Bruins Look For Points Against Philadelphia

With just four games remaining in regular season, the Boston Bruins head to Pennsylvania to take on the Philadelphia Flyers for one last  time this season. While the Bruins clinched the playoffs last week, the Flyers unfortunately won’t be fighting for Lord Stanley’s Cup this year. Sunday the Bruins were able to pick up a win from another team not in the playoffs aka the Florida Panthers and they are hoping they can do the same tonight in Philly. However they are going to have to get past a rival team that has had a recent resurgence of offensive wins.

B’s celebrate a goal from Sunday’s WIN! (Credit: Slidingsideways/ Flickr)

The B’s Slump is Over…Hopefully.
With a 3-0 win over the Panthers, the B’s avoided a four-game losing streak which would have been a season worst. That win helped the Bruins regain the top spot in the Northeast division. The Bruins are currently tied with the Montreal Canadiens for first with 59 points but the Bruins have a game in hand hence why they are number one. The win Sunday was especially necessary for Boston since it was the B’s first victory following the bombings. Hopefully that win was the sign of more to come as playoffs are right around the corner.

Tuukka Time:
Tuukka Rask picked up well needed victory for the Bruins shutting out the Panthers and stopping 28 shots on net. That’s the kind of performance the Bruins are going to need if they want to succeed in the playoffs. Now I’m unsure if Rask will get the start in net because I’m sure Coach Julien is thinking playoffs right now and resting his best. If that’s the case backup Anton Khubdobin will get the nod and get his 14th start of the season. Dobby is 9-3-1 for the B’s and will have no problem filling in in net.

Flyer Soar:
You would think a team that’s out of playoff contention would just be “ehh” when it comes to finishing the season. But that is far from the case with the Flyers. They have won their last three and have scored 16 goals within those three goals. In other words, the Bruins defense will NEED to be on it’s A-game if the B’s are trying to pick up two points. Bruins/Flyers to me is always a good matchup and with either team taking a victory so far it’s anyones game tonight.

Who’s Hot:
Brad Marchand has goals in two straight games, and five points in his last five. He’s currently leading the B’s in scoring with 18 goals. Jakub Voracek has three goals in the past four games for the Flyers. In 45 games this season, he has 20 goals.

Injury Report:
Nathan Horton did not make the trip to Philly due to an upper body injury and obviously will not be playing. I think this is another smart move by Julien to make sure his top guys are ready when playoffs come. Adam McQuaid is listed day-to-day with a lower body injury but could be back in the lineup tonight. The Flyers are missing forwards Zac Rinaldo (ankle), Maxime Talbot (leg), and Jody Shelley (hip), and defensemen Braydon Coburn (shoulder), Andrej Meszaros (shoulder), Nicklas Grossmann (concussion), Kent Huskins(concussion) and Bruno Gervais (torn stomach muscle).

Puck drops at 7:30 and you can check out all the action on NESN!

Bruins Shut Out Panthers; Snap Losing Streak

Today the Boston Bruins took to the ice against the Florida Panthers with one thing in mind: picking up a win. As the season comes to a close, the Bruins have been less than stellar lately. Whether it be because of emotion or injury, it was time for the B’s to get back on track. Today they looked to end their four-game losing streak while the Panthers are looking to preventing losing four of four on their roadtrip.  Tuukka Rask would start his second game in two days opposite the Panthers Jacob Markstrom. 

Nathan Horton and Adam McQuaid would both be out of lineup with injuries, meaning Milan Lucic and Dougie Hamilton would make their way back in.

Rask earned the shutout today! (Credit: Flickr/Slidingsideways)

It took only 3 minutes and 3 seconds into the first period for the Bruins to get the first goal of the game. Jaromir Jagr would score his second goal as a Bruin with Chris Kelly and Carl Soderberg getting the assists. Jagr has two goals and six assists in just nine games with the black and gold. And lets not forget that Soderbergs assist was his NHL point. I have a feeling that’s the first of many. That would be the lone goal of the first period but it was clear that the B’s knew they needed to come out of this game with two points. Also, I would like to point out that Rask was playing yet another solid game stopping all seven shots on net.

Second period came around with the B’s fighting off the remainder of a Rich Peverley slashing penalty. Florida would be unable to get any goals past Rask and we would be back to an even game. The Bruins would get a chance to go on the power play and though they wouldn’t register any goals, they did get many shots on net. 8 minutes into the second the B’s were outshooting the Panthers 10-1. With 6:27 left in the period Dougie Hamilton would score his fifth of the season with a drive from the right point that was a thing of beauty. That goal would not have happened without Shawn Thornton on the assist keeping that puck in the offensive zone the entire time.

Coming into the third it should be noted that the B’s are 14-2-2 with a two-goal lead going into the final period. With 1:22 remaining in the game, the Bruins sealed the win with an empty net goal from Brad Marchand assisted by his lineys Tyler Seguin and Patrice Bergeron. Marchand leads the team with 18 goals. And with that the Bruins snap their losing streak. Rask earned his 15th career shutout with 28 saves today.

The three stars of the game are 1. Rask, 2. Jagr, 3. Hamilton.

After the game the Bruins took part in their annual “shirts of their back” ceremony. The jerseys usually go to season ticket holders. Hower with recent events, the ticket holders opted for their jerseys to go to first responders that helped during the Marathon bombings and all of the events that took place in Boston this past week. This ceremony was truly inspiring and is further reason why I love my Boston Bruins!

B’s are back in action Tuesday night in Philly against the Flyers.

 

Bruins Clinch Playoffs; Bested by Buffalo

Before I get into the game between the Boston Bruins and the Buffalo Sabres, I think it’s more necessary to talk about the pregame ceremonies that took place at the TD Garden. After cancelling Monday night’s game, the Boston Bruins returned home to give Boston something to cheer for after the bombings on Marathon Monday.

Chris Kelly scored his 100th NHL goal tonight! (Credit: Flickr/ Slidingsideways)

It started with this Boston Strong video which featured photos from the Marathon.

And if that didn’t give you enough chills, then check out this video of the National Anthem sung by 17,565 strong plus Rene Rancourt of course. I’m proud to be from Boston and I’m proud of supporting a team that supports where they reside.

Okay now lets get this recap moving. So Anton Khudobin got the nod in net opposite Buffalo’s Ryan Miller. The Bruins and Sabres always have interesting games and for some reason despite being pretty low down in standings, Buffalo always manages to threaten the B’s. There are so few games left and the B’s have had so many opportunities to clinch the playoffs and tonight was no exception. If the B’s managed to get at least a point from tonight’s game they would be playoff bound officially.

5:45 into the first period, the Bruins were first to get on the board thanks to a Daniel Paille wrist shot. That was Paille’s 9th goal of the season and Chris Kelly would get the assist. As the period got into the final minutes, the Sabres would go on a power play off of a Zdeno Chara interference call.   Thomas Vanek would take advantage of this and tie up the game at 18:20 with a power play goal.

It would take until the halfway point of the game for one team to strike again and fortunately it was the Bruins. Kelly would get the goal with Paille and Andrew Ference getting the assists. This was Kelly’s 100th career goal! The Bruins were outshooting the Sabres by a lot but Miller being the solid goalie that he is, wasn’t letting in any cheap shots.

Third period the Bruins were shorthanded A LOT. Fortunately we have a solid penalty kill because it was necessary after Milan Lucic’s double minor. Despite being shorthanded the Bruins actually led shots on net for the third period. The final minute was winding down, the Bruins on the power play and then Buffalo would score at 26.6 remaining in regulation. Believe me when I say I wish I was joking. Cody Hodgson would score the deflection goal to tie up the game.

With the start of Overtime, it’s official that the Bruins clinched the playoffs! Yay happy thoughts. Overtime came and went and nothing came from it so friends it was onto the shootout we went.
Here’s how it went:
Tyler Seguin -Miss
Vanek- Miss
Patrice Bergeron –Miss
Nathan Gerbe –Miss
Brad Marchand -Miss
Drew Stafford– SCORE!

Buffalo would win and the Bruins would remain tied with the Montreal Canadiens for the top spot of the Northeast Division. This game would end with both teams saluting the crowd, proving that no matter the jersey everyone is Boston Strong right now.

B’s are back in action Friday against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Bruins Get Lost in the Storm, Lose 4-2

Milan Lucic (Photo Credit: Steph Phillips)

After outscoring the Canes 11-5 in the previous two meetings this season and only needing a SINGLE POINT to clinch a playoff spot, the Bruins dropped the ball and lost by a final score of 4-2. They played a solid forty minutes of hockey and got on the board first, but bad turnovers and a bad penalty kill ended up being more than the Bruins could handle.

The score sheet would open up just 6:07 into the game when Jaromir Jagr would feed the puck to Matt Bartkowski where he would blast a shot from the top that would get re-directed out in front by the skate of Milan Lucic. Originally the goal was credited to Matt Bartkowski for his first of the season, but after a full period of review, it was changed to Milan Lucic for the deflection, his sixth of the season. Immediately following the goal Jordan Staal would have a couple of strong rushes that Tuukka Rask came up big on, preserving the lead for the Bruins. In fact, it wouldn’t be until 19:25 that the Canes would find a way to beat the Bruins netminder, as Jeff Skinner threw a bad angle shot at the net that tipped off of Johnny Boychuk‘s stick and up into the net behind Rask, tying the game at 1 a piece.

“The main part today is to establish the offensive zone.” -Milan Lucic during an interview with Naoko Funayama

Dennis Seidenberg kept the physicality part of the game in tact as he threw a killer hip check on Jiri Tlusty, keeping the team in check (literally). Both teams started off with great momentum, trading opportunities through the first five minutes. The Bruins had the best power play opportunity of the night when David Krejci waited patiently to find Jagr on the far side, but he wasn’t able to lift it high enough to net the go-ahead goal. Despite four straight minutes of a man-advantage opportunity and five shots on net, the Bruins were unable to regain the lead. The go-ahead goal would come at 14:04 of the middle frame, from Jiri Tlusty as he roofed the puck past Rask with Eric Staal picking up the assist. However, the Canes lead was short-lived as Tyler Seguin picked up the loose puck in the neutral zone from Alexander Semin, used his speed and froze Justin Peters between the pipes as he beat him glove-side high to tie the game at 2 a piece heading into the third and final frame.

It was in the third period that the Bruins would come out an entirely different team and not in a ‘don’t poke the bear’ kind of way. In fact, it is now safe to say the Bruins are no longer a strong third period team as they wound up losing the lead after Joe Corvo, yes, Joe Corvo, scored another power play goal for the Canes, putting them up 3-2 with just over ten minutes remaining. The goal definitely deflated the Bruins and seemed to rattle them enough to hit them where it hurt. Despite efforts to get the man-advantage by pulling Rask, the Canes were able to bust through the neutral zone and get the empty-net insurance goal to seal the 4-2 win with 27 seconds remaining in regulation. The win comes as Carolina’s second in 16 games while the Bruins still struggle to earn that extra point to clinch the playoff spot, as well as pull ahead of the Canadiens (who also lost tonight) in the Division for the lead.

The Bruins are going to have to figure out what and where they kinks lie and fast as they take on the Buffalo Sabres on Monday, a team that has given Boston trouble all season long. If they plan on coming out on top, they are going to have to play a much stronger third period than they did tonight and every single member, including the healthy and injured scratches are going to have to show up.

Bailey Beats the Bruins 2-1

Tyler Seguin netted the only goal of the game tonight for Boston (photo credit: Steph Phillips)

Tonight the New York Islanders came to the Garden with every intention of winning, proving why they deserve to be in the post-season for the first time since 2006-2007.  Their never give up attitude helped push them to a 1-goal advantage late in the first period, a deficit the Bruins would be unable to overcome and lose by a total of 2-1.

The first period began fairly decent for the Bruins as they, once again, sported new lines with the absence of Brad Marchand and rejoining of defenseman Adam McQuaid. They came out skating well and played solid hockey with quite a few chances. Unfortunately, it would be Josh Bailey who was able to capitalize in the final 21 seconds of the first frame, taking the edge off of the Isles and deflating the Bruins heading into the first intermission.

The second period began with the Bruins trying to earn the late goal back, and with persistence from Tyler Seguin on the power play, they were able to just that. As Boyes was called for a delay of game penalty, Jaromir Jagr and Gregory Campbell (filling in for Lucic) would help get the puck to Seguin at the lower left circle where he was able to rifle it past Evgeni Nabakov and tie the game at a single marker. As the clock dwindled the seconds away, the Isles began to get their momentum back once more, littering Tuukka Rask with shots, earning what would be the game-winning goal from Josh Bailey once again. Bailey let the puck go from the left circle, much like Seguin’s goal and it slowly trickled in behind Rask to reinstate the Isles 1-goal lead.

While the Bruins were present on the ice for the third period, they were nowhere near the same third period team fans were watching two years ago.  You can only blame the under-performance on injuries,line changes and bad chemistry for so long before you have to dig deeper.  Through the final twenty they provided a late surge, but one that wasn’t enough to earn them added minutes or the needed two-goals for two points to clinch the playoff spot.

It has since been reported that the Montreal Canadiens regained possession of the Northeast Division in their victory against the Buffalo Sabres tonight. The Bruins will return to action against the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh on Saturday, as they look for the series sweep.

Bruins Cling to Life, Clinching Division Lead

Gregory Campbell (Photo Credit: Steph Phillips)

Tonight the Boston Bruins laid it all out on the line in the first period, jumping out to an early 3-0 lead. They had a lot riding on tonight’s game as the Montreal Canadiens slipped up and lost to the Washington Capitals last night, moving Bosotn in prime position to take over the Northeast.  Despite a late surge from the Devils the Bruins ended up drowning them in the Atlantic 5 goals to their 4.

The Bruins were roaring right from the get-go as the Devils were unable to clear their defensive zone and Jaromir Jagr spun the puck in the direction of Brodeur.  As it came across the crease at Martin Brodeur, Gregory Campbell was right there in front to pick it up and flip it in for a quick 1-0 lead just 70 seconds into the frame. The goal would be Campbell’s first in his last 22 games and his third of the season. Within twenty seconds of the goal being scored the Bruins quickly found themselves on defense as they wound up on a 5-on-3 disadvantage.  However, as a penalty expired on Johnny Boychuk, he picked up a loose puck in the neutral zone and raced into the offensive zone where he was taken down and rewarded a penalty shot, the first of his career. While the defenseman drifted into the zone and pulled a head fake he was unable to lift the puck high enough over the pads of Brodeur and was denied the opportunity to put the Bruins up by 2. Just three minutes and forty-one seconds after the Bruins scored their first goal they would get a 2-on-1 shorthanded opportunity with Rich Peverley and Daniel Paille teaming up against the netminder. Paille shot initially and as he crashed the net, placed his rebound behind the veteran goaltender for a 2-0 lead at the 4:51 mark. Their hot streak would continue as Andrew Ference collected the puck from the Devils’ defense and shot it at the net with a slight deflection from Campbell out in front for the third goal of the period before the halfway marker. Through twenty minutes the Bruins dominated offensively and had the crowd booing their home team.  In order to stay in the game they needed to remain focused and keep the pressure on.

To begin the second period that was the exact game plan they followed as the Bruins found themselves with a 4-on-3 opportunity that had Jaromir Jagr on the same line as David Krejci. Jagr was able to throw the puck in front to Krejci with Zdeno crashing in and getting his stick on at the last second to poke it past Brodeur for a 4-0 lead. With his assist on the play Jagr earned his fifth point in his last four games since becoming a Bruin. At 11:12 the Devils showed signs of life as Sullivan threw a shot at Khudobin that Elias got a piece of out in front to cut the Bruins lead back to three. Moments later Nathan Horton had a drive that rung off the post, pushing the Devils to their limits. In desparation Anton Volchenkov decided to take out his frustrations in a similar fashion as he did in February 2011 against Boychuk of the Carolina Hurricanes, only this time against Brad Marchand. As the forward’s left elbow connected with the honeybadger’s helmet Marchand crumbled to the ice, eventually needing to be helped off by Jaromir Jagr and Andrew Ference. Volchenkov wound up with a game misconduct and is expected to have a hearing with Brendan Shannahan at some point for a suspension. To get the ball rolling after the incident the Devils would force a turnover from Milan Lucic who had some trouble handling the puck in the neutral zone, allowing Travis Zajac to move in on Dobby and beat him for the Devils second goal of the game. Through forty minutes the Bruins led 4-2 and found themselves down one of their leading scorers heading into the final frame.

Scoring wouldn’t open up in the third period until around the seven minute mark with Andy Green outsmarting a low-playing Shawn Thornton and out-of-crease Anton Khudobin, creating time and space for himself to place the puck perfectly behind the Bruins goaltender before he even knew what was coming at him, pulling them within one.  With twelve minutes and change remaining in the third the puck got dumped in the Bruins offensive end, Paille racing and winning the foot race. As he dished the puck over to Seguin who was racing into the crease he was able to flip it up and in, re-instating a 2-goal lead for a little breathing room. As the clock winded down, the Bruins found themselves on a 6-on-4 disadvantage as Seguin went to the box for elbowing and wouldn’t come out until the final minute and the Devils pulled Brodeur for the extra attacker. With ease they were able to kill off the penalty, but the extra attacker in place of Brodeur proved to be too much for Boston to handle as they pulled within one goal with 37 seconds left on the clock.  Thankfully the Bruins were able to cling onto the late Seguin goal and hold off the Devils from making a complete comeback, taking possession over first place in the Northeast.

They return to action tomorrow night against the New York Islanders at the TD Garden where they will need to re-evaluate some things and figure out how to win without Brad Marchand in the line up should he be out for a while. At the time this article is written there is no update on his condition. We will report more when we have the information.

Bruins Blow By Hurricanes

 

After losing to rival Montreal, the Boston Bruins knew they would have to come out on top against the Carolina Hurricanes. With so few games remaining in the season, the B’s are so close to clinching the playoff’s but to do so they need wins. Chris Kelly would return to the lineup the featured some player swapping. Tyler Seguin would move to the third line with Kelly while Gregory Campbell would center the second line.

Tuukka Rask would get the start opposite the Canes Jusitn Peters.

Two goals tonight for Marchand! (Credit: Flickr/ Slidingsideways)

The first period would kick off with Rich Peverley ending his 10-game goalless streak with a goal at 3:51. Pevs was able to get passed Peters with the wraparound goal with the assists going to Dennis Seidenberg and Andrew Ference. Four minutes later Brad Marchand would notch his 15th goal of the season thanks to a perfect set up from his linemates Campbell and Jaromir Jagr. With that Justin Peters would be pulled after allowing two goals on four shots and  Dan Ellias would step up in net. Marchy wasn’t done for the period  because with 2:40 to go in the period he would score. Jagr and Seidenberg would each get assists on that. This is Marchand’s 8th career two goal game.

Second period would start just like the first did with a Bruins goal! This time it was Andrew Ference with his third of season. Seids and Soupy would get the assists on that review goal. This would be the third assist for Seidenberg and his first three point game as a Bruin. Just so we’re keeping track the Bruins are now up 4-0 against Carolina. Halfway through the second, Jordan Caron would make it a five goal lead with his first goal of the season. Caron’s liney’s Peverley and Shawn Thornton would get the assists for that beauty of a goal. With 21 shots on goal thus far, the B’s have scored five. Carolina has 30 shots on net but none managed to get past Rask. Tonight marks first four-goal and five-goal leads this season for Boston.

Third period wasn’t as exciting. In fact it dragged quite a bit. It dragged just like Eric Staal’s skate when he tried to kick in a goal with 10ish minutes remaining. Pretty sure that just added to the Canes frustrations BUT they would score at 10:03 thanks to a goal from Patrick Dwyer, his seventh of the season. So it wouldn’t be a shutout for Rask. 45 seconds later Drayson Bowman would score making this a 5-2 game. With 3:04 remaining, the Bruins would find the back of the net yet again with Dougie Hamilton setting up Nathan Horton for his 13th of the season. The Bruins now have six goals and this is the most they’ve scored in a game all season. Milan Lucic would also get an assist on that.

Now the Bruins won and that’s great but there are a few things that they need to work on. Rask may have stopped 40-of-42 shots but he shouldn’t have to face that many if the defense was doing their job. And I think it’s best that I don’t speak of our ever terrible power play.

Hey a win is a win and the Bruins have proved that on home ice they do pretty well. The boys are back in action Wednesday in New Jersey to take on the Devils.

 

Canadiens Contain the Bruins, Win 2-1

Daniel Paille scored the lone goal for the Bruins tonight. (Photo Credit: Steph Phillips)

Once again the Division showdown was decided by a single goal. Unfortunately, for the second and final time of the regular season, the Bruins were on the losing end of the stick. The Bruins now sit 3 points behind the Montreal Canadiens in the race for Division champs with a single game in hand. This is one rivalry that is going to race right up until the very end.

The Bruins first period was atrocious. They came out of the locker rooms almost in a daze as they skated around haphazardly and threw careless passes around. They managed to tally 5 shots through the entire twenty minute frame, all of them coming from defensemen. At the end of one they found themselves trailing by a goal and they’re lucky that’s all they were trailing as they certainly didn’t play like the Bruins team we all know they are capable of. The Canadiens were able to get a goal from Alex Galchenyuk off of a bad play from Bruins’ defenseman Matt Bartkowski. Despite the d-man’s attempt to save it after Rask went sprawling, the puck ended up deflecting off of him and over the goal line.

The second frame was arguably the best the Bruins played. They came out focused (for the most part) and despite giving up the power play goal 57 seconds into the frame, contained Montreal pretty decently. They battled back and forth through much of the second period and at the 12:50 mark there was a glimpse of hope as Johnny Boychuk blasted a shot towards the net that deflected off of Daniel Paille past Carey Price before he even knew it was coming at him. The goal injected momentum into the Bruins for the remainder of the period, but still managed to go into the final intermission down by one.

The third period brought intensity from both teams. Unfortunately for the Bruins it was too little too late aside from Tuukka making some Tim Thomas-like saves. With 56.4 seconds remaining in regulation they found themselves on their first power play of the game, a welcomed thought with the acquisition of Jaromir Jagr or so we thought. Typically in this situation the team pulls their goaltender for a 2-man advantage, which is exactly what the Bruins did. However, for the entire 56 seconds the Bruins passed the puck.  Last time we checked, you needed to shoot the puck at the net in order to score goals. That’s part of Hockey 101. After the game Jagr admitted losing track of time and hung his head, however, he was only one of six men on the ice, any one of them could have taken a shot at Price as there were plenty of opportunities.

The Bruins now head back to the Garden to take on the Carolina Hurricanes for the second time this season in hopes of bouncing back and earning a much needed 2 points in the standings as the season winds down.

Tuukka Time Takes Down Devils

While the Boston Bruins looked to continue their win streak, the New Jersey Devils were looking to end their losing streak.  With the season winding down, the B’s are trying to get every two points they possibly can in hopes of catching up to the Montreal Canadien’s, who currently lead the Northeast division.

Tonight’s matchup had Tuukka Rask facing Martin Brodeur in net. Rask has had the past two games off and looked to come back with a vengeance and pick up the win for his team.

TUUKKA TIME! (Credit: Flickr/ Slidingsideways)

First period came and went with neither team being able to get passed the goalies. The only thing that really went well for the Bruins in that period was Rask. With the B’s without Patrice Bergeron, they weren’t able to win many faceoffs. Shots on net also heavily favored New Jersey.

The second period opened and the Bruins clearly had some sort of wake up call because it took 1:20 for them to get on board. And who better to get that goal than newly acquired Jaromir Jagr. Jagr made his Bruins debut tonight and boy did he make it known that he was here to play. Credit Jagr’s liney Brad Marchand and Captain Zdeno Chara for the assist on the goal. Welcome to Boston Jagr!

Little did we know at the time that this would be the only goal of the game. The Devils would try and make a comeback but it was unsuccessful against Tuukka time. Rask would make 40 saves in the game and earn his 3rd shutout of the season and 14th shutout as a Boston Bruin. He obviously was the first star of the game, with Jagr getting the second star.

The Bruins are now  24-8-4. They have now won three in a row and will play Saturday in Montreal against the Canadiens with first place in the division on the line.

Boston Bruins Oust Ottawa For Second Win

(Photo Credit: Steph Phillips)

Tonight the Boston Bruins kept their win streak alive as they earned themselves their fourth-straight victory against the Senators this season and second consecutive victory since March 14-16.  While it is easy to jump to conclusions and say the worst is behind us, the fact of the matter remains that despite having two consecutive wins, there are still errors that need to be improved on.

For instance, the Bruins once again gave up the first goal of the game. However, they managed to get the goal back less than a minute later with a slapshot coming from the point from Zdeno Chara that David Krejci would get his hip on to direct it just enough to go past Robin Lehner. The bounce back was and is definitely an improvement and skate in the right direction.  If that wasn’t enough to convince you that the Bruins were serious and commited to righting their previous months wrongs, the next goal would. Exactly 61 seconds after David Krejci hip-checked the puck past Lehner, Tyler Seguin and Brad Marchand teamed up for a beautiful set up that left Seguin with a wide open net to shoot into for a one-goal lead half way into the first period.

Patrice Bergeron found a way to beat Robin Lehner as well in the opening frame, but unfortunately the Senators defenseman was in the way and prohibited the netminder from being able to make an accurate save thus cancelling out the goal. While it was a slight buzz kill, the Bruins couldn’t complain about teir first period domination and went into the locker rooms with over 20 shots on net (more than they had in their previous two games after 60 minutes of play) and a one-goal advantage.

The second period provided each team with golden opportunities and a combined 65 shots on net through forty minutes of play, the Bruins pacing themselves for most shots on goal in a game since March 2010 against the Tampa Bay Lightning.  While both teams battled through the middle frame the score remained the same heading into the final period, the Bruins needing to find their way without top center-man Patrice bergeron who took an elbow to the head in a battle by the net and did not return.

As the puck dropped to commence the third and final period, the Senators put Anton Khudobin to work. At 1:55 Khudobin sprawled from one end of the net to the other in a Tim Thomas-like fashion and made what looked to the naked eye, a spectacular save. Upon review however after play had since been stopped, it was deemed that the puck had crossed the goal line and hit the back of the net then bounced out, giving the Senators the game-tying goal very early on.

Through the remaining eighteen minutes the Bruins paced the Senators, tallying shot after shot against Robin Lehner, the defense taking away almost every opportunity the Sens attempted. Shortly after a resounding open-ice hit from Dougie Hamilton, Milan Lucic was able to get the puck up to Nathan Horton who heard a loud Woo! from the audience as he lit the lamp and reinstated the Bruins one-goal lead with under ten minutes remaining in regulation. Despite Johnny Boychuk heading to the box in the final 32 seconds of the period for interference and the Senators pulling Lehner for the extra attacker, providing a 6-on-4 opportunity, the Bruins held on. In the first game in a long time the Bruins provided a solidified sixty minute effort and battled their way to victory.

Their next game is scheduled for Thursday where ‘newcomer’ Jaromir Jagr is expected to make his debut in the Black and Gold. The Bruins face off against the New Jersey Devils in hopes of earning another much needed two points in the standings and their third straight victory.