0, and teams across the league are 209-4. The message is clear: do not take your foot off the gas, because the Penguins will not give up. Will James has more.
NHL.com: The next Winter Classic will be played on December 31, 2026. The Utah Mammoth will host the Colorado Avalanche at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City. Gary Bettman said the game will be “late afternoon… prime time in the East.”
Hurricanes at Senators, Game 4 – 3:00 PM (US: TBS, TruTV, HBO; CA: SN, TVA)
Stars at Wild, Game 4 – 5:30 PM (US: TBS, TruTV, HBO; CA: SN, TVA)
Penguins at Flyers, Game 4 – 8:00 PM (US: TBS, TruTV, HBO; CA: SN, TVA)