Game 67: Sabres 4, Bruins 3 (OT)

The Good

• The B's first goal ...was a thing of beauty. Excellent passing all around, and how did it start? With a crisp, clean breakout. David Krejci's sublime pass under the stick of a defenseman onto the tape of the streaking Milan Lucic was excellent, as was Lucic's cross-crease pass right onto the stick of Nathan Horton. Tic-tac-goal. That play doesn't happen without the net drive by Horton, who finally looks like he may be waking up (for real this time!).
• Chara showed no hesitation One couldn't fault Zdeno Chara for playing a bit tentatively after his incident with Max Pacioretty, but he didn't seem to be holding back at all. Chara had two assists and seemed to play every bit as physical as he usually does. The boarding call that went against him was a complete joke...I never knew it was possible to board someone from north of the goal line. Who knew? One can't help but wonder if refs are going have Chara on a shorter leash from now on, whether league-ordered or not.

The Bad

• Another blown lead The Bruins are a top-notch defensive team, but they blew multiple leads again last night, including an early two-goal lead. They also had a lead in the third period, a time when they're usually able to lock things down, but let that one slip away as well. Can't win late in the season with sloppy play like that.
• Thomas on the GWG I know that it was a "knuckler" and that it was hard to read, but I think if Thomas hadn't come out as far to challenge the initial shot he would have had more of a chance with the rebound. Can't really fault Thomas there though; his aggressive style is what makes him so good, and he saved the B's bacon a number of times earlier in the game.
• Still no power It was overlooked when the team was winning, but now that they've lost three in-a-row it's becoming an issue again: the B's power play still isn't clicking. Last night they got a goal right after the power play expired (in Jack Edwards' VULNERABLE MINUTE!), so that one can probably be counted as a power play tally in my eyes. But still, one goal on the PP since the arrival of Kaberle? Not good enough. Power plays take on even greater importance late in the season and in the playoffs. The B's aren't going to go far with a sputtering power play.

The Rest

• The B's enter tonight's game against the Islanders badly needing a win to end this mini-slide, but the Isles are no pushover of a team. The Isles are fourth-worst in the league, but have been playing better of late; they're a respectable 5-2-3 in their last ten games. They've got a lot of young players who are playing loose and a lot of other players working for jobs and paychecks for next year. Last time the B's visited Long Island, they steam-rolled the Isles to start their six-game road winning streak. This time, things won't go as smoothly if the B's don't bring their best effort.

Attaboy: Brad Boyes. Played a good game against his old team last night, including potting the OT winner.

Providence shuttle: Johnny Boychuk. He badly blew his check on the GWG, leaving Boyes all alone in the crease to tap the puck in.

Game 37: Sabres 7, Bruins 6 (SO)

The Good

• Solid showing from the rookie An excellent game from Tyler Seguin, who finished the night with a goal, an assist, a team-high six shots and a plus-2 rating. Seguin looked like the most dangerous Bruin on the ice throughout the game. I think this was his best game as a professional, and a game that should earn him more ice time in Monday's game at Toronto.
• Points from the blueline As I mentioned on the main page, this was the first time in Bruin history that four different defensemen scored in a single game, no small feat for a franchise that had names like Orr and Bourque patrolling the blueline in the past. All of the Bruin defensemen seemed to be very active offensively in this game, something that carried over from the Atlanta game. It's good to see the blueliners create offensive chances, but...

The Bad

• Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy ...not when they come at the expense of good defense. Andy Brickley alluded to the fact that the Sabres like to send a guy to the offensive blue line in hopes of generating odd-man rushes, and it worked to perfection in this game, especially with the B's newly-active D. The Sabres had what seemed like a dozen odd-man rushes, and they managed to score on a couple of them. I'm all for having the defensemen more involved in joining the rush and creating scoring chances, but not when it comes at the expense of sound defensive hockey. There's a happy medium somewhere, and the Bruins need to find it.
• Concern for Rask I know Tuukka Rask is a professional, and supposedly he and Tim Thomas have a great relationship. But I'm beginning to get a little concerned with how the Bruins are handling him this season. While Thomas is the goalie of the present, Rask is certainly the goalie of the future. I'd be much more concerned with the team "losing" a young goalie of Rask's caliber than I would be of them "losing" a veteran like Thomas, who thrives on perceived slights against his ability. I've been an ardent supporter of Claude Julien, but pulling Rask in this game was ridiculous. Yes, he'd given up three goals, but look at them: the first came when a shot from the faceoff dot got knocked down, changed direction and landed right on the stick of a Sabre in the slot; the second goal came when Thomas Vanek got away with a blatant tripping penalty that resulted in him having the puck alone right in front of Rask. Tuukka went for the poke check, and Vanek, a proven goal-scorer, deked around it and slipped the puck in; and the third goal I'd put squarely on Rask. He failed to hold the post on a weak shot that nearly came from below the goal line and allowed the Sabres to whack it in with just 40 seconds left in the first period. Rask was irate that the whistle wasn't blown, but the fact of the matter is that he must hold the post there. Of the three goals, I'd place one squarely on Rask's shoulders, blame one on a bad bounce and the other on poor officiating (of which there was plenty in this game). Julien seems to know that Rask is struggling with his confidence, so how is pulling the kid in a game the team is winning 4-3 going to help? Especially after just one period? Now the B's say they'll have Rask work with their goalie coach, but let's face it: he's not going to regain his confidence in practice. The youngster needs to play, and Julien needs to let him finish what he started.
• Where are the netminders? Going into this game, one would've been right in assuming it'd be a low-scoring affair. It was going to feature Ryan Miller, one of the best goalies in the league, and either Tuukka Rask, who matched Miller save for spectacular save in last year's playoffs, or Tim Thomas, who is at or near the top in every major statistical category for goalies this year. So what happened? 12 goals were allowed in regulation, and Miller and Thomas, arguably the two best American goalies in the game (throw LA's Jonathan Quick in there for consideration too), combined to allow five goals on six shootout attempts. Yikes.

The Rest

• Where's the top line? Boston's "top line" of Marc Savard, Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton went a combined minus-4 in this one, and none of the three recorded a single point. The trio combined for nine shots, just three more than Seguin had on his own. Not good enough from a unit with that much skill, a line that simply hasn't been getting it done: Horton hasn't scored in nine games, while Lucic hasn't scored in seven.
• Seguin must be rewarded If Claude Julien is going to limit the rookie's ice time when he doesn't play well, the opposite must be true too: Seguin deserves more ice time Monday against Toronto. I have no problem with benching the kid when he messes up or making him watch a game or two from the press box as long as he's rewarded with more time when he performs well.
• While the last two games (against Atlanta and Buffalo) have been disappointing, the B's have a chance to make the road trip an overall success with a win against the Leafs. If the B's leave Toronto with the W, they'll have finished the trip 3-0-2, grabbing eight points out of a possible ten. Not bad for a five-game road trip, especially when the B's had been struggling as of late.

Attaboy: Seguin. The rookie showed all of his skills in this one, and his saucer pass to set up Kampfer's third period goal was a thing of beauty.

Providence shuttle: The handling of Rask. Completely senseless to pull the youngster after just one period. At least give him a chance to figure things out, then pull him in the second if he struggles.

Game 26: Bruins 3, Sabres 2 (OT)

The Good

• Life from the power play The B's sluggish power play has been a problem all year, but it showed signs of life last night. The B's finished the evening 1-for-4 on the man advantage, with the one strike being the game-winner. However, the power play was a real weapon late in the game, with the B's looking to take the lead with Steve Montador off for high-sticking. Though they didn't score, the B's built up a significant amount of momentum with crisp passing, good decision-making and smart plays with the puck. Though they didn't score, they were able to build off of that momentum and ultimately get one with the man advantage in overtime.
• As goes Lucic, so go the Bruins I've posted this on my Twitter account a couple of times, but I think it's a pretty interesting stat: the B's have yet to lose a game this season in which Milan Lucic scores a goal. It may be a coincidence, but I think it shows how important having a healthy Lucic is to this team. He already has more points this year than he did all of last year, but in 24 fewer games. Lucic was good again last night, and though his goal was arguably a lucky one and he finished the night at minus-1, he did have five shots on goal and a couple of good scoring chances.

The Bad

• Thanks Mike! Really, really, REALLY bad turnover from Mike Weber on Nathan Horton's goal. Most players seem to know that it's a bad idea to try to clear the puck through the middle of the zone, and most don't do it unless they're 100% sure it'll work. Weber probably never even saw Horton coming, but I bet he saw the dirty look Lindy Ruff gave him when he got back to the bench.
• The B's breakout continues to suck Well "suck" might be a little harsh, but the B's continue to have a whale of a time trying to get consistent clean breakouts. Sure, every now and then you'll see a nice two-pass breakout: defenseman to defenseman, then defenseman to forward at the blue line and away we go. But for every solid breakout, it seems like there are two or three hair-raising ones. I don't know if it's the system, the absence of a puck moving defenseman or just bad plays, but it needs to stop.
• Really ref? Really? Not quite sure how the referees missed that goal last night. I saw it clearly on TV when it happened live, and the ref was only about 15 feet from the net; I was more like six miles. They ultimately got it right, but that one didn't even seem close.
• Roy blows it Derek Roy had a golden opportunity to end the game in overtime when he found himself all alone with the puck right in front of Tim Thomas. How "all alone" was he? Roy was able to collect the pass, do a couple of dekes and throw a head fake or two and he STILL didn't score. Big-time blown chance for a talented goal-scorer there.

The Rest

• USA! USA! USA! Last night's game featured arguably the two best American goalies in the game right now in Ryan Miller and Tim Thomas. It's interesting to look at the stats, however, and see that American netminders are doing pretty well for themselves this season. There are four Americans in the top-ten in the NHL in save percentage and four in the top-eight in GAA. It's especially interesting when one notices that there is only one American in the top-15 in the NHL in scoring (Dustin Byfuglien) and only two in the top-25 (Byfuglien and former teammate Patrick Kane). Somewhere, Uncle Sam is wearing a goalie mask and cheering.
• Weird moment last night when Zdeno Chara and Jason Pominville got stuck together in the second period last night. The two were battling for the puck in one of the corners and somehow got tied together. It looked like Chara's skatelace got stuck somewhere on one of Pominville's skates, but they couldn't get it apart until after a whistle. I think Zdeno Chara is one of the last people I'd ever want to be in a three-legged race with; he'd probably tear my leg from my body just by taking a few strides. Yikes.

Attaboy: Mark Recchi gets the nod for tipping in the game-winner. Recchi made his living in the NHL in front of the opposing net, and continues to be productive at the age of 42.

Providence shuttle: Weber. Sorry Mike, but that turnover was a killer for your team.