The Good
- A power play goal! The Bruins' power play woes were starting to get comical again: prior to Rich Peverley's third period strike last night, the B's had come up empty on their previous 22 chances. They scored on their first power play of the year, then didn't score again with the man advantage until last night. HA! Anyways, the power play actually hasn't looked all that terrible. They've moved the puck well, but the bounces haven't been there. Hopefully that goal last night gets the overall confidence level up a bit. The B's aren't going to go far with an abysmal power play two years in a row.
The Bad...where to begin?
- Zero support for Rask Poor Tuukka Rask has to be wondering whether or not his teammates even like him. Rask is now two starts into the year and has only gotten one goal of offensive support from his pals in black and gold. This was a problem for Rask last year as well, as, for whatever reason, the team just seemed to play better in front of Tim Thomas. Rask wasn't terrible last night (though Joni Pitkanen's slapper probably should've been stopped); he just didn't get any kind of support from his teammates.
- Trash throws trash Every fan base has morons, and the Bruins' fools got themselves a lot of attention last night. After a few questionable calls in a row went against the Bruins, some Mensa candidate fans decided, "hey, you know what will reverse these calls? Throwing trash on the ice!" I saw beer, bottles of water, and even a plate of nachos thrown on the ice. This type of behavior might be expected in Philly, but it just makes all Bruins fans look like a bunch of boorish neanderthals. If you were at the game and threw trash on the ice, do everyone a favor and don't go to another game this year.
- Did Milan Lucic play last night? Still invisible. It's getting more and more frustrating by the game. Mike Komisarek comes to town on Thursday; here's to hoping that the sight of his old foe wakes Lucic out of whatever slumber he's in.
- The kids aren't alright Matt Bartkowski had a rough game last night, failing to clear the puck on Carolina's first goal. Bartkowski looks like he's still having a bit of trouble adjusting to the NHL game, especially the speed of it. Jordan Caron has done pretty much nothing of note all season. His struggles have gone largely unnoticed due to the fact that pretty much everyone else has been awful as well, and he'll be back in the press box when David Krejci returns. But I'd consider bringing someone else up from Providence to give them a shot (Zach Hamill time!!!) while Caron finds his game.
What went wrong
- It might be a tiny bit unfair to pin this whole loss on the shoulders of Nathan Horton. But only a tiny bit. True, the Bruins were losing when Horton snapped, but it was also a one goal game. The building was loud, the B's had just scored on the power play, and they had all the momentum. So what does Horton do? Responds to a stick tap from Tim Gleason that was pretty much nothing by throwing him around the ice like a dog playing with a chew toy. Gleason showed no interest in fighting Horton, and I don't blame him. Gleason wasn't afraid of him, as he's a pretty tough customer himself. Gleason knew that the latter half of the third period of a one goal game on the road isn't exactly a wise time to drop the gloves. The crowd's already fired up; why risk getting them more fired up by fighting? No, Gleason did the smart thing, and Horton threw a fit. He looked like a child who's mother told him it was time to leave Chuck E. Cheese. "Embarrassing" is really the best word for it. So no, Horton didn't lose the game right there. But he sure as hell ended any comeback bid. Horton's clearly frustrated with his slow start, but throwing a fit and costing the team isn't the way to snap out of it.
Attaboy: Joni Pitkanen has now scored twice this season, and both goals came against the B's. His second period slapper that beat Tuukka Rask proved to be the eventual game-winner.
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