It was only game 3, thats what I keep telling myself. Theres 79 more to go, plenty of time to make this right. The Boston media has a way of taking every game and disect it like it is win or go home, and I am going to try my best to keep this on in perspective. That being said, 2 points are hard to come by in the NHL, especially as the defending champions. A team cannot afford to squander away points that are directly related to a lack of effort. Now Ive put my black and gold goggles on and I have said, it was a matinee game, it totally screws up their preparation. Oh Tuukka was in net, they arent used to playing infront of him yet. Maybe they underestimated the Avalanche (they really arent that bad, just young). Well I took them off so I could write this, but they will be going back on soon. Matinee excuses dont work, especially on a team led by Claude who will not allow excuses. Tuukka played awesome and looks like he is certainly after that #1 (#1A if you ask Timmy or Claude) goalie spot. As far as the Avalanche go, they are a team in the NHL. If you underestimate any team on any night they will beat you. This team is fast and came out really looking to take it to the B's physically. I really dont think they were expecting that, they looked flat and caught off gaurd in the first 10 mins. The only sour spot for me is that play when the Bruins got scored on. Let me preface this statement with a few things: The refs are part of the ice, they do not intentially get in the way. I am in no way complaining of a conspiracy to hand the B's a loss. That being said, it was a perfect screen by linesman Brian Mack, which totally took Johnny Boychuck outta the play, unable to defend Milan Hejduk who snuck one by Tuukka. The Bruins were victimized, but guess what, you create your own chances. Colorado's forecheck, energy, compete factor, possession, and speed were just simply better on Monday afternoon. The more deserving team won. The positive to take, there 79 of them left and I hope this served as a learning opportunity for the boys.
Wednesday night the boys start a road trip down in Carolina to faceoff with the Hurricanes. This may be what they need to gel a bit and start getting the hockey season officially off to a good start. Can not talk about Carolina without mentioning Eric Staal. 33 goals and 43 assists last including 12 tallies on the power play. Last years Calder Trophy winner Jeff Skinner added 31 goals, and they added Alex Ponikarovsky and Tim Brent, which should be a good mix with their forward lines. In goal they have a solid start in Cam Ward. He is a streaky goalie, one night he just shuts the door and the next lets in some gimmes. There is no doubt their problem is their defense, they just let up too many goals. That is as much to do with a lack of backcheck from their forwards as it is their defenseman. Losing Joe Corvo (to Boston) wont help that. However, Carolina fans are pretty high on TIm GLeason and Joni Pitkanen. The 'Canes got Bryan Allen at the deadline last year and also took Thomas Kaberle of the Bruins hands (thank you!!) so they are thinking they are in good shape. I still see them finishing around 10th in the east and missing the playoffs.
Lets all look for a better effort against the 'Canes Wednesday night at 7:00 on Versus. Remember friends, Big Z got his first hat trick against the Canes last year! Lets Go Black and Gold!
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