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.
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