BOSTON — Rick Middleton’s name is all over the Boston Bruins‘ record books.It hasn’t been enough to send the man they call ‘Nifty’ into the
Hall of Fame — but it is enough to get his No. 16 raised to the TD Garden
rafters prior to Thursday night’s game against the New York Islanders.Acquired
from the New York Rangers in exchange for Ken Hodge — the latter reunited with
Phil Esposito in New York
http://www.kingsproshop.com/authentic-tyler-toffoli-jersey , Middleton is third in goals (402), even strength goals (275), and shooting
percentage (20.0), fourth in points (898) goals created (357.2), and goals for
on ice (1,319), fifth in power play goals (102), sixth in assists (496) and game
winning goals (52), tied for sixth in hat tricks), seventh in shots (2,007),
eighth in games played (881) and goals per game (0.46) and 10th in plus-minus
(plus-220).Article continues below ...Oh
Devan Dubnyk Jersey , and he’s the team’s all-time leader with 25 short-handed goals.“Loved ‘Nifty,’ even though I was a defenseman,” said current
Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy. “Crafty. One-on-one. Played in traffic. I liked
watching him and Barry Pederson feed off each other.”Cassidy’s banged-up team
(13-7-4) comes home for a two-game homestand after a split of a Montreal/Toronto
trip — and still looking for more production.The Bruins, top heavy with the
Patrice Bergeron line doing much of the scoring, is now without Bergeron, who
suffered an upper body injury that will cost him a month. General manager Don
Sweeney admitted Monday he is searching for a possible trade for offense — and
the Bruins recalled Ryan Donato from Providence, where he had nine points in 10
games since his demotion.The defense, missing as many as six regulars at one
point, has lost Kevan Miller again, this time for at least five weeks with
larynx damage suffered when he took a puck to the throat in Toronto.“He plays
his heart out. That’s two blocked shots that have put him out,” said Cassidy.
“We’ll miss him.”Brandon Carlo, who has been out since Nov. 10 with a
shoulder/collarbone injury
Womens Eric Staal Jersey , returned to practice Wednesday and expects to play either Thursday or Saturday against the Detroit Red Wings. Meanwhile,
Charlie McAvoy (concussion) has been skating but took a day off Wednesday — a
move not considered a setback.The Islanders (12-9-2) will “re-open” their old
home, the Nassau Coliseum, Saturday night. First, they have the Bruins and are
coming off a 4-1 loss to the Washington Capitals in Brooklyn Monday night.The
Bruins swept three games from the Isles last season.“We’re headed in the right
direction,” coach Barry Trotz. “We’re trending in the right direction from a
total hockey standpoint, from the people running it, such as Lou (GM
Lamoriello), and the infrastructure behind that.”Hard-working forward Casey
Cizikas, who has missed the last six games with a lower body injury, was removed
from IR and will be back for Thursday night’s game.“He brings a lot of
intangibles,” said Trotz
http://www.minnesotawildteamshops.com/authentic-jared-spurgeon-jersey , whose new team lost to his old team — the defending Stanley Cup champions —
Monday night, in a game played after Trotz received his championship ring.The
Bruins have alternated Jaroslav Halak and Tuukka Rask since Rask returned from a
three-day personal absence, leaving Rask in line for Thursday. He is an
impressive 12-5-0 with a 2.22 goals-against average and .930 save percentages
lifetime against the Islanders.Halak, who spent his last four seasons playing
for the Islanders, was 7-1-1 with a 1.53 GAA and .950 save percentage against
New York before going there.Thomas Greiss has played three straight and seven of
the last eight games in goal for New York. He is 8-4-1 on the season and is
2-3-0 with a 1.63 GAA and .950 save percentage lifetime against the Bruins.Robin
Lehner, who has struggled this season with his new team (4-5-1), is just 4-11-3
with a 2.71 GAA and .922 save percentage all-time against Boston. DETROIT (AP) —
Anthony Mantha had a goal called back before scoring anyway and the Detroit Red
Wings won at home for the first time this season with a 4-2 victory over the
Dallas Stars on Sunday.Mantha, who has struggled early in the season, had an
apparent power-play goal disallowed in the first period because it was ruled he
kicked it in.“Yeah, I did (know that he kicked it in). I just tried to sell it.
You never know,” Mantha said. “If the league doesn’t look at it, they called it
a good goal on the ice. Things happen.”But he responded by tying the game at
1
Jason Zucker Jersey , 4:44 into the second period with his second goal.Tyler Bertuzzi , defenseman Jonathan Ericsson and Justin Abdelkader also
scored for Detroit (2-7-2), which had been 0-3-1 at Little Caesars Arena. Dylan
Larkin had two assists and Jonathan Bernier stopped 28 shots for his first win
as a Red Wing, after signing as a free agent in July.“Once we got the lead I
thought we were excellent in the third period,” Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill
said. “We played with confidence, I thought we ground them, we spent tons of
time in their end.”Detroit got that lead by taking advantage of a lucky
bounce.Bertuzzi broke a 1-1 tie, 4:59 into the third period when the puck took
an odd bounce off the boards in the corner, on a dump in, and bounced in front
of the net as Bishop went behind the net to play it. Bertuzzi backhanded the
puck into the empty net for his third goal.“Kronner (defenseman Niklas Kronwall)
tried to rim it hard so I could catch in on that far side,” Bertuzzi said. “Got
a good bounce and I was there to tap it in.”Ericsson made it 3-1, 9:20 into the
third
Joel Eriksson Ek Jersey , on a wrist shot from the left point, as Mantha screened Bishop in front.It was Ericsson’s first goal.Radek Faksa made it 3-2,
with 36.3 seconds left with Bishop pulled for the extra attacker. It was Faksa’s
second goal.But Abdelkader’s empty-net goal clinched it with 23 seconds
remaining. It was Abdelkader’s first goal.Gemel Smith also scored for Dallas
(5-5-0). Defenseman John Klingberg had two assists. Bishop made 19 saves.“We
were kind of like hoping to win instead of playing to win,” Stars coach Jim
Montgomery said. “It’s not an excuse. But we didn’t have our normal legs, we
weren’t talking, we weren’t communicating well on the ice to each other, and we
had really no jump.”Smith gave Dallas a 1-0 lead with 8:16 left in the first
period when got control of the puck just outside the Detroit blue line, skated
past Red Wings defensemen Kronwall and Nic Jensen and beat Bernier from the
slot. It was Smith’s first goal.NOTE: It was Dallas C Tyler Seguin’s 600th game.
… Stars general Manager Jim Nill was a longtime assistant GM with Detroit. …
Gemel Smith is the brother of Red Wings farmhand Givani Smith, who is with Grand
Rapids of the American Hockey League.UP NEXT:Dallas: Visits Montreal on
Tuesday.Detroit: Visits Columbus on Tuesday.
