The Boston Bruins have won seven of their last eight games and picked up a win at home against Vegas on Thursday night. Despite a four-goal loss on Tuesday, four goals in the first two periods lifted the Bruins, as did 30 saves from their goaltender.
Across the NHL, a former Bruin hit the 1,000-game mark on Thursday night; 452 of those games were spent in Boston. The Maple Leafs are having some injury troubles with their blue line, although the players could return to action tonight. Also, Evgeni Malkin answered the question that Penguins fans had been longing to hear, and there is a trade board.
Elsewhere in hockey news, there is good and bad news in the AHL. Starting with the bad news, unfortunately, New England will lose another AHL team. Bridgeport will pack its bags after this season and move north of the border. The more positive news, unlike the NHL Winter Classic, we will have an outdoor game in the freezing cold winter; two AHL teams meet outside on Friday night.
Happy Friday, here is today’s Daily Bean.
Boston Bruins
Boston skated to its sixth straight home win on Thursday night. They took down Bruce Cassidy’s Vegas Golden Knights (24-13-12) with help from an explosive start to the game. David Pastrnak recorded three points in the Bruins’ win.
On Tuesday night, Marco Sturm mentioned that the Bruins’ “pounding” on Tuesday will help get the message across. Well, he was right. Joonas Korpisalo made 30 saves, including 18 in the third period, en route to the Bruins’ 4-3 win.
Also, the Bruins jumped to a 3-0 lead in a span of 54 seconds, which helped too.
NHL News & National Hockey Now
Vegas Hockey Now: For the other side of coverage from Thursday’s game, check out Hannah Kirkell’s recap from last night. Conversely, Vegas could not complete its comeback attempt at the TD Garden on Thursday.
Also, in Vegas news, Mitchell Marner returns to Toronto on Friday night.
BlueJackets.com: Charlie Coyle skated in his 1,000th career game on Tuesday. The Weymouth native skated in 452 games for the Bruins from 2019-25; he posted a 96-134–230 stat line. Jeff Svoboda walks through Coyle’s journey to 1,000 games, starting as a kid who wanted to play for the Weymouth Wildcats.
Pittsburgh Hockey Now: One more year! Evgeni Malkin said the words that Penguins fans have been waiting for. The Penguins defeated their former teammate, Tristan Jarry, 6-2 in Edmonton last night. Malkin, who had two goals and an assist, carried his good mood into the locker room, where he told Dan Kingerski, amongst other reporters, that he wants to play one more year.
Kyle Dubas, you’re on the clock. Malkin’s contract expires at the end of this season; he is a 39-year-old with 39 points in 35 games.
Toronto Hockey Now: The Maple Leafs are already without Chris Tanev, but this week they lost two more defenseman. Oliver Ekman-Larsson left Wednesday’s game with a lower-body issue, and Brandon Carlo is hurt as well. However, there is good news on the Toronto front. Darren Dreger reported that both defensemen could be in the lineup against Vegas on Friday. Dave Litman has all of the injury updates in Toronto.
TSN: It’s trade list season! This one comes from Steve Dryden at TSN. Two Rangers (Panarin, Trocheck) and two Devils (Hamilton, Palat) comprise the top five; the other comes from Calgary (Kadri). Panarin at the top of the board is not surprising, considering the Rangers will not offer him an extension. The roster freeze goes into effect on February 4.
Bruins defenseman Andrew Peeke is listed at No. 26.
ESPN: The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) met and continued its ban on Russia and Belarus, extending it through the 2026-27 season. Last month, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommended that governing bodies reinstate athletes with their full country identity. However, the IIHF is not taking the IOC’s recommendation. They will push it to the 2027-28 season, where the U-18 teams will be considered.
Toronto Sun: Kenny Kaminsky, a friend of mine who works for Isles in the Sound, deserves credit for bringing this news to light. A Frank Seravalli reply-tweet confirmed that the Bridgeport Islanders (AHL) are packing their bags and moving to Hamilton, Ontario. This is their last season in Bridgeport. The city was the home of the Hamilton Bulldogs, and the new team will continue at the same arena, just with a new arena name (TD Coliseum).
Yet another AHL team leaves New England. In 2008, there were eight; next year, there will be three.
According to Kaminsky, the Total Mortgage Arena will have a Tier-3 junior team moving in.
FloHockey: Also in AHL news, there is an outdoor game tonight. The Iowa Wild (MIN) is hosting the Milwaukee Admirals (NSH) at the Hockey Day Minnesota celebration. The game will take place in Hastings, Minnesota; the high in Hastings today is -8° F. It will be a much different atmosphere, weather-wise, compared to the two NHL outdoor games this season.
Click here for the YouTube link for the game at 5:30 PM ET.