December Wrap-Up

Well, it seems like everyone in the hockey world is waiting for the Bruins to cool down. Waiting...and waiting...aaaaaaaand still waiting. In my November Wrap-Up post, I predicted a respectable 8-2-3 mark for the Bruins in the year's final month. And like my previous guess, I was a little bit off. The Black and Gold continued on their tear in December, going 12-1-0, the lone bump in the road coming in a 3-1 loss to the surging Capitals in Washington.


All twelve of the Bruins' December victories were by two or more goals. They scored four or more goals in nine of the twelve, posted two shutouts (at Florida, at New Jersey) and allowed only one goal on two other occasions.

Here's a glance at some of the B's numbers this month:

Avg. Goals Scored: 4.23
Avg. Goals Allowed: 2.07
Goal Differential: +2.16
Points Taken: 24
Points Possible: 26
Point Percentage: 92%

And here are some league-wide stats and where the B's rank, as of the night of January 1st (post-Pittsburgh win):

Points: 62 (29-5-4, 1st)
Wins: 29 (1st)
Goals per game: 3.66 (1st)
Goals allowed per game: 2.10 (1st)
Power play: 24.7% (3rd)
Penalty kill: 83.3% (8th)
Shots/game: 29.9 (13th)
Shots allowed/game: 30.7 (22nd)

As mathematicians often say, the numbers don't lie. The Bruins are first in the two most telling characters: goals per game and goals allowed per game, with an average goal differential of 1.56. An interesting note is the Bruins' shots allowed. This number is higher than I had imagined it would be, but it speaks to the play of Tim Thomas and Manny Fernandez.

THOMAS:
Save percentage: .935 (3rd in league)
GAA: 2.04 (3rd)
Wins: 16 (5th)

FERNANDEZ:
Save percentage: .930 (4th)
GAA: 2.02 (2nd)

Needless to say, when BOTH of your goalies rank in the top five in all major goaltending categories, your team should be looking good. However, it's not just the goalies that are contributing. I've wavered on how telling the +/- stat is, as it can be fairly arbitrary at times. For example, if defenseman A makes a boneheaded pass that leads to a goal allowed on a breakaway, forward A, who was below the attacking goal line, has his +/- lowered, even though he wasn't even a factor in the play. Regardless, +/- is a telling team stat, and a look at the league leaders in the category over on NHL.com reads:

1. Dennis Wideman, BOS: +26
2. Marc Savard, BOS: +25
3. Blake Wheeler, BOS: +23
4. David Krecji, BOS: +22
5. Alexander Semin, WSH: +20

Yes, that's LEAGUE leaders, not Northeast Division leaders, or even Eastern Conference leaders. The Bruins are dominating statistically, and it's showing in the standings. The B's are nine points ahead of the red-hot second place Caps, and 13 points ahead of the third place New York Rangers. To really illustrate the distance between the B's and other teams in the conference, there is a 21 point gap between the Bruins and the 8th place Buffalo Sabres/Carolina Hurricanes.

Offensively, the Bruins are making their presence felt at the top of the league ranks as well. Marc Savard is 4th in points (48) and tied for second in assists (35), while Phil Kessel is 4th in the league in goals with 23.

So what does all of this mean? Basically, it means that everything is rosy in Bruin-land. Despite injuries to Aaron Ward, Andrew Ference, Marco Sturm and Patrice Bergeron, the Bruins have rolled on. Martin St. Pierre has filled in nicely, and Vladimir Sobotka continues to earn his playing time.

Bergeron is out for the foreseeable future, and, in my opinion, that is for the best. His injury came as he was playing his best hockey of the season, and will probably carry as many emotional effects as physical. Bergeron was being physical, and reinjured himself simply trying to make a check. I don't think it's reached this point yet, but sooner or later Bergeron and his family may start looking at whether or not this is all "worth it", if playing is worth the detrimental effects these concussions may have on him later in life. In all likelihood, Bergeron isn't going to walk away from the game he undoubtedly loves, and in fairness, the hit he took from the shoulder of Dennis Seidenberg of the Hurricanes would have knocked any player for a loop. Hopefully Bergeron gets a chance to fully recover, and can be back with the team by the end of January.

JANUARY AT A GLANCE (excluding today's Pittsburgh win):

Games: 13 (10 home, 3 away)
Key games: 1/13 vs. Montreal, 1/17 at Washington, 1/31 vs. New York Rangers
Average opponents' points: 40.25

For me, the most important game of the month is going to be the Montreal one. Last time the B's played the Habs, they won in Montreal. The time before that, they pounded them at the Garden. Another win over the Habs would solidify the B's confidence, and further suppress the Habs. The games against the Caps will be big too, as Ovechkin's bunch are one of two teams to beat the Bruins in regulation since October 30th. Hopefully, the Bruins won't forget that, and will be eager for revenge.

I've been off on the pessimistic end on my last couple of predictions, but am going more optimistic here. With the return of Aaron Ward, the possible return of Andrew Ference, and a favorable home slate, this month should be kind to the B's. Look for the Black and Gold to post an 10-2-1 mark in the first month of 2009, continuing on their tear and tightening their grip on the top spot in the Eastern Conference. The above mark would put the Bruins at 81 points. 81 points with over two full months of games left? Yikes. With the Patriots out of the picture and the Celtics seemingly on cruise control towards a playoff return, the B's may be the only act in town for a while. That's not to say the Celtics aren't or won't be good. I'm saying that there's really no chance that the team doesn't make the playoffs as a high seed, meaning there's little drama to unfold over the course of the year. I'll still be watching, as I'm sure plenty of others will as well, but the Bruins remain at the top of my chart.

Over the next 30 days, Boston may find out what area hockey diehards have known for months: the Bruins are back.