Bruins Bested By the Third Period…Again

Ryan Spooner (Photo Credit: Stephanni Phillips)

The Bruins headed into tonight looking for redemption after dropping yet another game to the Pittsburgh Penguins for the second time in a week’s time. They started off with a solid effort and momentum that built and carried them through the next two periods, but fell short in the third once again with a final score of 3-1 in favor of the Jets.

Tuukka Rask and Ryan Spooner made their presence known in the first twenty minutes of the game as Rask came up with some really big saves and got lucky when the left post saved a shot for him, robbing the Jets of an early lead. Spooner was on the ice for five shifts through the first period, one of them including the second power play unit. He came out of the locker room confident and ready to play solid two-way hockey, something the Bruins have needed in the absence of Chris Kelly and now David Krejci. Unfortunately, despite efforts from both teams, the Bruins would wind up on a semi-losing end of things as Adam McQuaid was the recipient of a hard hit from Eric Tangradi that sent him into the boards cradling his left shoulder as he got up and skated off the ice. During the first intermission it was reported that he would not return to the game leaving the Bruins with just five defensemen.

Eight seconds into the second frame Brad Marchand would remind the Jets why he is one of the Bruins leading scorers as he caught a funny bounce off of the boards and was able to deke it past Ondrej Pavalec to mark the first goal of the game. Through the rest of the frame Marchand’s line would dominate the offensive opportunities, Patrice Bergeron battling hard and winning numerous opportunities. Tyler Seguin showcased his stellar backchecking abilities that we have seen more so this season than any other season as his game continues to evolve. With good, strong defensive plays like those put forth by the Seguin-Bergeron-Marchand line, there are only good offensive opportunities to come from it. Heading into the third and final frame the focus was to keep battling and putting the shots on net.

“You’re battling trying to get those pucks and you get rewarded if you do that.” -Patrice Bergeron during second intermission.

The Bruins came out with bees in their bonnets as they continued to dominate through the opening minutes of the third period, Ryan Spooner contributing a few shots along with a breaking Daniel Paille who drew the penalty and instilled the third power play of the game for Boston. Unfortunately after the scoreless power play, the Jets were able to tie things up as former Bruin Blake Wheeler got in front of Rask with the screen and re-direct an Andrew Ladd shot to tie the game at 1 with 8:09 remaining. The nexft play is always the most important and Ryan Spooner showed he deserves to play among the top line with Lucic and Horton as he forced a turnover from Pavalec and almost put the Bruins up 2-1. Unfortunately as they made their way up the other end of the ice, the Jets pushed even harder. Feeding off of the energy from their fans in the building Evander Kane was able to find a loose puck and put it in the wide open net by Rask for a 2-1 lead over the Bruins.

Redemption time would come on the next shift for the Bruins as the Jets went to the box on a tripping call on Marchand and the Bruins power play went to work once again. As Spooner, Chara, Marchand, Bergeron and Seidenberg held the blue line they kept good pressure on the Jets but were unable to convert. They kept the pressure on for the next minute or so but in the final seconds with Tuukka Rask on the bench the Bruins lost possession and Blake Wheeler got the empty net to give the Jets a 3-1 come from behind victory, the Bruins earning their fifth loss out of their past six in the third period and third consecutive road loss.

They will see action once again on Thursday against the Ottawa Senators where they need to bring their A-game if they stand a chance at victory.

Bruins Look to Cool the Jets

With the shortened seasons winding down, it was expected that teams would face injury and or exhaustion due to the grueling schedule. The Boston Bruins are one of many teams dealing with this. They are currently without Chris Kelly and David Krejci due to injury and will be without them tonight against the Winnipeg Jets. All things considered the first half of the season was mostly injury free for the team and their record shows it. So the question is can the Bruins battle on with these injuries and with the lack of days off?

Patrice Bergeron leads the team in points (Credit: Flickr/Slidingsideways)

Busy B’s:
The Bruins are hoping to avoid a  third consecutive road loss, and pick up a third consecutive win against Winnipeg. The B’s have won 16 of their last 20 games and are one point out of first place in the Northeast division behind the Montreal Canadiens. This is the third game the team will play in 4 days but with some well needed R&R  Monday hopefully the team will be in fighting shape tonight. Boston recalled Providence player Ryan Spooner yesterday to help fill in the void due to injury. I expect to see him in the lineup as the Bruins roadie carries on. The boys have two more road games this week but will return back to Boston next Monday.

Cooling the Jets:
Winnipeg like Boston is playing their third game in 4 days and also like Boston capped off their Sunday game with a loss. The Jets will be looking for a win tonight just as badly as the Bruins as they are looking to maintain the lead in the Souteast division (they are currently tied for first with the Carolina Hurricanes). Tonight Winnipeg will start another three game, four day journey so there’s no doubt that this time is preparing to endure these games.

Who’s Hot:
Sunday’s loss gave Tyler Seguin his 10th goal of the season. After a slow start to the season, it would appear Seguin has found his momentum. He also has 12 assists and a +19 rating. His lineys aren’t doing too shabby either with Patrice Bergeron leading the team with points (8 goals, 27 assists). Brad Marchand leads the team in goals with 12.

On Winnipegs end, they have Andrew Ladd and Blake Wheeler are the two point leaders this season.  Ladd has 14goals and 15 assists for 29 points, while Wheeler has 12Goals and 12 assists for 24 points. Wheeler if you remember was once a Bruins and it always bothers me to see former B’s players doing well without the Black and Gold.

In Net:
Tuukka Rask is expected to be in net tonight for Boston against Ondrej Pavelec most likely.  Rask is (14-3-3)with two shutouts on the season and  a (1.92GA and a .928SV%), while Pavalec is 12-12-2 and  has a (.904SV%  and a 2.80GA).

Puck drops at 8pm and you can check out the action on NESN!

 

Bruins Look to Bounce Back Against Panthers

So Tuesday game in the end sucked, and there’s really no way around it. But the Boston Bruins are back at home looking to pick up the pieces from that debacle and grab a win against the Florida Panthers. This is the second of three match ups between the teams and the first one at the T.D Garden. The last game between the B’s and the Panthers was February 24th with the Bruins taking a 4-1 win.

Can Seguin continue his point streak? (Credit:Flickr/Slidingsideways)

That last game if you recall featured this beauty:

That same game the Bruins played a full 60 minute game and if they want to pick up a win they’re going to have to do just that.

Eastern Conference Contention:
Quite frankly the Bruins need this win to stay on pace with the Eastern Conference leading Montreal Canadiens. The Florida Panthers on the other hand have lost two straight and are in last place in the conference. A win for either team could be the momentum they need to get back on track. While the Bruins have played 24 games and are halfway through with the season, the Panthers have played 27 meaning they have less chances to gain points.

Banged-up Panthers:
The losses that have piled up for Florida haven’t come without many injuries to key players. The Panthers’ Kris Versteeg is sidelined once again after coming back from injury. He sustained a lower body injury Tuesday night. The injury list for the rest of the team includes defenseman Michael Caruso (wrist), Ed Jovanovski (knee), Mike Weaver (lower body) and Dmitry Kulikov (wrist), forwards Scottie Upshall (lower body),Stephen Weiss (wrist) and Sean Bergenheim (undisclosed), and goalie Jose Theodore (groin). Basically they’re many guys short. But the rest of the team is coming to Boston ready to battle so I wouldn’t count them out just yet.

Rask Rules:
Look for Tuukka Rask to be in net tonight against Florida’s Jacob Markstrom. Rask is currently second in goaltending wins one behind Montreal’s Carey Price. He is also among the top 5 goaltenders of the league with a 1.96 goals against average and .927 save percentage, ranking fourth in both categories.

Who’s hot:
For the Bruins it’s Tyler Seguin. Seguin has four goals in four games and seems to finally have gotten into his groove for this season. On the Panthers end, it’s forward  Tomas Kopecky. He has points in three straight and goals in two in a row.

Puck drops tonight at 7 and you can watch the game on NESN!

Rasks Revenge Against Flyers

Back before the Boston Bruins were Stanley Cup Champions, they had plenty of time in the playoffs. One of those times was back in 2010 against the Philadelphia Flyers in a series the Bruins will never hear enough of. Up three games, the B’s then lost the next four giving the series to the Flyers. The man behind the net was Tuukka Rask. Since that series, Rask hasn’t had the chance to face the Flyers.

But you can bet he’s in net for today’s matinee game. So far this season in daytime games the B’s are 3-0-0 and they are looking to continue that streak behind Rask. Right now, the Bruins are 1 point away from first in the Northeast Division and are looking to snatch it back from the Montreal Canadiens.

The Bruins are 15-3-3, while the Flyer are 11-13-1.

Will Rask get redemption against Philly? (Credit:Flickr/Slidingsideways)

Flyers bounce back?
Philadelphia is coming to the TD Garden following two straight losses and are looking for a win. Their last loss on Thursday against Pittsburgh came after having a 3-goal lead. They’ve had two days off since and I’m sure they are bringing all they have to the Garden. It’s unclear if Ilya Bryzgalov will be in net after being pulled Thursday, though he does have a  3-0-2 against the Bruins. With the season being almost halfway over, the Flyers are in danger of not making the playoffs for the second time since 1994.

Where are the other lines in Boston?
If you’ve been watching the past few B’s games then you’ll notice a familiar trend in who’s doing the goal scoring. Most of the time as of lately it’s been the second line of Patrice Bergeron, Tyler Seguin, and Brad Marchand. This line has 14 goals and 37 points in their last nine games. So you begin to wonder where the other lines are? With Chris Bourque clearing waivers and being sent to Providence, and in turn Jordan Caron being recalled hopefully we can soon see some goal scoring coming from the third line. There’s only so long one line can be relied on so heavily, especially with each game being so important.

Who’s hot:
Aside from Bergy’s line, really no one on the Bruins. Though as a team, the B’s have scored at least three goals in each of the last nine games so we’ll take that as a positive. On Philly’s end, Jakub Voracek has posted nine goals and nine assists in his last nine games. Clearly offense isn’t the problem for the Flyers. Philadelphia’s power play has gone 13 for 39 (33.3 percent) in that stretch, but that unit will face Boston’s league best penalty kill at 91.9 percent.

Puck drops at 1 today and you can check out the game on NESN!

B’s Second Line Turns it Up Against Toronto

After dropping two games in a row, the only way for the Boston Bruins to improve would naturally be to win. To do so they would have to get passed the Toronto Maple Leafs, a team that hasn’t beaten the Bruins in seven straight games.

Anton Khudobin would get his fifth not of the season in net  against  the Leafs’ Ben Scrivens.

Dobby would be the B’s starter tonight! (Credit: Flickr/ Steph Vail)

Here’s a breakdown of the game:

Well it took 2 minutes and 33 seconds for a fight to break out. Adam McQuaid took offense to Mark Fraser hitting Jay Pandolfo from behind so he took matters into his own hands. This is Quaiders third fight of the season. In a very lackluster first period, the Leafs would get the first chance of a PP goal after a Chris Kelly slashing call on Phil Kessel. And then the Bruins would give the Leafs an even better chance at a PP goal with a 5-on-3 for 22 seconds thanks to Daniel Paille and highsticking. But they were up against the NHL’s best penalty kill so they got nothing out of it. Can I just say that I don’t know where the B’s would be without the second line of Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand,  and Tyler Seguin? With 53 seconds left Bergy would score with both his line mates picking up the assist. The Bruins would finish the first up by 1.

Second period would kick off with a 4-on-4 due a roughing call on Marchy and Dion Phaneuf. Nazem Kadri would continue his scoring streak and tie up the game off of this call. They took advantage of a two on one and got the puck passed Dobby. Nikolai Kulemin would get an interference call after going after the forever precious Dougie Hamilton giving the B’s their first PP of the night. The Bruins in case you didn’t already know are last in the NHL in terms of PP goals. Given that stat, it makes sense that they wouldn’t get the PP goal. Remember our glorious second line? They were back at it again this time with Seguin getting the goal. Cue the “thank you Kessel” chants. With 1:57 left in the second, David Krejci would give the B’s a 3-1 lead, with Andrew Ference and Milan Lucic getting the assists. Seggy would get a slashing call and the Leafs would finish off the second on a power play.

Third period would start with a Bruins power play…I really wish I could pretend to be excited about a man advantage. Well as soon as the PP ended, the B’s would get a second chance off a Colton Orr roughing call. Orr looked like he was instigating but apparently you can rough around with your gloves off. That power play was useless like basically every single other Bruins power play chance. With a little over five to go, the Leafs would cut the B’s lead to one with a goal from Mikhail Grabovski. I love my Bruins but this sluggish third period performing as of late has got to stop! With less than a minute Toronto would pull their goalie to try and tie up the game but Seguin would take advantage of it to make a 4-2 game.

This is the 8th straight win for the Boston Bruins against the Toronto Maple Leafs. And the lose streak is officially over for the B’s THANKFULLY! Boston is off tomorrow but  the boys will return to the ice Saturday at 1pm to face off against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Bruins Ready For Playoff Redemption

Much as I don’t like to bring it, there once was a season (last season) when the Boston Bruins were eliminated in the playoffs.  The team that was responsible was the Washington Capitals. Tonight will be the first time the teams will face off since that game 7 once upon a time. After losing 4-3 on Sunday night to the Montreal Canadiens, the Bruins are looking to get back on track and there seems to be no better of a chance to do so then to beat a team that ended their season last year.

Will Bergeron continue his point streak? (Credit: Flickr/Slidingsideways)

Bruins Face Off:
In case you were wondering, the Bruins face-off win percentage is the best in the league at 58%. It helps that leading that is this weeks NHL second star of the week Patrice Bergeron. Bergy has a team best +15 right now and is currently on a four-game point streak. His line along with Tyler Seguin and Brad Marchand has been red hot for the Bruins. Though the team lost on Sunday, this line was on the ice for all three of the Bruins goals scored.

Capitals Comeback:
The Caps are coming off of a shutout win against the Winnipeg Jets and have won the last 4 of 6. Though their record isn’t exactly spectacular, there is still time for playoff contention. After getting off to a rough start, the Caps have surrendered just 18 goals in their last nine games to go 6-3. Braden Holtby will be getting his 10th consecutive start tonight and Bruins fans will remember he was in net for last years playoffs. Three of those games have been shutouts, so Boston should be prepared for some tough goaltending.

Tonights game will be on NESN so thankfully you can have some Jack Edwards and Andy Brickley commentary! Pucks dropping at 7pm and be sure to check back here post game for a recap!

Bruins Versus Lightning: Saturday Showdown

In the second meeting of three between the Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning, the Bruins look to win their sixth in a row. This would have been the final meeting between the teams but thanks to good ole Nemo, we will have a third match up in April. Actually, it was Bruins at Tampa that was the second game in the current 5 game win streak so if the B’s were to win tonight, two of the 6 would be courtesy of the Lightning. Both teams are currently battling it out in the Eastern Conference and with the season as short as it is, two points is huge.

Tyler Seguin looks for more points (Credit: Flickr/ Slidingsideways)

Long Road Ahead for the B’s:
In the month of March, the Bruins will play 17 games. Considering thus far the B’s have only played 17 games, this month could present a challenge. It doesn’t help that the Bruins power play at home is non existent. What has helped the team is the Bruins goaltending thanks to Tuukka Rask and the B’s PK. The Bruins penalty kill is at 93.9% and is leading the NHL by a landslide.

Lightning on the Road:
Tampa Bay is currently on a four-game roadtrip, with this being the second game. They got off to a rough start against the New York Rangers so they’ll be looking to bounce back in Boston. If they want to pick up the win, they’ll need to work on their shots on net as they were heavily out numbered against New York. They do however have a spectacular power play so it’ll be interesting to see how it matches against the B’s PK.

Who’s Hot:
Patrice Bergeron has a pair of goals and seven points in the past five games while Tyler Seguin has points in five his last six. On the Lightning side of things, Steven Stamkos is on an eight-game point streak with seven goals and 14 points.

The puck will drop at 1 on NESN!

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.

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!