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Fresh Links: Elation

It was a fine night for David Backes, who scored in his return to game action.

By Giesse
NHL: DEC 01 Canadiens at Bruins
(David) Backes in black.
Photo by Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

The Bruins marked a seven game win streak by besting the Canadiens 3-1 last night. Up next? The Hurricanes tomorrow at TD Garden, 7:00PM on NESN.

  • Two entire periods passed while the Canadiens stymied the Bruins. Then the floodgates opened. Patriot Ledger
  • Bullet points from the win include David Backes making the most of his time after almost a month away from the game. Boston.com
  • Backes had been out since a November 2nd collision with Scott Sabourin. The Canadiens will have to wait for another game to right their ship. ESPN
  • Those now infamous slow starts have thankfully not derailed the Bruins’ march to the tip top of the NHL, but seemed to emerge at about the time of the absence of Patrice Bergeron . Coincidence? Boston Globe
  • The Canadiens’ game plan of physically intimidating David Pastrnak did not bear the intended fruit. WEEI
  • Anders Bjork continues to evolve and is finding ways to contribute. Bonus- updates on Patrice Bergeron and Brett Ritchie. Patriot Ledger
  • With Kevan Miller and John Moore still on the mend, Connor Clifton is confident that he will be an NHL player when all the dust settles on the Bruins roster. Boston Globe
  • Meanwhile, in Providence, the news of Week #17 is all (or almost all) good. Urho Vaakanainen has returned from Boston on a tear. Rinkside Rhode Island

NHL Standings:

  • Boston leads the Atlantic Division NHL just ahead of the Panthers, has overtaken the Capitals to top the Eastern Conference NHL and now stands in first overall in the league. (Standings have been pretty sticky, but links are NOT STATIC) NHL
  • Note that David Pastrnak is running away as the top goal scorer- he and Brad Marchand are still solidly among the Offensive Leaders, the latter in every category. Marchand leads in plus/minus, joining David Krejci and Zdeno Chara among the Plus/Minus leaders. On the netminding side, Tuukka Rask is solidly among top Goaltending Leaders in every category, where Jaroslav Halak joins him among the Goals Against and Save Percentage best. (Links are NOT STATIC) NHL

Elsewhere around the rink:

  • In news of former Bruins: It is out of the frying pan and into the Flames for Geoff Ward. Calgary Herald Speaking of Calgary- forever ago, Dougie Hamilton left Boston to become a stats sweetheart in Carolina. Cardiac Canes
  • Listening will be key now that the NHL is addressing some long dormant issues. They will need to stay focused to achieve real change. Sportsnet
  • The OTHER Bears in Hershey set a new teddy bear toss record. Yahoo