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 6: Rangers 3, Bruins 2

Like I said, I worked Saturday night and only managed to catch about 17 minutes of the third period. Someone's gotta put out the grapes, right?

Here are just a couple of things I took away from this game:

• While Tuukka Rask did take home his second straight loss on the season, it's hard to fault him for the goals he allowed. The first Ranger goal came off of a borderline-illegal high stick, while Rask looked like he had the second goal all sized up before Mark Stuart deflected it with his glove. Rask then got beaten by a good backhander by Marc Staal, a save one could argue Rask should have made. However, he was solid in the third period, and made a couple of great stops. While he didn't do anything to win the game for the B's, as one could argue Tim Thomas did in one (if not both) of the games against Washington, he certainly didn't lose this one for the B's tonight. He's gotten subpar efforts from the team playing in front of him in both starts, something that must have the youngster feeling a bit frustrated.
• Tough performance from Johnny Boychuk, who will be out for a month with a slight fracture in his arm sustained in a slash from Brandon Dubinsky. Boychuk left the game after the slash, got tape put on his arm and then came back out to finish the period...with the broken bone in his arm. Tough performance from a tough guy.
• Strawberries were the biggest seller at work Saturday night. Great deal at 2 for $5.

That's about all I can offer on this game. From the looks of things, it wasn't a bad one to miss, as the B's seemed to bring a B-grade effort at the start.