Shark Attack in the 3rd Period Beats P-Bruins

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

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

Read more after the cut.

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.

 

Cunningham Hat-Trick Highlights P-Bruins 7-1 Win

Craig Cunningham may not be on a lot of Boston fan radars, but his hat-trick on Sunday afternoon and team 2nd-best 17 goals show what an exciting young prospect this 22-year-old BC-native (drafted in 2010, 4th round, by the Bruins) is turning out to be.

The Providence Bruins went 2-0-0-1 this weekend, improving their overall record to 33-18-0-5 (71 points) in 56 games this season. They sit atop the Atlantic division and currently sit 3rd in the Eastern conference.

With less than 20 games left in the season, the P-Bruins are poised to make their first playoff appearance since the 2008-2009 season. That season, they finished 43-29-2-6 (94 points), 2nd in the division at the time. In the 1st round, they defeated the Portland Pirates 4 games to 1, then defeated the Worcester Sharks 4 games to 2 in the 2nd round. In the 3rd round – the Conference Finals – they lost 4 games to 1 to the Hershey Bears, who went on to win the Calder Cup in the next round. Were the playoffs to start today, the P-Bruins would face Hershey in the 1st round.

Some notable players on that 2009 P-Bruins team that went to the Eastern Conference finals include current Boston Bruins Brad Marchand, Johnny Boychuk, Adam McQuaid, and Tuukka Rask – all of whom played in all 16 games of the postseason. That should give you a pretty good idea of 1. Why the AHL is important and successful in developing players and 2. How potentially good the P-Bruins team is this year and definitely how good the potential of the prospects on the team are.

After defeating the Worcester Sharks 3-1 in Friday night, the P-Bruins followed up with an unfortunate 2-1 shootout loss to the Springfield Falcons. They rebounded Sunday with a 7-1 win over the Portland Pirates, a team they needed to beat in order to maintain first place in the division.

Jordan Caron scored the lone goal for the P-Bruins in Saturday’s loss, sparked by being placed on the Buzz Saw line in the spot previously filled by Lane MacDermid. His Buzz Saw linemates, Christian Hanson and Bobby Robins, had the assists on Caron’s 9th of the season. Placing Caron on this line was a much needed spark for the struggling winger, who many thought would be a shoe-in for the open 3rd line spot in Boston this season. The positive results continued for Caron – and the P-Bruins whole team – into Sunday’s victory.

Ryan Spooner returned to the lineup on Sunday after missing a handful of games with a lower body injury. He has 2 assists, 1 shot, and a +1 rating. The P-Bruins top scorer was far from their top scorers Sunday, however, as many P-Bruins recorded multi-point games and even multi-goal games. Justin Florek had a 4 point night (2 goals, 2 assists) and Craig Cunningham, a former Vancouver Giant of the WHL (fun fact: he won the Memorial Cup with Milan Lucic), recorded a hat-trick.

Hanson scored a shorthanded goal, as well as the primary assist on Caron’s goal. In total, 11 different P-Bruins recorded at least one point: Florek, Cunningham, Hanson, Spooner, Caron, Kevan Miller, Matt Bartkowski, Tommy Cross, Bobby Robins, Alden Hirschfeld, and Kyle MacKinnon. In net, Niklas Svedberg made 29 saves on 30 shots, recording his 27th victory of the season.

Justin Florek opened the scoring at 7:23 of the 1st period when he beat Portland goaltender Mike Lee. Florek’s 6th goal of the season was assisted by Miller and Bartkowski. At 18:27 of the 1st, Providence struck again on the shorthand with Bartkowski in the penalty box. Christian Hanson converted on the shorthanded opportunity for his 8th goal of the season.

2:20 into the 2nd period, Cunningham scored his 1st of the night and 15th of the season on the power play, assisted by Spooner and Cross. Providence went 1-for-5 on the PP.

Portland struck next bringing the score 3-1 at 3:15 of the 2nd on Jordan Martinook‘s 5th of the season from Phil Lane and Chris Summers. Portland outshot Providence 15-7 in the 2nd period, but the score remained 3-1 going into the 3rd period.

Florek regained Providence’s 2-goal cushion at 4:31 of the 3rd period on his 2nd of the night and 7th of the season, assisted by Spooner (his 2nd of the night) and Robins. Cunningham made it a 5-1 lead at 7:53 with his 2nd of the night and 16th of the season, with an assist to Alden Hirschfeld.

Jordan Caron hit the 10-goal plateau at 13:17 of the 3rd period, getting assists from Hanson and Florek. With just over a minute left in the game, Cunningham completed the hat trick with his 3rd of the night and 17th of the season with helpers from MacKinnon and Florek – capping off Florek’s 4 point night as well.

Providence next plays on Friday, March 8th, at the Dunk against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Make sure to keep an eye out, because this team is potentially getting really awesome.

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 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!

Will the B’s Remain Unbeaten?

In the first three games this season, the Bruins have managed to pick up 5 out of 6 points. This is exactly the start the boys needed and tonight they look to continue it against the New York Islanders. This is the first of three meetings between the teams, and the first of two times the Islanders will come to the TD Garden. Last year, the Bruins took three out of four games against the Islanders, though the lone victory for NY came in Boston.

It’s Tuukka Time in Boston! (Credit: Flickr/Steph Vail)

The Bruins as of now are unbeaten, but they will need to work on scoring but as they have only managed seven non shootout goals thus far. In each of the Bruins victories against the Islanders last year they scored six goals.

The Islanders in a nutshell:
In the past five seasons, the Islanders have missed the playoffs so it’s safe to say little was expected this year. HOWEVER, they are coming to Boston off of a 7-4 victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs. They are currently 2-1-0 for the season.

Who to watch out for:
–John Tavares has 5 assists in two games.
–Michael Grabner has 3 goals and 5 points in three games.
-The Islanders penalty kill is currently 10-for-10 and have a shorthanded goal.

Bruins best:
-Both Milan Lucic and Brad Marchand lead the team with 2 goals apiece in 3 games.
–Tuukka Rask has proven that he is the B’s number one goalie having a 2-0-1 record with a 1.95 goals-against average and a .926 save percentage.
-The “new and improved” Bruins power play finally scored their first PP goal.
–Dougie Hamilton picked up his first (of many to come) NHL points.
–Nathan Horton scored his first goal of the season, and first goal in a year after coming back from a concussion.

Injury Report:
The Islanders will be without forwards Josh Bailey (knee surgery) and Jesse Joensuu (groin). On the Bruins end, their only injury is Dennis Seidenberg and he is considered day-to-day. As of this morning, he was on the ice practicing with the team so he could very well return to the lineup tonight.

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

For a look at the Islander’s side of the game, check out Arbour Day!

Bruins Beat in the Big Apple

Dougie Hamilton got his first NHL point tonight! (Credit:flickr/Steph Vail)

Saturday it was Rangers at Bruins; tonight it was Bruins at Rangers for the teams second of three meetings this season. Last game as we know went wonderfully for Boston. Tonight the Rangers were seeking one thing…REVENGE!  And sure enough they did, but it took a lot of effort. Both teams played hard and deserved to win and very rarely will I say that about anytime facing my Bruins. Tuukka Rask was in net for the third start in a row facing off against Henrik Lundqvist.

Here’s what went down in the Big Apple:

Bruins Monday Matinee Preview

Will Looch have another big game? (Credit:Flickr/Slidingsideways)

If  a Monday matinee hockey game doesn’t scream the season is back, I don’t know what will! All kidding aside at 1 pm today your Boston Bruins will take on the Winnipeg Jets at home for their second game of the season.

This game will be the first of three meetings between the teams this season. Because this is the second game and all we have is last season to go by, the odds would look to be in Boston’s favor. The four games between the teams last season were split, with the home team winning each time. Also judging by last season, Winnipeg on the road didn’t exactly spell out success.

But this is a new season so here’s what you can look forward too with this game:

Bruins Beast the Rangers

It was Tuukka time in Boston tonight! (Credit: Steph Phillips)

Tonight your Boston Bruins took to the ice for the home opener of the 2012-2013 season against the New York Rangers and it was everything you could hope for in a home opener and so much more.

The B’s for the most part stuck to a similar lineup as last season but tonight brought the debut of Boston native/ Ray Bourque’s pride and joy Chris Bourque. Tonight was also the first time that the B’s first round draft pick of 2011 Dougie Hamilton would play in the NHL. Tuukka Rask is now the starting goalie for the Bruins and he faced off against Henrik Lundqvist, a man who doesn’t exactly let up against the Bruins or against any team in general.

Tonight was an exception as the Bruins beat the Rangers 3-1.

Let me break down the game by period for you.

A Baby Looch Was Born!

Happy parents Brittany and Looch! (Credit: Flickr/Slidingsideways)

Milan Lucic as we all know represents the Boston Bruins with the number 17. Yesterday, on January 17th, Looch was notably absent from practice at Ristuccia. But he has a pretty good excuse.

We here at A Cup A Bruin would like to congratulate Looch and his wife Brittany on the birth of their baby girl Valentina! She was born yesterday at 5:31 weighing 8 lbs 1 oz.

Today Looch is back on the ice while the rest of the team participates in an off ice practice.

On Baby Valentina, Looch said that it was “meant to be” that she was born on the 17th (Via @NHLBRUINS). He also said that mother Brittany and baby are healthy and doing well.

Hope Baby Looch is going to be able to rock these like her parents!