- Everyone deserves a second chance! Glad to see Tuukka Rask back in between the pipes. No matter what he or anyone else said, getting yanked in Buffalo must have hurt his confidence. Working with a goalie coach is all well and good, but nothing will rebuild confidence better than actually playing in a game. Rask had played well against Toronto in the past, and, with the win, should see his confidence increase. He played a solid game, had good rebound control and can't really be faulted for the goal he allowed; Mikhail Grabovski made a great move. I still think Rask will mainly be playing the role of back-up (unless Tim Thomas gets hurt or falters), but this win should be a good one for him in terms of confidence. It'll be interesting to see if Julien lets him start again on Thursday, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him go back to Thomas.
- Hey, there IS a first line! Well what do you know? Marc Savard, Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton DO still play for the Bruins...they could've fooled me. The heat hasn't been turned up on this trio as much lately due to the fact that the B's are 4-0-2 in their last six games, but they really haven't been producing at all: Lucic's point last night was his first since Dec. 16 and Horton's goal was his first since Dec. 11 and only his second point in the same stretch; Marc Savard gets a bit of a pass because he's just now rounding into top form. Last night, the first line finally looked dangerous again, with Horton doing tremendous individual work on his goal and Lucic serving as a space-creating machine on Savard's goal. I've said in the past that as goes Lucic, so go the B's. Last night, Lucic was firing on all cylinders, and it showed in his line's overall performance.
- A reward for Seguin I called for it yesterday, and Claude Julien delivered: Tyler Seguin got the increased ice time he deserved after a stellar game in Buffalo on Saturday. Seguin netted 14:21 of TOI last night, nearly as many minutes as he logged in last week's games against Tampa and Atlanta combined.
The Bad
- Defensive breakdowns continue Though they weren't nearly as numerous as the breakdowns in Buffalo on Saturday, the B's continued their disturbing trend of defensive lapses last night. Mikhail Grabovski's goal came as a result of a terrible line change, and the B's got caught giving up odd-man rushes a couple of times late last night. Again, I stress that this game was a marked improvement over the Buffalo debacle, but the B's still need to tighten things up defensively.
- Where are you, Phil? Phil Kessel continues to show flashes of brilliance against the Bruins, but he still can't put anything up on the scoreboard, something that must be incredibly frustrating for Leafs fans. Phil is now pointless and a minus-1 in three games against the B's this year after registering just one assist and recording a minus-5 rating in six games against his former club last year. All told, the speedy sniper has played nine games against the team that drafted him; in those nine games, he's recorded just one point and is a minus-6. Ouch.
The Rest
- Toronto youngster James Reimer looked pretty good in net last night. He made a number of big stops, and I can't really blame him for either Bruin goal. The 22-year-old has made three appearances in his young career (two starts) and has only allowed three goals. He's posted a .957 save percentage and a GAA of 1.35, pretty good considering his age and the somewhat shaky team in front of him. It's early, but Reimer looks like he'll be a good young player for the Leafs. Now who are the Leafs going to trade him to...
Attaboy: I'll give it to Horton for finally breaking out of his slump. Now it's time to go on a tear, Nathan. If not, back to Florida you go.
Providence Shuttle: Phil. When are you going to show up against the B's, Phil? When?
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