Bruins/Penguins Eastern Conference Showdown

So the Boston Bruins didn’t win the Jarome Iginla signing, but tonight they’ll face off against him and the Pittsburgh Penguins at the TD Garden with two points on the line. The Bruins have recently joined the Pens in the Eastern Conference Playoffs but are still trying to fight off the Montreal Canadiens for first in the Northeast Division. This is the last time the two teams will meet in regular season this year. However there is a chance they could have a rematch come playoff time.

Brad Marchand rejoined the B’s following a concussion (Credit: Flickr/ Slidingsideways)

Bruins Refocused:
Naturally playing Wednesday’s game against the Buffalo Sabres was tough for the Bruins as it was the first major sports event in Boston since the Marathon bombing. Emotions were high for players and fans alike but the B’s weren’t able to pick up the win after a come from behind win from Buffalo. You can bet tonight they will be more focused on picking up a win especially since Pittsburgh has won the past two games this season. In their last three the B’s have been winless BUT they have recently regained two key players back into the lineup by the names of Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron. They reunited with their linemate Tyler Seguin and the three seemed like they were never apart.

Penguins Powering Through Injury:
Despite being without Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, the Penguins are well on their way to securing the Eastern Conference title. They have won five in a row and a win tonight against the Bruins would take away the B’s chance of top stop of the Eastern Conference. As of right now the Penguins are four points behind the Chicago Blackhawks for the top overall seed in all the teams.

Looch Out?
In practice yesterday, Claude Julien had Milan Lucic practicing on the fifth line meaning there’s a chance he’ll be a healthy scratch tonight. This should be no surprise to anyone watching this season as Looch has slipped tremendously and isn’t his usual gritty self. If Lucic is scratch it’s expected that newly acquired Swedish prospect Carl Soderberg will get the start. If that is the case it will be Soderberg’s Bruins debut.

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

*Both teams will be wearing jerseys that have “617” and “Boston Strong” patches that will be auctioned off for One Fund Boston.

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?

Pummeled by Pittsburgh

Bruins lost to the Pittsburgh Penguin 5-3 in regulation Tuesday night at the TD Garden. (Photo Credit: Steph Phillips)

Last night the Boston Bruins took on the Pittsburgh Penguins for one of their last three games of the regular season. Coming off of a hard fought victory over the New York Rangers Sunday night, it was expected that the Bruins would be roaring and ready to go, with the mind set of playoff hockey. With an atmosphere mirroring what they can expect to see in the weeks to come from their home town crowd.

The two teams met up for their fourth and final time this season, Pittsburgh holding a 2-1 edge with Malkin scoring a goal and 3 assists for the Penguins, as Crosby had been out since their December 5th match-up with concussion-like symptoms.  The Bruins gave Marty Turco the nod in net with Providence call-up Anton Khudobin as the back up, giving veteran Tim Thomas, a days rest. It would mark Turco’s fifth game starting in net. Unfortunately, Pittsburgh would get on the board first with star Sidney Crosby snapping a shot past Turco, just 7:41 in.  Though there was a lot of back and forth action in the first, the Bruins didn’t show as much tempo and aggression as they had against the Rangers, the wear and tear showing in the way they carried themselves. The Penguins would go on to score again at 14:58 with Tyler Kennedy sneaking one just over the red line that Turco was unable to stop, and just as the period was about to end, good ole Benoit Pouliot crafted a nifty backhander on Johnson to cut the Pens lead to one.

As the second period began, the Bruins came out with the speed and aggression they lacked in the first, like a completely different team. Just 18 seconds in Milan Lucic sniped one top shelf on Johnson, tying the game at two.  Unfortunately, referees began to come into play as the aggression between the two teams rose, so did the penalties, resulting in a five on three advantage for the Penguins, providing them with two power play goals, giving them a 4-2 edge heading into the third period.

Being a typical Bruins fan, it was expected that the Bruins would come out of the locker room surging with energy, ready to wipe the ice with the Pens as Andrew Ference tried to build momentum at the end of the second by taking on James Neal in a lengthy bout. Sadly, this only lead to more heartbreak as Crosby went on to score another goal on Turco, only to be greeted with a Mike Milbury approved “Crosby Sucks” chant from the crowd.  The most exciting part of the third period came from the Lucic-Krejci-Peverley line as David Krejci threw the puck up ice to Lucic who threw a nice backhand, cross0ice pass to Rich Peverley, beating Johnson stick-side high. While there may not have been any fights in the third period, the physicality was still very much a factor as defenseman Johnny Boychuk went down hard to the ice and would need help getting back up off of a collision in the neutral zone.  For Pittsburgh it would be Joe Vitale who would get in the way of a Chara blast, taking the puck right to the face.

The Bruins lost to the Penguins 5-3 in regulation, by the two goals the referees gave to the Penguins in the second period with a five-on-three advantage, stemming from a bogus tripping call.  The Bruins provided a good effort against the Penguins, but didn’t play a full sixty from every player. There were shining moments that came few and far between that ended up hurting them in the end. While the Bergeron-Marchand-Seguin line had a few good opportunities, the Penguins shut them down with ease. As they head into the playoffs, they are going to need to find their legs and get a full, solid effort from all twenty guys on the ice. They are en route to Ottawa to take on the Senators with veterans Patrice Bergeron, Zdeno Chara and Tim Thomas staying home, along with Johnny Boychuk who is getting an MRI on his left leg this afternoon, though thoughts remain hopeful for the defenseman. Lane MacDermid, Anton Khudobin and newcomer Torey Krug all get their chance in the spot light as Julien rests his key players for what is hoped to be a lengthy playoff run.