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.

Sweeping the Storm: Bruins Versus Hurricanes

The past two times the Boston Bruins and the Carolina Hurricanes faced off, the Bruins offense was at it’s peak outscoring the Canes 11-5. Tonight they look for a threepeat and a series sweep, but they look to do it without offensive weapons Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron. The Bruins played Thursday without either player and ended up losing to the New York Islanders and falling to second in the Northeast division and fourth in the Eastern Conference. With just eight games remaining, the Bruins are only one point behind Montreal for first in the the Northeast.

(Credit: Flickr/Slidingsideways)

Canes Out of Contention:
While the Bruins are looking to climb to the top, the Hurricanes are just looking for a win. Despite being at the top of the Southeast division once upon a March, the Canes now find themselves 14th in the Eastern Conference and basically out of the playoffs. They dropped their seventh straight in a 3-1 road loss to the Capitals on Thursday and are now 16-22-2. The Hurricanes have struggled being outscored 59-24 over their last 15 contests. Justin Peters could get the nod in net tonight depending on Dan Ellis‘s health (he missed Thursdays game due to a sore knee).

Bruins Battle for First:
Like I said before, with so few games remaining, the Bruins need to pick up wins where ever they can get them. Based on the Hurricanes track record, this would appear to be a seemingly easy game. But in order for the Bruins to get the two points, they will have to produce goals and provide solid defense for either Tuukka Rask or Anton Khudobin. Rask won Monday night against the Canes and improved to 3-2-0 with a 2.60 GAA in five career starts against the Hurricanes. However, with playoffs right around the corner, it’s possible Dobby will get the nod giving Rask some well needed prep time. Honestly both have played fantastic this season so either in net would be fine. Also, it should be noted that Nathan Horton has scored in the first two games against the Canes this season so lets see if he makes it three for three!

Puck drops tonight at 7 and you can check out the action on NESN!

Bruins Look for Series Sweep Against Devils

In the third and final regular season meeting between the Boston Bruins and the New Jersey Devils, the B’s currently have the 2-0 lead. Can they go for the third and sweep the Devils? I guess we’ll find out tonight as the B’s head to the dirty Jersey for one last regular season showdown.

(credit: Slidingsideways/ Flickr)

The last time these two teams met up was just six days ago, with Jaromir Jagr making his Bruins debut and managing to score the lone goal of the evening. Anton Khudobin would get the shutout for the B’s and there’s a good chance he’ll nab the start tonight with the B’s playing back to back tonight and tomorrow.

Devils Doomed?
With only 9 games remaining in New Jersey’s schedule, they are currently riding a seven game losing streak. They are currently sitting outside the playoff brackets and are going to have to pull it together if they want a chance to make a run for the Stanley Cup. This is the longest losing streak the Devils have been on since their ’85-’86 season. A big reason for their loses stems from their poor overtime performance this season. They are 2-7 in shootouts this season and with a rushed schedule, now isn’t the time to be losing valuable points (one of those losses comes from the B’s).

B’s back on track?
The Bruins offense certainly stepped it up on Monday with a 6-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. That was the most goals the B’s have scored in a game this season. The line of Brad Marchand, Jagr and Gregory Campbell combined for two goals and two assists, while Tuukka Rask stopped 40-of-42 shots. However with the offense being on their A-game, it’s time for the B’s defense to step it up. There’s no excuse for why Rask had to stop that many shots. If the Bruins win tonight they will move past the Canadiens and regain first place in the Northeast division.

Who’s hot?
David Clarkson leads the Devils with 13 goals this season and scored their only goal in their most recent loss. Meanwhile, Tuukka time is 3-2-1 in his past six starts with a 2.16 GAA and .921 save percentage.

Injury Report:
B’s will be without Patrice Bergeron (head) and Adam McQuaid (shoulder). The Devils are most likely without Ilya Kovalchuk even though he did practice with the team on Tuesday. This will be Kovalchuks 8th straight missed game.

Puck drops at 7 and you can check out the action on NBCSN for Rivalry Night!

Northeast Showdown Between Bruins and Senators

This is the fourth meeting of five between the Boston Bruins and the Ottawa Senators and thus far the B’s are 3-for-3. Tonight they look to make it four and continue their perfect record against the Senators.  They have won in regulation, over time, and a shoot out against the Ottawa team. With two points on the line, and the Bruins currently riding the Montreal Canadiens coat tails for first place, this game is important. While Boston is fighting for first, Ottawa isn’t too far behind as they trail the B’s by four points in standings. So let me repeat again: this game is IMPORTANT!

(Credit: Flickr/ Slidingsideways)

B’s back on track?
After dropping two games, the Bruins picked up a much needed win Sunday against the Buffalo Sabres. Not only was it was win, but it was a shut out for goalie Anton Khudobin. Their recent set back is what has put them in second place in the division so hopefully Sunday’s win was a step forward. If they Bruin want to win, all four lines need to show up to play. Sunday’s win was about the first line of David Krejci, Milan Lucic, and Nathan Horton. And while that’s all fine and dandy, there are many players on this team that need to step up especially considering the trade deadline is fast approaching.

Senators first stop: Boston
Ottawa is about to enter a seven game roadie and what better way than to begin at the TD Garden. The Senators are coming off of a 4-0 shutout loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs after previously winning three straight games. Now obviously Ottawa hasn’t exactly done well when facing the Bruins this season but they are looking to change that tonight. Goalie Robin Lehner will most likely get the start as he has the previous three times against the Bruins.H e allowed two goals in each of the three previous games, and one of those includes 44-save effort in his season debut back in February.

Who’s Hot:
Since the Senators did get shut out anyone that was hot has cooled off. However before that game forward Mike Zibanejad had a four-game point streak. For the Bruins like I said before it’s all about the Krejci line. Krejci scored his first goal in seven games, and Horton also scored in Sunday’s win.

Injury Report:
The B’s are still without Adam McQuaid (shoulder) and Chris Kelly (tibia) though it was reported that both skated yesterday so hopefully this is a good sign. Meanwhile Ottawa will be missing enter Jason Spezza (back), defenseman Erik Karlsson (Achilles), Milan Michalek (knee), Craig Anderson (ankle) and Jared Cowen (hip).

Puck drops at 7pm and you can check out the game on NESN!

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 Set to Sweep Maple Leafs

Tonight the Bruins are looking for their ninth straight win against the Toronto Maple Leafs as the two teams begin a home and home set. They will face off in Toronto tonight and then meet up again in Boston on Monday. In the first two meetings the Bruins picked up wins and they look to continue that sweep.

The Bruins are coming off a 2-1 victory in Ottawa but it certainly wasn’t an easy game for the boys. Thanks to some stellar goaltending from Anton Khudobin, the B’s managed to escape with two points. Meanwhile the Maple Leafs are looking to bounce back from a 5-4 shootout loss from the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday. The game took six-rounds of shootouts to decide a victor so needless to say yesterday was probably a well needed day off for the team.

Will Seguin have another good game in Toronto tonight? (Credit: Flickr/ Slidingsideways)

Bruised Bruins:
Yesterday at practice Johnny Boychuk was the latest Bruin to be injured. He was hit by a puck in the right leg and as of now we don’t know if he’ll be playing in the game. The B’s must also be aware because Providence Bruins player Matt Bartkowski was recalled on an emergency basis following the incident. The Bruins are already without Adam McQuaid and Chris Kelly and frankly can’t have any more injuries on their plates are the season rounds the final stretch.

Toronto needs defense:
I don’t know how else to phrase that so there ya go! The Leafs in 8 of their last 11 contests have allowed at least four goals per game and are 1-3-3 in their last seven. They are sixth in the conference and in the Northeast division are 10 points out of first place (Bruins are in second). If they want to pick up a win, they need to work on solid defense.

Tuukka time:
Expect Tuukka Rask to get the start for the B’s tomorrow as he didn’t play in Thursday contest. Toronto has 12 goals in 3 games but don’t expect to see that happen against Rask. Against the team that drafted him,  Rask has a 7-1-0 record with a 1.37 GAA in eight career starts.

Who’s hot:
Tyler Seguin had two goals and an assist in the last meeting and has nine goals and five assists  respectively, during the winning streak against the Leafs. On the other side,  Nazem Kadri has three straight multi-point games for the Maple Leafs, totaling two goals and six assists.

Puck drops at 7pm and you can watch the game on NESN!

Correction on Prospect Contracts

 

Malcom Subban with another 2012 Bruins draft pick, Brian Ferlin, at 2012 Bruins Development Camp over the summer. (Photo Credit: Flickr/slidingsideways)

In my post earlier today about prospects, I made a comment about the eligibility of OHL prospects joining the Providence Bruins. The rules are that if a player has played in juniors, he cannot play in the AHL until the season he turns 20 before December 31, but he can go to the NHL anytime. He can go to the AHL when his junior team is finished for the season. Of course, he has to have a contract with the team that drafted him to go to their AHL or NHL team at all.

I commented that Malcom Subban, who was drafted by the Bruins 24th overall in the 1st round of 2012, would not be eligible to join the Providence Bruins when his OHL team is eliminated from the playoffs because he doesn’t have a contract with the Boston Bruins. This was incorrect – he does indeed have a contract with the Bruins that he signed before the lockout.

To go a bit further into the scenario of Subban joining either the NHL or AHL — since he doesn’t turn 20 until December of next season (2013-14), he would be eligible to join the AHL then. Players on entry-level contracts can play a certain number of NHL games before burning the first year on that contract (ELC are 3 years), but they can play any number of games in the AHL without using up the NHL ELC. Subban could, in theory, join the Providence Bruins when and if his OHL team’s playoff run ends this season, and he could also join full-time next season.

If Anton Khudobin goes elsewhere to be a starting goaltender, Niklas Svedberg will likely be Tuukka Rask‘s backup next season, which would open the slot for Subban to develop further in the AHL. Khudobin is an Unrestricted Free Agent at the end of this season, and Rask is a Restricted Free Agent.

One final note on contracts – a team can only have up to 50 total contracts at a team. The Bruins are currently at that limit (roster players + non-roster players – buyouts = total). In the AHL, they can easily sign someone to a Professional Tryout Contract and have him play in games if someone is needed, but in the NHL they aren’t allowed to actually play if they’re on a tryout (see Jay Pandolfo earlier this season before he signed his actual contract). The Providence Bruins also have players signed to their team that are not signed with Boston (Bobby Robins and Kyle MacKinnon to name my 2 favorites that I wish were signed by Boston), so obviously they could never be called up to Boston.

That’s about the extent of my contract knowledge. I hope I didn’t get anything else wrong or confuse anyone too much. Please feel free to correct me on anything and everything.

Boston Overcomes Ottawa 2-1

After two straight losses (the first of the season) for the Boston Bruins, the only way to improve would be to pick up a win. To do so the B’s looked for their third win of the season against the Ottawa Senators. It would be Anton Khudobin in net against Robin Lehner.

Seidenberg got the game winner tonight! (Credit:Slidingsideways)

David Krejci would return to the lineup after missing the last game due to a lower body injury. Hometown boy Ryan Spooner would make his second start as a Bruin and Rich Peverley would in turn be the healthy scratch. If this wasn’t a clear line that Coach Claude Julien was looking for something drastic to change with the team, I don’t know what is.

Well it took the game being halfway over for someone to get on the board and unfortunately it was the Senators. Kaspars Daugavins would get his first of the season and Ottawa would get a lead and the momentum for the moment. With 1:22 left in the second, Daniel Paille would tie up the game for his sixth goal of the season. That would end the second and once again the Bruins would have to be a third period team in order to get the win.

So the third period was kind of uneventful. The tension was high, the fists were a flying, but the goals weren’t there. That is until 18:56 when Dennis Seidenberg scored his long overdue first goal of the season. The Bruins would hold that 2-1 lead for a well needed two points.

The B’s are back in action against the Toronto Maple Leaves Saturday night!

Luck On Bruins Side Against Capitals

Before heading on a four-game road trip, the Boston Bruins would have one last game at home. They would face off against the Washington Capitals hoping for retribution for an OT loss last Tuesday. And they certainly got that revenge and so much more in today’s matinee game. Being St.Patrick’s day weekend, the Bruins practiced in their green jerseys and it would seem that luck was on their side during the game.

In net for the Bruins would be Anton Khubdobin, opposite the Capitals Michal Neuvirth. This would be Khudobins 7th start of the season and he certainly did not disappoint. He would make 32 of 33 saves in the game.

Congrats Horton on your Gordie Howe hatty! (Credit: Flickr/Slidingsideways)

This game to me was what the Bruins have been working to accomplish the past few games. It was a 60-minute effort. I know in the past few games they boys have lost steam in the third but not today.

It all started in the first with the first line. Nathan Horton would get a slapshot in off an assist from Milan Lucic  and Zdeno Chara .Not more than three minutes later David Krecji would score thanks to Looch once again. The first line has been pretty MIA in recent games so seeing their presence right away in the first period made me think this would be a good game.

Second period would start with the Bruins on a penalty kill and they would kill it once again because being first in PK’s means it’s hard to score on them. But right after said PK, Washington would strike with an unassisted goal from Marcus Johansson. At 8:02, Andrew Ference would score a LONG overdue first goal of the season. The assists would go to Horty and Krejci. It was good to see Ference get that first goal. At the end of the second the score would be 3-1 Boston.

Now let me take a brief intermission from scoring to talk about ALL the fighting. Brad Marchand would square off against Mike Ribeiro and just 8 seconds later Horton and Matt Hendricks would fight. And yes that would mean Horton got a Gordie Howe hattrick today, basically proving Horty was having a great game! Hendricks would fight again against Adam McQuaid in the third thanks to a little instigation from Shawn Thornton. 

Onto the third period! Bruins would get on the power play early on thanks to a slashing call. And all it took was 8 seconds of said power play for the B’s to strike with a PP goal from Rich Peverley. Looch and Krecji would get the assist on that. Like I said later on in that period there was another bout. It was pretty apparent at this point (at least to me) that the Bruins had the clear momentum at this point in the game.

The Bruins would go on to win bringing their record to 19-4-3, while the Caps would fall to 11-15-1.

B’s are back in action tomorrow for another matinee game this time in Pittsburgh against the Penguins.

 

Boston Overcomes Ottawa; Prepares for Pittsburgh

Tonight win for the Boston Bruins wasn’t pretty, but it was their third in a row. The Bruins would come from behind to take the Ottawa Senators in a 3-2 shoot out win. Tuukka Rask would pick up yet another win in net making 28 saves, againsts Senators goalie Robin Lehner.

Krejci picked up tonights shootout win for Boston (Credit: Flickr/ Slidingsideways)

The game started off with a Senators goal and within 8 minutes of the game, the Bruins were down by two. To be honest, all of the lines were snoozing and it took all of those minutes for the B’s to register one measly shot on goal. But eventually they snapped out of it and in the last minute of the first Shawn Thornton fired a knuckle puck passed Lehner to put the Bruins on the board. It was nice to see the fourth line working hard to break through Ottawa’s solid goaltending.

Second period Daniel Paille would tie up the game on a nice wrist shot. Clearly it was the fourth line’s time to shine for Boston. Unfortunately in this period we would lose Chris Kelly to what appeared to be a knee to knee shot from Ottawa big man Chris Neil. Kelly had to be helped off the ice and I think it’s safe to say he won’t be in the lineup tomorrow against Pittsburgh.

Third period both Rask and Lehner were on their A-game not letting any goals get passed despite solid effort from both ends. The game would go to OT and from there a shoot out. Eventually in round 4, David Krejci would get the win for the Bruins.

This was the Bruins tenth straight road win this season but they won’t get a day to rest as tomorrow they head to Pittsburgh to take on the Penguins. The Bruins are the only Eastern Conference team Pittsburgh has yet to face. Boston doesn’t exactly have the best record when it comes to facing the Pens but hopefully some of tonight’s momentum will carry over.

The Penguins have won four straight at home and that is partly due to their ranked third power play unit (25.7%). They have scored a power play goal in 15 of their last 18 games. As we know, the Bruins don’t have a great power play BUT they have the NHL’s best penalty kill. Basically this is going to be a good match up on this note alone.

As much as I don’t want to talk about Sidney Crosby because I really really really don’t, is one of the NHL’s leading scorers thus far for the month of March. However he’ll have to go up against Bruins leading scorer (12 goals) Brad Marchand.

Goalie wise, Rask may get the start in net though there is a chance we could see Anton Khudobin as Rask started tonight in Ottawa. Khudobin is 4-1 in his starts this season and has provided great relief for Rask.

The game against the Penguins tomorrow night starts at 7:30 and you can check it out on NESN or NBCSN!

Can the Bruins win four in a row and continue their perfect road streak?