Bruins Grind, Streak Up To Ten

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!

Timmy Steals One, Streak At 9

Back to back shutouts. Over 222 straight minutes of scoreless play on the road. The reigning Vezina and Conn Smythe winner, and "Best Goalie On Earth" (Thank you Jack Edwards) looks like he has regained his magical form from last year. The Bruins weathered the storm early and capitilized on the only real mistake by the Habs at the Bell Centre Monday night. At 15:41 Andrew Ference potted his second of the year after some nifty back to back passes by Kelly and Peverley. Peverley found a wide open Ference crashing to the slot and a blown assignment by Yanick Weber gave the B's the 1-0 lead. Tim Thomas took care of the rest. He was steller, and the Bruins needed him to be. Despite doing a pretty decent job of keeping Montreal's scoring chances to the outside and not giving up a lot of real good opportunities, the black and gold were still heavily outshot 33-18. Couple that with a night of bad penalties, mostly by Benoit Pouliot who picked up a hooking and double minor for high sticking on PK Swan Dive, and theres a recipe for disaster against the quick puck moving Canadiens. A very good defensive zone game and some great shot blocking helped out a lot, but Montreal certainly carried the play and had some really good shifts in the offensive zone. A win is a win, and Boston has found a way to grind some of them out, but I do not think there is anyone who watched that game that could say the B's didnt steal that one. Carey Price had a very good game as well, figuring into the 3rd star spot for the evening. While his work load appeared to be less than Thomas's, he had to make some very nice saves in order to keep Montreal in it. With the win Boston moved themselves into 1st place in the Northeast Division and up to second in the Eastern Conference.

With what has become the most anticipated game of the year for Bruins fans, Wednesday night the boys meet up with Buffalo. Since "the hit heard round the world" and the lack of response, there has been a lot of talk about how the Sabres will extract their retribution. While I can say I do not believe Lucic will have a problem with either of the two in Buffalo who are willing to go, McCormick and Gaustaud, I am not sure what is going to happen. Lucic has been much less willing to drop the gloves since he has become an integral part of this offense and has been told by management to limit the occurences. That being said, I think if challenged, he has to answer the bell. In no way shape or form am I comparing his "hit" on Ryan Miller to the brutal cheapshot by Matt Cooke on Marc Savard, but when Cooke came back to Boston Shawn Thornton challenged him and he dropped the mitts. He is not in Thorty's league, not even in his wildest most outrageous dreams. But he answered for what he did. I think Milan will have to do that. I do not know who will be in net for the black and gold, but it really doesnt matter fom this aspect. If anyone, anyone, even gets what the Bruins deem to be too close to their goalie, the Bruins will clean them out. There will be a heightened level of security in our crease Wednesday night, and that doesnt boed well for the Sabres. The black and gold cannot lose sight of whats most important, and right after having each others backs are those 2 points. The two teams are tied with 24 points at the top of the division. Let the Sabres worry about retribution and let the Bruins worry about staying safe, avoiding injury, and being alone at the pinnacle. Lets hope for an entertaining game. Puck drops at 7:07 and the B's will be looking for a double digit streak. Go Black And Gold!

Ugly 7's

In what was unarguably the ugliest, rustiest, lack of passion game of the year, the Bruins were taken all the way to round 3 of the shootout before putting the lowly Blue Jackets away. A 2nd period power play goal by Derek MacKenzie put Columbus up 1-0. A minute a half later the black and gold answered with a shot by Adam MacQuaid, who is credited with the goal as of right now. It appeared to redirect off of Rich Peverley, but regardless, it was all knotted up at 1. A post ringing, chance trading 3rd ensued but proved to do nothing on the score board. Columbus took a penalty about a minute into OT, and the Bruins power play looked great. The puck was moving well around the ice and the boys were being patient and waiting for lanes but firing on net when open. Still, the Bruins could not dent the twine and quickly took a penalty of their own. Andrew Ference was called for boarding, although the referee was not looking and just saw a player on the ice, and Columbus kept steady pressure for the final minute. End of regulation 1-1. Tyler Seguin was blanked but Peverley and Krejci scored setting the table for Tuukka Time. The games undeniable first star, and really only bright spot, came up huge all game and once again in the shootout. Antoine Vermette came up ice and actually made a really nice move but Tuukka stacked his pads and shut the door. The Bruins surrendered the first road point of the year to the Blue Jackets, but picked up 2 for themselves and upped the winning streak to 7 games. It appears that this was the trap game we were afraid of. The good news is it is over, and the black and gold found a way to grind one out. If Nashville can hold on against Toronto and Edmonton can overcome an early two goal lead by Ottawa, the Bruins will wake up tomorrow in 8th place, the final playoff spot.

Next on tap is Saturday night when the Bruins start a 3 game road trip on Long Island. As you saw last week, the Islanders are a desperate, young, fast, and talented team. They are very capable of giving the Bruins fits with their high octane energy. They are currently sitting in last place and that certainly sets up another trap. The Bruins will need to much better than they were tonight if they wish the leave the island with 8 in a row. I think Rask will be in net and hopefully our offense will produce and give this guy some support. He stood on his head tonight and I am sure he would love another 6 goal effort from the B's. Lets Go Black and Gold!

Bruins Battle, Late Heroics Make It 6 Straight

Well, it was not the usual suspects last night. With the exception of a Marchand goal, the role players were the story of this game. A back and forth battle with some huge hits and a lot of good solid body to body contact had the New Jersey Devils and Boston Bruins trading momentum back and forth all night. Back to back bad penalties had the B's trying to kill off a 5 on 3 when David Clarkson deposited one to give the Devils the lead. 4:06 later, which would proove to be the longest lead time of the evening until late in the 3rd, Gregory Campbell was working his forecheck magic, stealing the puck off of Hedburg's stick and directing to the front of the net where a crashing Chris Kelly had some wide open twine to shoot at. That would be it on the scoreboard until the 3rd period.

Marchand was back on the ice after taking two bad penalties, being benched for about half of the second, and really having an all around sub par 2 periods. But 0:06 into the 3rd off of a set play from the faceoff where the wing curls to the boards but then back to the center of the ice (see Milan Lucic against Toronto as well) and Chara found him sending him in alone and he beat hedburg stick side. For anyone who may be interested that is tied for the 6th fastest goal to start a period. 4 seconds is the record, but I can not figure out how they did that back in 1957. Anyway, it was a beautiful play, but the momentum would not last very long. 2:02 seconds later, a centering attempt somehow perfectly found the tape of Palmieri for another Devils goal. Not to be outdone, only a minute and a half later, more of Campbells hard work was on display as he worked the corner, passed back to Caron who made a magnificant touch pass to Shawn Thornton for his first of the year. 3 minutes later it was Palmieri again on wrister fromt he slot. Boston had many more scoring chances in the 3rd, including 2 point blank shots by Horton, but they could not light the lamp. That was until 16:59 when Benoit Pouliot jumped on a loose puck, muffed the shot, but somehow got enough of it to get by the Devils net minder. New Jersey pulled the goalie with a minute left and put in a lot of hard work. There were some anxious moments for us Bruins fan, but ultimately the boys held on for a hard fought, well earned victory.

I think this type of game is exactly what the Bruins needed. Winning has come semi easy over the last 5 games, and once they got up on a team their opponents would tuck tail and leave. Well Jersey did not do that. They went punch for punch with the black and gold and these type of games can certainly be character builders and can show the "bounce-back-ability" of a team. This is a veteren team with a lot of experience and it is great to come out on the winning end of these battles.

Looking at the calender, the Bruins have a great opportunity this month with what is statistically a weak schedule. Thursday the last place Blue Jackets come to town. At 3-13-1, 0-7 on the road, they will be a hungry team looking to make a statement and gain some respect while trying to take out the defending champs. If Boston sleeps on this team it will be a long night. They have one of the best players in the NHL in Rick Nash and picked up Jeff Carter this offseason as well. The boys then play the Eastern Conferences last place team, The New York Islanders. 4-8-3 but do not let the record fool you, this team is young and fast and historically gives the Bruins trouble. Then Montreal, who sit behind them in the standings, but we all know the scoop with Montreal, standings mean nothing. WARNING WARNING next Wednesday up to Buffalo we go. I am sure Lindy Ruff will have the smurfs ready for battle, and while I fully expect a response from them, I am fairly confident that they wont be stupid enough to try to run Timmy. If Tukkaa is in net, I hope they try, because Tukkaa is a mad man. Lucic has handled Mccormick before, as has Thornton, Campbell, McQauid (see a pattern?) and Paul Gaustaud is a joke. He was on the ice, he did nothing, and he cannot fight anyway. This game means a lot though, and the two points are way more important. Let Buffalo think about revenge and let Boston go out and get 2. The Sabres are 2nd in the east, and though they have played more games than the Bruins, it is a divisional game the black and gold need. Follow that game up with a day after Thanksgiving measuring stick with the Red Wings. A playoff mainstay from the west, Detroit is always a good one. Then November finishes with the Jets and the Leafs. The Jets are second to last, the Leafs are playing very good hockey right now. The Bruins are staring a great opportunity in the face. They have already made the jump from 17th to 9th in 5 games. If they continue to play the brand of hockey they are playing now, they should be back on track to where we thought they would be. Next test is Thursday against the Blue Jackets. Do not go through the motions and I think Boston should be ok. GO Black and Gold!

Bruins Throttle Sabres, Continue Dominance

The black and gold continued their winning ways Saturday night against division rival Buffalo Sabres. They won this chippy affair 6-1, bringing the score line of the last 5 games to 30-10. After a very sluggish start to the game, which saw Thomas "The Bruin Killer" Vaneck put in another goal off Timmy's back, the boys got the wake up call they needed. Milan Lucic blocked a shot along the wall and was sprung for a breakaway. He pushed the pucked too far and barreled down the ice to try to capitilize on the opportunity. When he picked his head up, he saw Ryan Miller way out of his net, and the steam roll was on. Millers helmet went flying, he took a middle school type stick swing at Lucic, I think I saw a few tears, and then......that was it. The Sabres did not do anything. They did not stand up for their goalie, which is sacreligious in hockey by the way. From that point on the Bruins were the aggressors, the agitators, the bullys. Use any term you would like they all break down the same, the Bruins put it on Buffalo and they put it on thick. On what is unarguably the hottest line in the NHL, Bergy, Segs, and Marshy were on fire once again tonight. Seguin and Marchand both had 3 point nights with Bergeron adding a helper and once again doing all the things that do not show up in the boxscore. When you combine that lines production over the last 5 games with the production of the first line you are looking at an amazing 41 points in 5 games.

With Andrew Ference still sidelined, the Bruins have had the other 5 in the normal rotation step up and play huge minutes. We have seen pairings we are not used to seeing. Boychuk and McQuaid have both spend considerable time on their off hand sides. They have all been very responsible and the layers they provide with the goaltending the Bruins have, it is not wonder they are playing such great hockey. Maybe their biggest cleanup area has been their play in the neutral zone. With a defense first team, one of the glaring problems would be poor neutral zone play, which we saw the first 8 games. This team has great backchecking forwards who rotate on defenseman pinches and do not miss a beat. Lets hope Andy can get back int he lineup soon. Speaking of back in the lineup, how good is Rich Peverley? Not only did he burn Tyler Myers and then make Miller look silly on a gorgeous 5 hole tally, but he played a really solid game. It must be the new moustache! The Bruins went 0-4 on the power play tonight, but once again were aggressive on the PK and only allowed 4 shots and 1 goal on 4 kills. The B's still have to find a way to come out strong for games and after intermissions. Catch up hockey is losing hockey as Brick likes to say.

Tuesday night the boys head down to Jersey to play the somewhat surprising Devils. Sitting at 8-6-1, 1 point ahead of the Bruins, and coming off a home and home split with the Washington Capitals, the Devils will look to get back to their winning ways. However, with the exception of Patrik Elias, this team is grossly under performing. Kovakchuk missed the home and home and will be a game time decision. Always a dangerous player, and one of the highest paid in the NHL, Illya has only managed 2 goals on 40 shots, and is playing at a plus/minus -4 on the season. Johan Hedburg seems to be taking the reigns from future Hall of Famer Martin Brodeur as he has won 3 times more games so far this year. New Jersey is a team that cannot be slept on, although every time we play them I feel like falling asleep. They are one of the most boring teams to watch but seem to always find a way to win games against Boston 1-0. Lets hope this time is different. Puck drops at 7:00 Tuesday night.

Red Hot B's Win 4th In A Row

Movember is off to a great start, and it needed to be. As the calendar turned, the Bruins were sitting in dead last, and panic was flowing over Bruins nation. But with the turning of the page came a change from within the Bruins. Staring at 11 games within 22 days, the Bruins knew that if they were going to turn this around and make a run, it had to be this month. They have since outscored their opponents a combined 24 to 8. With the exception of the Islanders, the teams have been pretty good competition as well. The surprising Senators, the then first place Maple Leafs, and tonight, the NHL's hottest team came to town, the Edmonton Oilers. While it was fun to watch Nugent-Hopkins and Hall skate around the ice, and watch the future hall of famer Ryan Smyth net two, it was better to watch the Bruins moving like a well oiled machine. The Oilers will certainly be a team to be reckoned with in the future, but outside of the last 10 minutes of period one, they were completely outmatched. The Bruins won most of the one on one battles, were very responsible and executed in all three zones. Since the Krejci-Horton-Lucic line has been reunited, we have witnessed an awakening. In the last four games that line has powered up 19 pts. Lucic- 5 goals 2 assists. Horton 2 goals 3 assists. Krejci 2 goals 5 assists. Lucic is moving his feet and getting in front of the net. Krejci has been his usual self, displaying a great mix of speed and control, and though Horton has said he doesn't feel like himself yet, (not due to the concussion, just a timing thing) he has been playing better with each game as well.

In case there was any doubt before, start collecting your Tyler Seguin memorabilia. This kid is something special and the difference in his game from last year to this year is quite remarkable. You can see the hard work he has put in by bulking up 20 lbs or so and can tell he spent a lot of time under the tutelage of guys like Recchi and Bergeron. He also has 7 points over the last 4 games including a hat trick against Toronto, prompting the always awesome "Thank You Kessel" chants. His speed is killer, his passing is always tape to tape, he shoots darts, and he is quite crafty. I look forward so much to being able to watch him for many years to come.

Not enough can be said about the role players on this team as well. It was because of these guys that we had success last year and they will be looked to again. Shawn Thornton does not show up in the box score very often, but anyone who follows this team and watches these games knows he is the heartbeat. His line starts almost every game, they go out at very vulnerable times and when the ice needs to be policed, and when the black and gold need to be woken up, Thorty grabs a partner and lights a fire. He is a master at dropping the mits at the right time, including 4 games in a row. Guys like Greg Campbell, Rich Peverley and Daniel Paille block shots, get to dirty areas and sacrifice the body. Peverley is still currently sidelined and Paille had successful nose surgery yesterday to repair what was done by a puck in the face. Two more prime examples of what it means to be a Boston Bruin. Blue collar lunch pail team that out grinds and out hustles the opponent. That is exactly what we have seen over the last few games, and it is the only style that will continue to lend them success.

Saturday night the Northeast division rival Buffalo Sabres come to town. American standout Ryan Miller will most likely be between the pipes, and that is not always a bad thing for the Bruins. They have historically done alright against him. Buffalo always bring a gritty energy to the game and have some definite skill to match. Witht he same number of games played, the Sabres sit 4 points ahead of the B's and this will prove to be another pivitol game for the boys. Lets Go Black and Gold!!