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 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 Begin Roadie in Buffalo

Tonight is the start of a 5-game road trip for the Boston Bruins and it starts in Buffalo. This will be the third time the two teams will win and if Boston manages to pick up the dub, then it’ll be their fifth straight road win this season.

It’s no secret that thus far the Bruins have done well 11 games in with only one regulation loss. They currently sit 1st in the Northeast division with 18 points while Buffalo is in last with 11.

Will Marchand continue to be a success for the B’s (Credit: Flickr/ Slidingsideways)

Boston played in Buffalo this past Sunday picking up 3-1 win thanks to some third period luck. Buffalo will be naturally looking for retribution for that game as well as trying to build a winning streak. The Sabres have won 2 of their last 7 contests.

Third Period Bruins:
If you watch the Bruins game after game this statement shouldn’t surprise you. Tuesday night, the B’s came back from a 3-0 deficit scoring all three goals in the third period to force and OT and eventually a shoot out. They would lose to the Rangers that night but they definitely gave New York a run for their money. In fact, I personally think they stole a point out of that game.

Building up Buffalo:
With a shortened season like this one, every game counts. As of right now Buffalo is in 12th place in the Eastern Conference (Boston’s in 2nd). They have played 14 games and won 5. One of those wins does come against the B’s from January 31st in a 7-4 victory on the road. If Buffalo wants to be successful and at least attempt to make it to the playoff’s they will have to start picking up wins.

Who’s hot?
–Thomas Vanek for Buffalo should be Bruins target number one! He has 28 goals and 54 points in 46 meetings with Boston. In their 4-3 win, he got a hattrick. He leads the NHL with 11 goals and 23 points.
–Brad Marchand continues to be successful for the Bruins. He leads the Bruins with seven goals with three coming in four road games. One of those goals is from the game in Buffalo last week.

Injury Report:
The Bruins are healthy aside from long-term injuries while Sabres forward Ville Leino remains out with a hip injury

Puck drops tonight at 7 on NESN!

Bruins Beast the Sabres

In the second meeting between the Boston Bruins and Buffalo Sabres, the Bruins looked for redemption after a 7-4 beating in Boston. This time the teams would meet in Buffalo and it would be Anton Khudobin against Ryan Miller in net. After 60 minutes of play, the B’s would get their revenge in a 3-1 win. This win gave the Bruins an 8-1-1 record, making it their best 10-game start in team history.

Bergeron would get the game winner tonight! (Credit: Flickr/ Slidingsideways)

Shawn Thornton, Daniel Paille, and Brad Marchand would all return to the Boston lineup after being out the past few games with injuries. Lane MacDermind, Aaron Johnson, and Jamie Tardif would be the healthy scratches for the B’s.

I’ll break down the game by period!

Bruins Versus Sabres: Who’s Streak Will End?

Tonight the Bruins look to go for their longest season-opening home winning streak in over 22 years. The last time the Bruins opened a  home season to 5-0-o was back in the 1990-1991 season when they played at the Boston Garden. Now  to do so they’ll have to get past the Buffalo Sabres. The Sabres, on the other hand, are looking to end a steak of their own as they’ve lost the past four games.

Happy Birthday Seguin! (Credit: flickr/ Steph Vail)

Bruins picked up an OT win on Tuesday night proving that not even a hot dog can slow down the team (watch the video if you don’t know what I’m referring too). It took six rounds before Brad Marchand would get the game winner, his first shootout goal of his career.

The Sabres are coming off an OT loss from the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday. Now they are looking to get back on track against on the NHL’s hottest teams.

Bad Blood With Buffalo:
This is the first of five meetings between the two teams, and if history repeats itself it will be nothing short of a battle. Boston and Buffalo aren’t actually chummy when it comes to playing against one another.  Last year the teams fought a total of 6 times within six games. Now that the season is shortened and they’ll have to see each other sooner than later, I can only imagine the fight total will increase.

Look for goaltender Ryan Miller to get the start for Buffalo and look for Bruins fans to be nothing but “pleasant” towards the goalie. In our end, look for Tuukka Rask to be in net!

Who to Watch Out For:
–Thomas Vanek has 7 assists for Buffalo in five straight games. Vanek’s 25 goals and 49 points versus Boston are his highest totals against any opponent.
-Miller has won six of his last seven starts against the Bruins behind a 2.47 goals-against average.

Bruins Best:
–Nathan Horton  has 2 goals in his last two games.
-Rask is off to a 4-0-1 start. His save percentage (.932) and goals-against average (1.74) are both fifth in the League. Needless to say, it’s TUUKKA TIME in Boston!

Fun Fact:
-It’s Tyler Seguin‘s big 2-1 today and I’m sure he’ll be looking for some birthday points. Happy Birthday Tyler! Enjoy some legal celebrations AFTER the game!

Injury Report:
Buffalo will be without  Patrick Kaleta who suffered a neck injury Tuesday. He didn’t make the trip to Boston. Also,  Robyn Regehr (lower body) is listed as day-to-day after missing Tuesday’s game. Bruins wise the boys are looking healthy, the only questionable player is Adam McQuaid who sat out Monday and Tuesday due to a family death. It is expected he will return tonight.

Puck drops at 7 tonight on NESN! Make sure to check back here after the game for a recap from Steph!

Bruins Shoot Out Sabres

Tyler Seguin had a big last game of the season (Credit: Steph Philips)

Today marked the end of regular season hockey for the Boston Bruins as the boys took on the Buffalo Sabres for one last hurrah at the TD Garden. After a well needed few days off, Tim Thomas made his return to net to face off against Jonas Enroth.

Before the game started a few end of season awards were given out. Here’s the list and winners:
The Eddie Shore Award (given to a player for hustle and determination): Zdeno Chara
The Elizabeth Dufresne Award (given to a player for excellence in home games): Brad Marchand
The John Bucyk Award (given to a player who has contributed the most to charities and communities): Brad Marchand.
The 98.5 Sports Hub 3 Stars of the year: 3rd star- Milan Lucic 2nd star- Patrice Bergeron 1st star- Tim Thomas

And then the game got started! The Sabres got the edge on the opening few minutes getting the first three shots on net. But Thomas stuck his ground and blocked some good shots.  When the Bruins finally did get their first shot in, my did they ever. Though not a goal, it was enough to slow down Buffalo. At 7:22 Shawn Thornton and Robyn Regehr  get into literally a one punch knockout with Thorty picking up his 20th fighting major of the season, tying for the top player with the most fighting majors. In the first, the Bruins had two power play opportunities but didn’t manage to utilize them. After the first, shots on goal were even 12-12.

Second period at 16:45 Bergeron set up Tyler Seguin for his team leading 28th goal of the season. It was just a perfect opportunity for Bergy on that one. With that goal Seguin becomes the youngest player in team history to lead in B’s in points with 69 points. With 4:15 left Brad Boyes gets the rebound in front and pops it in to tie the game 1-1.

Third period started with a shorthanded breakaway from Marchand that was quickly stopped but a positive is that the energy has seemed to pick up with both teams because so far this game has been pretty lackluster. At 12:58, Boyes gets his second goal of the night. Not long after Buffalo captain Jason Pominville makes a 3-1 lead. With 10:04 to go Seguin notched his 2nd goal of the night and his 29th of the season to cut the Buffalo lead to 3-2. And not even 3 minutes later Marchy decided to steal some of Seguin’s thunder and get his 28th of the season. And friends were back to a tied game. Regulation ended and onto overtime we went!

Well overtime happened and then we went to a shootout…here’s the recap for that:
David Krecji shot- Miss
Tyler Ennis shot- Miss
Seguin shot- Miss
Boyes shot- Miss
Bergeron  shot- SCORE!
Pominville shot- Miss

BRUINS WIN! 4-3 with the shootout victory.

And that was the end of a rollarcoaster regular season for the B’s. As to the who the team will be facing first round in the playoff’s, that’s waiting on a few games but it comes down to either the Ottawa Senators or the Washington Capitals. Check back here tomorrow for the full scoop on playoff action for your Boston Bruins!!!

Bruins Preview: Buffalo and the Playoffs

Milan Lucic and Benoit Pouliot (Photo Credit: Steph Phillips)

Today marks the sixth and final meeting between the Buffalo Sabres and Boston Bruins of the 2011-2012 regular season. The Bruins are looking to end their regular season on a positive note by coming up with a win today at home. The Bruins have won three out of the last five match ups between these two teams which has feuded into a conference rivalry, stemming from a hit Ryan Miller sustained from Milan Lucic in the month of November.

The defending Stanley Cup Champs are gearing up for their first round of the playoffs and getting into the general mindset that goes along with that, given the physical history between these two teams this season, this game should prove to be physical and definitely entertaining.

“It’s definitely dangerous when you play a team like that,” the B’s gritty forward said. “They have nothing to lose, and basically they’re just trying to be a spoiler. (Brad Marchand on focusing on the Sabres and not Game 1, via Bruins Official Site)

By the time tonight’s game starts the Bruins could have somewhat of an idea as to who they will be facing in the first round.  If the Senators win today or get at least a point against the Devils, they will be the team to beat out in the first round.  If they lose and the Capitals pick up a win against the New York Rangers, they will slide into the seventh spot and face the Bruins. The fate of the Bruins first round lies on the Senators’shoulders. (No pressure or anything) Personally, I would love to see the Senators lose and face the Capitals, it wouldn’t necessarily be ‘easier’ to beat them out of the first round, but it would be a lot better than battling it outwith the Senators like the Bruins have all year long.

However, if the first round opponent does in fact end up being Ottawa, Boston has won five out of six match ups this season against them, providing some confidence for the B’s. Especially with their 3-1 win over the Sens Thursday night without key players Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron and Tim Thomas. Granted every team excels in the playoffs as the mindset begins to change and the game becomes more physical, but to know you can beat a team with your best players missing, that’s definitely a plus.  While Tuukka Rask isn’t quite ready for post-season with his injury, Anton Khudobin proved that he is willing and able to step up and fill the shoes of the back-up goaltender as he posted 44 saves in Thursday’s 3-1 win.

“I thought he played phenomenal,” Seguin said of Khudobin, who had six previous games of NHL experience with Minnesota. “Early in the game he was great and made some big saves and he played a solid 60 minutes.”(via Bruins Official Site)

Tonight the Buffalo Sabres are going to be without defensemen Christian Ehrhoff (knee) and Tyler Myers (foot) and forward Matt Ellis (knee). For the Bruins it’s Tuukka Rask with his groin/abdomen injury, defenseman Johnny Boychuk  who is day-to-day with a sprained knee and Nathan Horton who is still out with a concussion.

The players to watch today for Boston are forwards Tyler Seguin, Milan Lucic and Benoit Pouliot. Seguin leads the team in scoring for the season and against the Sabres with 3 goals and 6 points.  Milan Lucic and Benoit Pouliot have both posted goals in consecutive games for the Bruins, Lucic notching his 26th of the season against the Sens and Pouliot with his 16th. David Krejci also has 3 goals and 6 assists in his last six games.

Tonight it is likely that Thomas will get the nod in net, otherwise he will have 9 or 10 days off in a row by the start of Game 1. It is also likely that Anton Khudobin will be the back-up rather than Turco, as today will be the last day he is a part of the Bruins organization.  Through five games with the Bruins he had a 2-3-0 record.

Tonight’s game is on NESN at 4pm EST or you can listen to it on 98.5 the Sports Hub.

New York State of Mind: Bruins @ Islanders

Will today be another big game for #46? (Credit: Slidingsideways/ Flickr)

With the Buffalo Sabres losing to the Pittsburgh Penguins last night, the Boston Bruins clinched the playoffs as the number 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. This is the fifth straight year the B’s will make the playoffs and with the recent luck the team has been having I’m as optimistic as ever. Having said that the team still has five games left in the regular season to play.

The first is a matinee game against the New York Islanders. The Bruins took the first two games against the Islanders back in November scoring 6 goals in each game. However in the last meeting between the teams on March 3rd, it was NY that picked up a 3-2 win. With the playoff clinch the B’s have a little less to worry about, but I don’t think they’re trying to tie the series with the Isles for the season.

For Brian Rolston and Mike Mottau, this game brings them back to the Nassau Coliseum where they played last season and this season until the trade deadline as Islanders. But 39 year old Rolston isn’t too concerned with revenge.

“When you’re younger and you play a former team it might be a little nerve-wracking, but in this situation not so much,” said Rolston. “I’ve been around a long time. It’s about trying to well yourself as an individual and play well as a team.”(Via CSNNE)

Injury wise Bruins defenseman Adam McQuaid will not make the New York roadtrip after being cut over his left eye in Thursday’s game against the Washington Capitals. Dennis Seidenberg, who didn’t play in Thursday’s game because of a cut on his leg, will be making the trip and could play. Islander wise, goalie Evgeni Nabokov is out with a lower body injury.

As for who’s hot right now, Zdeno Chara has 5 points in his last 6 games and David Krejci has 5 points in his last 4. Those two are definitely the players that I will be watching out for in today’s game.

So Bruins fans enjoy that our boys are in the playoff’s once again, and enjoy the last 5 games of the season!

Puck drops at 1 and you can watch the game on NESN.

Bruins Bounce Back Against Buffalo

Seguin registered one point tonight against the Sabres with an assist on David Krejci's goal mid-way through the third period. (Photo Credit: Steph Phillips)

The Bruins took on the Buffalo Sabres tonight for the fifth of six match-ups this season at the TD Garden. Despite having back up goaltender Marty Turco suited up, Tim Thomas got the nod between the pipes with Coach Claude Julien stating:

“Turco is our backup. If he has to go in, he has to go in,” said Claude Julien. “He’s not new to this league. But there’s no doubt I’m talking about making him a starter. I’ll play it by ear.”(CSNNE.com)

Tonight marked Thomas’ seventh straight start in net sporting a  3.69 goals against average and .856 save percentage during the month of March. In a post-game interview Thomas was asked of his high-energy style wearing him down after long stretches of play:

“Let me ask you; Did I look tired in Game 7?”

Tonight Thomas proved to be a strong force, allowing Buffalo to score one goal out of twenty shots faced providing the Bruins with two consecutive wins. Something the Bruins haven’t been able to achieve since mid-January( Jets 1/10 and Canadiens 1/13).

In the first twenty minutes of play the Bruins sported some great tempo and had lots of great two-on-one opportunities. They supported each other in the offensive zone and didn’t have a lot of long passes that they dished in, they only gave each other about eight to ten feet before they would pass giving them a lot more scoring opportunities on Enroth, leading to a 13-6 edge in shots ending the first. However, with just 3:21 remaining, the Bruins would have a bad turnover to which Captain Jason Pominville would capitalize. Chara essentially thought the opportunity was a two-on-one and allowed Pominville some space giving him just enough room to get the shot off short-side high over Thomas’ glove.

During the first intermission, Naoko Funayama of NESN interviewed forward Brian Rolston who stated:

“We’re pretty good on the forecheck, I think we had a lot of good shots and could get more traffic, but we played a pretty good period.”

Heading into the second period, the Bruins would fail to show energy or control like they had in the first period. They allowed themselves to get sloppy in the neutral zone and fall a victim to the neutral zone trap that Buffalo creates. Fortunately for the Bruins, Thomas was ready and brought his A-game tonight, allowing only the Pominville goal through forty minutes of play. The turning point for the Bruins and their fans would come from the newly acquainted Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Tyler Seguin line. Seguin would get a breakaway, spreading from the Buffalo defense and using his speed to his advantage. Between the kid’s speed, Lucic bringing an aggressive game and Krejci setting up plays, they were arguably the best line on the ice tonight. However, the goal that would make the difference in the second would be from the one and only ‘Merlot line,’ as Gregory Campbell got a Hodgson turnover and gave it to a wide open Shawn Thornton who blasted it from just inside the blue line. Campbell got the tip on it and after review it was ruled a good goal, tying the game at one with 1:51 remaining in the second period.

“We gave up 1 or 2 chances in the first period and unfortunately one of them ended up in a goal. . . We weren’t quite playing a perfect game and needed to adjust. This is one of those games that is close and is going to come down to the wire…need to focus on the little things.” -Gregory Campbell (intermission interview with Naoko Funayama)

Early on in the third again, there wouldn’t be much flow, similar to the first two periods.  Tim Thomas would come up with a nice save off of Ellis who ripped a quick shot off at the net to which Seguin answers with a blast off the cross bar. The closer the teams would get to their goal, the more careful they would play. The two points tonight was big for both teams as Buffalo was fighting for a playoff position and the Bruins are looking to hold their lead in the Conference over the Ottawa Senators. At 12:56 a forty game goal-less streak would be broken as Johnny Boychuk blasted a shot from the circle that soared short-side over Enroth’s glove, giving the Bruins their first lead of the game. Less than three minutes later Zdeno Chara would create a play from behind Thomas, sending the puck up to Seguin, who was playing deep, onto Lucic who carried it up ice only to pass it across to Krejci to finish off with a perfect finish, giving the Bruins a two-goal advantage. Under the coaching of Claude Julien the Bruins are 30-0-0 when leading by two goals at any point in a game and after tonight, those numbers climb to 31 as Thomas and the rest of his team held on for the 2-points and first consecutive win streak since January 13.

The Bruins next game is Saturday afternoon at 1pm EST against the Washington Capitals airing on NESN and NHLNetwork. You can also listen to it live on 98.5 The Sports Hub.

5 Things You Need to Know About Buffalo @ Boston

Tim Thomas will get the start tonight! (Credit: Slidingsideways/Flickr)

1) Tonight marks Tim Thomas seventh straight game in net. This will be the first time , however, that Marty Turco gets to suit up and serve as backup goalie. Julien wants to make sure that Turco is 100% ready to return to the NHL before he is put in as starter.

“Turco is our backup. If he has to go in, he has to go in,” said Claude Julien. “He’s not new to this league. But there’s no doubt I’m talking about making him a starter. I’ll play it by ear. (CSNNE.com)

2) For these two North East rivals this is the fifth out of sixth time they will be meeting this season with Buffalo holding the lead 2-1-1. Standing wise, the Bruins hold an 11 point lead from Buffalo in the North East division.

3)Optional practice for the Bruins today showed good news in the form of Benoit Pouliot ready to go tonight. Tuesday against Toronto Pouliot suffered a lower body injury and did not practice with the team yesterday. Pouliot’s ability to play means that Providence player Max Sauve won’t be making his NHL debut after he was call on an emergency basis.

4)Tonight the B’s have a chance to win two straight, something they haven’t been able to do since January 10th-12th. This is the B’s 11th attempt at two consecutive wins and I can only hope that 11th attempt will come to an end tonight.

5)Buffalo wise, I expect Ryan Miller to get the start. Miller has won 7 of his last 9 contests and always seems to bring his A-game in Boston. I don’t expect this game to be an easy win for Boston but I do think it’s winnable!

Puck drops at 7 on NESN! Look for a recap right here on A Cup A Bruin after the game!