Game 44: Bruins 4, Devils 1

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.

Game 15: Bruins 3, Devils 0

The Good

• Scoring first It's always helps to jump out to an early lead. Last night, Michael Ryder got the B's going early with a power play goal with just under five minutes to go in the first period. The B's are just 2-5-1 when allowing the first goal, but with last night's win are now a perfect 7-0-0 when scoring the first goal.
• Thomas back to form After suffering his first loss of the season on Saturday against the Senators, Tim Thomas was in top form against New Jersey, making 28 stops. Thomas kept the B's in the game at certain points, as the Devils managed to mount more than a couple solid assaults on the Bruin goal. The B's weren't exactly excellent defensively last night, but Thomas was able to bail his team out when the D let him down. Thomas told the Boston Globe that he felt as good last night as he had all season. Good sign for the B's.
  
• McQuaid steps up Good on Adam McQuaid to drop the gloves with Rod Pelley, who's a pretty tough guy. McQuaid has filled in nicely in Johnny Boychuk's absence, but he still looks to be the odd man out when Boychuk returns. He'll earn a lot of points with his teammates by dropping the gloves, and his play may make Claude Julien at least have to consider keeping him in the line-up when Boychuk's ready to go.
• Angry Mark Stuart is back There were times last year where Mark Stuart looked to be the B's most fearsome defender. He had his fair share of bone-crunching hits and showed that he was willing to fight as well. That same angry Mark Stuart was out in full force last night, as he had at least three huge body checks (two on Mattias Tedenby) and made his presence felt throughout the game. He was named the game's Third Star for his efforts, despite not registering a point.

The Bad

• Marty? Not the best game for the future Hall of Famer. Brodeur probably should have stopped Ryder's goal, and definitely usually stops Wheeler's, a long range wrister that somehow eluded Brodeur. It's hard to place the blame for Jersey's early-season struggles squarely on his shoulders, but he certainly contributed to the problems last night.
• Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy While it's hard to find fault with a 3-0 win, the B's didn't exactly set the world on fire with their play last night. The B's were especially sloppy in their own zone, at times appearing to be under siege inside their own blue line. There were two or three occasions where the Devils had possession of the puck in the B's zone for what seemed like two entire minutes. The Devils failed to capitalize on turnovers and generally careless play, but the B's won't be able to get away with it forever.
• Where'd the power go? Yes, Ryder's goal came on the power play, but other than that, the B's were inept with the man advantage again. They finished the night 1-for-5 (1-for-6 if you count the 5-on-3 as a second power play...I'm not sure if you do, or if it's just considered one long, continuous power play) with the extra man, managing just seven shots. For the most part, though, the power play never really seemed a threat to score, as both units looked out of sync. Paging David Krejci...
• Dennis & Callahan between periods? Ugh. I changed the channel right away. It's bad enough to hear those conservative blowhards in the morning, but now I have to see them during B's games? No thanks. (Yes, I know it's a one-time thing to promote their show being simulcast on NESN, but once is enough, thank you.)

The Rest

• Good on Stuart and Wheeler to step up to the plate and give $5,000 worth of tickets (each) to local military members and their families. The Bruins' website also reported that B's fans combined to donate $84,000 to the cause (I think they mean $84,000 worth of tickets, but it wasn't exactly clear). Money or tickets are small prices to pay to thank the men and women of the military for the sacrifices that they've made by serving.
• When are the changes going to come for the Devils? This was a team that many expected to contend for the Cup this year, but at this point they look more likely to contend for a first-overall pick. One can't help but think that GM Lou Lamoriello is getting less and less patient with every game. Yes, injuries have hurt this club, but I can't imagine that he's going to let this carnage go on much longer.
• The B's are back in action tomorrow night in New York City when they take on the Rangers at MSG. The Rangers beat the B's at the Garden earlier in the season by a 3-2 margin. It's not likely that the B's players have forgotten Brandon Dubinsky's slash in that game, a bit of stickwork that left Boychuk with a broken bone in his arm. Payback may be headed Dubinsky's way. (EDIT: The payback won't come from Boychuk if he plays, says The Bruins Blog's Matt Kalman.)
  

Attaboy: Stuart and Wheeler each get one for their performances both on and off the ice. The two combined for a goal, a few huge hits and two giant helpers in the form of $5,000 donations off the ice.

Providence shuttle: The entire Devils team. This bunch has been a colossal disappointment so far.

On Avery's Suspension...

One of last night's more anticipated games lost a lot of its luster when Dallas Stars forward Sean Avery was suspended for yesterday's game in Calgary vs. the Flames. Avery received an "indefinite" suspension from the league, and had a meeting in New York City with commissioner Gary Bettman today. At issue were the comments made by Avery in this video:

For those who can't access the video, Avery approached the NHL press corps, asked if the cameras were ready, and said:

"I'm really happy to be back in Calgary; I love Canada. I just want to comment on how it's become like a common thing in the NHL for guys to fall in love with my sloppy seconds. I don't know what that's about, but enjoy the game tonight."

Avery was referring to his former relationship with "24" actress Elisha Cuthbert, who is currently dating none other than Calgary Flames defenseman Dion Phaneuf. So what was this on the part of Avery? It seemed like nothing out of the ordinary for the NHL superpest, getting under the skin of his opponent and making waves in advance of a game.

So why did this warrant an indefinite suspension?

There was a huge outcry on the hockey message boards, with women screaming about how disrespectful it was their gender, and how any man who found what Avery said funny was a chauvanistic pig. Others appluaded the suspension, while still others were furious or confused why the league felt the need to take this step.

Put me in the latter category. This suspension screams "unnecessary". Yes, Avery's remarks were out of line. Yes, they were insulting, but also sounded like something many men would say if they encountered the man who is currently dating an ex-girlfriend.

In any case, the real issue here isn't that what he said is unnecessary, most seem to agree it was a stupid thing to say. The issue is how the NHL handled it. Avery has already missed one game, and by all accounts, isn't going to be back anytime soon. However, the NHL recently decided that Randy Jones only deserved a two game suspension for nearly ending the career of Patrice Bergeron. Tom Kostopoulos got 3 games for hitting Toronto's Mike Van Ryn in similar fashion. Darcy Tucker, who has as bad a reputation as Avery, didn't get suspended for supposedly going after the knees of Minnesota's Nick Schultz. This list goes on. Colin Campbell, who dishes out these suspensions, has become a laughingstock.

So why did Avery get so many games? Is the NHL simply tired of his act? It can't be argued that Avery is a pest, but it also can't be argued that he is an effective pest. He was lambasted, and even got a rule implemented immediately after the game, for his "antics" in front of Martin Brodeur last year, but the Rangers scored on that power play.

And like it or not, NHL, people like Avery are good for the game. Everyone needs a villain, and Avery has turned into hockey's version of Bill Laimbeer, a new Claude Lemieux. There were over 1,000 comments on ESPN's story about the suspension, probably one of the first times all season a hockey story has eclipsed that mark.

And for what? Comments that were in poor taste? Some are arguing that it's a good thing Avery got suspended, because Phaneuf would have destroyed him. So...had Avery played, he would have taken a Norris Trophy-candidate defenseman off of his game? Hmm...looks like Avery accomplished his goal again. Others said the NHL wanted to avoid an incident similar to that of Todd Bertuzzi and Steve Moore, that being one of premeditated violence resulting in criminal charges outside of the sport.

Does anyone REALLY think this is going to stop any on-ice payback Avery had coming? If anything, this is going to make it worse. The Flames visit the Stars in Dallas on February 3, 2009. What, so if Avery is even still on the team at that point, which isn't likely, Phaneuf is just going to say "Oh, he got suspended, I'll let it go." Not likely.

What WILL happen is that the interview in which Avery made the comments will be played over and over and over again in the days leading up to the game, letting the bad blood between Avery and the Flames simmer and simmer until it eventually boils over. The "payback" Avery has coming is going to come regardless. It would have been better for the NHL to let him man-up on the ice last night instead of prolonging the inevitable.

Bad move, NHL.