- Pouliot earns his stripes Notice that I didn't call him "New Ryder." Yes, Benoit Pouliot has finally earned his name, and he'll no longer be known as New Ryder. Pouliot's game-winner last night should take some pressure off of him, as he's finally got a good Bruin moment to call his own. I haven't had a problem with Pouliot's play so far this year. I think he's been playing physical and has been making good decisions, but the pucks haven't been going in. Let's see if this goal is the confidence boost that gets him rolling.
- Pretty play from the grinders Shawn Thornton's goal in the third period was one of the nicest Bruin goals of the young season, so I guess it's only fitting that it came from the gritty fourth line. Funny how that works, huh? All three forwards had a hand in that goal: Gregory Campbell making the pass to Jordan Caron, Caron throwing it to the net, and Thornton burying it. To be honest, I'm pretty sure Caron didn't know Thornton was there; that looked like a redirect attempt, not a pass. But hey, the result sure was pretty.
- Mooooooooooooose Despite the loss, Johan Hedberg (known as "The Moose") was pretty solid in net for the Devils. He robbed Nathan Horton in the third, stoned Brad Marchand in the first, and played an all-around solid game. With Marty Brodeur struggling this year, steady performances from Hedberg could make or break the Devils. If he keeps playing like he did last night, they should be in pretty good shape.
The Bad
- Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy I caught most of the first period and all of the third, and what I saw was some of the sloppiest play of the year so far. It seemed like each team was determined to "out turnover" the other. There was a sequence in the third when the Devils turned it over at their defensive blue line, and the B's got a scoring chance but couldn't cash in. The Devils brought the puck up ice, the B's took it back, and subsequently turned it over, leading to a Jersey chance. It was like watching hand grenade hockey out there: "You take it!" "No, no, YOU take it!" "I don't want it, you take it!"
- No more Kampf-chuk A few seasons back, a friend of mine derisively referred to the Dennis Wideman and Matt Hunwick defense pairing as the "H & W Comedy Hour" due to the duo's propensity for often comically bad turnovers. Last night saw the return of the Comedy Hour, this time starring Johnny Boychuk and Steven Kampfer. Boychuk's ill-advised pass back to his own blueline led to Kampfer getting turnstiled by David Henrique, which led to Jersey's third goal. It was awful. I like both players, but not together. I'd rather see Kampfer play with someone responsible like Zdeno Chara or Dennis Seidenberg, someone who can cover for Kampfer's inevitable youthful misadventures. Kampfer's a good player, but his lapses in his own zone concern me.
What went right
- Good things happen when players go to the net, and that's how three Bruin goals got scored last night: Chris Kelly drove to the net and pounced on a loose puck; Thornton and Caron both got to the front of the goal on Thornton's marker; and Pouliot and Kelly were both right in front of Hedberg on Pouliot's game-winner. Good things happen when players drive to the net and there's lots of traffic in front, as was evident three different times last night for the Bruins.
Attaboy: Gotta be Benny. NO LONGER A CHUMP, right Jack?
Providence shuttle: Kampfer. He looked downright silly on Jersey's third goal.
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