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.
- 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.
- 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.
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