The Good
- Merlot! The fourth-line was spectacular last night, combining for a fight, three shots, five points, and a plus-5 ranking. Gregory Campbell in particular was excellent, as he lead the way with the line's lone goal and the Gordie Howe hat trick. The fourth line hasn't been as productive this year as they were last year, but last night was a perfect example of how they can wear opposing teams down, and strike when given the opportunity.
- A power play goal! At first I thought my eyes were deceiving me, but lo and behold, the Bruins actually scored on the power play last night. Making the feat all the more impressive is the fact that the goal came against the Devils' PK unit, the best in the NHL. The goal was silky smooth, and came off of terrific puck movement and a beauty of a pass from Nathan Horton.
- Bounce back! I was surprised to see Tim Thomas get the start last night. Truthfully, he was pretty average (and maybe even sub-par) in the Tampa game; however, Thomas has great career numbers against the Devils, and I assume Claude Julien wanted to give him a chance to right the ship immediately following a bad game. It worked out, as Thomas made a couple of big stops and earned himself another win.
- Marty! I thought Martin Brodeur was pretty much washed up, but he looked pretty good last night. The future Hall of Famer made a number of fantastic saves, including robbing Benoit Pouliot with his glove. Brodeur is probably on his way out and certainly isn't the goalie he used to be, but he's still got a few dandies up his sleeve.
The Bad
- Another slow start... Last night marked the fourth time in the last six games that the B's either allowed the first goal or didn't score at all in the opening frame. I know the team has owned the third period this year, but playing from behind or starting out slowly isn't usually the recipe for winning.
- Take back those rubles... It's early in his deal, but the contract Ilya Kovalchuk signed looks pretty bad right now. The Russian sniper signed a 15-year, $100 million deal about a year ago, and he's making $6 million this season. The cap hit averages out to $6.667 million, but Kovalchuk will get paid $11 million next year. Yes, you read that correctly. $11 million for a guy who currently has 40 points (19 G, 21 A) and is a minus-9. While those numbers aren't awful, keep in mind that Kovalchuk recently went on a bit of a tear, netting ten of those points in his last seven games. Things aren't so bad this year, as he's only getting $6 million. However, if he puts up similar totals next year with his new $11 million price tag? Yikes.
What went right:
- Most NHL goalies are going to stop shots that they can see. That's why net-front presence is so important, and it was key for the B's last night. All of the B's goals (excluding the ENG, obviously) came from a player being directly in front of the net, usually on the very edge of the crease. Brodeur never even saw Ference's shot due to the screen in front; Nathan Horton was camped out in the slot right at the top of the crease waiting for David Krejci's pass; and Campbell's goal came in the "dirty area" of the ice, right at the top of the crease, where Mark Recchi made a career out of pouncing on rebounds. The pretty goals get the highlight reel time, but the dirty work counts just the same. It sure paid off for the B's last night.
Attaboy: The Merlot Line, and Campbell in particular. They were outstanding.
Providence shuttle: The Devils' home crowd. ZZzzzzzzZZZZzzzz. That arena is incredibly boring. No life whatsoever.
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