- No way Jose There's really no other way to put it: Jose Theodore is a Bruins-killer. Doesn't matter if it's with the Caps, the Habs, or the Panthers, the guy just loves playing the B's. As someone who still freshly remembers the dark days of '02 and '04, it pains me to say this, but Theodore played a great game last night. Posts don't necessarily mean luck; they can also mean good positioning by the goalie and mean all of the angles are covered. Gotta give credit where it's due, and Theodore was great last night.
- Rebuilding on the fly It's early still, but it's good to see the Panthers have turned things around. I said back in October that I thought they'd be good this year, and people laughed at me. Well? Dale Tallon essentially rebuilt this team in a single offseason, taking them from cellar-dwellers to top of the conference. It remains to see if they can sustain it, and they still have questions on D and, despite last night's game, between the pipes. But good things are happening down in South Florida.
The Bad
- Headaches The hit on Daniel Paille looked pretty clean, but it was a big one. Now that it seems that Paille has a concussion, it could have an even bigger impact. Paille is one of the B's most dependable players, and probably their second-best penalty killer after Patrice Bergeron. Jordan Caron will likely take Paille's spot, but he's not exactly the same kind of player. If Paille's out, Benoit Pouliot may be bumped down to the fourth line so Caron can ride with Rich Peverley and Chris Kelly. Here's to hoping for a speedy recovery for Paille.
- First line freeze The first line was on the ice for both goals, making them a combined minus-6. Yikes.
- Milan Lucic He was pretty bad last night. He had one of the B's best scoring chances late in the game, when he found himself all alone in the slot with the puck; Theodore gloved his wrister, but replays showed that the puck was likely going wide anyways. Then, Lucic's turnover led directly to the Panthers' game-winning goal. Rough night for 17.
- Hits are, in fact, legal I don't mind hockey fights, but I'm getting kind of sick of seeing fights after clean hits. Even Shawn Thornton's defense of Paille was a little unnecessary, though I'll give Thornton a pass because Krys Barch is known as a tough guy and because Thornton saw Paille was hurt. But Jack Skille's fight with Johnny Boychuk came after Boychuk decked Mike Santorelli with a perfectly clean, non-injury causing hit. Why fight after that? Checking is allowed, guys.
- PANIC! The B's are 14-2-1 in their last 17 games, but right now people only care about them being 0-2-0 in their last two. People: they lost to the second-best team in the East (FLA) and to a goalie who played the best game of his season (Pavelec). It's not like they played stinkers either. Sometimes the bounces (and posts) don't go your way. It doesn't mean the world is ending. Relax.
What went wrong:
- I Tweeted the other night about how Nathan Horton's passes on rushes up the ice almost always seem to be at the feet of his teammates, effectively ending the rush. Lo and behold, he makes a perfect pass to Lucic, giving his linemate a golden scoring chance. What does Lucic do? He muffs it, turning the puck over and leading to Florida's goal. Awful. The puck wasn't poked away from him; he simply gave it up. Offensive zone turnovers hurt, and they hurt even more in close games and when they negate beautiful scoring chances. Bad bad bad.
Attaboy: Theodore. Any team that wants to beat the Bruins should just trade for him, apparently.
Providence shuttle: Lucic. Bad mistake at a bad time, and it cost his team.
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