Game 17: Bruins 2, Blue Jackets 1

The Good

• Goalie duel Tuukka Rask and Curtis Sanford both played very solid games, making the big saves when called upon. Sanford was making his first NHL start in over two years, but didn't look a bit rusty. Truthfully, Rask was just one save better than Sanford, and that was the difference between winning and losing. But with Steve Mason suffering from mammoth confidence issues, it looks like Sanford may be ready to lend a steadying hand between the Columbus pipes. Rask was excellent as well, making a huge stop on Jeff Carter late in the game and stoning Rick Nash and Antoine Vermette in the shootout. Tim Thomas will probably be back between the pipes tomorrow, but Rask has been playing very well as of late.
• Good bout for Thornton Shawn Thornton and Jared Boll exchanged a flurry of punches in what was probably Thornton's best fight of the year so far. Boll has tangled with the B's before, and apparently this time his hit on Steven Kampfer prompted Thornton to come calling. The fight didn't look like a momentum starter; Thornton looked legitimately angry, so retribution for Kampfer would make sense. In any case, a good fight.
  

The Bad

• Everything else While Tuesday's win over the Devils could be called a solid, grind-it-out win (though I would call it a sloppy, somewhat lucky win), last night's game was just ugly. If there was a way that the game could end without either team getting a point, that would've been the best option last night. Scoring chances were few and far between, passes were muffed, turnovers were aplenty...ugly. I hope it was just a case of the B's playing down to their opponents, and not a sign of a slide to come.

What went right

• Excellent analysis from Andy Brickley on David Krejci's shootout winner. As an ex-player, Brickley often points out things I don't notice, but last night's was particularly cool: on the replay, he showed how Krejci, who was thinking "shot" all the way, waited until he saw Sanford's hand twitch to start a poke-check attempt, then he fired the puck past him. Great poise from Krejci, and great analysis by Brickley.

Attaboy: Rask (and Sanford, because he played pretty well too).

Providence Shuttle: Everyone else. Then again, I don't want to torture Providence with that kind of ugly hockey. Send them to Montreal instead, that's a worse punishment.