Game 36: Thrashers 3, Bruins 2 (SO)

Quick hits

• Andy Brickley harped on it last night during NESN's telecast of the game, but it was good to see the Bruin defenseman jumping up into the play and making smart, aggressive decisions. Everyone from Zdeno Chara down to Steven Kampfer seemed willing to pinch when necessary and lug the puck up ice when necessary, and while it led to the B's getting slightly out of position a couple of times, it also led to a ton of good scoring chances. It's something worth watching as the season progresses, and something the team needs to do more often.
• Where is Nathan Horton? Has anyone seen him? The big winger was supposed to be the pure goal scorer that the B's lacked, but he's been nearly invisible for weeks now. Horton got benched for a large chunk of the third period in the Tampa Bay game, and responded by landing one shot on goal and recording zero points last night. Simply not good enough. For someone who's supposed to be a pure goal scorer, Horton sure had a subpar December: he recorded just six points. I don't think he'll stay slumping forever, but this is the second prolonged slump of the season for a guy who has had his heart and work ethic questioned in the past. Troubling to say the least...
• Good to see a large crowd in Atlanta last night. Surely some of the fans were drawn in by the prospect of pugilism and scrums, but all of the fans were treated to a fantastic hockey game from start to finish. That's two games in a row for the B's that have been filled with fast-paced play and back-and-forth hockey. Considering that both games have been against Southeast Division opponents, and also considering that the Caps call the Southeast home as well, and one could argue that this could be the NHL's most exciting division to watch on a nightly basis.
• I hope Tuukka Rask gets the start tomorrow in Buffalo. Tim Thomas said he was tired after the Tampa Bay game, and Rask hasn't started since the middle of December. Rask played well against Buffalo in last year's playoffs, so I hope Claude Julien gives the youngster the nod on New Year's Day.
• Trying to keep it short today because I'm working on a 2010 highlight/recap piece that I hope to publish later today. Stay tuned, and Happy New Year!
  

Game 34: Bruins 3, Panthers 2 (SO)

The Good

• Tim Thomas, bailout king Tim Thomas wasn't as stellar as he's been at times this season, but his play was probably the only reason why this game made it to a shootout. The B's were sloppy and careless with the puck, and handed the Panthers a number of glittering scoring chances, including two breakaways and a 3-on-1. Thomas stood tall, allowing just the two goals and stopping all three Panther shooters in the shootout. If he hadn't been there to bail his teammates out, this one likely would have ended as a 4-2 loss.
  
• Who's that speedy Russian kid? That would be Evgeny Dadonov, a rookie who joined the Panthers when Radek Dvorak went on IR. Dadonov, who was Florida's third-round pick in 2007, appeared in his 13th NHL game last night (ninth of this season) and was a thorn in the Bruins' side all night. The speedy 21-year-old didn't record a point, but twice victimized Zdeno Chara along the boards, leading to two Panther odd-man rushes. Dadonov was dangerous with the puck all night, and looks like he'll be a good player for the Panthers; he's already recorded eight points in nine games this year.
• Party like it's '08-09! Yes, the Wheeler-Krejci-Ryder line appears to be clicking again, just as they did in 2008-2009. One of Wheeler, Ryder or Krejci was responsible for every goal the B's scored last night: Krejci got both in regulation, while Wheeler notched the lone goal in the shootout. Ryder had two assists and Wheeler had one, while Krejci led the line with six shots and nearly got himself a hat trick. If this line can continue to produce, the B's will have a pretty fearsome top-six to throw at opposing teams.

The Bad

• Merry Christmas from the Bruins! The B's looked like they were still filled with the holiday spirit last night, showering the Panthers with gifts in the form of turnovers and sloppy plays. Steven Kampfer's turnover was the most egregious, as it led directly to Florida's first goal, but he was hardly alone. Everyone on defense, from Chara down to Kampfer, needs to take better care of the puck. Such turnovers won't go unpunished tonight against a team as offensively-talented as Tampa Bay.
• SHOOT THE PUCK! Someone needs to remind Messrs. Savard and Horton that the only way to score goals in hockey is to actually shoot the puck. Horton still looks hesitant to shoot at times, and while Savard is a top-notch playmaker, he needs to shoot the puck when he gets his chances. Last night, he passed up more than one scoring opportunity by passing the puck instead of shooting it. Can't score if you don't shoot, boys.
• No letter for Wides Really, Pete DeBoer? Wides doesn't even have an "A" on his jersey? Wides' jersey should read "CAABDAT" for "Captain, Alternate Captain, Alternate Captain, Best Defenseman of All-Time." Shameful display from Florida.

The Rest

• This one really was a pretty lucky win for the B's. Had Tim Thomas not played as well as he did or had the Panthers been able to bury their scoring chances, the B's would have lost pretty handily. They need to tighten up defensively tonight against Tampa, or it's going to be a long night.
• I'm not the coach, but I probably would've given Tuukka Rask the start in this game, mainly because I'm assuming both goalies were going to play in one of the two games in Florida. Rask got shelled last time he faced the Lightning, while he shutout the Panthers in his last start against them. I know Thomas is the number-one goalie right now, but I would've put Rask between the pipes for this one.

Attaboy: WKRP Line. These guys are showing signs of rekindling their '08-09 magic, bad news for B's opponents.

Providence shuttle: The lack of "CAABDAT" for Wides. Come on, Florida. Come on.

Game 30: Canadiens 4, Bruins 3

Just some quick hits for you today; I've been busy at work and don't have time to write a ton.

• Tough call on that penalty shot at the start of the game. The penalty shot rules require a shot to be awarded if the shooter was denied a reasonable chance to score (rule 24.8). You could argue that one all day; my objection comes with calling a penalty at all. CBC has a great view of the play here (starting at 0:35). I don't see much wrong there. Chara's contact was purely stick on stick, and it looked like Kampfer may have gotten his stick up around Cammalleri's hands, but it could have been on his stick too. I'd be interested to know who the referee called the infraction on. Either way, a bit of a ticky-tack call just a minute into the game. But hey, you know how that call could've been avoided? Milan Lucic could have made a better pass. Just saying.
• Clean but vicious hit on Brad Marchand by P.K. Subban. Subban was going all or nothing on that play; when he hit Marchand, he hit him with his back/backside. If he missed, Marchand was blazing past him for a 2-on-1, but Subban got it all on that one. Stupid play by Gregory Campbell too. I'm all for sticking up for your teammate, but Campbell took a penalty for trying to fight Subban over a clean hit. Marchand will know now to keep his head up. As a result of Campbell's actions, the Habs got a power play at the end of the first period and scored right as the power play expired. Subban's hit energized his team and the crowd and put the B's back on their heels after they had been taking it to the Habs after cutting the deficit to one.
• Good on David Krejci to fight Cammalleri. Krejci was enraged by a number of what he called dirty moves by the Habs, and decided to deal with it with his fists. The fight, in my view, was even or slightly won by Krejci, who cut Cammalleri. Cammalleri got his best punches in with Krejci on his knees. Classy move, Mike. But not really out of line for a guy of your character.
• This game will do nothing to quiet the boneheads clamoring for Claude Julien's termination. The fact that the team comes out flat and can't make plays isn't CJ's fault, it's the players fault. CJ shouldn't have to motivate a team of professional athletes to play in a nationally televised divisional game in Montreal. Give me a break.
• Hopefully the fireworks in this game make for an interesting one the next time these teams meet on Jan. 8. This "rivarly" has been lacking ever since Mike Komisarek and Alex Kovalev departed.
  

Game 27: Bruins 5, Islanders 2

There wasn't really much to this game; it was a gritty, grind-it-out affair that the B's were expected to win, and win they did. I'll try to keep this brief.

The Good

• Brad Marchand Marchand has been a pleasant surprise this year (as has been the play of the entire fourth line, really). The B's resident pest is now tied for the league lead in shorthanded goals with three, and has been providing energy, hustle and grit every time he steps on the ice for the B's. Marchand is emerging (in my opinion) as an early 7th Player Award candidate.
• DiPi! DiPi! If not for the Isles' dreadful team overall, Rick DiPietro would be emerging as a nice story right now. The Massachusetts native has been plagued by injuries throughout his career, and this season is the first time in what seems like a decade that he's been healthy for this long. He played very well last night, making 32 saves and serving as the reason the B's weren't up 4-0 after the first period. His numbers aren't great, but that's to be expected when he's playing behind this borderline-AHL bunch from Long Island. Wouldn't be surprised to see DiPietro get the Masterton nomination from the Islanders. (By the way, the "DiPi!" in the title refers to a time a couple of season ago when the Islanders were decent and they were playing the then-woeful Dave Lewis era Bruins at the Garden. My brother and I were at the game, surrounded by Islanders fans who made the trip, and pretty much every time he made a save, they'd stand up and start chanting "DiPi! DiPi! DiPi!" Needless to say, that game wasn't a ton of fun to be at.)
• Lucic scores again (and again) Milan Lucic is emerging as the B's best player (right now, anyways). Lucic now leads the team is both goals (15) and points (25) and is now tied for seventh in the league in goals scored (with Vancouver's Daniel Sedin). He is skating much better and is much more of a threat out there on the ice now than he was at any point last season, which just goes to show how hobbled he was by that high ankle sprain. Looch looks like he'll be a force to be reckoned with this season, good news for B's fans.

The Bad

• Will someone save the Isles? This is pathetic. One can't help but feel bad for players on the Islanders, as they seem to be playing for an owner who simply doesn't care about winning anymore. It's tough to see a bright young talent like John Tavares toil away in obscurity because the Isles management doesn't seem to care anymore. I think that if not for the team's storied past, they'd be first on the list for relocation right now. Their attendance is brutal, the team isn't looking better any time soon and there are two other pro teams within miles of the Nassau Coliseum. Something's gotta be done, because the team is in utter disrepair.
• The Islanders Yes, again.

The Rest

• Zdeno Chara's kill count reached two last night, as he sent two Islanders limping to the bench in pain after felling them with his ferocious slapshot. The first victim was Radek Martinek, who took a slapper off of the wrist-area. He returned to the game later on. The second victim was Tavares, who looked like he caught the shot in the bicep/elbow area. He didn't return to the game, but according to Katie Strang of Newsday, x-rays were negative. Chara should start collecting the helmets of the players he takes out, Brad Pitt-style.
• The B's are quietly hitting their stride here. I don't think the team has been playing all that well for entire games lately; instead, they've been playing well for a period here or there, then taking another period off. But they're finding ways to win, and that's what counts. The B's are now 4-0-1 in December, and they'll need to keep playing their best to survive the month. Here's a look at the B's upcoming schedule, through the rest of 2010: vs. Philly, @ Buffalo, @ Montreal, vs. Washington, vs. Anaheim, vs. Atlanta, @ Florida, @ Tampa, and @ Atlanta. Only three of those teams (FLA, ANA and BUF) are currently out of playoff position. (And Buffalo and Florida are eighth and ninth in the East, respectively). The rest of this months should show fans what the B's are made of.

Attaboy: Marchand. Providing the spark the B's need throughout the year, and potting a few goals hasn't hurt either.

Providence shuttle: The Islanders' ownership/management. On second thought, don't send them to Providence. They might find a way to run the P-B's into the ground too.

Game 26: Bruins 3, Sabres 2 (OT)

The Good

• Life from the power play The B's sluggish power play has been a problem all year, but it showed signs of life last night. The B's finished the evening 1-for-4 on the man advantage, with the one strike being the game-winner. However, the power play was a real weapon late in the game, with the B's looking to take the lead with Steve Montador off for high-sticking. Though they didn't score, the B's built up a significant amount of momentum with crisp passing, good decision-making and smart plays with the puck. Though they didn't score, they were able to build off of that momentum and ultimately get one with the man advantage in overtime.
• As goes Lucic, so go the Bruins I've posted this on my Twitter account a couple of times, but I think it's a pretty interesting stat: the B's have yet to lose a game this season in which Milan Lucic scores a goal. It may be a coincidence, but I think it shows how important having a healthy Lucic is to this team. He already has more points this year than he did all of last year, but in 24 fewer games. Lucic was good again last night, and though his goal was arguably a lucky one and he finished the night at minus-1, he did have five shots on goal and a couple of good scoring chances.

The Bad

• Thanks Mike! Really, really, REALLY bad turnover from Mike Weber on Nathan Horton's goal. Most players seem to know that it's a bad idea to try to clear the puck through the middle of the zone, and most don't do it unless they're 100% sure it'll work. Weber probably never even saw Horton coming, but I bet he saw the dirty look Lindy Ruff gave him when he got back to the bench.
• The B's breakout continues to suck Well "suck" might be a little harsh, but the B's continue to have a whale of a time trying to get consistent clean breakouts. Sure, every now and then you'll see a nice two-pass breakout: defenseman to defenseman, then defenseman to forward at the blue line and away we go. But for every solid breakout, it seems like there are two or three hair-raising ones. I don't know if it's the system, the absence of a puck moving defenseman or just bad plays, but it needs to stop.
• Really ref? Really? Not quite sure how the referees missed that goal last night. I saw it clearly on TV when it happened live, and the ref was only about 15 feet from the net; I was more like six miles. They ultimately got it right, but that one didn't even seem close.
• Roy blows it Derek Roy had a golden opportunity to end the game in overtime when he found himself all alone with the puck right in front of Tim Thomas. How "all alone" was he? Roy was able to collect the pass, do a couple of dekes and throw a head fake or two and he STILL didn't score. Big-time blown chance for a talented goal-scorer there.

The Rest

• USA! USA! USA! Last night's game featured arguably the two best American goalies in the game right now in Ryan Miller and Tim Thomas. It's interesting to look at the stats, however, and see that American netminders are doing pretty well for themselves this season. There are four Americans in the top-ten in the NHL in save percentage and four in the top-eight in GAA. It's especially interesting when one notices that there is only one American in the top-15 in the NHL in scoring (Dustin Byfuglien) and only two in the top-25 (Byfuglien and former teammate Patrick Kane). Somewhere, Uncle Sam is wearing a goalie mask and cheering.
• Weird moment last night when Zdeno Chara and Jason Pominville got stuck together in the second period last night. The two were battling for the puck in one of the corners and somehow got tied together. It looked like Chara's skatelace got stuck somewhere on one of Pominville's skates, but they couldn't get it apart until after a whistle. I think Zdeno Chara is one of the last people I'd ever want to be in a three-legged race with; he'd probably tear my leg from my body just by taking a few strides. Yikes.

Attaboy: Mark Recchi gets the nod for tipping in the game-winner. Recchi made his living in the NHL in front of the opposing net, and continues to be productive at the age of 42.

Providence shuttle: Weber. Sorry Mike, but that turnover was a killer for your team.

Game 24: Bruins 8, Lightning 1

Boy, that one was fun, wasn't it? Too bad they all can't be that entertaining.

The Good

• Ho hum, Thomas again It's really getting to be rather ridiculous how well Tim Thomas is playing. His record is now a remarkable 13-2-1. His save percentage is .956 and his GAA is 1.44. Yowza, those are some gaudy numbers. Thomas didn't have to make as many top-notch saves last night as he did against Philly, but he was stellar again overall.
• Attack, attack, attack Maybe it was just me, but I felt like the Bruins were more aggressive last night than I've seen them in a while. Whether it was Michael Ryder attacking passing lanes on the forecheck to force turnovers or Big Money Seids throwing the puck on goal from the neutral zone, the B's seemed to play a lot more up-tempo last night, and it worked: eight goals tell no lies.
  
• Speaking of Ryder... He's having a somewhat under-the-radar good season. In 24 games, Ryder has 17 points (7 G, 10 A). He finished last season with 33 points in 82 games, meaning he's already more than halfway to eclipsing last year's total in just a quarter of the season. He's currently got a nice little three-game point streak going, during which he's notched four points (1 G, 3 A). Ryder's been a notoriously good producer in contract years, but it's also likely that he's been spurred by rumors of a demotion to Providence. Threats of long, bumpy bus rides will light a fire under any player, but in my opinion, Ryder's been great so far.
• He's baaaaaaack No, he didn't score, but seeing #91 in black and gold skating around the ice was enough to make this observer happy. Savard didn't look all that rusty either, and while he didn't record a point, he certainly made a few good plays out there. With time, the points will come.

The Bad

• I'm not sure I really have any complaints. Maybe at the linesman for throwing Savard out of his first faceoff after the pivot got a standing ovation from the crowd? That ref clearly has no sense of pageantry. Come on!

The Rest

• It'll be interesting to see if Tyler Seguin hears any boos on Saturday night when he plays in Toronto against the Leafs for the first time. Seguin, an Ontario native, scored against the Leafs at the Garden earlier this season, prompting a "thank you, Kessel" chant from the Garden crowd. Some Leaf fans on HFBoards were miffed that B's fans were booing Kessel, and Damien Cox of the Toronto Star went so far as to suggest that the Leafs fans boo Seguin when the B's come to town. Not sure how the two are related, seeing as Kessel didn't want to play in Boston and Seguin hasn't done a thing to Toronto fans, but hey, I'm all for a little bad blood.
• The Leafs are pretty much in a free-fall right now. All Leafs (and Bruins fans) know in the back of their minds that the B's own the Leafs first-round pick again this year, so B's fans are rooting for the Leafs to finish as low as possible. Right now, the Leafs are in 28th place in the league, meaning that if the season ended today, the B's would get another top-3 pick in the draft. It's still early, but the B's want to keep the Leafs down. A win over a good Bruins club would likely provide a lift to this suffering Leafs team, something the B's don't want to provide. The Leafs are down now, and the B's and their fans would like nothing more than to see them down and out completely.

Attaboy: I'll give it to Savard in his first game back. Welcome back, Marc.

Providence shuttle: That linesman. Come on!

Game 23: Bruins 3, Flyers 0

The Good

• Thomas is a brick wall again This one got off to an ominous start: Tim Thomas and Zdeno Chara had a botched exchange behind the net in the game's first 20 seconds, leading to a sterling Philly scoring chance. Fortunately for Thomas and the B's, the Flyers failed to capitalize; unfortunately for the Flyers, that's about as close as they would get. Thomas was excellent tonight, and I think it was his strongest outing of the season. He made plenty of grade-A saves, controlled his rebounds well and bailed his teammates out when they made mistakes. Also, he got two penalty minutes to punching Scott Hartnell in the head. An all around great night for Thomas.
• Nice hands from Seguin Tyler Seguin's goal in the second period was a thing of beauty. A great pass from Michael Ryder followed by a sublime wrister from Seguin, who roofed the puck in the blink of an eye. I didn't think Seguin would have enough time/space to get the shot off, but that just goes to show why he's the second-overall pick and I'm a lowly blogger, right?
• Big game from Big Z Thought it might not show up on the stat sheet, Zdeno Chara had a great game last night. He was physical and had an active stick, poking the puck away from Flyer players with regularity. He also had a couple of key blocked shots, including one that left the big man hunched over in pain. Great display from the Captain last night.

The Bad

• Roller-coaster ride Yes, the Bruins won, but the Flyers really took it to them for portions of the second and third periods. One had to expect that the Flyers would turn up the intensity, but there were parts of the game where the B's struggled mightily to make a play out of their own zone. If it wasn't for the excellent play of Thomas, this game may have had a different result.
• 3-0 leads The team could hold onto one now, but not last May? Come on, guys...

The Rest

• Where's that Phamous Philly crowd? I missed the beginning of the game on TV (caught it on radio), but I didn't hear many chants or derision from the crowd. A 3-0 collapse in the playoffs is perfect fodder for chants, taunts and heckles, but I didn't hear any of that from the crowd last night. It could have been that it just wasn't audible on TV, but it was a bit disappointing. I expected better from the Philly fans.
• The B's are right back in action on Thursday against Tampa. The Lightning really took it to the B's last time, so I hope the B's show up ready to play this time.
  

Game 21: Hurricanes 3, Bruins 0

Just a couple of quick ones today, I don't want to spend too much off-day time dwelling on this stinker.

The Good

• What do you mean "good?" As far as the Bruins are concerned? Uhh.........Brad Marchand played pretty well?
• Cup-winning form Cam Ward was excellent today, making 37 stops to shutout the B's. Ward made plenty of highlight-reel saves as well, including a sparkler on Nathan Horton to keep the game scoreless in the third. When a team that occasionally struggles to score goals like the B's do runs into a hot goalie, it's a recipe for disaster. Today was a hockey disaster.
• Solid showing from Skinner Before the season started, one would've thought the star rookie in this game would have been the B's Tyler Seguin. However, 18-year-old Jeff Skinner, chosen by the 'Canes with the seventh-overall pick in this year's draft, stole the spotlight from Seguin with the game's first goal (the eventual game-winner). Skinner now has seven goals and 11 assists on the young season.

The Bad

• He started it! The B's were dominating the 'Canes in this game, hanging on by a Cam Ward-woven thread, when the Blake Wheeler went off for holding towards the end of the first period. During that PK, Daniel Paille, starting in place of scratched Jordan Caron, who was experiencing flu-like symptoms, started a 2-on-1 rush up ice shorthanded. Zdeno Chara joined the rush to make it a 3-on-1, but as Paille pulled up to make the pass, he lost the puck. Tuomo Ruutu took it the other way for a 2-on-1 of his own, eventually slipping the puck the Skinner, who buried it. Hard to place all of the blame on Paille, but that turnover started the trouble for the B's.
• PK? More like P.U.! The B's took three penalties; the 'Canes scored on all three. The B's got four power play opportunities; the B's scored on zero of them. There's your game right there.

The Rest

• I wonder if Milan Lucic is going to get billed by Jeremy Jacobs for breaking glass in the Garden. Everyone remembers his glass-shattering hit on Mike Van Ryn* two years ago, but today he knocked out (but didn't shatter) another pane of glass when he missed a check on a 'Canes player. Jacobs, in a Mr. Burns voice: "Those panes are coming out of your check, Mr. Lucic!"
  
• * Odd that Jack Edwards would get his info on Van Ryn wrong. He claimed during the broadcast that Van Ryn retired due to repeated concussions, but the most pressing physical issue was his right knee. A bit of a sad story, as Van Ryn finally got the chance to play for his hometown team (the Leafs), but his body wouldn't hold up. Good to see he's landed on his feet though.
  

Attaboy: Ward. He shut down the B's and made a ton of grade-A+ stops. Definitely looks like he's back to his Cup-winning form.

Providence shuttle: Special teams (again). Something's gotta give here; the thought was that the power play would pick up a bit when David Krejci returned. Well, he's back, and it's still a big problem.

Game 19: Lightning 3, Bruins 1

Well, this one was borderline unwatchable from a Bruin perspective. That would explain why I changed the channel to Bruce Almighty towards the end of the second period. Yes, the game was that bad that I preferred to watch Jim Carrey play God. Yikes.

The Good

• Some jump in the third Hey, at least the B's didn't completely roll over. They essentially set up camp in the Tampa end for stretches of the third period, but weren't able to get more than one puck past Mike Smith. Yes, I'm reaching for positives here, but the shift that led to Michael Ryder's goal was great combination work by Ryder, Blake Wheeler and Jordan Caron. Ryder is having a decent year so far, with 6 goals and 6 assists, good for 12 points in 19 games.
• Rask was OK Again, I'm reaching, because this isn't supposed to be "the OK," it's supposed to be "the Good." But Rask wasn't terrible; in fact, he made a decent number of sparkling stops, including a toe save on a sterling chance from Martin St. Louis. If Rask didn't make some big saves, this one likely would have been 5 or 6-1.
• PK was solid again The penalty kill has been one of the Bruins' most consistent bright spots this year, and it was solid again last night. Coming into last night, Tampa's power play had scored 22 goals on 90 chances, meaning the Lightning were connecting on nearly 25% of their power play chances. Last night, the B's shut them down; no small feat, especially when a guy with a shot like this is on the other side. The Bruins have now allowed just seven goals on 72 penalty kills.
  

The Bad

• Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy Tampa's first goal came when a defenseman had all day to fire the puck on goal from the top of the circle. The second goal came when Zdeno Chara left Steven Stamkos all alone in front of the net, and the third goal came off of sloppy play in the neutral zone and Teddy Purcell being left all alone at the goal mouth to slap in a bad bounce off of the end boards. I feel like I've criticized the Bruins' sloppy play every game for two weeks now; this is the first time it came back to bite them.
• Breakouts make me breakout The B's inability to make a play coming out of their own end nearly made me break out in hives last night; the entire first two periods were infuriating displays of futility. Blame the B's inability to make passes or credit Tampa's tenacious forecheck, but either way, it was terrible. Most offensive chances spring from either turnovers or solid breakouts, and last night the B's couldn't get either.
• Tough night for Z The captain finished the night at a -2, got caught badly out of position on Stamkos' goal and got hit up around the face with the puck. All around, a forgettable night for Z, a rare off night for him so far this year.

The Rest

• Marc Savard is getting closer and closer to a return and he feels good, but likely won't be ready for game action according to mid-December, says Fluto Shinzawa of the Boston Globe. Shinzawa also notes that Wheeler is drawing far more interest on the trade market than Ryder, even though moving Ryder would clear more cap space. No one seems to know for sure, but the basic notion is that the B's must move $4.9 million in money against the cap to activate both Savard and Marco Sturm.
  
• The hope here is that Sturm is somehow traded, my thought process being that I don't think Sturm, especially coming off of two knee surgeries, is that much of an upgrade, if any, over Ryder. I'd rather see Wheeler stay and ship out Hunwick, then bring up someone like Matt Bartkowski to take Hunwick's place (Admittedly, I haven't crunched these numbers yet, so I'm not sure if they'd work with the cap). So in my scenario, Sturm gets activated from IR then shipped off to a team he approves of (he has a NTC), and Hunwick gets sent somewhere for a second or third round pick. Unlikely, but we'll see. I feel like the B's, especially Cam Neely, are too high on Wheeler to just dump him on someone to clear salary.
  
• The aforementioned musings are just rambling thoughts from my brain, but facts are facts: the Bruins MUST make a move in the next few weeks in order to make space for Savard, who appears to be back on the fast track to returning. Who is moved remains to be seen, but someone's got to go.
• Oh and, uh, that Steven Stamkos fella is good at hockey. Very good.
  

Game 18: Kings 4, Bruins 3 (SO)

I missed a lot of this game due to work, but here are some "Quick Hits:"

• Overall, a "questionable" shootout for the B's. I question both the shootout order and the shooters' choices. Claude Julien sent out, in order, Patrice Bergeron, Tyler Seguin, Milan Lucic, Michael Ryder, Nathan Horton and David Krejci. Why he put Ryder and Lucic before both his best goal scorer and arguably his most-skilled player is beyond me. I have no issues with Bergeron or Seguin, but would have preferred to see Bergeron-Seguin-Krejci-Horton.
• The attempts by the Bruin shooters were feeble at best. No, I probably couldn't have done any better (well I probably could have done better than Dustin Brown), but I'm not getting paid millions to play. The only shooter who looked like he knew what he wanted to do was the rookie Seguin. Shootouts have been tough for the B's for years now, and that doesn't appear to be changing anytime soon.
• Good character shown by the B's to come back and tie the game after falling behind 3-0, but what were they doing falling behind by three in the first place? Sloppy neutral zone play led to the first LA goal and a horrible play by Mark Recchi led to the third Kings' goal. Recchi turned the puck over at his attacking blue line, then made zero effort to backcheck. Not surprisingly, the Kings had a wide-open 3-on-2 rush and scored a beautiful goal. Rough play there from Recchi. Fortunately for the veteran, he made up for it in the third when he had a great shift after losing his helmet. Probably Recchi's best single shift since his tête-à-tête fracas with Chris Pronger in last year's playoffs.
• Great shift from the fourth-line on Gregory Campbell's goal. Not surprising, considering that bunch has arguably been the B's most consistent line so far this season.
• Strange stat line of the day: the Bruins are 2-3-2 so far this season on Saturdays. Weird. They're 3-1 on Thursdays and undefeated on Sundays (1-0), Mondays (1-0) and Wednesdays (3-0). One can only assume the younger B's are doing too much partying on Friday nights. Shame on them!
  

Game 17: Bruins 4, Panthers 0

The Good

• Lucic is back Milan Lucic was a shell of himself last season, and with good reason; high-ankle sprains, which he suffered in a game against the Wild last November, are notoriously difficult to come back from. Lucic played last year and was decently effective, but was nowhere near the presence he usually is on the ice. This year, however, Lucic appears to be fully recovered. He seems much quicker on the ice, like he gained an extra step. He currently has 17 points (meaning he's averaging a point per game) and is a +12 on the season. He's on pace to score 40+ goals, and while it remains to see if he can keep up that pace, he's been huge for the B's so far this year.
• A sigh of relief for Rask Though he was saying all of the right things after his losses, the lack of success had to be killing Tuukka Rask. After it seemed like success came so easily to him last season, this season was the complete opposite; it seemed like everything that could go wrong in Rask's starts DID go wrong. Last night Rask was in top form, as his many of his 41 saves came on top-notch scoring chances. While Tim Thomas has been the better of the two so far, having both goalies in the tandem on top of their games will make the B's nearly impossible to beat.
• Boooooooooooooth The Panthers' David Booth didn't score, but one can't say he didn't try: Booth fired a remarkable 14 shots on Rask in the game, but wasn't able to sneak one past him. Yes, 14 shots for Booth alone. Florida coach Peter DeBoer credited Rask for stymieing Booth and the rest of the Panthers, saying, according to the Boston Herald, that he thought the Panthers could have taken 100 shots and they still wouldn't have scored.
• Another goal for Gretz Yes, Shawn Thornton has become a true offensive dynamo for the B's (hyperbole completely intended there). Thornton had another strong game last night, scoring the last goal for the B's and also having one hell of a fight with Darcy Hordichuk. For those keeping score at home, Thornton now has as many goals as Ilya Kovalchuk.

The Bad

• Surprise, surprise: the fans booed Wides Very classy display from the Garden fans last night, as Big Money Wides was booed pretty much every time he had the puck. Yes, the fans booed a guy who never did or said anything wrong during his time here. Sure, he had his struggles, but he played hard, never complained about the fans mistreatment of him and even went so far as to say that he missed the fans' passion here. Way to go, Garden crowd. You made all of us look like idiots last night.
• More uneven play While the scoreboard doesn't indicate it, the B's were thoroughly outplayed last night for a large part of the game. Sure, they came out on top and that's what matters so it's hard to complain, but that type of effort will get them pasted on Saturday against a good team like the Los Angeles Kings. Not to take anything away from the Panthers, but they're a rebuilding team, one that won't always capitalize on poor play or the opposition's mistakes. I haven't really seen the B's play a complete, solid game in a couple of weeks.

The Rest

• Why boo Wides again? Why?

Attaboy: While Rask was pretty much the reason the B's won, I'll give it to Lucic. Not for his hat trick, but for wearing that fedora. That takes some guts.

Providence shuttle: Everyone who booed Wides. You think about what you've done on that long ride to Providence.

Game 16: Bruins 3, Rangers 2

Like I said, I missed the first period entirely and caught the second on the radio due to work, so I don't have nearly enough to go on for a full reaction. Here are a couple of "quick hits" instead:

• Great individual effort from Tyler Seguin on his second period goal. Seguin hasn't had much of an impact on recent games, but he also hasn't been playing poorly. He felt that he had been mired in a slump, but had the backing of his coach and his teammates. Seguin really showed his speed and his wicked wrister on the play, two of his biggest assets. Great goal by the rookie.
• The B's have been uncharacteristically sloppy in their own end for the past few games. The B's are usually one of the more defensively-responsible teams when it comes to taking care of the puck in their own zone, but have been committing numerous turnovers ever since the Montreal game last week. Last night, there were more than a few occasions where a Bruin had a chance to get the puck out of the zone but instead made an ill-advised pass or simply turned the puck over. Tim Thomas stepped up to save his mates' skins on more than one occasion last night, but it won't always end happily.
• I liked the new jerseys the Rangers wore last night. The jerseys are being worn as the team celebrates its 85th anniversary this year, and while they aren't all that different from the Rangers' usual attire, I liked the darker blue and the "NEW YORK" on the front. A nice, simple look for one of the NHL's earliest clubs.
• Wides returns tomorrow night, and I can't go to the game. Major disappointment.

Like I said, I didn't see much...I get points for writing something though, right?

Game 15: Bruins 3, Devils 0

The Good

• Scoring first It's always helps to jump out to an early lead. Last night, Michael Ryder got the B's going early with a power play goal with just under five minutes to go in the first period. The B's are just 2-5-1 when allowing the first goal, but with last night's win are now a perfect 7-0-0 when scoring the first goal.
• Thomas back to form After suffering his first loss of the season on Saturday against the Senators, Tim Thomas was in top form against New Jersey, making 28 stops. Thomas kept the B's in the game at certain points, as the Devils managed to mount more than a couple solid assaults on the Bruin goal. The B's weren't exactly excellent defensively last night, but Thomas was able to bail his team out when the D let him down. Thomas told the Boston Globe that he felt as good last night as he had all season. Good sign for the B's.
  
• McQuaid steps up Good on Adam McQuaid to drop the gloves with Rod Pelley, who's a pretty tough guy. McQuaid has filled in nicely in Johnny Boychuk's absence, but he still looks to be the odd man out when Boychuk returns. He'll earn a lot of points with his teammates by dropping the gloves, and his play may make Claude Julien at least have to consider keeping him in the line-up when Boychuk's ready to go.
• Angry Mark Stuart is back There were times last year where Mark Stuart looked to be the B's most fearsome defender. He had his fair share of bone-crunching hits and showed that he was willing to fight as well. That same angry Mark Stuart was out in full force last night, as he had at least three huge body checks (two on Mattias Tedenby) and made his presence felt throughout the game. He was named the game's Third Star for his efforts, despite not registering a point.

The Bad

• Marty? Not the best game for the future Hall of Famer. Brodeur probably should have stopped Ryder's goal, and definitely usually stops Wheeler's, a long range wrister that somehow eluded Brodeur. It's hard to place the blame for Jersey's early-season struggles squarely on his shoulders, but he certainly contributed to the problems last night.
• Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy While it's hard to find fault with a 3-0 win, the B's didn't exactly set the world on fire with their play last night. The B's were especially sloppy in their own zone, at times appearing to be under siege inside their own blue line. There were two or three occasions where the Devils had possession of the puck in the B's zone for what seemed like two entire minutes. The Devils failed to capitalize on turnovers and generally careless play, but the B's won't be able to get away with it forever.
• Where'd the power go? Yes, Ryder's goal came on the power play, but other than that, the B's were inept with the man advantage again. They finished the night 1-for-5 (1-for-6 if you count the 5-on-3 as a second power play...I'm not sure if you do, or if it's just considered one long, continuous power play) with the extra man, managing just seven shots. For the most part, though, the power play never really seemed a threat to score, as both units looked out of sync. Paging David Krejci...
• Dennis & Callahan between periods? Ugh. I changed the channel right away. It's bad enough to hear those conservative blowhards in the morning, but now I have to see them during B's games? No thanks. (Yes, I know it's a one-time thing to promote their show being simulcast on NESN, but once is enough, thank you.)

The Rest

• Good on Stuart and Wheeler to step up to the plate and give $5,000 worth of tickets (each) to local military members and their families. The Bruins' website also reported that B's fans combined to donate $84,000 to the cause (I think they mean $84,000 worth of tickets, but it wasn't exactly clear). Money or tickets are small prices to pay to thank the men and women of the military for the sacrifices that they've made by serving.
• When are the changes going to come for the Devils? This was a team that many expected to contend for the Cup this year, but at this point they look more likely to contend for a first-overall pick. One can't help but think that GM Lou Lamoriello is getting less and less patient with every game. Yes, injuries have hurt this club, but I can't imagine that he's going to let this carnage go on much longer.
• The B's are back in action tomorrow night in New York City when they take on the Rangers at MSG. The Rangers beat the B's at the Garden earlier in the season by a 3-2 margin. It's not likely that the B's players have forgotten Brandon Dubinsky's slash in that game, a bit of stickwork that left Boychuk with a broken bone in his arm. Payback may be headed Dubinsky's way. (EDIT: The payback won't come from Boychuk if he plays, says The Bruins Blog's Matt Kalman.)
  

Attaboy: Stuart and Wheeler each get one for their performances both on and off the ice. The two combined for a goal, a few huge hits and two giant helpers in the form of $5,000 donations off the ice.

Providence shuttle: The entire Devils team. This bunch has been a colossal disappointment so far.

Game 13: Canadiens 3, Bruins 1

The Good

• Tuukka Rask's attitude It's got to be hard for the youngster to not have a meltdown at this point (someone hide the milk crates). After a stellar season last year, Rask is off to an 0-4-1 start. The stunning fact is this: the B's have yet to win a game that Rask starts, and also lost the only game in which Tim Thomas was relieved. But for all of his struggles, and despite the team seeming to only have "off" nights when he's in the net, Rask appears to be in a good state of mind and still seems to have a positive attitude:

“It’s hockey, what can you do?’’ said Rask, shrugging his shoulders. “You just try to do your best and save every puck. If you don’t get the bounces, you don’t, and if you do, that’s great. I don’t care if I lose every game as long as [Tim Thomas, who is 8-0-0] wins the games.’’

-from Nancy Marrapese-Burrell of the Boston Globe

• Carey's OK One of the more shocking trades in recent memory involved Montreal goaltenders, as the Habs front office showed faith in Carey Price by shipping playoff hero Jaroslav Halak to St. Louis. Price has been under constant scrutiny in Montreal, and has been booed on home ice numerous times. Despite his struggles, Price is immensely talented, and showed that talent in this game against the B's. Price made 34 saves and appeared calm and collected in net at all times. While Halak has continued to tear it up in St. Louis, Price is playing excellent hockey as well, posting a 9-5-1 record to go along with a 2.19 GAA and a .923 save percentage.
• P.K. Subban The young Habs defenseman had a coming-out party of sorts during Montreal's playoff run last year, so it was surprising to learn that his goal last night was the first regular season goal of his NHL career. Subban is an incredibly skilled defenseman who has shown that he won't hesitate to join the rush or shoot the puck. He showed his strength during a tour of the B's zone in tonight's game, twice, holding off Bruin players while shielding the puck. He's going to be a great player sooner rather than later.

The Bad

• No legs I guess a bit of a letdown in terms of energy was to be expected in this game, as the Habs were waiting in town for the B's while the B's played in Pittsburgh the night before. Combine that game with travel and it's not hard to see why the B's looked tired late. Claude Julien thought the effort was there, but the team ran out of gas. It's hard to complain about the lack of juice, as the B's showed a ton of heart and determination on Wednesday night; it's hard to come with that effort two nights in a row.
• Where's the fire? The game last night looked more like a game between a Western Conference foe, not a divisional match-up against the B's biggest traditional rival. The fireworks seem to have gone from this rivalry, despite being just two or three years removed from it being as hot as ever. Blame player turnover, as many Hab villains have now moved on (Mike Komisarek, Alex Kovalev, Mike Ribeiro, Francis Bouillon). However, with a player like Maxim Lapierre on the other side, the rivalry's sure to wake up sometime soon.
• Home not-so-sweet home The Boston Herald's Rich Thompson put it best: the Bruins are an excellent road team; winning at home is the problem. The B's are just 2-2-1 at the TD Garden, (a third loss came in a "home" game in Prague), while they are 6-1-0 on the road. This trend seems to be a continuation from last year, when the B's were 21-13-7 away from home but just 18-17-6 on Causeway Street (and at Fenway Park, to be precise). Maybe B's fans should start going to home games in opposing colors to try to trick the players.
  

The Rest

• Good to see the B's do something for Veterans Day with their "Send a Soldier to the Game" program. Last night's game against the Habs was part of the program, as is Monday's game against the Devils, which happens to be Military Appreciation Night. If you have tickets and can stomach giving them away, it's certainly a worthy cause and a great way to thank a veteran for his or her service.
• The train wreck that is the New Jersey Devils limps into town on Monday night. How bad are things for the Devs right now? They're 4-10-2 (tied for least points in the league with Edmonton), they're missing some of the most talented players, and this happens to their $100 Million Man with the game on the line. Ouch. Heads are going to start to roll in Jersey soon if things don't pick up.

Attaboy: Caaaaaaaaaaaaaa-rey. Continues to play well under intense pressure in Montreal. If Halak continues to be lights-out in St. Louis, the pressure will only rise, but a more mature price appears to be up to the challenge this year.

Providence shuttle: The hometown blues. What, do the B's not like their fans or something? They won in Jersey earlier this year, and there were as many B's fans there as Devils fans...

Monday Musings, 11/8/10

Boy, things sure can change quickly, huh? After Wednesday, the B's remained on fire. They were 7-2-0, Tim Thomas was 7-0-0 and the team seemed to be firing on all cylinders.


Now, on Monday, the team is 7-3-1, Tim Thomas got pulled from a game against the Caps, Tyler Seguin got benched, David Krejci looks like he'll miss more than a couple of games and some fear that there are choppy seas ahead for the S.S. Bruin.


Come on, it's just two games. And the team has still taken points in 8 of 11 games this year. Here are some thoughts on this windy Monday afternoon in Boston:

• Admittedly, the Krejci injury is worrisome. The Czech pivot was really buried by Oshie, and the fact that his head slammed off of the dasher made matters worse. Krejci looked out of it, despite skating off with some assistance. Word came down earlier that he'd be out at least a week, while GM Peter Chiarelli termed Krejci's concussion "moderate," and said that he was experiencing headaches and some amnesia, according to Matt Kalman's Bruins Blog. I have no problem with the hit by Oshie; it was a clean, hard play, one that the somewhat slight Krejci might want to avoid in the future. He's not the biggest guy as is, and initiating contact with a guy like Oshie, who is the same height but nearly 30 pounds heavier than Krejci, probably isn't the best idea.
• The biggest immediate issue is who will fill the number-one center spot in Krejci's absence. Marc Savard remains a long way off, so it appears, according to ESPNBoston's James Murphy, that Patrice Bergeron will be stepping in on the top line, playing between Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton. It also appears that Blake Wheeler is getting at least a bit of a look at center, as he was between Jordan Caron and Mark Recchi this morning. Daniel Paille will likely see his first game action since the season opener, and Brian McGrattan was waived down to Providence, a move that is, in all likelihood, a precursor to the B's calling someone up from the Baby B's. Tyler Seguin and Gregory Campbell remain in their third- and fourth-line center sports, respectively.
• Speaking of Seguin, the youngster was apparently (I say "apparently" because I missed the game) benched for much of the third period of Saturday night's loss to the St. Louis Blues. According to Kalman, Claude Julien wasn't really trying to punish the rookie, but trying to shorten his bench as the B's pushed for the tying goal. The "benching" was the first real bump in the road this year for Seguin, but he appeared to get over it pretty quickly: he scored the B's only goal in that night's shootout.
• Some are concerned that Tim Thomas' miracle run to start the season ended in a hurry on Friday night, as Thomas was pulled after the second period with the B's down 3-0. However, the fact of the matter is that Thomas pretty much kept the B's in that game; were it not for his effort, it probably would have been 5-0 after two. Claude Julien said as much after the game: he was pulled to spark the team, not because he played poorly. Thomas looked decently solid, and was beaten on a screened point shot, a wicked wrister by Mr. Faux-Hawk himself and a beautiful 3-on-1 passing play. It certainly wasn't Thomas' fault that the B's lost in D.C.
• Will Tuukka Rask ever get a win? The young Finn must be wondering that himself at this point. Rask has taken the loss in all four games in which he's appeared this year. His current record requires a strong stomach if one wants to look at it: 0-3-1. However, his other numbers are much more reassuring: his save percentage is .921, while his GAA has fallen to a more respectable 2.66. Also, according to NESN.com, he hasn't lost his confidence yet, something that is key to a goalie's success. From what I've read and seen in highlights, Rask played pretty well against a good St. Louis team on Saturday. On Friday, the one goal he allowed in relief of Tim Thomas came from a point shot off that he probably never even got a clean look at. The thought here is that Rask is simply a victim of poor circumstances so far this season; he'll pick up the pace soon.
• Check the main site later on for another "Behind Enemy Lines" piece, this time a "Washington, D.C." version. Not a bad trip, despite the B's loss.
  

Game 8: Bruins 4, Senators 0

The Good

• Tim Thomas Do I even have to write anything?
• B's Youth Movement The Bruins certainly do have a decent amount of depth in their system, as they have a couple of skilled youngsters on the team right now and a number of them waiting in the wings in Providence. The youth movement was on full display in Ottawa, as Jordan Caron and Tyler Seguin, the B's two brightest rookies, both scored in the 4-0 win. Caron showed great skill on his breakaway goal, and Seguin turned on the jets and burnt past two Sens defenders to score a power play goal on a beautiful pass from Mark Recchi. Seguin now has a goal in two-straight games. If these two freshmen continue to play like this, the future will be now for the B's, not later.
• Penalty Kill The B's were perfect on the penalty kill again, killing all three of Ottawa's power play chances. The Bruin PK ranks first in the NHL with a 93.1% success rate.
• Big Money Seids Strikes Again! Another solid game from Seidenberg, who got in a late scrap with Chris Neil and recorded an assist. Big Money Seids now has three assists in the last three games and eleven blocked shots in the last two.

The Bad

• Marchand Might Never Score The poor kid just can't seem to bury one, despite having a number of great chances. This isn't really bad, but I needed something to complain about, right? It's getting almost comical. But the thought here is that Marchand will get of the schnide soon, and will have an epic goal celebration when he does.

The Rest

• B's Rookies Celebrate Halloween Check out some video of the younger B's bringing some Halloween cheer to some local kids at Children's Hospital.
  
• Next game for the B's is a playoff rematch against the Sabres in Buffalo on Wednesday night.
  

Attaboy: Tim Thomas. Again.

Providence shuttle: Halloween parties that start at 9. I had to miss most of the third period. Good thing it was a blowout.

Game 7: Bruins 2, Maple Leafs 0

Some more video of the Kessel chant/Seguin's goal (c/o Days of Y'Orr and the YouTube uploaders):

The Good

• The crowd The above videos say it all, right? The TD Garden crowd was really into this game from the get go last night, mainly thanks to #81 in the white sweater. One could debate for hours whether or not Kessel deserves the flack he gets in Boston, but the fact is that he's getting it, and the B's fans are doing a great job of giving it to him. Mike Milbury said on NESN last night that the boos/chants are getting under Kessel's skin and getting him off of his game. While I'm not sure I agree, it's not hard to see where Mad Mike gets that idea from: Kessel had zero points at the Garden again last night.
• Tim Thomas Ho hum, another game, another shutout. I hope Tuukka Rask likes the hat they gave him to wear on the bench, because at this rate, he'll be wearing it for a while.
• Dennis Seidenberg I had to show some love for Big Money Seids, as he's been a scapegoat of mine for the first few games. Seidenberg played well last night, dishing out a couple of hits and blocking an astounding six shots, one of which probably saved a goal. He's no Big Money Wides, but Seids is making progress.
• Patrice Bergeron's off the schnide Bergeron has (in my opinion, anyways) played well this season. He was playing sound hockey, the points just weren't falling yet. Last night, Bergeron notched his first goal of the year (and the 100th of his career), a goal that turned out to be the game-winner. Good to see from a guy who is one of the heart-and-soul players on this team.
• Adam McQuaid steps right in A good first game of the year for the youngster. It can't be easy to sit in the press box game after game, wondering when the call will come. But McQuaid stepped right in and played well. I've always thought that if you don't notice a defenseman during the course of a game, he's playing well. The only time I noticed McQuaid last night was when he was called for a comically bad dive by a Leafs player. Good on the kid to not miss a beat. Oh and file this under "What a difference a year makes:" McQuaid said on 98.5 The Sports Hub between periods last night that he wasn't trying to fill Johnny Boychuk's skates or replace him. A year ago at this time, few casual B's fans even knew who Boychuk was. Will we be saying the same about McQuaid at this time next year?
  

The Bad

• Come on, Phil "Bad" might be a bit harsh for Phil, but he gets the big money to score goals, and he didn't do it last night. Kessel didn't really have a bad game (he had six shots), but it all comes down to putting up points. One can't help but think Kessel really wanted to pot one and shut the fans up last night, but it didn't happen. Kessel's a guy who uses hate as fuel, however, and it's likely only a matter of time before he burns the B's.
• Mark Recchi's wheels I know he's 42, and is providing invaluable lessons to youngsters like Tyler Seguin and Jordan Caron behind the scenes, but seeing Rex trying to churn up the ice is pretty funny. Recchi still has life to his game, don't get me wrong; I'm not trying to knock the guy, I'm glad he's on the team. But when he was trying to chase down a loose puck last night that would have led to a breakaway, all I could think of was an old car: you press on the gas, and hear the engine revving, but it takes a few seconds for the speed to kick in. Vrooooooooom.
• Brad Marchand is snakebit Marchand has yet to score a goal in the NHL, but had a few glorious chances last night. After missing on one chance late in the game, Marchand was looking skyward, wondering what help he could find in the rafters. Not a bad place to look, Brad; there are a few guys up there who could probably offer up some tips.
• Nathan Horton YOU WERE BROUGHT TO THIS TEAM TO SCORE GOALS, WHY DIDN'T YOU SCORE? WE DIDN'T GIVE UP A NUMBER-ONE DEFENSEMAN FOR YOU TO TAKE NIGHTS OFF FROM SCORING GOALS! (Yes, I'm kidding.)

Attaboy: Thomas again. Maybe I should rename this "AttaThomas" or something, he's on fire.

Providence shuttle: Don't worry Phil, I hear they've got a SWEET arcade and an even better candy store at the Providence Place mall.

Game 6: Rangers 3, Bruins 2

Like I said, I worked Saturday night and only managed to catch about 17 minutes of the third period. Someone's gotta put out the grapes, right?

Here are just a couple of things I took away from this game:

• While Tuukka Rask did take home his second straight loss on the season, it's hard to fault him for the goals he allowed. The first Ranger goal came off of a borderline-illegal high stick, while Rask looked like he had the second goal all sized up before Mark Stuart deflected it with his glove. Rask then got beaten by a good backhander by Marc Staal, a save one could argue Rask should have made. However, he was solid in the third period, and made a couple of great stops. While he didn't do anything to win the game for the B's, as one could argue Tim Thomas did in one (if not both) of the games against Washington, he certainly didn't lose this one for the B's tonight. He's gotten subpar efforts from the team playing in front of him in both starts, something that must have the youngster feeling a bit frustrated.
• Tough performance from Johnny Boychuk, who will be out for a month with a slight fracture in his arm sustained in a slash from Brandon Dubinsky. Boychuk left the game after the slash, got tape put on his arm and then came back out to finish the period...with the broken bone in his arm. Tough performance from a tough guy.
• Strawberries were the biggest seller at work Saturday night. Great deal at 2 for $5.

That's about all I can offer on this game. From the looks of things, it wasn't a bad one to miss, as the B's seemed to bring a B-grade effort at the start.

Game 5: Bruins 4, Capitals 1

The Good

• Power play finally shows some power: AT LAST! The power play moved out of "the Bad," and did so in a big way. The B's exploded for three power play goals last night against a previously-perfect Caps penalty kill. The power play looked much crisper, much more confident and much more dangerous than it had at any point in the first four games. Moving Mark Recchi up to the point proved to be a big boost to the PP unit. Kudos to assistant coach Geoff Ward, who apparently worked tirelessly on the power play in practice.
• Brad Marchand: Laid his body out in front of an Alexander Ovechkin one-timer, one he ended up taking squarely on the leg. It takes a lot of courage to slide in front of a slapshot, and even more guts to step in front of one of Ovechkin's. Marchand limped off the ice and down the tunnel, but later returned to the ice. According to Naoko Funayama, he's not on the ice this morning, however, indicating that the leg could still be sore.
• Bergeron chips in: I personally thought Patrice Bergeron had played very well in the first four games; the points just weren't there. Last night, however, the points WERE there, as Bergeron assisted on Michael Ryder's power play goal and gave Jordan Caron a beautiful pass on the rookie's second goal of the season. As far as CSNNE's Joe Haggerty is concerned, Bergeron was the best player on the ice last night, and I don't disagree.
• Ho hum, production continues: Tim Thomas and Nathan Horton continue to produce like clockwork; Thomas was stellar again save for his mishap with Jason Chimera, while Horton scored again and now has four goals and three assists in five games.
• Jordan Caron: Another goal and another all-around terrific effort from the rookie. He won battles on the boards and played a physical and tough game again, something fans are coming to expect from the youngster. Watching him out there so far, it's sometimes easy to forget that the kid's just a rookie. Right now he's making a case to be here for the long haul, even after Marc Savard and Marco Sturm return.
  

The Bad

• Tyler is no Rancourt: I know it was for charity, but really? Why? Yikes. Tyler's performance was the first thing my mother said to me about the game this morning: "He was awful." And she tells no lies.
• O-vechkin: The Caps star had a rough couple of games against the B's. He had 13 shots in the two games, but was a combined -3 and had no points. He drew a couple of penalties with his speed and stickhandling last night, but other than that wasn't much of a threat.
• D'oh! I'm reaching here, but save for his mental blunder, Thomas would have had his second shutout of the season last night. Stickhandling has never been Thomas' strong suit, but remember Tim, the guys in the opposite colored sweaters from you play for the OTHER team.

The Rest

• I had to listen to some of the game on 98.5 The Sports Hub with Dave Goucher and Bob Beers last night due to working late, and even on the radio it seemed like the game had the atmosphere of a late season or playoff game. This suspicion was confirmed when I got to watch the end of the game on NESN, as the crowd was extremely loud, cheering with every rush, every check and even every battle won on the half-wall. I know that it being the home opener had something to do with it, but I can't help but feel local puck fans were ravenous for hockey to come back, especially with the way last season ended. If last night was any indication (and I know it's early), the fans should have plenty to cheer about this year.
• How to tell when hockey is becoming relevant again: when columnists like Tony Massarotti, Steve Buckley and Bob Ryan start writing about the B's. All three must have taken breaks from writing about LeBron James' lunch or who the Red Sox should sign to actually see what that newfangled game of hockey is all about. Stick to the Sox, Patriots and Celtics, guys, and leave the hockey writing to Dupont, Shinzawa, Harris, Conroy and Co.

Attaboy: Thomas and Horton can share it. They've both been huge thus far.
Providence shuttle: Tyler. On the plus side, he should be pretty familiar with tour buses at this point.

Game 4: Bruins 3, Capitals 1

I realize these posts have gotten a little longer than I intended, so I'm going to try to keep them brief. I don't even think I'd read the entirety of these epic tomes I've been posting.


The Good

• Tim Thomas: Spectacular again, what else can be said? If he keeps it up, Tuukka Rask should probably buy a recliner to replace his back-up milk crate. He's going to be there for a while. Not many top notch saves from Thomas tonight, but he was solid all-around. Making 35 saves while allowing just one goal to this Caps team is nothing to sneeze at.
• Milan Lucic: Props to Lucic for his second-career Gordie Howe hat trick (which I've since renamed the "Pavel Datsyuk hat trick"), but even bigger props for fighting John Erskine again after getting popped pretty good last time. Lucic seemed to say in the Boston Globe's write-up of the game that he remembered that bout with Erskine and wanted to make up for it. I'd say he earned at least a draw this time around.
• Penalty kill: The B's had to kill off four penalties, including an extended 5-on-3, and performed extremely well on all of the kills. The PK unit only allowed four shots to get through to Thomas. The penalty kill was one of the B's strongest assets last year, and it looks in the early going like it will continue to be a valuable tool this year.

The Bad

• Matt Hunwick: Even with his goal, it'd be generous if I moved him up to neutral. Another rough game for the young defenseman, though one hopes that his goal will boost his confidence and get his game going in the right direction. Washington's lone goal came as a direct result of a Hunwick turnover right near his own net. If Hunwick continues at this pace, I wouldn't be surprised to see him get a game or two off to reset his head.
• Turnovers: While Hunwick's was the most egregious, the entire B's team was guilty of way too many turnovers last night. It's not often that a team can be so careless with the puck and not get burned, especially against an explosive team like the Caps. It seemed like everyone got a bit careless with the puck at times, from Hunwick and Zdeno Chara to Michael Ryder and Tyler Seguin. The B's, as a team, need to be a bit more disciplined.
• Greg Campbell's second home: The fourth-liner racked up 11 penalty minutes (5 came in a fight) last night, including a tough four-minute high-sticking penalty in the dying minutes that forced the B's to finish the game 4-on-6. It didn't burn them this time, but Campbell is too valuable a checker to sit in the box that much in one game. Discipline, discipline, discipline, which is coincidental since his dad is the NHL's Dean of Discipline.
  
• Powerless play again: I think I might just create a template for these posts so I don't have to keep writing the same thing over and over about the power play. It was awful again tonight, including a squandered opportunity on an extended 5-on-3. Work needs to be done.

The Rest

• Not much life shown by Washington's big guns last night. Ovechkin, Semin and Backstrom had the odd scoring chance or two, but were all held pointless. Shutting down those three will go a long way towards beating the Caps, and the B's were able to do so last night.
• Expect a long suspension from Rick Rypien of the Vancouver Canucks for his incident with a fan last night in Minnesota. No sports league takes incidents involving player contact with fans lightly, but Rypien, who lost his cool and actually grabbed the fan by the shirt, will likely miss five or more games. No, he didn't actually punch the fan like Tie Domi or venture into the crowd like the Indiana Pacers, but Gary Bettman and Co. will still be hard on him. It's hard to blame the players for wanting to go after fans at times, especially with some of the taunts and insults heard in hockey arenas across the country, but restraint and the ability to tune it out are part of being a professional athlete.

Attaboy: Got to be Thomas again. As long as he keeps playing well, he should keep starting.

Providence shuttle: For the B's, it's Hunwick. In general, it's Rypien. Don't go after the fans, no matter how obnoxious you find their Minnesota accents.

Game 3: Bruins 4, Devils 1

The Good

• Tim Thomas: It was only natural that Thomas got the nod in goal tonight, as he earned the right with last week's shutout of the Phoenix Coyotes. Thomas didn't disappoint, allowing just one goal while making 31 saves, some of the highlight reel variety. The goal he allowed was more the fault of his defenseman failing to pick up Dainius Zubrus at the top of the crease as opposed to Thomas himself making a mistake. The starting goaltending job was essentially handed to Tuukka Rask by many pundits before the season began, but early on Thomas appears to be doing his best to make Claude Julien lose a little sleep at night. If he continues to play like this, goaltending will likely become the biggest hot-button issue for the B's (if it isn't already).
• Jordan Caron's first goal: The rookie impressed many during training camp, and managed to stick with the big club through their European excursion. While he was scratched in the team's first game of the season, he made his NHL debut in the B's 3-0 win over the Coyotes last weekend, and played pretty well. Caron was dressed again in tonight's game, and, again, didn't disappoint. He scored his first career goal nearly six minutes into the second period, a goal that tied the score at 1 and jump-started the B's. Caron's goal was indicative of one of his better attributes: his willingness to go to the "dirty areas" of the ice and put in work. Caron parked himself in the slot in front of Martin Brodeur, and was there to bang home a big rebound. (Video of Caron's goal here, thanks to dafoomie.)
• Krejci's wrist: There was some concern going into the season that David Krejci would need some time to shake the rust off of his injured wrist; that he wasn't going to be able to perform all of his stickhandling and passing magic right away. So far, however, Krejci looks excellent, and was a wizard with the puck again in tonight's game. His beautiful flip-pass to Milan Lucic was his fourth assist this season, giving him a total of four points in three games. Krejci protected the puck beautifully all night, at times seeming to dare Jersey players to try to take it from him. Yes, it's early, but Krejci's injury appears to have healed nicely, and he looks to be in midseason form.
• Fourth line: The fourth line of Shawn Thornton, Gregory Campbell and Brad Marchand was excellent again tonight. Usually, a coach wants his fourth line to play responsible hockey and to make hustle plays and wear down the opposing defensemen with physical play; if the fourth line can chip in some offense, that's just icing on the cake. The B's got that icing last night when Thornton scored the third goal of the game on a great pass from Campbell. Marchand took a silly kneeing penalty that put the B's down two men, but other than that the fourth line was very effective, cycling the puck, finishing their checks and grinding out good shift after good shift.

The Bad

• Hunwick still looks shaky: It seems like many B's fans were quick to blame Matt Hunwick's troubles of last year on Big Money Wides, his defense partner and constant scapegoat. After all, Hunwick had performed terrifically during the '08-'09 season, and few people expected such a regression. However, even though the "W" half of the "H & W Comedy Show," as my friend termed the Hunwick-Wideman pairing last year, is gone, Hunwick continues to make shaky play after shaky play. "Bad" might be a little harsh here, more like "troubling;" Hunwick wasn't awful, but he made his fair share of headscratching plays and turnovers. The young defenseman is a great talent, but needs to tighten up his game and play more consistently.
• Martin Brodeur: His team's four goals allowed can't all be placed squarely on the future Hall of Famer's shoulders, but he certainly didn't help matters. Michael Ryder's wrist shot was a laser that Brodeur was helpless to stop, while Lucic's goal came from a sublime Krejci pass. However, the Caron goal came as a result of a "juicy rebound" and Thornton's goal came when Brodeur badly misread Campbell's intentions behind the net (though in fairness to Brodeur, Campbell did make a great play). Brodeur looked shaky throughout the night, seemingly out of position many times. The only reason the game wasn't 5-1 or 6-1 was because Brodeur made a number of huge stops to bail himself out. It's early, but he certainly hasn't set the world aflame so far.
• Still no "power:" The power play remains an issue. The B's had a couple of good looks on the man advantage, but were unable to convert. All in all, they had just four shots on three power plays. It's hard to find fault with a 4-1 win, but the power play still needs work.

The Rest

• It remains to be seen whether or not Tyler Seguin remains with the B's for the rest of the season, but so far it seems like he's doing little to suggest he should be sent back to juniors. While Mike Milbury may not think Seguin will be an "impact player" this year, he's made his presence felt in the B's past two games, scoring his first goal in the B's second game against Phoenix and assisting on Ryder's strike last night. It seems that at this point, Seguin would have to be a detriment to the team for him to be sent back to juniors; he doesn't have much left to prove there, and won't really improve his game playing against junior competition. The thought here is that he will remain with the B's this year, and will get better with each game.
• I'm going to write about the whole road-trip experience in a separate article to be posted on the main site, but I was hugely disappointed with the Jersey crowd. The arena was beautiful, the transit to and from NYC was very easy and the whole trip was a really fun time, but the crowd was absolutely terrible. The arena wasn't even close to half-full, and seemed to have an atmosphere more appropriate for a wake or a library than that of a hockey game. I know the Devils haven't gotten off to the greatest start, but it's sad to see the fans not come out and support the team. Where's Puddy when you need him?

Attaboy: Caron...gotta give it to him when he nets his first career goal, right?

Providence shuttle: The entire pro-Devils crowd at the Prudential Center tonight. It'd probably only take 5 or 6 Megabuses to get them all up there too, but more on that later.

No love for the Thrashers?

Atlanta's finest rapper T.I. wears a B's hate during an interview with BET a few months back. Yes, if there's a picture of a rapper out there in a Bruins hat, your friends here at BHN will find it.