Boston, MA
The Boston Bruins’ offense needs to wake up after being shutout by Flyers
BOSTON — The offensive struggles of the Boston Bruins continued on Tuesday night, as the B’s were shut out by the lowly Philadelphia Flyers. The Bruins were booed off the ice when the clock hit zero on a frustrating 2-0 loss at TD Garden.
It was the first shutout for the Flyers all season, and marked the second time that the Bruins have been held scoreless this season. Boston has been shut out twice in the last four games and has scored just seven goals over its last five games.
The Bruins now sit at 4-5-1 on the season following Tuesday’s loss.
Bruins lose despite out-shooting Flyers
The Bruins out-shot the Flyers 23-19, but Boston had many more opportunities. They just weren’t good opportunities, because Philadelphia threw a lot of bodies in front of those B’s attempts.
The Flyers blocked 28 shots throughout Tuesday night’s game, and the Bruins had just 12 high-danger chances in the contest. David Pastrnak had five of his shot attempts blocked, while Brad Marchand saw four of his bids sent back. That wore out the Boston attack as the contest went on, and the Bruins had just three shots on goal in the third period. It made for a frustrating final 20 minutes as Boston needed just a single goal to pull even with Philadelphia for the majority of the frame.
The Bruins also came up empty on four power-play chances, including a 5-on-3 opportunity in the first period.
“It’s not good enough,” head coach Jim Montgomery said of the team’s offense. “We’re not making plays, we’re not doing enough to generate high-danger scoring chances. Whether that’s a will to go to those areas or not the right game plan, we’re all culpable for not coming out with a victory tonight.”
Bruins’ offensive struggles
The Bruins have scored 27 goals over their first 10 games, which ranks 22nd in the NHL. With 15 full-strength goals, Boston ranks 24th in the NHL.
Pastrnak leads the Bruins with six goals and eight points, but he hasn’t been spectacular and he hasn’t received much help. Cole Koepke is Boston’s second-leading scorer with three goals and seven points, while Marchand is tied for third-most with six points.
However, Boston’s captain has just one goal on the season and is a minus-6. Marchand has gone without a point in five of his 10 games this season.
After Tuesday’s loss, Montgomery said it’s time for the stars of his team to start playing like stars.
“I think on every team, your best players, your star players have to carry the weight, the load offensively,” he said. “Those are the players that are out on the power play. Right now, the offense isn’t materializing for us.”
Bruins’ Power Play woes
The Boston power play unit has been one of the worst in the league, with just six goals on 42 opportunities. Boston’s 14.3 percent success rate on the man-advantage ranks 25th.
The Bruins had just two shots on goal over their four power plays against the Flyers, and both came during a failed 5-on-3 in the first period. The Bruins were up two skaters for 1:37 in the opening frame, but didn’t get any high-danger chances on Flyers goalie Samuel Ersson.
The boo birds were out at TD Garden when the Bruins failed to get a shot on goal during a power play in the third period with the team trailing 1-0. The Bruins were a mess after the Flyers gave them a golden opportunity with a too-many-men penalty, as Boston to connect on easy passes (Pastrnak and Matt Poitras both had giveaways) and looked disjointed over the two minutes.
With nine points over their first 10 games, the Bruins are at the bottom of the Atlantic Division but just one point out of a Wild Card spot. Their minus-seven goal differential, however, is the fourth-worst in the Eastern Conference.
The Bruins will look to get their offense on track Thursday night when they visit the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh.
Boston, MA
First Alert: Mix of snow and rain today, then looking ahead to warmer weather
Today is a First Alert weather day. A system to our south is pushing mix of snow and rain into southern New England through this evening and tonight.
For us here in Greater Boston, expect snow to continue spreading over our area through the afternoon/evening commute. In fact, parts our area could see up to 1 to 2 inches of snow accumulation before the sleet and rain move in.
Much of Greater Boston will likely see snow amounts on the lower end. Higher snow amounts are expected toward southern New Hampshire and along and north of outer Route 2. Also, some ice accumulations are possible, up to a tenth of an inch, creating a thin glaze here and there.
Dozens of schools in Connecticut and Massachusetts have already announced early dismissals as a result of the storm.
While this system won’t cripple our area, conditions could still create a mess on the roads during the evening commute through tonight. Be careful while driving. A Winter Weather Advisory remains in effect for parts of our area through early Wednesday morning. High temperatures will be in the mid to upper 30s today. Overnight lows will drop into the low 30s.
We’ll wake up to patchy fog Wednesday morning before the sun returns. High temperatures will be in the upper 40s. We’ll stay in the 40s on Thursday with increasing clouds. But by late Thursday night into Friday, wet weather returns. Some snow could mix with the rain into Friday morning. Highs will be in the upper 30s Friday.

Warmer weather is expected this weekend. Highs will be in the 50s Saturday and possibly near 60 on Sunday.
Boston, MA
Boston police officials dominate the list of highest-paid city workers in 2025 – The Boston Globe
That was more than what every other city department spent on overtime combined, though it was a slight drop from the $103 million the police department spent on overtime in 2024.
High overtime spending inside the police department has long been controversial and a source of frustration for police-reform advocates. Last year’s nine-figure total comes as Mayor Michelle Wu warns of a challenging budget season to come for the city, which is grappling with inflation and the possibility of more federal funding cuts.
In a December letter, Wu told the city council that she instructed city department heads to find ways to cut 2 percent of their budgets in the next fiscal year. She also imposed a delay on new hires. Boston Public Schools Superintendent Mary Skipper has also proposed cutting somewhere between 300 and 400 positions next fiscal year due to budget constraints.
Overall, the city spent about $2.5 billion on employee salaries in 2025, up around 1.5 percent from $2.4 billion in 2024. The city employs roughly 21,000 workers, according to a public dashboard.
In a statement, Emma Pettit, a spokesperson for Wu’s office, attributed the payroll increase to raises, and in some cases, employees receiving retroactive pay, that were part of contracts the city negotiated with its various labor unions.
“We’re grateful to our city employees for their hard work to hold Boston to the highest standard for delivering city services,” Pettit said.
When Wu won her first mayoral race in November 2021, all of the city’s 44 union contracts had expired. Since then, Wu’s office has negotiated new agreements with all of them, and last year, agreed to a one-year contract extension with the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association, the city’s largest police union.
But as the city heads back to the bargaining table to negotiate extensions or new contracts with others, city leaders should keep cost at the forefront of those conversations, said Steve Poftak, president of the Boston Municipal Research Bureau, a business-backed budget watchdog group.
“As budgets tighten, I’m hopeful that it increases the scrutiny on these collective bargaining agreements,” Poftak said.
The top earner on the city’s payroll last year was Boston Police Captain Timothy Connolly. In addition to his $194,000 base salary, Connolly took home nearly $230,000 in overtime, about $26,000 in undefined “other pay,” and roughly $49,000 as part of a higher-education bonus, for a total of $498,145 in compensation.
Skipper, as BPS superintendent, was the 55th-highest earner among city workers, coming behind 54 members of the police department. She made a total of $378,000 in 2025.
Nearly 300 city employees made more than $300,000 last year. In contrast, Wu made $207,000, though her salary increased to $250,000 this year. More than 1,700 city employees made more than the mayor in 2025.
Larry Calderone, president of the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association, argued that the high overtime costs in the police department are, in part, a result of understaffing.
The department is short roughly 400 rank-and-file police officers, Calderone said, meaning the department has to pay its staff to work overtime and fill vacant shifts. The average salary for an officer in the BPPA is roughly $195,000, Calderone said.
With several large events approaching, including a Boston-based fan fest around this summer’s World Cup matches and the return of a fleet of tall ships to Boston Harbor, Calderone said most of the members of his union are likely to be working the maximum allowable 90 hours a week.
“We just don’t have the bodies on the street,” he said.
The Boston Police Department and the Boston Police Superior Officers Federation — the union that represents the department’s sergeants, captains, and lieutenants — did not immediately return requests for comment Monday.
Jamarhl Crawford, an activist and former member of the Boston Police Reform Task Force, said while high spending on overtime is not new for the police department, it’s a pressing problem the city should tackle.
The police and fire departments are “essential components of the city and society in general … [and] folks should be getting a fair wage. But it also has to be within fiscal responsibility,” Crawford said.
“In another 10 years,” he continued, “with pensions and everything else, this type of thing can bankrupt the city.”
Niki Griswold can be reached at niki.griswold@globe.com. Follow her @nikigriswold. Yoohyun Jung can be reached at y.jung@globe.com.
Boston, MA
Red Sox rotation contender strikes out four in dominant outing
FORT MYERS, Fla. — Johan Oviedo’s first outing of the spring last week didn’t go great, as the right-hander walked three over 1 2/3 innings in a performance manager Alex Cora described as “erratic.”
His second outing on Monday went much better.
Oviedo was dominant in Monday’s 7-6 win over the Toronto Blue Jays in Dunedin, striking out four over three scoreless innings while holding Toronto to two hits and no walks. He was also highly efficient, throwing 25 of his 31 pitches for strikes while drawing five whiffs.
After allowing a leadoff single to George Springer out of the gate, Oviedo got a strikeout and a double play to quickly get out of the first. He followed that by pitching around a harmless one-out single in the second before sending the Blue Jays down 1-2-3 to finish his outing in the third.
Viewed as the likely top candidate to earn Boston’s No. 5 rotation spot heading into camp, Oviedo clearly helped out his cause with the brilliant showing. He will be in line to make his next start on Saturday.
Gonzales smokes one
Justin Gonzales, a hulking 6-foot-7 outfielder and Boston’s No. 6 prospect according to MLB Pipeline’s latest rankings, made the trip up to Dunedin with the big league club and showed off his power in breathtaking fashion.
In the top of the ninth inning the 19-year-old scorched a single that was measured at 117.3 mph off the bat. According to MLB researcher Sarah Langs’ Daily Statcast leaders, that is the second hardest exit velocity recorded by any player so far this spring. The only ball hit harder was Kansas City Royals’ slugger Jac Caglianone’s 120.2 mph double on Feb. 26.
Franklin Arias, a 20-year-old infielder and Boston’s consensus No. 2 prospect, also made the trip and got the start at shortstop. He went 0 for 3 with two strikeouts at the plate but helped turn a double play to end the bottom of the first.
Big day for Gasper
Monday’s lineup consisted largely of players who are likely to start the season in the minor leagues, but even with that being the case, Mickey Gasper made a strong impression.
The Red Sox catcher and utility player led the offense by going 2 for 3 with a home run and three RBI. Gasper had an RBI single in the top of the third and followed that by crushing a two-run home run with two outs in the top of the fifth.
Nathan Hickey (1 for 2) also had a two-run home run to put the Red Sox ahead for good in the top of the eighth, Allan Castro (2 for 3, stolen base) hit a game-tying solo shot in the sixth, Max Ferguson (1 for 2, walk) had an RBI double and Braiden Ward went 2 for 3 with a stolen base.
Watson struggles
Ryan Watson, a Rule 5 pick looking to make the Red Sox roster as a rookie, had a tough outing on Monday. The right-hander allowed four runs over 2/3 of an inning on one hit, two walks and a hit by pitch.
Watson led off the inning with a lineout before allowing a single, hit by pitch and a walk to load the bases. He then drew a run-scoring groundout before walking another batter to reload the bases. At that point manager Alex Cora lifted the rookie and all three inherited runners came around to score when minor leaguer Patrick Halligan allowed a grand slam to Blue Jays third baseman Addison Barger.
Coming up next
The Red Sox will host Team Puerto Rico in an exhibition at JetBlue Park on Tuesday night ahead of the World Baseball Classic. Left-hander Jake Bennett will get the start for the Red Sox, and Zack Kelly, Tyler Uberstine, Tyler Samaniego and Vinny Nittoli are all scheduled to pitch for Boston too. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on NESN+, NESN 360 and WEEI 93.7 FM.
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