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.

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!

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?

Back Checks and Ballerina Moves Help the Bruins Beat the Panthers

Bruins celebrate after a goal scored in the black and gold scrimmage (Photo Credit: Steph Phillips)

This evening the Boston Bruins improved their record to 11-2-2 on the season in their first three-goal victory of the season, winning by a final tally of 4-1. Goals came from Zdeno Chara, Chris Kelly, Milan Lucic and Daniel Paille while Tuukka Rask stopped 34 shots to preserve the victory.

Milan Lucic got the Bruins on the board early on after David Krejci won the face-off and he used a quick lateral movement to center himself before snapping a wrist shot past Jacob Markstrom to put the B’s up 1-0.  A few minutes later captain Zdeno Chara showed his team exactly how it is done. When you’re 6’9” 255lb guy and you have a 12ft stick, you aren’t expected a  to be dirty your stick skills. We’ve known he’s got a power shot over 100mph but you can add sick mitts to his job description as well. As Chara got the puck,he pirouetted and backhanded the it past Markstrom to put the Bruins up 2-0 over the Panthers.

Tomas Kopecky was able to cut the Bruins lead to a single goal before the period’s end after some sloppy defensive work from Andrew Ference and Adam McQuaid. Through the first twenty minutes of play the Bruins held a slight edge in shots and were up 2-1 on the scoreboard.

“I think we’re doing a good job moving our feet and getting the puck up the ice. [We] got rewarded off a pretty one from Z and mine off the face off, we’re off to a pretty good start.” – Milan Lucic during intermission.

To start the second period the Bruins found themselves on the power play early on as Brian Campbell found himself in the penalty box for Florida. After a power shot from Chris Bourque, Chris Kelly used his speed to sneak in and connect with the rebound off Markstrom’s pads that found the tape on his stick perfectly allowing him to flip the puck up and in with ease for a 3-1 lead. The goal would be Kelly’s first of the season.

“I’ve been wanting to score for a while and there’s no lying about that but when you’re not scoring you try to do other things and work on other aspects to help your team.”- Chris Kelly during second intermission.

While the scoring petered off from that point on, the Bruins didn’t give up. They kept the pressure and didn’t slack off despite having a two-goal lead like fans have seen them do in the past. Daniel Paille would net his first power play goal of his career as he registered the fourth and final goal for Boston on the empty net to give the Bruins their first three-goal lead and win of the season.

The Bruins now pack up their things and head to New York to face the Islanders on Tuesday for a 7pm face off looking for their fourth straight victory. With their win tonight they now sit in fourth place in the Eastern Conference and second in the Division behind the Montreal Canadiens.

 

Bruins Pick Up Two Points in Winnipeg

Tonight the Boston Bruins took on the Winnipeg Jets for the second time this season. It would be the first time the B’s would play in Winnipeg ever so wanted to go out there and leave a mark was important. In net for the B’s was Tuukka Rask and against him was Ondrej Pavelec.

Seguin picked up his third goal of the season against Winnipeg (Credit:Flickr/slidingsideways)

The Bruins would be without Milan Lucic but they would have Jay Pandolfo making his debut in black and gold.

The first period would be scoreless for both teams, with Boston leading shots-on-net 9 to 5. Winnipeg would get a power play opportunity but once again the B’s penalty kill stepped up and prevented any scoring. I would like to point out that in this period the top line of Rich Peverley (filling in for Looch), David Krejci, and Nathan Horton provided one of the teams best shifts with solid pressure on Pavelec.

The second period just one minute and 43 seconds in, Winnipeg would get the first goal of the night.  Alex Burmistrov would get credit for getting his team on the board. That goal seemed to give Winnipeg some if not all of the momentum as they heavily controlled the play afterwards. It would take tenish minutes for the Bruins to gain control but they would thanks to a blast from the blue line by Zdeno Chara that led to Tyler Seguin chipping it in. Thanks for waking up on time for this goal Seggy! The goal would be reviewed but ultimately it would Seguins third goal of the season. With 26.3 to go in the second, Evander Kane would give the Jets the edge going into the final period or so they thought. With 1.5 seconds remaining, Johnny Boychuk would get the open shot to Daniel Paille to give us yet another tie.

So the third period would open and within 38 seconds of their last goal, the Bruins would score again. Not only was it a goal but it was an ever so precious power play goal. Brad Marchand would get credit for that goal. This period the Jets had several good opportunities to score but Rask was literally a brick wall. Game after game he proves why he is Boston’s starter. Winnipeg would eventually pull their goal with around 30 seconds and with one second remaining the Jets would get one last shot on net. The puck never crossed the line, the time elapsed and the Bruins would pick up another road win.

Tuukka Rask would get the win with 21 saves. With the win, the B’s have regained the Northeast division lead with 20 points.

Bruins continue their road trip in Tampa against the Lightning on Thursday!

 

UPDATED:Eastern Conference Showdown: Tampa Bay @ Boston

Thanks to Nemo, the Boston Bruins/ Tampa Bay Lightning game originally schedule for a 1 pm puck drop has been moved to 7 pm tonight. Nemo in case you’ve been under a rock for a bit, is a blizzard not a lil fish,and is causing quite a commotion on the east coast as I write this.

Will Seguin start a scoring streak? (Credit: Flickr/ Slidingsideways)

Anyway back to the B’s:
Tonight is the first of three times the teams will meet this season. Right now there are three points that separate the pair from second and third place in the Eastern Conference. Boston currently is in second place with 15 points, while Tampa has 12. What I’m trying to say is a win in this game will be clutch for either time. The B’s are currently one point out of first with Pittsburgh holding the lead with 16 points.

Are the Lightning burned out?
Tampa Bay has lost the past three games averaging a mere 1.6 goals per game. They started off the season winning 6 out of 7 so it seems to be they’ve hit some kind of slump. However this team does have one of the best power play units in the league so that could come in handy in the game tonight.

B’s back and healthy?
After playing in his first NHL game, Ryan Spooner was sent back to Providence. It’s safe to assume that his reassignment means that someone from the Brad Marchand, Daniel Paille, and Shawn Thornton  injury list will be returning to the lineup. All three have been practicing with the team but I’m betting it’ll be Marchy that returns Coach Claude Julien said he was a game-time decision following practice.

Who’s hot?
– Tyler Seguin FINALLY scored his first regulation goal of the season after being placed on a line with David Krejci and Milan Lucic. Krejci would also score soon after thanks to the newly formed line.
– Tuukka Rask has won four of his last five starts and is 6-1-1 with a 1.96 goals-against average and .922 save percentage this season as Bruins starting goalie.
-Lightning forward Martin St. Louis has 11 assists over the last seven games.

Injury Report:
As I said above the B’s could be without Thornton, Paille, or Marchand tomorrow. Tampa could potentially be without forward B.J. Crombeen as he is listed questionable.

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

For the Lightning side of things check on Sons of Andreychuk here!

 

UPDATE: Tonight’s game has been postponed as the winter blizzard of Nemo has the state of Massachusetts still trying to find the light of day as they’re buried under feet of snow. Yes feet, not inches. The game will be played at a later date that we will announce as soon as we get the information.

Renew The Rivalry: Boston @ Montreal

It’s no big secret that when it comes to a Bruins/Canadiens game that it’s going to be physical. The rivalry between the two Northeast division teams is something that will probably exist forever. Growing up I was told as a Bruins fan, I was not allowed to like the Habs and I’m sure Montreal fans have heard the same about the B’s.

Anyway, tonight kicks off the first of four meetings between the teams with the Bruins making the trip to Montreal. Last season in six meetings the teams were 2-3-1 in the Bruins favor. Needless to say, tonight’s game will be close as both teams will push one another to the limit.

Will Peverley have another game for the B’s? (Credit:flickr/ Steph Vail)

What’s on the line?
Glad you asked that as tonight’s game will put one of these two teams in the lead in the Eastern Conference. Now for the B’s it’s not too shocking. However, Montreal last season finished last in the conference last season and with the shortened season have a chance to make a name for themselves once again.

What’s happening with the Habs?
Over Super Bowl weekend, the Canadiens swept both matinee games. They have scored 3.25 goals per game through eight games and allowed just 2.12 goals per game against. Aka they are becoming quite the offensive weapon. Their schedule thus far has been home-heavy having tonight’s game be 7 out of 9 at home. It’s safe to say they’ve been taking advantage of the home stand.

Bruised but not broken Bruins:
Shawn Thornton and Daniel Paille did not make the trip to Montreal and are both recovering from injury. Meanwhile, Brad Marchand is with the team but is questionable for game time. The B’s have since had to rely on Providence call-ups which thus far have worked out well. The Bruins are coming off of a win against Toronto on Saturday and have had a three-day break to prepare for this game.

Northeast’s Best:
Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask has been phenomenal shutting out the Maple Leafs in his last start. Offensively both Chris Kelly and Rich Peverley have points in their last two games. Canadiens goaltender, on the other hand, Carey Price has won six straight starts, only allowing a single goal in each of his last two outings. Montreals center David Desharnais has three goals in his last two games.

Injury Report;
I’ve already mentioned who’s out for the black and gold but the Habs will be without center Petteri Nokelainen.

Puck drops at 7:30 on NBCSN! You don’t want to miss a classic rivalry showdown.

For the Canadiens side of things, check out The Buring Torch!

 

Thank You Kessel: Bruins/ Maple Leafs Preview

That “thank you” will never ever get old in Boston, just saying. Tonight the Boston Bruins will square off against division rivals the Toronto Maple Leafs in Toronto. This is the first of four meetings between the North East division rivals. Looking back to the last season, the Bruins won all six meetings against the Leafs outscoring them 36-10. This is a new season, a shortened season at that, so it’s really any ones game.

Boston is coming off of their first regulation loss against the Buffalo Sabres and are looking to maintain their first place division lead. On the other hand, Toronto is looking to increase their win streak to three after beating out the Washington Capitals for their first win and the Sabres earlier this week.

Will Marchand continue to lead the team in goals? (Credit:Flickr/Steph Vail)

Bruins missing 2/3 of their fourth line:
Both Shawn Thornton and Daniel Paille did not make the trip to Toronto and as of now are both out with injuries. Thornton suffered a concussion in the first period of Thursday’s game while Paille is out with an injury from a high sticking in the third period. Both men left the ice and never returned to the game.

AHL coming up big for both teams:
Because the “Merlot line” is out for the time being the Bruins will rely on their Providence boys to make up for loss players. Jamie Tardif  was recalled on an emergency basis on Friday while Chris Bourque and Lane Macdermid have been switching between playing and healthy scratch since the season started. All three are expected to play tomorrow.

On Toronto’s end they are also relying on their AHL team. Matt Frattin has four goals and two assists in four games since he was called up from the Toronto Marlies. He’s currently playing on a line with fellow AHL linemates Nazem Kadri and Leo Komarov. Kadri leads the Leafs with seven points (three goals, four assists) in seven games. It looks like this lines chemistry has been successful as Frattin scored the game winner against the Caps on Thursday.

Boston’s Best:
–David Krejci and Nathan Horton both have five-game points streaks and are looking to continue this tonight.
– Brad Marchand had a team high five goals and scored two of them against Buffalo on Thursday.

Injury report:
Like I said, Boston will be without Thornton and Paille. Toronto has Joffrey Lupul (broken forearm), Clarke MacArthur (lacerated pinkie) and Mike Brown (shoulder) on its injury list.

Puck drops tonight at 7pm on NESN!

For the Maple Leafs side of things be sure to check out Maple-Glazed!

 

Thornton Out, Tardif Recalled on Emergency Basis

The Boston Bruins were banged up during a very physical game against the Buffalo Sabres last night. If you watched the game, then you noticed several players leave the ice and head to the dressing room because of hits, bumps, and repairs. Some of the players never returned to the ice.

Shawn Thornton was one of those guys. Thorty quite frankly is one of our main enforcers so it doesn’t surprise me that when he left the game in the first period, that the Sabres took advantage of it. Thornton was involved in a fight with Buffalo’s John Scott a few minutes into the first and after taking a few shots to the head, didn’t return.

Jamie Tardif was recalled from Providence today (Credit: Flickr/ Steph Vail)

General Manager Peter Chiarelli sent out a statement today saying that Thornton will be out for the next 7 to 10 days with a concussion. It’s hard to say if this time table will go longer because as we’ve seen before concussions can come back even if a player is given the go ahead. We’re wishing Thorty a fast recovery!

Because he is out, the B’s needed to make an emergency recall from Providence. So with the P-Bruin forward Jamie Tardif  joined the B’s for practice today in Wilmington and is expected to make the trip to Toronto with the team.

Tardif currently leads the Providence Bruins in scoring this season with 21 goals and nine assists in 39 games. The 21 goals are second overall in the AHL and most recently Tardif participated in the AHL All-Star weekend. The 28-year-old has played in 415 AHL games but has yet to make an appearance in the NHL.

Hopefully Tardif can bring a fresh energy to a banged up Bruins team as they play the Toronto Maple Leafs tomorrow night.

Besides Thornton, Daniel Paille also left the game after a high stick to the face that left him cut open. He is missing from practice along with Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci. Bergeron left the game last night for a brief period time after crashing into the boards. There is no word as of now as to why Krejci isn’t at practice.

 

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!