I hope the Sabres organization and their fans had their note pads out last night, because that is what a real team does. Stand up for each other, go to battle for each other, and grind out a win for each other. The Bruins are not the most offensively talented team in the league, but their tight knit, vetern lead, non stop heart team mentality is what carries them through. Lucic's first shift showed everyone why there was no retaliation last week. Gaustad has talked for two weeks about how he was dissapointed in Buffalo's response and in particular in himself. He is a stand up guy and did what he had to, but ultimately just took a bullet for his team because Lucic wiped the ice with him. I understand the Sabres aren't built for that type of game, but I wondered what the point was. If not for some very obvious home cooking penalty calls, that fight could have served as great momentum for the streaking Bruins. A bit later in the period there was a scrum, 5 white sweaters coming to the aid of one of their guys. Chara picked a great time to drop the mitts and about 25 seconds later dropped Regeher. Somehow, the Bruins end up short handed. Not to be outdone, Andrew Ference made sure everyone knew there would be no fly bys in Timmy's crease. He grabbed Stafford on his second offense and took him to the end boards. I could see on my HDTV the white in Staffords Knuckles as he held on for dear life not letting Ference uncork his hands and make red cross donation via Staffords face. That is what a team does. That is why the Big Bad Bruins are who they are. That is why they are the defending Stanley Cup Champions. Oh yea, there was a pretty good game amidst those storylines as well.
Boston twice rallied from 2 goal defecits. Two first period power play goals by Buffalo put the Bruins in a huge hole, especially given the way the officiating was looking. Although I do have to say, it straightened out after the first period to almost even. Tyler Seguin scorched a power play goal of his own about 4 minutes into the second period, cutting the Sabres lead in half. About 7 minutes later, TJ Brennen put the Sabres back up by two with his first career point/goal. It was easy to see why the Sabres organizaton was high on him. He is a very quick player with a big shot. At the 16 minute mark, Brad Marchand was the victim of a big counter hit by Thomas Vanek, and was jeered by the Sabres bench. Marshy picked himself off the ice, fixed his helmet, found the puck on his stick and deposited it top shelf past Enroth, immediately jabbing back at the muted Sabres bench. Boston again cut the lead to one now heading to the 3rd period. The Bruins came out hard in their period, still head and shoulders above any other team in 3rd at +21, and some excellent puck posession rewarded the boys. On the PP, Horton and Krejci found themselves with decent scoring chances but both opted to make a pass to find something better. That led to a slot pass to Milan Lucic who spotted Chara alone between the dots and unselfishly set him up for the tying goal. Back and forth they went for the next 16 minutes trading chances and hits, but neither Enroth or Thomas wanted to give points away. End of regulation, tied 3-3.
A minute plus of 4 on 3 hockey for Buffalo did not equate to anything. Boston's PK did great and killed off the penalty. The last 4 minutes went by without any real good scoring chances for either team. It took 5 rounds of great goaltending before we found a winner. Thomas and Enroth went back and forth shutting the door on each attempt they faced. Emerging from the dog house at center ice was Benoit Pouliot. He snaked through the zone with speed and beat Enroth glove side giving Boston 2 points, sole posession of first place and even possibly keeping himself from the sky box for the next few games. It was a grind of a game and both teams played great but someone had to lose. Thankfully it was the Sabres. That team will be around all year and that could have really served as a momentum game for them, feeling like they stood up for each other and beat the champs. Boston found a way to win another and pushed their streak to double digits.
Next on the docket is a day after Thanksgiving matinee with the always top notch Detroit Red Wings. The black and gold will return home to the TD garden and play the first of back to back games. Detroit is playing pretty well right now as well, going 7-3 in their last 10 games. Sitting at 25 points, the Red Wings have considered this a mediocre start, which should speak volumes to the talent this team has and expects to maintain year in and year out. They have 2 players on their backend who will be game time decisions and are still trying to find the right combinations on the blue line since the retirement of Brian Rafalski last year. They have a very solid goaltender, but I think the Bruins can use their speed and heavy forecheck to put a lot of rubber on the net. This sure will be a measuring stick game and all eyes in the NHL will be watching this "Thanksgiving Showdown" on national television. Puck drops at 1:07. Let's keep the streak alive. Go Black and Gold!
I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving with their loved ones!
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