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.