Final, Bruins 5-1: It's all over in Belfast, with the Bruins taking a 5-1 decision over the host Giants.
It ended with the Bruins posting a convincing victory, but they had to sweat out some early scares before they took control as Belfast actually scored the game's first goal.
Tyler Seguin scored a pair for Boston, with Zdeno Chara, Brad Marchand and Milan Lucic adding the other goals.
Tuukka Rask made 22 saves for the win, but Belfast goalie Stephen Murphy nearly stole the show. The Bruins outshot the Giants 17-9 in the third and 42-23 overall, but Murphy kept it a game for most of the night.
The Bruins leave Belfast on Sunday to head to the Czech Republic, where they'll have a final exhibition tuneup against HC Liberec on Tuesday, then open the regular season with two games against Phoenix in Prague next weekend.
Third Period, 16:22, Bruins 5-1: Tyler Seguin strikes for his second of the game, this time on a penalty shot.
The talented rookie was denied on a breakaway, but drew the call and finished the opportunity.
Even coming against a club like Belfast, this has to be a huge boost to the youngster's confidence going into the season to pot a pair of goals in this one after scoring his first at the Garden against Florida last week.
Third Period, 15:00, Bruins 4-1: Things have calmed a bit in this one, with the Bruins in control with five minutes to play.
After an early scare, the Bruins finally came alive to take control and avert a potential shocking upset.
It's hard to say how much Claude Julien and Co. can take from a game against this level of competition as they try to make their final decisions on the roster and determine the line combinations and defense pairings to start the season.
Third Period, 8:09, Bruins 4-1: Milan Lucic extends the lead to three goals with another tally for Boston.
Adam McQuaid and David Krejci get the assists on this one, as the Bruins are now firmly in control of this one.
Third Period, 2:15, Bruins 3-1: The Bruins will have to kill off an early holding penalty to Blake Wheeler, halting their momentum a bit here in the third.
Boston held a 25-14 edge in shots through two periods, but Murphy has come up big in goal for Belfast. That's a credit to him, but also a concern for the Bruins, who had a habit of making a lot of average goalies look like world-beaters last season.
It was good to see where the Bruins' goals have come from in this one. Seguin should gain more confidence with his strike, Chara's tally is a welcome sight after the team struggled to produce offense from the blue line last year, while Marchand continues his late-camp rally to try to lock down a spot. After a mediocre start to the preseason, Marchand has played some inspired hockey in his last few games.
Third Period, 1:00, Bruins 3-1: Play is under way in the third period, with the Bruins looking to build off their flurry of goals late in the second period.
End Second Period, Bruins 3-1: The Bruins needed a wake-up call, and got it when Belfast struck first late in the second period.
But once shaken from their slumber, the Bruins broke loose in a big way with three goals in less than a minute to finally take control of this exhibition contest.
We'll see if that spurt will jump-start the Bruins offense and give it some much-needed confidence and cohesion as the club tries to find chemistry with all new line combinations.
The slow start against a club like the Giants, coupled with Wednesday's poor performanace against Washington's B squad, raised some concerns, but the preseason is the time to iron out these issues and the Bruins may finally be turning a corner toward a more productive period.
Second Period, 19:09, Bruins 3-1: The Bruins finally showed up late in the second, with their third goal in less than a minute.
This time it's Brad Marchand from Thornton and Chara as the Bruins now appear in control after a shaky start.
Second Period, 18:45, Bruins 2-1: And the floodgates are open, with Boston taking its first lead on a goal by Zdeno Chara from Shawn Thornton and Greg Campbell.
Second Period, 18:24, 1-1: And the Bruins appear to have woken up, as Tyler seguin scored on a two-man advantage to tie it.
Dennis Seidenberg and Matt Hunwick get the assists, but the real help comes from a couple of local boys, as Josh Pudden (Andover, Mass.) and Mike Hoffman (Scituate, Mass.) were sent off for interference and high-sticking, respectively, to give the Bruins the 5-on-3 chance. Embedded Bruins allies perhaps?
Second Period, 15:36, Giants 1-0: And now the Bruins actually trail in this one, as Belfast strikes first late in the second period.
Jade Galbraith gets the goal from Jonathan Weaver and Scott Matzka, as Galbraith goes high to the glove side on Tuukka Rask. This one definitely isn't turning into the confidence-booster the Bruins were hoping for.
Second Period, 6:52, 0-0:And on cue, the Bruins also get whistled for too many men.
It's nice to know there are some constants in this world. It's just unfortunate that the Bruins' inability to execute a clean line change has to be one of them.
Second Period, 5:08, 0-0: The Bruins get another power-play chance when Belfast is called for too many men on the ice. Hey, don't they know that's the Bruins' specialty?
Second Period, 2:56, 0-0: It's turning into a bit of a penalty fest in Belfast.
In the first few minutes of the second, Belfast's Dan Carlson was sent off for tripping, then Dennis Seidenberg joined him in the box for tripping as well, followed by a holding call on Belfast's Jerramie Domish.
All the open space with fewer skaters on the ice hasn't led to any scoring though, as it remains 0-0.
Another factor in that lack of scoring could be the Olympic-sized ice in Belfast. While many want to see the NHL go to the bigger sheet to create more room for offense, the reality is that extra space usually leads to more defensive hockey and less scoring as coaches play much more conservative systems and collapse their defenses for fear of getting beat with the extra room out there.
First Intermission, 0-0: NESN's Naoko Funayama offers a few thoughts on the first period, noting that Murphy has been the story so far in this one, keeping puck out of the net against the Bruins.
She also notes that it's a raucous crowd on hand for this game, with the Belfast fans enjoying the rare opportunity to see an NHL squad in action against their boys.
Funayama also mentioned that the Bruins are winning the possession battle, but are struggling to finish their chances. Anyone else getting flashbacks to last year? She also praised the play of Boston's fourth line of Greg Campbell, Shawn Thornton and Brad Marchand, who have created several good chances.
It would be great to see Thornton cash in on one of those opportunities. He flew his mother, who was born in Belfast, out for the game and has 20 or so members of his extended family from the Belfast area on hand for this game. Because of his family ties, Thornton was more excited than any Bruin to come to Belfast, and the city has definitely embraced him as one of its own. It would be quite a scene if Thornton could light the lamp in this one.
End First Period, 0-0: Twenty minutes in the books, and the Bruins are still looking for their first goal.
This one doesn't look like the rout most expected. Credit the Giants, and especially goalie Stephen Murphy of Dundee, Scotland, for putting up a game effort.
At the same time, there has to be some concern starting to creep in that the Bruins' offense still isn't clicking as hoped, especially as this slow start comes on the heels of Wednesday's poor showing against Washington. In each of these games, the Bruins dressed largely their regular lineup against much weaker rosters, as Washington rested Alex Ovechkin and most of its top players. No need for panic yet, but seeing the Bruins break out for a few goals in the final 40 minutes certainly would be a welcome sight.
First Period, 15:00, 0-0: Still no scoring in this one, as the Belfast Giants are giving the Bruins a little more trouble than expected.
Either that, or maybe last year's scoring woes haven't quite been fixed yet. You shouldn't read too much into exhibition results, but scoring goals is the No. 1 priority for the Bruins this season after finishing dead last in the NHL in that category last year.
Adding nathan Horton will help a lot, while the Bruins also hope for bounce-back years from the likes of Michael Ryder and Blake Wheeler. They also hope to get some production out of rookie Tyler seguin, though they're being careful not to put too much pressure on the 18-year-old.
The Bruins also have to deal with the absence of top playmaker Marc Savard and last year's leading goal-scorer Marco Sturm, who are both out indefinitely as Savard deals with post-concussion symptoms and Sturm recovers from knee surgery.
How Boston's offense fares will be one of the main story lines to follow this season.
First Period, 12:00, 0-0: The Bruins and Giants remain locked in a scoreless draw, which is not exactly what the Bruins were looking for after Wednesday's disappointing showing against the Capitals.
The Bruins said all the right things about not taking these European exhibitions lightly, but the fact remains that the B's still have plenty of work to do to get some chemistry and cohesion in their revamped lineup and it will be difficult to accomplish that against non-NHL competition like the lower-tier European clubs they are facing in Belfast and Liberec.
First Period, 9:36, 0-0: NESN's Naoko Funayama checks in from Belfast to report that the first big hit of the night has been delivered, with Belfast's Jade Galbraith introducing himself to Adam McQuaid.
It's been a lovefest off the ice since the Bruins arrived on Thursday morning. Belfast has embraced the visiting NHLers and even the Giants have been thrilled to get a chance to face an NHL club, but that doesn't mean things can't get heated and some hits dished out once the puck drops. Even in Northern Ireland, it's still hockey being played.
Things remain scoreless midway through the first.
First Period, 0:31, 0-0: Less than a minute into the game, the Bruins get to go on the power play as Belfast's Mike Hoffman gets sent off for tripping.
That's also Scituate's Mike Hoffman, as the bruising winger is one of several Giants with New England ties. You can read about all the connections between the Giants and the Bruins and the New England regions here.
2 p.m.: Things are about to get under way at Odyssey Arena in Belfast, where the Bruins will continue ttheir preseason by taking on a Belfast Giants squad augmented with top players from throughout the Elite Ice Hockey League.
According to the Boston Globe, the scratches for this one on the Boston side are forwards Daniel Paille and Brian McGrattan, defensemen Johnny Boychuk and Matt Bartkowski and goalie Nolan Schaefer.
Tuukka Rask will get the start in goal, with Tim Thomas as the backup.
That makes this one pretty close to the regular lineup the Bruins will use this year when everyone is healthy. The lone exceptions are Brad Marchand playing up front for Paille and Adam McQuaid playing on the blue line in place of Boychuk. They are trying to hold off challenges from McGrattan and Bartkowski, respectively, to lock down spots on the final roster.
That's probably not good news for the Belfast Giants, as they will have to contend with a full-strength Bruins squad looking to get back on track after a disappointing showing Wednesday against the Capitals at the Garden.
1 p.m.: The Bruins get back to work with a Saturday night showdown in Belfast (that's a 2 p.m. matinee for folks back in Boston), as they play the first of two exhibition games against European clubs.
In this one, the Bruins take on the Belfast Giants Select club. The Giants are one of the top teams in the United Kingdom's Elite Ice Hockey League, and they have been further bolstered for this game with a number of top players from other clubs around the league.
They might need the help, as the EIHL is quite a step down from the NHL. But after being soundly beaten 4-1 by a Washington Capitals club that sat out Alex Ovechkin and most of its top players at the Garden on Wednesday, the Bruins shouldn't take anyone too lightly.
The Giants do have some familiar names, with four players – Ben Simon, Rob Globke, Owen Fussey and Colin Hemingway — who have played in the NHL. Of course, that quartet combined for just 134 games and seven points in their NHL careers, with Globke playing most recently with Florida in the 2007-08 season.
Hemingway and his brother Brett Hemingway each played at the University of New Hampshire, while other players on the Giants' expanded roster for this one also have New England connections. Mike Hoffman, a 6-foot-5, 248-pounder who spent seven seasons in the AHL, hails from Scituate, Mass. and went to the University of Connecticut. He was known more for his pugilistic abilities in the AHL, but leads the Giants with 6-3-9 totals in eight games this year.
Belfast's Josh Prudden is from Andover, Mass, while Jerramie Domish attended UMass-Lowell. In all, 10 of the 23 players in the Belfast lineup for this one are from the United States, with nine more from Canada, two from Scotland, one from England and one from Latvia.
The puck drops at 7 p.m. local time in Belfast (2 p.m. ET). Check back here for as many details as we can drum up throughout the day as the Bruins play their first game in their European excursion.
