The Boston Bruins return to practice in three days; the team plays its next game in 11 days.
In the meantime, some are keeping busy in Milan.
Within the organization, players at the Olympics continued to find the scoresheet. It started with David Pastrnak on Friday and continued with Dans Locmelis on Saturday.
However, they were not the only ones who made it to the scoresheet. The Providence Bruins and Maine Mariners picked up wins last night, and more prospects tallied a point.
Saturday in Milan started with a last-minute goal to clinch a group, continued with an 11-goal showing, and ended with two long Denmark goals and a USA win.
Also, Pittsburgh has found a connection. Penguins head coach Dan Muse has paired two unlikely players together for a while, and it has been working. Toronto also has its eyes on a former Bruins first-round pick.
Happy Sunday, there’s no more football, but at least we have the Olympics (and the prospects).
Boston Bruins
LOCMELIS SCORES TWICE: Bruins prospect Dans Locmelis scored twice for Latvia yesterday. Both goals, the first two of his Olympic career, came on the power play. Latvia picked up a 4-3 win over Germany and improved to 1-0-0-1 (W-OTW-OTL-L) on the tournament.
Prospects Update
The Providence Bruins were in Bridgeport, CT, last night. The Islanders scored the game’s first two goals, but the P-Bruins rallied back for a 4-2 win. That is 11-straight for Providence; they are in first place, and thanks to the Kingerski-WBS curse, they are now five points ahead of the second-place Penguins in the East.
The P-Bruins have four games in hand over the Penguins, as well.
Providence hosts Bridgeport for the last leg of this home-and-home today at 3:05 PM.
The Maine Mariners beat the Florida Everblades 1-0 in a shootout last night.
From the other games last night:
Quinnipiac Men’s Ice Hockey (video via 𝕏): That’s two goals in two games for Elliott Groenewold. Here is the video of the defenseman’s net-front goal.
Three Bruins prospects are in action today (Chris Pelosi is not in the lineup for Quinnipac).
QMJHL: Shawinigan (1) vs. Moncton – 2:00 PM, Avenir Centre, Moncton, NB
NCAA: Quinnipiac (1) vs. Princeton – 4:00 PM, Hobey Baker Rink, Princeton, NJ
USHL: Youngstown (1) vs. Muskegon – 4:05 PM, Covelli Centre, Youngstown, OH
NHL News & National Hockey Now
USA Hockey: The US men’s hockey team picked up a 6-3 win over Denmark yesterday. Swayman was in net; McAvoy was on the first pair. Three Massachusetts natives and four players who played in Beanpot schools scored for the USA, then Jake Guentzel (TBL) and Jack Hughes (NJD) added to the lead.
Jeremy Swayman allowed two goals from distance yesterday, but he kept his head posted high after the game.
NHL.com: Team Sweden beat Team Slovakia 5-3 on Saturday morning, but it was the Slovaks who celebrated. Dalibor Dvorsky (STL), who has played in 67 games with the Springfield Thunderbirds (AHL), scored a goal with 39 seconds remaining. The goal was enough to propel Slovakia to the top spot in Group B.
Tiebreaker: goal differential in games played amongst tied teams.
NHL.com: Whoop! Finland opened the can and delivered an 11-0 win over host-nation Italy yesterday. Sebastian Aho (CAR), Mikael Granlund (ANA), Kaapo Kakko (SEA), and Joel Kiviranta (COL) each had a pair of goals in the win. Joel Armia (MTL), Artturi Lehkonen (COL), and Miro Heiskanen (DAL) added a goal each.
The Finnish win was the biggest Olympic win in the “NHL era.” Even though they won by 11 goals, Finland finished second in Group B.
Pittsburgh Hockey Now: A lucky breakout pairing in Pittsburgh has been forwards Ben Kindel and Anthony Mantha. The Penguins surprised some people with the Kindel pick at the draft, but he has emerged as an NHL forward – joining the line of successful Kyle Dubas draft picks (Fraser Minten, anyone?). Both players, who are at different spots in their careers, have used their time together to be productive on the ice.
Toronto Hockey Now: Dougie Hamilton could be on his way to Toronto? Under one condition. They will have to absorb most of, if not all of, Dougie Hamilton’s $9M AAV. James Mirtle of The Athletic sees the fit. However, Toronto does not have a first-round pick this season or next; they do not have a second-round pick this year, and they are not trading Easton Cowan.
Today’s Olympic Schedule
6:10 AM (M): Switzerland 4 vs. 3 Czechia (OT) (box score, video highlights)
10:40 AM (M): Canada vs. France (USA Network)
1:10 PM (M): Denmark vs. Latvia (CNBC)
3:10 PM (M): USA vs. Germany (USA Network)
Tomorrow’s Olympic Schedule:
10:40 AM (W): USA vs. Sweden (NBC) – Semifinal
3:10 PM (W): Canada vs. Switzerland (USA Network) – Semifinal
(All times ET)