Bruins 3, Golden Knights 2 (SO)

 

An overtime, shootout win over Vegas for the B's! The mighty Boston Bruins win the game on a David Pastrnak goal on the third shootout attempt after the game ended in a tie and no one scored in the OT. 

Regulation saw goals by Hagens and Geekie in the first and second periods, followed by two goals by the Golden Knights to tie the game and force OT. Vegas' Jack Eichel (BU. 2015) managed only one shot on goal all game, and didn't score a goal or an assist.    

Jeremy Swayman made 21 saves on 23 shots in goal for the Bruins.

The Bruins improve to 11-4-1 and remain in first place in the Atlantic Division with 23 points, three ahead of Montreal. The Lightning and the Panthers, those pesky teams from Florida that have given the Bruins so much trouble the past few seasons, are in fourth and fifth place at 18 points each.

The Bruins are off until Thursday, when they visit the Pittsburgh Penguins (5-7-2).  

Rockets 109, Celtics 93

 

Oof. The revenge of Marcus Smart and Ime Udoka. Playing on no rest after the hard-earned Nets win the night before and with Scheierman filling in for Peul George, the Celtics came into Houston flat-footed and listless. Without George feeding him the ball, Tatum scored only 19 points, well below his average 27, and the team as a whole shot only 28.6% from the field, well below their average 45.7%. 

The Rocket's defense was a big part of it, forcing 15 Boston turnovers and blocking five shots. Marcus Smart had two steals and four rebounds, which didn't help the Celtics any.

But no use crying over spilled beer. The road trip continues, and after a day's rest they play in Milwaukee tomorrow against the Bucks (1-6). Take last night's frustration out on the hapless Bucks and move on. 

The Celtics are 5-2 after last night's loss and remain in second place in the Atlantic Division behind Jaylen Brown and the 76ers (7-1).

Patriots 24, Dolphins 19

 

Synchronicity. While the Celtics were in Florida playing the Orlando Magic, the New England Patriots were also in the Sunshine State playing the Miami Dolphins at the same time. I was switching back and forth between the two games as both the C's and the Pats struggled with opponents over whom, at least on paper, they should have romped. Both teams played poorly in the first half, and both returned to form in the second half to win their games.      

The Patriots fell behind the Dolphins 13-3 at the half. In that first half, the Patriots had fumbled the ball away on their own 14, leading to a Miami field goal, and on their next possession missed a FG from 22 yards out. And then they went three-and-out on their first possession of the second half.

Fortunately, their fortunes turned around after that. They scored three touchdowns on their next three possessions - a 43-yard passing play from Drake Maye to Kyle Williams, a two-yard rushing TD by Maye, and a 48-yard fourth-quarter passing play to DeMario Douglas that followed a Kevin Byard  interception of Miami QB Malik Willis. Twenty-one unanswered points by New England before the Dolphins scored six on a late TD and missed the 1-point conversion to end the game.

When it was all said and done, Maye finished the game with 199 passing yards on 16 of 20 attempts, and made two passing TDs and one rushing TD. Rhamondre Stevenson had 82 yards rushing and DeMario Douglas had 76 yards receiving. 

The Patriots improve to 5-3 on the season, still second to Buffalo (6-1) in the AFC East. 

Next weekend, the Patriots will host Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers (5-3). Love leads the NFL in passing yards (2,246) and is second in passing yards per game at  280.8. Drake Maye is sixth and 13th in those two categories, although he is tied for third in the league with 8 interceptions (Love has six). 

While the Pats will have their hands full with the Packers, they are currently favored by three points.     

 

Celtics 108, Magic 97

 

Just like last week's win over the Nets, last night's win over the 2-4 Orlando Magic seemed a lot harder - and a lot less certain - than it should have been. "Just roll over and die, already,!" I was shouting at both opposing teams. But do they listen? Do they take my advise? No, both teams kept coming back, againa nd again and again.

But just like last week, on Sunday night the Celtics found a way to win, led by Tatum's 32 points, despite a bloody head-banging injury that caused him to miss the first half of the second quarter. Paul George, who's turning out to be the ideal match for Tatum's style of play, had 17 points and eight assists. In an unusual move, Joe Mazzulla rested center Mitchell Robinson for the night, moved Neemias Queta (8 points and 8 rebounds) to fill in at center, and let Hugo Gonzalez start at guard. Of course, being in the starting lineup doesn't guarantee playing time, and Hugo was only given 13:55 on court, the least of any starters or bench players except for Jordan Walsh. However, he was still able to make three baskets, including one three, two steals, and one offensive rebound in his limited playing time.

The Celtics led by five at the half, but Orlando tied it up with 15 seconds left in the third. Tatum hit a trio of free throws to close the quarter with the Celtics up by three, but the Magic tied it up again at 79-all 3:49 in to the final quarter. The Celtics didn't trail in the final quarter, and a Paul George three-pointer gave the Celtics an 11-point lead with 1:32 left to go. 

The Celtics improve to 5-1 on the season, but are still in second place in theri division to Jaylon Brown and the Philadelphia 76ers (6-1). 

No rest: the Celtics left the humid wastelands of Central Florida after the game and flew to equally vile Texas to play Kevin Durant, Marcus Smart and the Houston Rockets (6-1) tonight. Tip off is at 8:30 Eastern time.

We're No. 2 (Again)!

 

The last AP Poll before the CFP Selection Committee starts releasing its weekly rankings every Tuesday came out today. AP Polls were always meaningless beauty contests, but it's still nice for a fan to see their team recognized, just as it's equally appalling to see then dissed with low rankings. In any event, this is the last post that will pay any attention to the AP.

Besides, these weekends are exhausting! Six hockey games (two Bruins, two BU men's, and two BU women's), two Celtics games, and football games with the Georgia Bulldogs and New England Patriots this weekend. And now the AP rankings. Sheesh! 

In the latest, Week 9 AP Poll, the reigning SEC-champion University of Georgia Bulldogs (7-1) moved up from Number 3 to the Number 2 spot. Ranked No. 3 in the preseason poll, the Dawgs were the previous No. 2 in the AP from Weeks 1 to 5, and now here they are, back at No. 2 again. 

No. 1 Miami (8-0) held off unranked North Carolina to win by three, 38-35, and remain No. 1 with 62 first-place votes. The old No.2, Ohio State (6-2), lost for the second time this season, this time to unranked USC, 30-18, and fell nine places all the way down to No. 11. The loss allowed Georgia, who beat No. 17 Florida, 27-8, to move up to No. 2 with seven first-place votes. Utah (8-0) moved up into Georgia's old No. 3 spot with a win over unranked Cincinnati and one first-place vote.  

Indiana (8-1) needed OT to beat unranked Minnesota, 23-16, and their struggle cost them two places in the AP Poll, falling from No. 4 to No. 6. Notre Dame (7-1) took over the No. 4 spot in this week's poll, and UCLA (8-0) moved up to No. 5. After No. 7 BYU (7-1), the SEC's Kentucky (7-1), Alabama (6-2), and Texas (6-2) are Numbers 8, 9, and 10. As mentioned above, Ohio State (6-2) fell nine spots down to No. 11. 

The fearsome Trinidad Chambliss (2,189 yards and 18 TDs) and Ole Miss (6-2), Georgia's opponents next weekend, are the new No. 12. Other SEC teams in the Top 25 include LSU (No. 15) and Tennessee (No. 16), both at 6-2.  Missouri, also 6-2, is Georgia's next opponent after the Ole Miss game, and is now ranked No. 19. South Carolina (5-3) debuted in the Poll this week at No. 23, and Florida (5-3), after its loss to Georgia, fell all the way down to No. 25. 

For those of you who care, that's ten SEC teams in the Top 25. It just means more. 

Dumb-ass, unranked Central Florida, who inexplicitly got their hands on college football's lineal championship title and Georgia's 2021 and 2022 championship belts, were blown out on Friday by unranked Baylor, 41-9. Baylor, who held the title and the belts from the 2021 Sugar Bowl over Ole Miss to their September 10, 2022 game against BYU, now have their hands on the prizes again. And guess who Baylor plays next week? You got it - No. 7 BYU, who will almost definitely take the title and belts away (the Cougars are 3½-point favorites over the Bears).

And that's it and good riddance to the AP Poll. Time to hear from the Selection Committee for some opinions that actually matter.         

BU 3, Maine 2 (OT) (men)

 

The No. 14- ranked Boston University men's ice hockey team needed overtime to do it, but swept the No. 19 Maine Black Bears with a 3-2 overtime thriller last night. 

Maine jumped out to an early, 2-0, lead and held the advantage through most of the game. The Terrier's Tynan Lawrence scored twice in the third period, first on a power play and then even strength, to force the OT. Freshman Caleb Malhotra found the back of the net 1:35 minutes into the overtime period to give BU the win and the weekend sweep. Goaltender Mikhail Yegorov made 34 saves in the net.

For those of you keeping score at home, that's three straight wins for the Terriers and fourth of their last five games.

BU improves to 6-2-0 overall and 4-2-0 in Hockey East. The Terriers lead the conference with 11 points, two ahead of second-place Vermont and eight ahead of sixth-place Boston College. To be fair (to Vermont, not BC because fuck those guys), BU's 11 points are largely due to the fact that they've played more conference games, six, than Vermont (four) or BC (two).

The real test comes next weekend when the Terriers skate over to East Lansing, Michigan for two games against the No. 4-ranked Michigan State Spartans (4-1-0). As if that wasn't enough of a challenge, three nights later they play Harvard (1-1) back on home ice. To those of you unfamiliar with the quirks of college hockey and are dismissive of Ivy League sports teams, Harvard has won the Beanpot championship ten times, were the ECAC (BU's former conference) champions nine times, and were national champions in 1989. Granted, 1989 was a long-ass time ago, but the point is the Crimson team is not to be taken lightly, especially three nights after getting manhandled in Michigan.

Georgia 27, Florida 8

 

The No. 3 University of Georgia Bulldogs bounce back from their loss to Auburn two weeks ago to beat the No. 17 Florida Gators, 27-8, in Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Georgia has now won nine of its last ten games with the Gators.

The loss was so bad that after two first-half interceptions, Florida benched starting quarterback Aaron Philo for sophomore QB Tramell Jones Jr. It didn't work out so great for the Gators. On his second drive of the game, Jones was stripped of the ball for a fumble and a Georgia scoop-and-score. In the third quarter, Jones threw an INT of his own.

Meanwhile, Georgia's Gunner Stockton threw for 101 yards and rushed for 45. Running backs Dwight Phillips Jr. and Nate Frazier both had 67 yards rushing, with Frazier scoring a TD. Bo Walker rushed for 27 yards and one TD. 

Fourteen of Georgia's points were on rushing TDs, seven were on the scoop-and-score, and six were on field goals. Defensively, Georgia had a shut-out going until the last five minutes of the game, when Florida finally found the end zone with 4:12 remaining in the game. 

Georgia improves to 7-1 on the season and 5-1 in the SEC. No. 9 Kentucky is also 5-1 in the conference, but were idle this week, so the two teams are currently tied for first place. Next weekend, Georgia plays No. 12 Ole Miss (6-2), who thumped Auburn today, 45-15, while the Wildcats travel to No. 16 Tennessee (6-2).  Both games should be pretty wild and entertaining to watch. 

Kick-off on the Georgia-Ole Miss game is scheduled for 7:30 pm.

  

Northeastern 4, BU 2

 

The No. 4-ranked Northwestern Huskies completed their weekend sweep of the BU Terriers with a 4-2 win late this afternoon. 

Northeastern took a 2-0 lead in the first period on a pair of power-play goals. Once BU was back to full strength, Quinn Taylor and Kylie Hollingsworth tied the game up for the Terriers with a pair of even-strength goals. The Huskies regained the lead with another goal in the first. The score remained 3-2 through the second, and in the third, Northeastern scored the final goal for the 4-2 win and the sweep. .

Sydney Fogu was in the net today and made 44 saves, a career high.

The Terriers fall to 2-7-1 overall and 1-2-1 in conference play. They remain tied for third in Hockey East with five points, along with Providence and UConn, and are far back from first-place BC (13 points) and second-place Northeastern (12 points). 

Next weekend, the Terriers host Maine (4-6-0 overall, 1-1-0 in Hockey East) for two games. The men's team is looking to sweep Maine this weekend, and here's hoping the women can pull off the same.

Bruins 5, Blackhawks 4 (OT)

 

The mighty Boston Bruins pull off an OT thriller. Elias Lindholm hit the goal, his fifth of the season, with an assist by Charlie McAvoy (BU, 2016) in overtime, and the B's skate away with the win.

Chicago scored first on a power play, but David Pastrnak scored later that period to tie the game. The Blackhawks scored again in the second, and this time it was Casey Mittelstadt who responded with a goal. Chicago's Ryan Greene (BU, 2025) gave the Blackhawks the lead back again in the third, followed by a second Chicago goal for a 4-2 lead midway through the third. But Mason Lohrei scored and then Morgan Geekie, and the game went into OT for Lindholm's game-winner.

The Bruins are now 10-4-1 and remain in first place in the Atlantic Division, three points ahead of the Canadiens and the Lightning. 

Next: the Bruins host the Vegas Golden Knights (9-5-1) and Hobey Baker Award winner Jack Eichel (BU, 2015) on Monday night (7:00).

BU 7, Maine 2 (men)

The No. 14-ranked Boston University men's hockey team crushed the University of Maine last night, 7-2. Playing in their home Agganis Arena, seven different Terriers scored a goal and all twelve forwards recorded a point.

BU scored three goals in the first 1:31 of the game alone. While fans were still settling in their seats, Tynan Lawrence scored a mere 29 seconds into the first period. Xavier Villeneuve made it 2-0 at the 1:00-minute mark and Ben Merrill gave the Terriers their third goal 31 seconds later. Pity the fan who arrived at the game late.  

The Terriers' Victor Nörringer added another goal at the 4:49 mark to give BU a 4-0 lead. Moments later, the Black Bears hit their first goal to end the opening period, 4-1. 

Niklas Aaram-Olsen and Brandon Svoboda both added goals in the second period for a 6-1 Terriers lead. In the opening minutes of the third, Conrad Fondrk found the back of the net on a 5-on-3 power play to give BU a 7-1 lead before Maine answered with a power-play goal of their own for the final 7-2 score.

The goals were collegiate firsts for Villeneuve, Nörringer, and Aaram-Olsen. Goaltender Mikhail Yegorov made 28 saves against 30 shots (.933).

The Terriers improve to 5-2-0 on the season and 3-2-0 in Hockey East, where their nine points leads the conference. They're trailed by Vermont (7 points), Providence (6) Merrimack (5), and UMass (3). BC and UConn struggle with only two points each.  

The Black Bears are kind enough to hang around Boston for another night and will play the Terriers again at 6:00 pm.

Celtics 125, Bulls 111

 

For the second time this week, the Boston Celtics trounced the Chicago Bulls, beating them last night by the score of 125-111. What's more, it was apparently an NBA Cup game, a tournament about which I have ZERO enthusiasm, and the Celtics are now 1-0 in the East Group C standings, or something. 

But anyway, in the real world, Payton Pritchard, although only a mere 3-9 on threes, led the Celtics with 30 points and 34:45 minutes, even beating out Jayson Tatum (26 points and 34:38). Not bad considering Pritchard wasn't even a starter. Payton was also 9-9 on free throws.

For his part, Tatum is now averaging 27.6 points per game, fifth best in the NBA. Overall, the Celtics lead the league with 123.4 ppg. They're also tied with the Atlanta Hawks  for most three-pointers made (15.7). Defensively, the Celtics are second in rebounding, with 28.9 per game.  

The Celtics led by 19 points after the first quarter and by 29 at the half. They eased up a little in the second held to rest the starters and minimize potential injuries, and the Bulls chipped away ever so slightly at the lead, but still finished the game down by 14 points. Five non-starting players saw double-digit playtime minutes.      

The Celtics are now 4-1, a half game behind the 76ers in the Atlantic Division and a half game back from Philly and Detroit in the Eastern Conference. 

Tomorrow, the Celtics fly down to sunny Florida to play the Orlando Magic (2-3). The Magic have had a rough couple weeks, going 3 for 5, but one of their two wins was over the NBA champions Knicks, but at 2-4, lots of teams have been beating the Knicks so far this season.

Game time is 3:30 pm.

Northeastern 8, BU 1

 

The Boston University women's ice hockey team were blown out this afternoon to No. 4-ranked Northeastern, 8-1. 

Northeastern took a 2-0 lead with one goal in the first and another early in the second before the Terriers' Lexie Bertelsen scored BU's lone goal on a power play. The Huskies didn't like that and responded with six unanswered goals. 

It could have been worse: BU goalie Mari Pietersen tied a career high with 45 saves in the net. 

The Terriers fall to 2-6-1 overall and 1-1-1 in conference play. Their five points ties them with Providence  for third place in the Hockey East standings, four points behind Northeastern (6-1-1, overall; 3-0-0 in the conference) and five back from first-place Boston College (5-3-0/3-1-0).

The second game of this weekend series is tomorrow, same time (4:00 pm), same place (BU's Walter Brown Arena).