Bruins Shut Out Sabres

It took until the final ten minutes of regulation for one team to show up and make goals happen,  and fortunately it was the Boston Bruins that decided to be that team. The Bruins took to the ice tonight against the Buffalo Sabres looking to bounce back from back-to-back loses this past week. And while it took a LONG time for the B’s to get any sort of momentum, they eventually did.

Anton Khudobin would earn his second shut out as a Bruins stopping 26 shots on net, while Ryan Miller would take the loss for Buffalo. Boston is now one point away from first place in the Northeast division, falling behind the Montreal Canadiens.

Krejci’s line once again proved they were valuable! (Credit: Flickr/ Slidingsideways)

The two goals that the Bruins would score would come less than three minutes apart and were brought to you by the B’s top line. David Krecji would be the first to put the Bruins on the board with 7:06 remaining in the game. Matt Barkowski would get his first NHL point off an assist to that goal, and Nathan Horton would pick up his 9th assist of the season. With 4:16 left Krejci would return the favor to Horty setting him up for a tap-in goal. Milan Lucic would also get an assist for that goal.

This is the third win for Boston in eight games which isn’t exactly something to praise. Fortunately it is the end of March now so ideally that would be the end of the brutal March slump.

The boys have the day off tomorrow but return home Tuesday night to take on the Ottawa Senators.

Bruins Fall Short Against Flyers

For the first time since May 12, 2011, the Boston Bruins lost to the Philadelphia Flyers in Philly. The Bruins had won 10 straight against the Flyers in enemy territory but today they didn’t have what it took to go for 11. This is the 5th game in 7 that the Bruins have lost, and obvious today should be a sign that there are PLENTY of things for the black and gold to improve on. The Flyers haven’t had the best season this year but you wouldn’t know it based on the game they played today.

Tuukka Rask would get the loss stopping 19-of-21 shots. Meanwhile Philly’s  Ilya Bryzgalov was a brick wall stopping 33-of-34.

Nathan Horton scored the lone goal for the B’s today (Credit:Flickr/Slidingsideways)

The Flyers opened up the shooting scoring their fifth power play goal in a row and they scored it against the NHL’s top penalty kill unit. Mike Knuble would get the credit for that goal, scoring with less than five remaining in the first period. It wouldn’t be long into the second period that  Matt Read would put Philly up 2-0. Bryzgalov was making save after save for his team and ultimately that is what kept them ahead.

In the third the Bruins would attempt a comeback with Nathan Horton scoring his 10th of the season, with Dennis Seidenberg getting the assist. Eventually the B’s would pull Rask and not soon after the Flyers would score an empty netter sealing the win for the team.

This game marked the return of Johnny Boychuk who had missed the past few games with an injury.

The problem with the Bruins at this point is that one line is producing during games while the others aren’t doing anything. Coach Claude Julien seconds this notion saying after the game:

“We’re not able to sustain much. Every game we’ve got one line thats scoring & 3 lines that aren’t doing a thing” (Via Joe Haggerty)

If the Bruins want to get back on track they need to start playing “Bruins hockey”. Unfortunately they don’t have much time between now and their next game as they’ll continue their roadie into Buffalo tomorrow to take on the Sabres.

 

Hanson and Robins Lead P-Bruins to Victory Over Baby Penguins

Christian Hanson returned to the lineup after sitting out with injury since March 10th. He reinvigorated his linesmates, who accounted for all of the P-Bruins points in regulation and the shootout. He got the game-tying goal in the 3rd period and the game-winning goal in the 8th round of the shootout. He is awesome.

It’s been 7 games since Christian Hanson has played for the Providence Bruins, but he didn’t miss a step when he rejoined the lineup tonight in a 3-2 shootout victory over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in Wilkes-Barre, PA. Hanson had a goal to tie the game in the 3rd period, sending the game to a shootout, where his 8th round goal clinched win number 41 of the season for Providence.

The gritty BuzzSaw Line was happily reunited – Hanson, Bobby Robins, and Justin Florek – and provided all the scoring for the P-Bruins, who went 0-for-7 on the power play and gave up 2 power play goals to the Penguins. The team was shorthanded with a last minute scratch to leading scorer Ryan Spooner, and although Torey Krug was sent back to the AHL after practicing with Boston this morning, he was not able to join Providence in Wilkes-Barre in time. Without their top scorers in the lineup and the other top scorers invisible on the scoresheet, the BuzzSaw line got the job done.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton opened the scoring up at 13:15 of the 1st period on a power play goal from Dylan Reese, who netted his 7th goal of the season with Alex Khokhlachev sitting in the penalty box. Reese’s goal was assisted by Riley Holzapfel and Trevor Smith.

The Bruins tied the game up late in the 1st period on a goal from the most unlikely of sources – the excellent Bobby Robins. Robins got his 4th goal of the season at 18:37 of the 1st assisted by Florek.

The Penguins got a 5-on-3 power play opportunity in the latter half of the 2nd period when Robins was in the box serving a minor for charging and Garnet Exelby joined him with an interference penalty. Reese got his 2nd goal of the game with this 2-man advantage, his 8th goal of the season, assisted by Smith and Beau Bennett at 15:01 of the 2nd.

Hanson scored his 10th goal of the season to tie the game at 2 4:58 into the 3rd period, with an assist to Robins. Although Providence would get a full 2 minute 5-on-3 late in the 3rd period, they were unable to capitalize, and the game went to overtime.

Niklas Svedberg turned aside 4 shots in overtime, making his save total on the night 26 saves on 28 shots faced. Penguins goaltender Brad Thiessen made 26 saves on 28 shots as well. In the shootout, both goaltenders were perfect through 6 rounds. Thiessen stopped Bruins top scorers who failed to provide scoring all night – Craig Cunningham, Max Sauve, Jamie Tardif, Khokhlachev, Carter Camper, and Trent Whitfield.

Svedberg, too, stopped 6 shooters, but at the start of the 7th round, the Penguins’ Chris Collins beat Svedberg. Florek had to score to send the shootout to an 8th round. With one assist already on the night, and +2 rating and leading all skaters with 6 shots on net, Florek came up big with a goal in the shootout.

On to the 8th round, the Penguins put out shooter Adam Payerl. When he failed to beat Svedberg, Hanson was given the opportunity to clinch the win for Providence. And he did.

Robins was awarded 3rd star honors; Reese 2nd star; and Hanson was the 1st star in his 1st game back. He helped propel the Bruins to the top of the Eastern Conference, as the win – now giving them a record of 41-20-5 in 66 games – gives them 87 points. With a loss in overtime tonight, the Syracuse Crunch have 87 points as well, but have 1 more game played and 2 fewer wins. They are also tied with the Texas Stars for 1st place in the entire league. The Providence Bruins aren’t too shabby.

Svedberg’s win gives him 32 on the season – only 1 shy of the great record Tuukka Rask posted the last time Providence made the playoffs in 2008-2009. That year, Rask went 33-20-4. With 10 games left in the season, Svedberg is 32-7-2.

As the standings are right of this moment, the Providence Bruins would face the Hershey Bears in the 1st round of the playoffs. A good sense for how that playoff series might go can be seen tomorrow night when Providence takes on the Bears in Hershey for the 1st meeting between the two teams this season. This will be a must-see game, so consider going to the AHL website and checking out AHL live if you can’t physically be at the game. It’s gonna be a big game!

Providence Win Brings Them Closer To Clinching

Craig Cunningham’s 2-point night moves him into a tie for 2nd on the team in points at 39. His 23 goals are a career high and 2nd on the team. He also has a team-best 164 shots on net in his sophomore season.

The Providence Bruins defeated the Portland Pirates in Portland last night by a score of 3-2, marking the teams 40th win of the season (the 1st team in the AHL to hit 40 wins this year) and positioning them 8 points away from clinching a playoff spot. Craig Cunningham and Ryan Spooner each had a goal and an assist and Graham Mink had the game winning goal while Niklas Svedberg made 30 saves in his 31st win of the season.

With 11 games left in the season, Providence has a record of 40-20-0-5. At 85 points, they are 2nd in the Eastern Conference, which is only 1 point behind the Conference-leading Syracuse Crunch and 2 points behind the AHL-leading Texas Stars.

Last night’s win finished off the season series against the Pirates. In 10 games against the divisional rival, Providence came out on top with a record of 6-3-0-1.

Spooner opened the scoring last night with the lone goal in the first period. The goal came on a power play at 9:20 of the 1st while the Bruins had a 5-on-3 advantage. Portland’s Brendan Shinnimin and Alexandre Bolduc were both in the penalty box when Spooner netted his 13th goal of the season from Carter Camper and Cunningham.

Providence took a 2-0 lead at 6:20 of the 2nd period on Cunningham’s 23rd goal of the season with assists to Kevan Miller and Spooner.

Portland cut the lead in half at 12:02 of the 2nd period on a goal from Jordan Martinook. Bolduc and Nick Johnson got the assists on Martinook’s 8th goal of the year. As has been a problem all season, the P-Bruins collapsed and let in a swarm of goals in a short period of time. Only 9 seconds later, Portland’s Ethan Werek got his 10th goal of the season to tie the game. Chris Brown and Shinnimin notched assists on Werek’s goal.

With just under 2 minutes to go in the 2nd period, Providence regained the lead on a goal from Mink. At 18:02 of the middle frame, Mink beat Portland goaltender Mike Lee for his 8th goal of the season with assists to Kyle MacKinnon and Trent Whitfield.

Providence held on to that lead for the remainder of the game, withstanding a power play late in the 3rd, and Svedberg turning aside 9 shots in the last period. Lee was equally perfect in the final period, shutting the door on 12 Providence shots. At the end of the night, Providence had outshot the Pirates 39-32.

The Bruins hopped on the bus after the game to travel to Pennsylvania where they will face off against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Friday night.

Game Notes

• Alex Khokhlachev was a healthy scratch as he was to be traded along with Matt Bartkowski, who is on recall in Boston, to Calgary for Jarome Iginla. As we all know now, that trade fell through because everything is the worst. Koko traveled with the team to Pennsylvania and will presumably play on Friday.
• Due to Bartkowski’s impending trade, Torey Krug was called up to Boston yesterday as well. It is unclear if he will remain in Boston on call-up, when or if he will return to Providence.
• Spooner, who is returning from a Boston call-up of his own, led all skaters with 7 shots on net last night.
• Providence went 1-for-4 on the power play last night and a perfect 5-for-5 on the penalty kill.
• Christian Hanson, who was questionable before the game due to a hand injury, did not play.
• The 3 stars were: (3) Jamie Tardif; (2) Craig Cunningham; (1) Ryan Spooner.

Persistence Played Price, Budaj Beat the Bruins

Gregory Campbell (Photo Credit: Steph Phillips)

Coming into tonight’s game Tuukka Rask held a 4-1 shootout record.  After a rollercoaster of a game the Bruins found themselves headed to their second shootout in as many games, with Rask dropping to 4-2 on the season with a final score of 6-5 in favor of Montreal.

Through the opening five minutes the Bruins struggled to find their legs and paid the price as the Canadiens registered four shots on net and scored for an early 1-0 lead. As if the Canadiens getting the early lead wasn’t a stinger enough, the goal had to come from former Bruin and Stanley Cup champ Michael Ryder. Through the next fifteen minutes they picked up the pace and tempers began to flare as the rivalry raged on with Gregory Campbell getting things started with Travis Moen for a quick jousting match. Through twenty the Canadiens held a 9-5 shots on goal advantage and 1-0 lead on the score board, something the Bruins needed to change, quickly.

As the second period commenced, the Canadiens struck again. However the next shift by the Bruins brought exactly what the team needed. Seguin attacked Price and threw a shot on net that hit the post with the rebound ending on Bergeron’s stick. He threw a shot at the net which also hit the post and went back tot he tape of Seguin who threw it back to Dougie Hamilton for a slapshot that sailed behind Price and cut the Canadiens lead to 1 just 39 seconds after Subban’s goal. As if that persistence wasn’t enough to get the home crowd going, Brad Marchand really gave them a reason to cheer as he netted his 14th of the season banking the puck off of the end boards behind the net, grabbing his rebound ot toss at the crease that deflected off of Price’s skate and into the net. The goal was Marchand’s 11th game-tying or game-winning goal of the season and a big confidence booster for the Bruins at 7:23.With 4:45 remaining in the second the Bruins found themselves on a power play and with momentum in their favor for a change. As Torey Krug threw a shot at the net Patrice Bergeron was on the opposing side awaiting the rebound wide open. As the puck found the tape of his stick he had a wide open zone to slow down and aim the puck into for a 3-2 power play goal lead with just under three minutes remaining in the second. Krug redeeming himself with the assist on the Bergeron goal after being on the ice for both Canadiens goals. Before the announcer could finish the goal announcement David Krejci created a two-on-one opportunity in the neutral zone and he and Nathan Horton sped up the ice and put the Bruins up easily 4-2. The Bruins finished the middle frame short handed, but that didn’t drain their momentum as they held Montreal off and headed into the locker room up by a pair. Their main focus heading into the final frame was to keep their cool, maintain focus and remain consistent.

To begin the third the Canadiens sported a new goaltender between the pipes after Carey Price let four goals go by him in the twenty minute span. Peter Budaj got the nod for Montreal in hopes of instilling a momentum swing. At 3:58 the Bruins defense got caught in a bad situation as Andrew Ference misread the puck and Michael Ryder helped go in on Rask with a two-on-one opportunity and net his second of the game, cutting the Bruins lead to a single goal. Streaking up the ice Brad Marchand and Tyler Seguin showed off their speedy legs. As Marchand got the puck back to Seguin he used his filthy stick handling skills to go forehand back hand and lift it up over Peter Budaj, reinstating a 2-goal lead for Boston. Marchand and Krug picked up assists on his goal, Krug completely erasing his errors from earlier in the evening.Almost immediately after the Canadiens cut the lead to one again as Brendan Gallagher flipped the puck up into Seidenberg’s visor, picked up the ‘rebound’ and beat Rask with ease just 28 seconds later. For the final two minutes the Bruins were on a penalty kill with the Canadiens pulling Budaj for a two-man advantage. The Canadiens hammered Rask and the Bruins defense with shots looking for the tying goal, sealing the deal with 8.2 seconds remaining to force overtime.

With 1:20 remaining in overtime the Bruins found themselves on a power play as Emellin found himself in the box for tripping on Tyler Seguin right in front of the crease. David Krejci threw the puck on net at the sound of the buzzer and Budaj came up big with the save sending the game into the shoot out, the second for the Bruins in the past two games.

The shootout took six rounds to determine a winner and Brendan Gallagher once again waited long enough for Rask to commit and was able to seal the Division lead for the Canadiens for their second one-goal victory against Boston this season.

The Bruins return to action on Saturday for a matinee game in Philadelphia against the Flyers.

Two U’s, Two K’s, Two Much Needed Points

There was one thing on the Boston Bruins minds tonight when they took on the Toronto Maple Leafs: revenge. With 18 games remaining in the Bruins season, every game is equally important. Especially when riding the coattails of the first place team (Montreal Canadiens).

Tonight the Bruins had a chance to take two points at home and tie for the Northeast division title. Obviously taking two points away from a fellow Northeast division team is important but tonight they’re looking to take them from a team that beat them Saturday night.  In net would be Tuukka Rask  against James Reimer. Rask was put into the game on Saturday after Anton Khudobin was pulled but there’s no doubt that he’ll be ready to go.

Bergeron would get the shoot out win! (Credit: Flickr/ Slidingsideways)

The first period was scoreless so the second period both teams looked to get on the board fast. Unfortunately it was the Maple Leafs who would draw the first goal. It would be a power play goal due to a “interference” call on Aaron Johnson. Quotes were needed for that one because that call was very so so if you ask me. Anyway Joffery Lupul in his first game back from suspension would get his fourth of the year. Within the 12 minute mark, the Leafs would go up 2-0 on a breakaway goal from Nikolai Kulemin.  With 9:49 to go Milan Lucic would score his first goal in 16 games, with the assists going to Rich Peverley and Jordan Caron.

We entered the third with the Maple Leafs up by 1 and it would stay that way for a bit. That is until Patrice Bergeron got the puck off of assists from Dougie Hamilton and Brad Marchand at 10:36. And now friend we would have a tied game. As the game went on so did the physicality, mostly after whistles. Most notably was a scrum that would result in a four-on-four with Andrew Ference and Dion Phaneuf.  Regulation would end in a tie.

Overtime would come and go with both teams getting their chances. The game would come down to a shoot out. At this moment I am proud of the B’s for coming back and tying up the game. We’ve been waiting for the slump to end and I think  this game served as a wake up call.

Here’s how the shootout went:
Tyler Seguin : SCORES!
Tyler Bozak : SCORES!
Patrice Bergeron : SCORES!
Nzaem Kadri : MISS
Brad Marchand : MISS
Nikolai Kulemin : MISS

BRUINS WIN!!! Boston is now tied for first in the Northeast division with the Canadiens, which coincidentally is who they will play next.

P.S: thank you Jack Edwards for that beauty of a title!

Shark Attack in the 3rd Period Beats P-Bruins

Defenseman Kevan Miller had his first multi-point night of the year with 2 assists in Providence’s 5-3 loss to Worcester on Saturday evening.

The Providence Bruins fell to the Worcester Sharks at the DCU Center in Worcester, MA on Saturday evening in a 5-3 loss that was uncharacteristic of the previous 11 meetings between the 2 teams. It was the last game between the divisional rivals this year and despite the loss, Providence came out on top with a 6-5-0-2 record. Instead of hitting the 40 win mark tonight, however, the P-Bruins hit the 20 loss mark and had their 5-game winning streak broken. They are now 39-20-0-5 with 12 games left in the regular season, still good for 1st in the division but fall to 3rd overall in the East.

Read more after the cut.

Leafs Swept Over Boston 3-2

Ference and Chara(Photo Credit: Steph Phillips)

Tonight the Bruins looked for their eighth straight victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs and their second win in a row.  Unfortunately, despite late efforts from the majority of the team, they were unable to overcome a three-goal deficit and lost by a final score of 3-2.

The Maple Leafs were able to get on the board first as Kadri beat Anton Khudobin for his fourteenth goal of the season.  On the next shift Shawn Thornton would try to get the team going as he squared off against Colton Orr, unfortunately resulting in a draw as Shawn took a knee and the refs stepped in. Not exactly the kind of ‘momentum’ you want, but it was a solid effort. Despite picking up the pace with outstanding efforts from Daniel Paille and Patrice Bergeron, the Bruins went into the locker room down 1-0 with hopes that they could right the ship in the remaining forty minutes.

The Bruins picked up the pace a little more and created a lot more opportunities in front of James Reimer, but were unable to convert them to the score board. Their best opportunities came from the Patrice Bergeron line with Seguin showing his speed and finesse while his team mates backed him up. Despite outshooting their opponent 20-9 through forty minutes, the Leafs found a way to beat Khudobin again in the opening minutes and keep the score 2-0 through the rest of the middle frame.

Being down by a pair the Bruins went into the third period in much of the same fashion as they did against Ottawa hoping to come from behind and pull out a victory. This time, it proved to be too much and despite valiant efforts from the entire team, the Leafs would net another goal. 1:56 later the Bruins were able to answer back to cut the lead to 2, and in the final minute and a half Andrew Ference brought them within one. With the man advantage they dominated in the offensive zone and held the puck to the blue line, but were unable to convert and wound up losing by a total of 3-2.

The Bruins now head back to Boston to take on the Maple Leafs once more in hopes of redemption and revenge with a face off time set for 7:30PM. The game is being aired on NESN and can also be heard on 98.5 the Sports Hub.

P-Bruins Silence Sound Tigers

Good job being awesome, Cunningham. Keep up the good work.

The Providence Bruins have extended their winning streak to 4 games with a 3-1 win over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on Friday night. Craig Cunningham has 2 goals and Justin Florek had the empty netter to insure the victory. Michael Hutchinson made 26 saves in net in helping the Bruins improve to 39-19-0-5 this season.

Penalties were aplenty in this game and although both teams had a power play goal, the scoring didn’t begin until halfway through the game. About midway into the 2nd period, Cunningham scored his 21st goal of the season with assists to Graham Mink and David Warsofsky. Mink now has 4 points in his last 4 games.

Bridgeport tied the game up at 8:44 of the 3rd period. With Colby Cohen – a last minute addition in lieu of Matt Bartkowski‘s Boston recall – in the penalty box for slashing, Sean Wiles got his 1st goal of the season. The power play goal was assisted by Jon Landry and Matt Donovan.

2 minutes later, at 10:49 of the 3rd, Cunningham would strike again. With Bridgeport’s Ty Wishart in the box for a delay of game call, Cunningham put Providence ahead for the 2nd time that night with his 22nd goal of the season and 2nd goal of the game. Zach Trotman got the primary assist, and Warsofsky also picked up an assist for his 2nd of the game.

In the final minute of the game, the Sound Tigers – already on a power play thanks to a cross-checking penalty to Trotman – pulled goaltender Kenny Reiter for a 6-on-4 advantage to push for the tying goal. Florek picked up the shorthanded empty netter to ensure the 3-1 victory for the P-Bruins, notching his 10th goal of the season at 19:51 of the 3rd period with assists from Garnet Exelby and Colby Cohen.

Alex Khokhlachev made his debut tonight, but his name only showed up on the score sheet under the penalty column. He was whistled for tripping 30 seconds into the 2nd period. He recorded 1 shot on net. His wingers had a handful of shots – 2 for Kyle MacKinnon and 3 for Jamie Tardif – but Providence spent the majority of the night killing penalties or (with the exception of Cunningham’s goal) trying to convert on their own power plays with futility.

The goaltenders were both strong – Hutchinson earned the 2nd star and Reiter, who made 27 saves, was 3rd star. Cunningham was the 1st star. Cunningham has scored 7 of his 22 goals this season against Bridgeport.

Florek has been making a big impact in the month of March. His goal tonight was his 5th this month, meaning he has scored 50% of his goals this season since his 2-goal game on March 3rd.

Providence travels to Worcester tomorrow to face the Sharks in their final game of the weekend.

Seidenberg Stumps the Sens, Boosts Bruins 2-1

Dennis Seidenberg (Photo Credit: Steph Phillips)

Finally, the Boston Bruins provided their fans with a solid third period effort and go figure, came from behind to win.  While it may not have been a solid sixty minute effort, they gave the effort in the twenty minute frame that mattered most, the last.

The deciding factor came down to the wire, the Bruins and Senators being tied at a goal a piece. It would prove to be a battle of the goaltenders as both Anton Khudobin and Robin Lehner made impressive and over the top save to keep their respective teams going. As the clock dwindled down the tempers began to flair, but the Bruins maintained their composure and proved they wanted the victory more.

The first twenty minutes of the game proved to be a stalemate as both teams battled back and forth but were only able to register a total of 9 shots combined between the two of them, the Bruins holding only three of them. The first goal came from Kaspars Daugavins at 4:55 of the middle frame after he was able to beat Khudobin glove side and ring it off the far post into the back of the net. The goal wasn’t exactly a welcomed change of pace, but considering the last five out of six losses have been come-from-behind, it was a momentum changer for the Bruins who had to battle back in order to stand a fighting chance through the remaining 35 minutes of play.

They were unable to pull off anything spectacular right away, but as the clock dwindled Daniel Paille went wide and had Tyler Seguin flying up the middle. As Robin Lehner got caught looking at Seguin, Paille snapped the puck and beat him to tie the game in the last minute of the middle frame.

As the third period commenced, both teams had their game-faces on and the tempers began  to flare.  It seemed as though each time the Bruins entered the Senators crease someone was being knocked down in it or behind it from Seguin to Krejci to Campbell. With the clock winding down and each team battling for the game-winning goal,  it was expected. As teh Senators tried to get under the skin of the Bruins, they were able to keep their cool and in the final 64 seconds, net the go-ahead goal from Dennis Seidenberg with his first of the year.

“It was one minute to go, Z[deno] laid it over and my only option was to get it on net and to find the back and luckily it was game-winner.” -Dennis Seidenberg post-game

The Bruins are now 20-6-3 (43 points) on the season and sit a mere victory away (2 points) from being tied with the Montreal Canadiens (20-5-5) for first place in the Division. Their next game is scheduled for Saturday night in Toronto where they look to sweep the series against the Leafs for the second consecutive season.