- Solid showing from the rookie An excellent game from Tyler Seguin, who finished the night with a goal, an assist, a team-high six shots and a plus-2 rating. Seguin looked like the most dangerous Bruin on the ice throughout the game. I think this was his best game as a professional, and a game that should earn him more ice time in Monday's game at Toronto.
- Points from the blueline As I mentioned on the main page, this was the first time in Bruin history that four different defensemen scored in a single game, no small feat for a franchise that had names like Orr and Bourque patrolling the blueline in the past. All of the Bruin defensemen seemed to be very active offensively in this game, something that carried over from the Atlanta game. It's good to see the blueliners create offensive chances, but...
The Bad
- Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy ...not when they come at the expense of good defense. Andy Brickley alluded to the fact that the Sabres like to send a guy to the offensive blue line in hopes of generating odd-man rushes, and it worked to perfection in this game, especially with the B's newly-active D. The Sabres had what seemed like a dozen odd-man rushes, and they managed to score on a couple of them. I'm all for having the defensemen more involved in joining the rush and creating scoring chances, but not when it comes at the expense of sound defensive hockey. There's a happy medium somewhere, and the Bruins need to find it.
- Concern for Rask I know Tuukka Rask is a professional, and supposedly he and Tim Thomas have a great relationship. But I'm beginning to get a little concerned with how the Bruins are handling him this season. While Thomas is the goalie of the present, Rask is certainly the goalie of the future. I'd be much more concerned with the team "losing" a young goalie of Rask's caliber than I would be of them "losing" a veteran like Thomas, who thrives on perceived slights against his ability. I've been an ardent supporter of Claude Julien, but pulling Rask in this game was ridiculous. Yes, he'd given up three goals, but look at them: the first came when a shot from the faceoff dot got knocked down, changed direction and landed right on the stick of a Sabre in the slot; the second goal came when Thomas Vanek got away with a blatant tripping penalty that resulted in him having the puck alone right in front of Rask. Tuukka went for the poke check, and Vanek, a proven goal-scorer, deked around it and slipped the puck in; and the third goal I'd put squarely on Rask. He failed to hold the post on a weak shot that nearly came from below the goal line and allowed the Sabres to whack it in with just 40 seconds left in the first period. Rask was irate that the whistle wasn't blown, but the fact of the matter is that he must hold the post there. Of the three goals, I'd place one squarely on Rask's shoulders, blame one on a bad bounce and the other on poor officiating (of which there was plenty in this game). Julien seems to know that Rask is struggling with his confidence, so how is pulling the kid in a game the team is winning 4-3 going to help? Especially after just one period? Now the B's say they'll have Rask work with their goalie coach, but let's face it: he's not going to regain his confidence in practice. The youngster needs to play, and Julien needs to let him finish what he started.
- Where are the netminders? Going into this game, one would've been right in assuming it'd be a low-scoring affair. It was going to feature Ryan Miller, one of the best goalies in the league, and either Tuukka Rask, who matched Miller save for spectacular save in last year's playoffs, or Tim Thomas, who is at or near the top in every major statistical category for goalies this year. So what happened? 12 goals were allowed in regulation, and Miller and Thomas, arguably the two best American goalies in the game (throw LA's Jonathan Quick in there for consideration too), combined to allow five goals on six shootout attempts. Yikes.
The Rest
- Where's the top line? Boston's "top line" of Marc Savard, Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton went a combined minus-4 in this one, and none of the three recorded a single point. The trio combined for nine shots, just three more than Seguin had on his own. Not good enough from a unit with that much skill, a line that simply hasn't been getting it done: Horton hasn't scored in nine games, while Lucic hasn't scored in seven.
- Seguin must be rewarded If Claude Julien is going to limit the rookie's ice time when he doesn't play well, the opposite must be true too: Seguin deserves more ice time Monday against Toronto. I have no problem with benching the kid when he messes up or making him watch a game or two from the press box as long as he's rewarded with more time when he performs well.
- While the last two games (against Atlanta and Buffalo) have been disappointing, the B's have a chance to make the road trip an overall success with a win against the Leafs. If the B's leave Toronto with the W, they'll have finished the trip 3-0-2, grabbing eight points out of a possible ten. Not bad for a five-game road trip, especially when the B's had been struggling as of late.
Attaboy: Seguin. The rookie showed all of his skills in this one, and his saucer pass to set up Kampfer's third period goal was a thing of beauty.
Providence shuttle: The handling of Rask. Completely senseless to pull the youngster after just one period. At least give him a chance to figure things out, then pull him in the second if he struggles.
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