Fresh Links: Sunday Comics

The Bruins slogged through a muddle with the Devils in New Jersey, ending up with a 5-3 win on the second evening of back-to-back games.

• Take a moment to applaud the bit players that stepped up as so many Bruins top players were sidelined for various, sometimes curious, reasons. Boston Globe
• If you were left shaking your head after this game, you weren’t alone. WEEI
• Quick points include a couple of first period bizarro goals. Boston.com
• Brad Marchand returned to the scene of the crime and took his licks. Bonus- Welcome back, Noel Acciari- on his first shift back from injury, he rocked Pavel Zacha. Boston Globe
• Anton Khudobin was stellar with 35 saves (including one on a penalty shot) last night. Bonus- as a result of Acciari’s availability, Austin Czarnik was sent back down I-95. Boston Herald
• Of course the game winning goal was flukey and from the stick of Adam McQuaid. It was that kind of night. Boston Herald
• One big story going forward was the Bruins’ penalty kill. Bonus- it had been just under a YEAR since McQuaid had scored. (WIth video) NESN
• Jake DeBrusk has hit his stride for the Bruins after his first ever healthy scratch. (With video) NHL
• Trade Bait- Patrick Maroon edition. The Bruins always lust after hulking wingers. CBS Boston
• Follow Marchand disguised as a pirate at the All-Star Game while other Bruins try fencing or playing ball hockey with seniors on “Behind the B” episode 9. (Video, 21:52) Bruins NHL
• Is that “pest” or “pets”? Marchand apparently took a chance to needle David Backes on Twitter. BarDown
• Marc Savard has another tutorial on taping for us, this one features Bruins players. He is not particulary impressed with David Pastrnak’s technique. Find out why Marchand doesn’t give away many sticks. Bonus- Savvy tackles a goalie stick, Tuukka Rask style. (Video, 9:21) YouTube
• The weekend that was for Providence incuded a Zane McIntyre shutout win 4-0 on Friday against Wilkes-Barre Scranton Providence Journal followed by a Jordan Binnington win 3-1 over Bridgeport on Saturday night. Providence Journal Sunday’s game was a loss to Wilkes-Barre Scranton in a shootout, 3-2. (With video) ABC6 Here is the summary of the action- Matt Beleskey is taking his job very seriously, even as he is battling back from a facial fracture. Rinkside Rhode Island
• 2-2-2. As for the standings, The Bruins are neck-and-neck with the Golden Knights. NHL Here’s a quick overview of the league-wide picture, division by division. FanRag

Elsewhere around the rink:

• The Maple Leafs are banking on battling from behind to overtake the Bruins (despite the Bruins’ games in hand) and gain playoff home-ice advantage, which they’ll need. Their schedule now involves supposedly lesser teams. We’ll see. Globe and Mail
• Catch up with Olympic women’s hockey action, here’s a summary. The men start in on Wednesday. Pension Plan Puppets
• South Korea is sending a bunch of spanking new citizens out on ice to represent their new country. Their goalie even played a couple of games for the Bruins. Washington Post
• Impaired vision doesn’t mean you can’t play hockey- see how it is done. Washington Post