- "Vintage" Thomas Tim Thomas' shutout last night wasn't perfect, but it WAS perfect Tim Thomas hockey. The Bruin netminder was at his scrambly best last night, flopping around, diving back and forth, and ending up face down in his crease on more than one occasion. But the pucks stayed out, and that's what matters. Thomas has been heating back up as of last, having allowed just two goals in his last four starts. That doesn't bode well for the rest of the Eastern Conference, but it sure should make B's fans happy.
- Chara contributing Zdeno Chara has played some of his best hockey of the year since the Max Pacioretty incident, and he kept up his hot pace last night. In the B's ten games since that hit, Chara has 11 points (3G-8A) and is a +10. Chara chipped in with a goal last night, and also did a great job of shutting down Chicago's big guns.
- Seguin looked good again I've been watching Tyler Seguin's game a bit more closely over the past couple of weeks, and I think he's been playing some of his best overall hockey of the year lately. He and his linemates, Chris Kelly and Rich Peverley, seem to have at least two or three great scoring opportunities per game; they just aren't going in right now. Their line gives the B's an element of speed that fans haven't seen in years. Seguin looks like he's more interested in two-way hockey now, as if he finally understands that that's the route to more ice time. Good on him for getting the message and committing to improving his game.
- Marchand's call The game was getting a bit chippy in the second period, and, as usual, Brad Marchand was in the middle of it. He was mixing things up with Patrick Kane, when after a whistle, he gave Kane a light slash on the stick, probably while he continued to chirp at him. This drew the ire of the referees, and Marchand was sent off for slashing. The call was absurd: not only was the "slash" little more than a love tap, but it was on the STICK of Kane, not on his arm/leg/chest/whatever. Marchand seems to be developing a bit of a reputation league-wide now; it'll be interesting to see if he's the recipient of more flimsy calls like this in the future.
- Thornton's cut Yikes. That's quite a mark there. Hopefully Thornton won't miss any time, and hopefully whoever chirped at him from the Chicago bench doesn't get ratted out by his teammates; Thornton will likely make that guy's face seem like Thornton's gash was a mere papercut.
- Not much else needs to be said about this one. I'm pleased that the B's came out with a solid effort, even though they didn't need the points nearly as much as the Hawks did. They may have benefited from the Hawks' travel (they played Monday night in Detroit), but they put forth a solid all-around effort, and deserved the win.
Attaboy: Thomas and Recchi can share it. Thomas got the shutout, and Recchi passed some guy named Paul Coffey on the all-time points list. Not bad.
Providence Shuttle: The Bench Chirper. Thornton's coming for you, buddy.
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