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 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.

 

Bruins Power Past the Canes 5-3

Brad Marchand got the ball rolling for Boston, scoring the first goal of the game short-handed. (Photo Credit: Steph Phillips)

Tonight the Boston Bruins earned another two points in their regulation win against the Carolina Hurricanes at the PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. The win comes as the team’s first road win of the season and their first win against the Hurricanes since the 2010-2011 season.

The Bruins came out in the first period showing they came to win by setting the tone early on by great offensive forecheck, cycling the puck and forcing the Canes behind their own net. Once again it would be the Bruins penalty kill that would be their strongest suit as Brad Marchand was able to stealthily creep to the right-hand side lower dot and blast a one-timer past Cam Ward, thanks to a cross-ice pass from Zdeno Chara. Their next goal came from their other special teams unit as they found themselves on the power play, this time Z taking the blast from the blue line, thanks to a screen by Lucic Ward never saw the puck until it was too late, instilling a 2-0 lead midway through the first frame. Jamie McBain was able to bank a rebound shot in past Anton Khudobin to cut the Bruins lead to 1, but that’s all Carolina would register, despite deadlocking the shots at 11 a piece.

The second period provided a lot of back and forth action from both teams, but it would be the neutral zone turnovers that would hurt Boston in the long run as the Canes were able to capitalize on two in the final minutes of the middle frame.  A couple minutes after Nathan Horton would re-gain the 2-goal lead for the Bruins, the Canes answered back scoring two of their own, tying the game at 3 goals a piece.

Through the opening half of the third period, the momentum bounced back and forth like a ping pong ball. Just as it would appear as though the game was heading into additional minutes, Dougie Hamilton used his quick hands to shoot a pass across the ice to David Krejci who hammered in the one-timer back-door on Ward, instilling a 4-3 lead in the final two minutes of play. A few seconds later the Canes found themselves on the penalty kill as their captain Eric Staal went to the box for slashing, instilling a man-advantage for Boston for the remainder of the game. Despite their efforts to even the playing field by pulling Ward for the extra attacker, Tyler Seguin was able to free the puck in the neutral zone and use his speed to break away and score the empty net goal. However, rather than celebrate he found himself heading back down towards the Boston end of things to find Patrice Bergeron in a scrum with Jeff Skinner, an event that had fans and media alike, stumped and still does.

The Bruins have now taken points in all five of their games played and sit comfortably in first place in the Eastern Conference. They look to keep their streak alive as they head to New Jersey tomorrow night to take on the Devils for what should be a fairly entertaining game. Puck drops at 7PM and can be seen on NESN.

 

Bruins Seek First Road Win

Even though it’s only the second road game of the season for the Boston Bruins, and even though the team is undefeated in regulation, the teams eye is on getting that first road win.

To do so the boys will have to get past the Carolina Hurricanes (2-2-0), who are coming off of a road win of their own, beating the Buffalo Sabres 3-1 on Friday. This isn’t going to be easy considering last season Carolina swept Boston, beating the boys all four times they played.

Will the Merlot Line have another big game? (Credit: Flickr/ Slidingsideways)

This is a new season, and this will be the first of three match ups between the two teams. If the Bruins can muster a win or an overtime game, it will be the first time since 1990-91 that they opened the season with a five-game points streak.

Summing up Carolina:
The first two games of the season for the Hurricanes were rocky at best, but since then the team has bounced back with home and home wins against Buffalo. If the Hurricanes win against the B’s, it will be the longest win streak against Boston the team has ever had (5 games)

Who to watch out for:
-Captain Eric Staal‘s hattrick on Thursday helped the team win 6-3 against the Sabres.
-Goaltender Cam Ward is the man behind the 4 wins against Boston last year with 1.25 goals-against average vs. Boston last season.

Bruins Best:
-The “Merlot” line is the reason for the teams 4-2 win over the New York Islanders on Friday. The fourth line consisting of Shawn Thornton, Daniel Paille, and Gregory Campbell with each of the guys scoring at least one goal thus far this season.
–Tuukka Rask  is 3-0-1 with a 1.96 GAA and a .925 save percentage to open the season for the team. He will be playing in his 5th straight game because of his consistency.
–Dougie Hamilton had his first multi-point game on Friday and was named first star of the game.

Who’s Missing:
The Canes will be without forward Tuomo Ruutu with a hip injury and it is likely he will be missing the entire season. Meanwhile Adam McQuaid did not travel to Raleigh with the team for “personal reasons” and defenseman Aaron Johnson will take his spot on the roster for the night.

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

No News Is Good News?

(Credit:Slidingsideways/Flickr)

Free agency has been underway for six days now, including today and the Bruins are sticking with their original game plan.  GM Peter Chiarelli stated on numerous occasions throughout the season and post-season that he had a good team and would not be splitting them up. He wanted to keep the core of the team together and that is exactly what he is doing. With the signings of Chris Kelly, Daniel Paille, Gregory Campbell  and Shawn Thornton, the fourth line will remain the same and one of the ‘best’ in the League.

The only players that are not returning to the Bruins roster, for sure are; Benoit Pouliot (signed a one-year contract with Tampa Bay Lightning), Joe Corvo(signed a two-year contract with Carolina Hurricanes) and Brian Rolston. There is still the possibility that Mike Mottau, the Massachusetts native will fill the seventh defenseman spot, but with Dougie Hamilton coming off of a breakout season in the OHL, there is room for competition.

For the upcoming season we also have to take a look at who is going to fill the third line slot alongside Chris Kelly. With guys like Jordan Caron, Ryan Spooner and Jared Knight, the possibilities are endless. Each and every one of them have a fighting chance at earning a spot in Boston, we will just have to wait for pre-season to find out.

The only question mark remaining is the whereabouts of Tim Thomas. Will he stay in Boston and sit for the season or get traded elsewhere? Unfortunately, no one has those answers as of yet and it remains at a 60/40 chance of dismissal. (One can only hope) Regardless, Tuukka Rask is more than ready to step up and be the number one net minder once again.

Free Agent Frenzy and Contract Signings

Tuukka Rask (Photo Credit: Steph Phillips)

We have all been told throughout the post-season that the core of the Boston Bruins will stay together and that General Manager Peter Chiarelli was looking to keep Chris Kelly and Tuukka Rask in the mix for Boston.  As of today, July 1, 2012; the first day of NHL Free Agency, the Boston Bruins inked Chris Kelly until 2015-2016 and Tuukka Rask until 2012-2013.  They also came to terms with Russian forward Alex Khoklachev in signing a one-year entry level contract. He will play this season in Russia for the KHL and then come back to Boston to play.

Taking a look at who will not be returning, Benoit Pouliot was signed by the Tampa Bay Lightning just as the doors opened, with a one-year contract worth $1.8million.  Defensemen Joe Corvo and Greg Zanon were also able to find new contracts as Joe signed a two-year deal with the Carolina Hurricanes and Greg signed on with the Colorado Avalanche. Best of luck to you men! (Silently I will be cheering for you Benny, I’ll see you in Boston!))

As of right now, that is the biggest splash the Bruins have made in the Free Agent Frenzy and it doesn’t seem as though there will be many more waves to come. Perhaps wave will be if and/or when Tim Thomas gets sent out of Beantown. To which I say good riddance my dear red-headed friend, it’s been real.

4th Times a Charm?

Adam McQuaid (Photo: SlidingSideways/ Flickr

Tonight the Bruins took to the ice to prevent a series sweep against the Carolina Hurricanes. Though the teams are on completely opposite ends of the Eastern conference, you wouldn’t know that from the games that have been played. The Hurricanes are in a time to rebuild and what better way to do that than to say you swept the reigning Stanley Cup Champs?

Practice Predictions: How the Bruins Plan on Avoiding a Series Sweep

Andrew Ference returns to the line up tonight! (Photo:Victoria Welch/Flickr)

The Carolina Hurricanes, though at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, have basically come in and rocked the Bruins like a hurricane the past three games they’ve played.  All joking aside, this is a matter of the Bruins lacking consistency and sure two of the three games were during the dreaded Stanley Cup Champ slump in October, but that’s no excuse.

The B’s took to practice this morning to continue to improve on their inconsistencies, and hopefully take their win over the Senators and make it into a streak.

Here are some of the notes I took away from this morning’s practice:

Adam McQuaid though reported to have suffered a lower body injury during the third period of the Senators game on Tuesday was on the ice this morning. Julien on 54:

“Game-decision but we anticipate he’s ready to play” (@NHLBruins).

Here are the lines from this morning’s practice:
Lucic-Krejci-Peverley
Marchand-Bergeron-Seguin
Pouliot-Kelly-Hamill
Paille-Campbell-Thornton

Defensive pairs:
Chara-Boychuk
Seidenberg-Corvo (this is my favorite pairing right now as both players are on point streaks)
Ference-McQuaid

Who’s Hot? (get your mind out of the gutters people I’m talking point wise!)
Milan Lucic : In his last three games, Looch has had two 2-point games.
Dennis Seidenberg: Back to back, 2-point games including that beauty from the red line on Monday, who says defensemen can’t score?

Who’s Missed?
Nathan Horton was not on the ice this morning for practice. Julien says Horton is:

“continuing to progress” but is “right now still not capable of skating” (@NHLBruins).

Who’s Back?
Andrew Ference. Ference has been on a three game suspension since his hit on Rangers Ryan McDonagh on January 21^st. I’ve said it before and I’m saying it again, I’m predicting Ference to make big moves with his return.

Julien has a tendency of holding back starting goaltender until warm-ups but if you follow the Bruins twitter religiously like I do (I get tweets to my phone every day), then you know that whoever leaves the ice first is a good indication of who is starting. Well friends if that is the case then get ready for TUUKKA TIMEEEE!

Can the Beasts of the East Ride Out the Storm?

(Photo Credit: Steph Phillips)

The Bruins and Hurricanes face-off tomorrow at 7pm for their fourth match-up of the season. The Bruins will be looking for their first win against the team since February 1, 2011. With Andrew Ference coming back into the line-up,following a three-game suspension, the Bruins are sure to have a defensive advantage, as long as McQuaid is okay to play. McQuaid suffered a lower body injury late in the game Tuesday night against the Ottawa Senators and missed this morning’s practice. Reports from this morning’s interviews stated:

“Coach Julien said McQuaid “got injured last night.” CJ added it’s a lower body injury and he’ll be reevaluated tomorrow AM.” (@NHLBruins)

On the offensive side of things, Nathan Horton is still listed as day-to-day with a mild concussion and has yet to step foot on the ice since the injury occurred. Fingers crossed this doesn’t end up a recurring injury for Horton with the same fate as former team mate Marc Savard. With Nathan Hortonstill missing from the line-up, forward Rich Peverley has some big shoes to fill and seems to be doing just fine. In Tuesday’s game against the Senators he registered 2 shots on net and an assist in 19:35 of ice time, not bad.( via Bruins Box Score) It’s no question the Bruins have one of the best third and fourth lines in the entire League, but in order to pull out the ‘W’ against this team, everyone is going to have to play a full sixty.

The Hurricanes are going into Thursday night’s game without Chad LaRose who is listed day to day with illness and defenseman Joni Pitkanen who has missed the last 30 games due to a knee injury. They have called up Drayson Bowman from the Charlotte Checkers, Bowman has registered 2 goals and 3 assists this season, playing in only 13 games.( via Carolina Hurricane News)

Both teams are fairly matched and are strong third period teams, thus calling for high intensity with tempers flaring and a hunger to win, there’s no telling what this game is going to bring. Lets just hope the Bruins can maintain their focus and not let their tempers get the best of them.